[1] See Clemen, 1, p. 175.
[2] Enders, II, no. 254. Smith, _Luther's Correspondence_, I, no.
206.
[3] Gess, _Akten und Briefe zur Kirchenpolitik Herzog Georgs von
Sachsen_, Leipzig, 1905.
[4] See below, p. 9.
[5] In this edition, Vol. I, pp. 294-336. See especially pp. 312 ff.
[6] See below, pp. 19, 25.
[7] _Treatise on the New Testament_, Vol. I, pp. 297 ff.
[8] See Kostlin, _Luther's Theologie_, I, 292 f.; also Hering, _Die
Mystik Luthers_, Leipzig, 1879, pp. 171-174.
[9] See below, p. 23.
[10] See below, p.20.
[11] See _Treatise concerning the Ban_, below, p. 37.
A TREATISE CONCERNING THE BLESSED SACRAMENT OF THE HOLY AND TRUE BODY
OF CHRIST AND CONCERNING THE BROTHERHOODS
1519
1. Like the sacrament of holy baptism[1] the holy sacrament of the
altar, or of the holy and true body of Christ, has three parts which
it is necessary or us to know. The first is the sacrament, or sign,
the second is the significance of this sacrament, the third is the
faith required by both of these; the three parts which must be found
in every sacrament. The sacrament must be external and visible, and
have some material form; the significance must be internal and
spiritual, within the spirit of man; faith must apply and use both
these.
[Sidenote: The First Part of the Sacrament: the Sign]
2. The sacrament, or outward sign, is in the form of bread and wine,
just as baptism has as its sign water; although the sign is not simply
the form of bread and wine, but the use of the bread and wine in
eating and drinking, just as the water of baptism is used by immersion
or by pouring. For the sacrament, or sign, must be received, or must
at least be desired, if it is to work a blessing. Although at present
the two kinds are not given the people daily, as of old,--nor is this
necessary,--yet the priesthood partakes of it daily in the sight of
the people, and it is enough that the people desire it daily and
receive one kind at the proper time, as the Christian Church ordains
and offers[2].
3. I deem it well, however, that the Church in a general council
should again decree[3] that all persons, as well as the priests, be
given both kinds. Not that one kind were insufficient, since indeed
the simple desire of faith suffices, as St. Augustine says: "Why
preparest thou stomach and teeth? Only believe and thou hast already
partaken of the sacrament";[4] but because it would be meet and right
that the form, or sign, of the sacrament be given not in part only,
but in its entirety, just as I have said of baptism[5] that it were
more fitting to immerse than to pour the water, for the sake of the
completeness and perfection of the sign. For this sacrament signifies
the complete union and the undivided fellowship of the saints, as we
shall see, and this is poorly and unfittingly indicated by only one
part of the sacrament. Nor is there as great a danger in the use of
the cup as is supposed, since the people seldom go to this sacrament,
and Christ was well aware of all future dangers[6], and yet saw it to
institute both kinds or the use of all His Christians.
[Sidenote: The Second Part of the Sacrament: the Significance]
4. The significance or purpose of this sacrament is the fellowship of
all saints, whence it derives its common name _synaxis_ or _communio_,
that is, fellowship; and _communicare_ means to take part in this
fellowship, or as we say, to go to the sacrament, because Christ and
all saints are one spiritual body, just as the inhabitants of a city
are one community and body, each citizen being a member of the other
and a member of the entire city. All the saints, therefore, are
members of Christ and of the Church, which is a spiritual and eternal
city of God, and whoever is taken into this city is said to be
received into the community of saints, and to be incorporated into
Christ's spiritual body and made a member of Him. On the other hand,
_excommunicare_ means to put out of the community and to sever a
member from this body, and that is called in our language "putting one
under the ban"; yet there is a difference, as I shall show in the
following treatise, concerning the ban[4].
To receive the bread and wine of this sacrament, then, is nothing else
than to receive a sure sign of this fellowship and incorporation with
Christ and all saints. As though a citizen were given a sign, a
document, or some other token as a proof that he is a citizen of the
city, a member of the community. Even so St. Paul says: "We are all
one bread and one body, for we are all partakers of one bread and of
one cup." [1 Cor. 10:17]
5. This fellowship is of such a nature that all the spiritual
possessions of Christ and His saints[8] are imparted and communicated
to him who receives this sacrament; again, all his sufferings and sins
are communicated to them, and thus love engenders love and unites all.
