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← Luther's Little Prayer Book (Ein Betbüchlein)/Book 1 · Betbüchlein (Ein Betbüchlein)
Chapter 10Betbuechlein.1.10

Vom Sacrament des Altars

The Freedom and Mark of the Sacrament

The Sacrament is a free gift and a public mark of the Christian faith, to be received in both kinds despite opposition.

Third, we must continue speaking about the holy Sacrament. We've already said that no one should be forced into it, but should be left free. Beyond that, there is still more to say about both kinds.1 I have said before that among us, from now on, no one should administer only one kind: whoever wants the Sacrament should take it in full.2 We have preached and pressed this point long enough that there is no reason to assume anyone is left who doesn't understand it. But if someone is still so dull, or chooses to remain so weak, that he can't grasp it, we let him go; it is just as well that he stay away from it. If someone were to hear God's Word for so long, and be carried along with every care, and still keep saying, "I don't understand it," that would be a bad sign.3 It isn't possible that you could hear it for so long and still not be enlightened. So if you remain blind, it is better that you not be given the Sacrament. If you can't grasp the Word, which is clear and certain, then don't grasp the Sacrament either. After all, the Sacrament would be nothing if the Word were not there. And now it has spread so thoroughly throughout the whole world that even those who oppose it know it. But because these people aren't weak, but obstinate and hardened, and dig in against it headfirst—and yet they hear that we prove our teaching so clearly from Scripture that they can't answer it or bring anything up against it, but still cling to their Roman Church—they want to force us by violence to follow it.4 Therefore, yielding and putting up with it no longer apply, because they want to defy us and claim as a right whatever they teach and do. So we'll take both kinds, precisely because they want to forbid it to us.5 Therefore, with these people, there's no longer any need to worry about giving offense.6 But if there were a place where the Gospel hadn't been heard, it would be fair and Christian to accommodate the weak for a time.7 As we also did at first, when this matter was still too new. But now, because people set themselves against it like this and want to suppress it by force, sparing them no longer applies.8 It's also a good thing that God governs and orders matters so that this Sacrament is not without