To carry out our homely figure: it is like a city where every citizen
shares with all the others the name, honor, freedom, trade, customs,
usages, help, support, protection and the like, of that city, and on
the other hand shares all the danger of fire and flood, enemies and
death, losses, imposts and the like. For he who would have part in the
common profits must also share in the losses, and ever recompense love
with love. Here we see that whoever wrongs a citizen wrongs the entire
city and all the citizens; whoever benefits one deserves favor and
thanks from all the others. So, too, in our natural body, as St. Paul
says in i Corinthians xii, where this sacrament is given a spiritual
explanation: the members have a care one or another; whether one
member suffer, all the members suffer with it; whether one member be
honored, all the members rejoice with it. [1 Cor. 12:25 f.] It is
apparent then that if any one's foot hurts him, nay, even the smallest
toe, the eye at once looks toward it, the fingers grasp it, the face
frowns, the whole body bends to it, and all are concerned with this
small member; on the other hand, if it is cared for, all the other
members rejoice. This figure must be well weighed if one wishes to
understand this sacrament; for the Scriptures employ it or the sake of
the unlearned.
6. In this sacrament, therefore, God Himself gives through the priest
a sure sign to man, to show that, in like manner, he shall be united
with Christ and His saints and have all things in common with them;
that Christ's sufferings and life shall be his own, together with the
lives and sufferings of all the saints, so that whoever does him an
injury does injury to Christ and all the saints, as He says by the
prophet, "He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of My eye" [Zech.
2:8]; on the other hand, whoever does him a kindness does it to Christ
and all His saints, as He says, "What ye have done unto one of the
least of My brethren, that ye have done unto Me." [Matt. 25:40] Again,
he must be willing to share all the burdens and misfortunes of Christ
and His saints, their sorrow and joy. These two sides of the
fellowship we shall consider more fully.
7. Now, adversity assails us in more than one form. There is, in the
first place, the sin remaining in our flesh after baptism, the
inclination to anger, hatred, pride and unchastity, and so forth,
which assails us as long as we live. Against this we not only need the
help of the congregation and of Christ, in order that they may fight
with us against it, but it is also necessary that Christ and His
saints intercede or us before God, that sin may not be accounted to us
according to God's strict judgment. Therefore, in order to give us
strength and courage against these sins, God gives us this sacrament,
as though He said: "Behold, many kinds of sin assail thee; take this
sign by which I give thee My pledge that sin assails not only thee but
My Son Christ, and all His saints in heaven and on earth. Therefore,
be bold and confident; thou fightest not alone; great help and support
are round about thee." King David, also, says of this bread: "The
bread strengtheneth man's heart" [Ps. 104:15]; and the Scriptures in
other places characterize this sacrament as a strengthening. So in
Acts ix it is written of St. Paul that he was baptised and when he had
received meat, he was strengthened. [Acts 9:19] In the second place,
the evil spirit assails us unceasingly with many sins and afflictions.
In the third place, the world is full of wickedness and entices and
persecutes us and is altogether bad. Finally, our own guilty
conscience assails us with our past sins, with the fear of death, and
with the pains of hell. All of these afflictions make us weary and
weaken us, unless we seek and find strength in this fellowship.
8. If any one be in despair, if he be distressed by his sinful
conscience or terrified by death, or have any other burden on his
heart, and desire to be rid of them all, let him go joyfully to the
sacrament of the altar and lay down his grief in the midst of the
congregation and seek help from the entire company of the spiritual
body; just as when a citizen whose property has suffered injury or
misfortune at the hands of his enemies makes complaint to his town
council and fellow citizens and asks them for help. Therefore, the
immeasurable grace and mercy of God are given us in this sacrament,
that we may there lay down all misery and tribulation and put it on
the congregation, and especially on Christ, and may joyfully
strengthen and comfort ourselves and say: "Though I am a sinner and
have fallen, though this or that misfortune has befallen me, I will go
to the sacrament to receive a sign from God that I have on my side
Christ's righteousness, He and sufferings, with all holy angels and
all the blessed in heaven, and all pious men on earth. If I die, I am
not alone in death; if I suffer, they suffer with me. I have shared
all my misfortune with Christ and the saints, since I have a sure sign
of their love toward me." Lo, this is the benefit to be derived from
this sacrament, this is the use we should make of it; then the heart
cannot but rejoice and be comforted.
9. When you have partaken of this sacrament, therefore, or desire to
partake of it, you must in turn also share the misfortunes of the
congregation, as was said[9]. But what are these? Christ in heaven and
the angels together with all the saints have no misfortunes of their
own, save when injury is done to the truth and to God's Word; yea, as
we said, every bane and blessing of all the saints on earth affects
them. There your heart must go out in love and devotion and learn that
this sacrament is a sacrament of love, and that love and service are
given you and you again must render love and service to Christ and His
needy ones. You must feel with sorrow all the dishonor done to Christ
in His holy Word, all the misery of Christendom, all the unjust
suffering of the innocent, with which the world is everywhere filled
to overflowing: you must fight, work, pray, and, if you cannot do
more, have heartfelt sympathy. That is bearing in your turn the
misfortune and adversity of Christ and His saints. Here the saying of
Paul applies. "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of
Christ." [Gal. 6:2] Lo, thus you uphold them all, thus they all again
in turn uphold you, and all things are in common, both good and evil.
Then all things become easy, and the evil spirit cannot prevail
against such a community. When Christ instituted the sacrament He
said: "This is My body which is given for you, this is My blood which
is shed for you; as oft as ye do this, remember Me." [Luke 22:19 f.]
As though He said: "I am the Head, I will first give Myself for you,
will make your suffering and misfortune Mine own and bear it for you,
that you in your turn may do the same or Me and for one another, have
all things in common in Me and with Me, and let this sacrament be unto
you a sure token of this all, that you may not forget Me, but daily
call to mind and admonish one another by what I have done or you and
still am doing, that you may be strengthened thereby, and also bear
with one another."
10. This is also a reason, indeed the chief reason, why this sacrament
is received many times, while baptism is administered but once.
Baptism is the beginning and entrance to a new life, in the course of
which boundless adversities assail us through sins and suffering, our
own and those of others. The devil, the world and our own flesh and
conscience, as was said[10] never cease to pursue us and oppress us.
Therefore we need the strength, support and help of Christ and of His
saints, which are pledged us in this sacrament as by a sure token, by
which we are made one with them and are incorporated with them, and
all our suffering is laid down in the midst of the congregation.
Therefore, this holy sacrament is of little or no benefit to those who
have no misfortune or anxiety or do not feel their adversity. For it
is given only to those who need strength and comfort, who have timid
hearts and terrified consciences, and who are assailed by sin, or have
even fallen into sin. What could it do or untroubled and falsely
secure spirits, which neither need nor desire it? For the Mother of
God[11] says, "He filleth only the hungry, and comforteth them that
are distressed." [Luke 1:53]
11. That the disciples, therefore, might by all means be worthy and
well prepared for this sacrament He first made them sorrowful, held
before them His departure and death, by which they were exceeding
troubled. And then He greatly terrified them when He said that one of
them should betray Him. [Matt. 25:21 ff.] When they were thus full of
sorrow and anxiety and were concerned about the sorrow and sin of
betrayal, then they were worthy, and He gave them His holy Body to
strengthen them. By which He teaches us that this sacrament is
strength and comfort for those whom sin and evil trouble and distress;
as St. Augustine also says[12], "This food demands only hungry souls
and is shunned by none so greatly as by a sated soul which does not
need it." Just as the Jews were required to eat the Passover with
bitter herbs, standing and in haste, which also signifies that this
sacrament demands souls that are desirous, needy and sorrowful. Now if
one will make the afflictions of Christ and of all Christians his own,
will defend the truth, oppose unrighteousness, help bear the need of
the innocent and the sufferings of all Christians, he will find
affliction and adversity enough, besides that which his evil nature,
the world, the devil and sin daily inflict upon him. And it is God's
will and purpose to set so many hounds upon us and drive us, and
everywhere provide us bitter herbs, that we may long for this strength
and take delight in the holy sacrament, and thus be worthy of it, that
is, desire it.
12. It is His will, then, that we partake of it frequently, in order
that we may remember Him and exercise ourselves in this fellowship
according to His example. For if His example were no longer kept
before us, the fellowship also would soon be forgotten. So we at
present see to our sorrow that many masses are held and yet the
Christian fellowship which should be preached, practiced and kept
before us by Christ's example has quite perished; so that we hardly
know what purpose this sacrament serves, or how it should be used,
nay, with our masses we frequently destroy this fellowship and pervert
everything. This is the fault of the preachers who do not preach the
Gospel nor the sacraments, but their humanly devised fables concerning
the many works[13] to be done and the ways to live aright.
But in times past this sacrament was so properly used, and the people
were taught to understand this fellowship so well, that they even
gathered material food and goods[14] in the church and there
distributed them among those who were in need, as St. Paul writes [1
Cor. 11:21]. Of this we have a relic in the word "collect,"[15] which
still remains in the mass, and means a general collection, just as a
common fund is gathered to be given to the poor. That was the time
when so many became martyrs and saints. There were fewer masses, but
much strength and blessing resulted from the masses; Christians cared
for one another, assisted one another, sympathized with one another,
bore one another's burden and affliction. This has all disappeared,
and there remain only the many masses and the many who receive this
sacrament without in the least understanding or practicing what it
signifies.
13. There are those, indeed, who would share the benefits but not the
cost, that is, who gladly hear in this sacrament that the help,
fellowship and assistance of all the saints are promised and given to
them, but who, because they fear the world, are unwilling in their
turn to contribute to this fellowship, to help the poor, to endure
sins, to care for the sick, to suffer with the suffering, to intercede
for others, to defend the truth, to seek the reformation of the Church
and of all Christians at the risk of life, property and honor. They
are unwilling to suffer disfavor, harm, shame or death, although it is
God's will that they be driven, for the sake of the truth and their
neighbors, to desire the great grace and strength of this sacrament.
They are self-seeking persons, whom this sacrament does not benefit.
Just as we could not endure a citizen who wanted to be helped,
protected and made free by the community, and yet in his turn would do
nothing for it nor serve it. No, we on our part must make others' evil
our own, if we desire Christ and His saints to make our evil their
own; then will the fellowship be complete and justice be done to the
sacrament. For the sacrament has no blessing and significance unless
love grows daily and so changes a man that he is made one with all
others.
14. To symbolize this fellowship, God has appointed such signs of the
sacrament as in every way serve this purpose and by their very form
incite and move us to this fellowship. Just as the bread is made out
of many grains which have been ground and mixed together, and out of
the many bodies of grain there comes the one body of the bread, in
which each grain loses its form and body and acquires the common body
of the bread, and as the drops of wine losing their own form become
the body of one wine: so should it be with us, and is, indeed, if we
use this sacrament aright. Christ with all saints, by His love, takes
upon Himself our form, fights with us against sin, death and all evil
[Phil. 2:7]; this enkindles in us such love that we take His form,
rely upon His righteousness, life and blessedness, and through the
interchange of His blessings and our misfortunes are one loaf, one
bread, one body, one drink, and have all things in common. This is a
great sacrament,[Eph. 5:32][16] says Paul, that Christ and the Church
are one flesh and bone [Eph. 5:31]. Again, through this same love are
to be changed and to make the infirmities of all other Christians our
own, take upon ourselves their form and their necessity and make
theirs all the good that is within our power, that they may enjoy it
[Judg. 9:2]. That is a real fellowship, and that is the true
significance of this sacrament. In this way we are changed into one
another and are brought into fellowship with one another by love,
without which there can be no such change.
15. He appointed this twofold form, bread and wine, rather than any
other, as a further indication of the union and fellowship in this
sacrament. For there is no more intimate, deep and inseparable union
than the union of the food with him who partakes of it, since the food
enters into and is assimilated with his very nature and becomes one
with his being. Other unions, effected by means of nails, glue, cords
and the like, do not make one indivisible substance of the objects
joined together. In the sacrament we become united with Christ, and
are made one body with all the saints, so that He concerns Himself for
us, acts in our behalf, as though He were what we are--what concerns
us concerns Him as much as us, and even more than us; and, on the
other hand, that we also concern ourselves or Him, as though we were
what He is, as indeed we shall finally be, when we are conformed to
His likeness, as St. John says, "We know that when He shall appear we
shall be like Him" [1 John 3:2]; so complete is the fellowship of
Christ and all the saints with us. Our sins assail Him, His
righteousness protects us; for the union makes all things common,
until at last He completely destroys sin in us and makes us like unto
Himself, at the last day. In like manner, by the same love we are to
be united with our neighbors, we in them and they in us.
16. In addition to this, He did not appoint this twofold form by
itself, but gave His true natural flesh, in the bread, and His natural
and true blood, in the wine, that He might give us a really perfect
sacrament or sign. For just as the bread is changed[17] into His true
natural body and the wine into His true natural blood, so truly are we
also drawn and changed into the spiritual body, that is, into the
fellowship of Christ and all saints, and put by this sacrament in
possession of all the virtues and mercies of Christ and His saints; as
was said above[18] of a citizen who is taken and incorporated into the
city and the protection and freedom of the entire community.
Therefore He instituted not simply the one form, but the two separate
forms, His flesh under the bread, His blood under the wine, to
indicate that not only His life and good works, which are represented
by His flesh and which He accomplished in His flesh, but also His
passion and martyrdom, which are represented by His blood and in which
He shed His blood, are all our own, and by being drawn into this
fellowship we may use and enjoy them.
17. All this makes it clear that this holy sacrament is naught else
than a divine sign, in which Christ and all saints are pledged,
granted and imparted, with all their works, sufferings, merits,
mercies and possessions, or the comfort and strengthening of all who
are in anxiety and sorrow, and are persecuted by the devil, sin, the
world, the flesh and every evil; and that to receive the sacrament is
nothing else than to desire all this and firmly to believe that it
shall be done.
[Sidenote: The Third part of the Sacrament: Faith]
There follows the third part of the sacrament, that is faith, on which
all depends. For it is not enough to know what the sacrament is and
signifies. It is not enough that you know it is a fellowship and a
gracious exchange or blending of our sin and suffering with the
righteousness of Christ and His saints; you must also desire it and
firmly believe that you have received it. Here the devil and our own
nature wage their fiercest fight, that faith may by no means stand
firm. There are those who practice their arts and subtleties to such
an extent that they ask where the bread remains when it is changed
into Christ's flesh, and the wine when it is changed into His blood;
also in what manner the whole Christ, His flesh and His blood, can be
comprehended in so small a portion of bread and wine. What does it
matter? It is enough to know that it is a divine sign, in which
Christ's flesh and blood are truly present--how and where, we leave to
Him.[19]
18. See to it that you exercise and strengthen your faith, so that
when you are sorrowful or your sins afflict you and you go to the
sacrament or hear mass, you do so with a hearty desire for this
sacrament and for what it means, and doubt not that you have what the
sacrament signifies, that is, that you are certain Christ and all His
saints come to you bringing all their virtues, sufferings and mercies,
to live, work, suffer and die with you, and be wholly yours, to have
all things in common with you. If you will exercise and strengthen this
faith, you will experience what a rich and joyous wedding-supper and
festival your God has prepared upon the altar or you. Then you will
understand what the great feast of King Ahasuerus signifies [Esth.
1:5], you will see what that wedding is for which God has slain His
oxen and fatlings, as it is written in the Gospel [Matt. 22:2 ff.],
and your heart will grow right free and confident, strong and
courageous, against all enemies. For who will fear any calamity if he
is sure that Christ and all His saints are with Him and share all
things, evil or good, in common with him? So we read that the
disciples of Christ broke this bread and ate with great gladness of
heart. Since, then, this work is so great that our insignificant
souls dare not desire it, to say nothing of hoping for or expecting it,
it is necessary and profitable to go often to the sacrament, or at
least in the daily mass to exercise and strengthen this faith, on
which all depends and or the sake of which it was instituted. For if
you doubt[20] you do God the greatest dishonor and regard Him as
unfaithful and a liar. If you cannot believe, pray for faith, as was
said above in the other treatise[21].
19. See to it also that you make yourself a fellow of every man and by
no means exclude any one in hatred or anger; for this sacrament of
fellowship, love and unity cannot tolerate discord and dissension. You
must let the infirmities and needs of others burden your heart, as
though they were your own, and offer them your strength, as though it
were their own, as Christ does for you in the sacrament. That is what
we mean by being changed into one another through love, out of many
particles becoming one bread and drink, giving up one's own form and
taking one that belongs to all.[22]
For this reason slanderers and those who wickedly judge and despise
others cannot but receive death in the sacrament, as St. Paul writes
[1 Cor. 11:29]. For they do not unto their neighbor what they seek
from Christ and what the sacrament indicates; they wish them no good,
have no sympathy with them, do not receive them as they desire to be
received by Christ, and then all into such blindness that they do not
know what else to do in this sacrament except to fear and honor Christ
in the sacrament with their prayers and devotion. When they have done
this they think they have done their whole duty, although Christ has
given His body for this purpose, that the significance of the
sacrament, that is, fellowship and mutual love, may be put into
practice, and His own natural body be less regarded than His spiritual
body,[23] which is the fellowship of His saints. What concerns Him
most, especially in this sacrament, is that faith in the fellowship
with Him and with His saints may be rightly exercised and become
strong in us, and that we, in accordance with it, may rightly exercise
our fellowship with one another. This purpose of Christ they do not
perceive and, in their devoutness, they daily say and hear mass, and
remain every day the same; nay, become worse daily, and mark it not.
Therefore take heed; it is more needful that you discern the spiritual
than that you discern the natural body of Christ, and faith in the
spiritual is more needful than faith in the natural. For the natural
without the spiritual profiteth us nothing in this sacrament; a
change[24] must occur and manifest itself through love.
20. There are many who, regardless of this change of love and faith,
rely upon the fact that the mass or the sacrament is, as they say,
_opus gratum opere operato_, that is, a work which of itself pleases
God, even though they who perform it do not please Him. From this they
conclude that, however unworthily masses are said, it is none the less
a good thing to have many masses, since the harm comes to those who
say or use them unworthily. I grant every one his opinion, but such
fables please me not. For, if you desire to speak thus, there is no
creature nor work that does not of itself please God, as is written,
"God saw all His works and they pleased Him." [Gen. 1:31] What good
can result therefrom, if one misuse bread, wine, gold, and every good
creature, though of themselves they are pleasing to God? Nay,
condemnation is the result. So too, here: the more precious the
sacrament, the greater the harm which comes upon the whole
congregation from its misuse. For it was not instituted or its own
sake, that it might please God, but for our sake, that we might use it
rightly, exercise our faith by it, and by it become pleasing to God.
If it is merely an _opus operatum_[25], it works only harm; it must
become an _opus operantis_[26]. Just as bread and wine work only harm
if they are not used, no matter how much they please God of
themselves; so it is not enough that the sacrament be prepared (that
is, _opus operatum_), it must also be used in faith (that is, _opus
operantis_). And we must take heed lest with such dangerous glosses
our minds be turned away from the sacrament's power and virtue, and
faith perish entirely through such false security in the outwardly
completed sacrament. All this results because they give heed in this
sacrament to Christ's natural body more than to the fellowship, the
spiritual body. Christ on the cross was also a completed work[27],
which was well-pleasing to God; but the Jews unto this day have found
it a stumbling block, for the reason that they did not make of it a
work that must be used in faith[28]. See to it, then, that the
sacrament be or you an _opus operantis_, that is, a work that is made
use of, and that it be well-pleasing to God, not because of what it is
in itself, but because of your faith and your right use of it. The
Word of God is also of itself pleasing to God, but it is harmful to me
when it does not please God also within me. In short, such expressions
as _opus operatum_ and _opus operantis_ are nothing but useless words
of men, more of a hindrance than a help. And who could tell all the
abominable abuses and misbeliefs which daily multiply about this
blessed sacrament, although some of them are so spiritual and holy
that they might almost lead an angel astray? Briefly, whoever would
understand the abuses need only keep before him the aforesaid use and
faith of this sacrament; namely, that there must be a sorrowing,
hungry soul, desiring heartily the love, help, and support of the
entire communion of Christ and of all saints, doubting not that in
faith it obtains them, and then, on the other hand, making itself one
with everyone. Whoever does not thus direct and order the hearing or
reading of masses and the reception of the sacrament, errs and does
not use this sacrament to his salvation. For this reason also the
world is overwhelmed with pestilences, wars and other horrible
plagues[29], since with our many masses we only call upon us the more
disfavor.
21. We see now how necessary this sacrament is for those who must face
death, or other dangers of body and soul, since they are not let alone
in them, but are strengthened in the communion of Christ and all
saints. Therefore also Christ instituted it and gave it to His
disciples in their extreme need and danger. Since we are all daily
surrounded by all kinds of danger, and must at last die, we should
humbly and heartily and with all our powers thank the God of all mercy
for giving us a gracious sign, by which, if we hold fast thereto by
faith. He leads and draws us through death and every danger to
Himself, to Christ, and to all saints.
Therefore it is also profitable and necessary that the love and
fellowship of Christ and all saints be hidden, invisible and
spiritual, and that only a bodily, visible and outward sign of it be
given us. For were this love, fellowship and help known to all, like
the temporal fellowship of men, we should not be strengthened nor
trained thereby to put our trust in the invisible and eternal things,
or to desire them, but should much rather be trained to put our trust
only in the temporal, visible things and to become so accustomed to
them as to be unwilling to let them go and to follow God onward; we
should thus be prevented from ever coming to Him, if we followed God
only so far as visible and tangible things led us. For everything of
time and sense must fall away, and we must learn to do without them,
if we are to come to God.
Therefore the mass and this sacrament are a sign by which we train and
accustom ourselves to let go all visible love, help, and comfort, and
to trust in Christ and in the invisible love, help, and comfort of His
saints. For death takes away everything visible, and separates us from
men and temporal things; hence, to meet death, we must have the help
of the invisible and eternal things; and these are indicated to us in
the sacrament and sign, to which we cling by faith, until we attain to
them also by sight. Thus the sacrament is or us a ford, a bridge, a
door, a ship, and a litter, in which and by which we pass from this
world into eternal life. Therefore all depends on faith. He who does
not believe is like one who must cross the sea, but is so timid that
he does not trust the ship; and so he must remain and never be saved,
because he does not embark and cross over. This is due to our
dependence on the senses and to our untried faith which shrinks from
the passage across the Jordan of death--the devil also cruelly helps
toward this.
22. This was indicated of old in Joshua iii [Josh. 3:7 ff.]. After the
children of Israel had gone dry-shod through the Red Sea, a type of
baptism, they went through Jordan in like manner; but the priests
stood with the ark in Jordan, and the water below them lowed by, while
that above them stood upon a heap, a type of this sacrament. The
priests carry and uphold the ark in Jordan when in the hour of our
death or peril they preach and administer to us this sacrament,
Christ, and the fellowship of all saints. I we believe, the waters
below us depart, that is, the temporal, visible things harm us not,
but flee from us. And those above us stand up high, as though they
would overwhelm us; these are the horrors and apparitions of the other
world, which at the hour of death terrify us. If, however, we pay no
heed to them, and pass on with a firm faith, we shall enter into
eternal life dry-shod and unharmed.
We have, therefore, two principal sacraments in the church, baptism
and the bread. Baptism leads us into a new life on earth; the bread
guides us through death into eternal life. And the two are typified by
the Red Sea and the Jordan, and by the two lands, one beyond and one
on this side the Jordan. Therefore our Lord said at the Last Supper:
"I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day
when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom." [Matt. 26:29] So
entirely is this sacrament intended and ordained to strengthen us
against death, and to give us entrance into eternal life.
Finally, the blessing of this sacrament is fellowship and love, by
which we are strengthened against death and all evil. This fellowship
is twofold: on the one hand we partake of Christ and all saints, on
the other hand we permit all Christians to be partakers of us, in
whatever way they and we are able; so that by this sacrament all
self-seeking love is uprooted and gives place to love which seeks the
common good of all, and through this mutual love there is one bread,
one drink, one body, one community,--that is the true union of
Christian brethren. Now let us see how the pretentious brotherhoods,
of which there are now so many, measure up to this and resemble it.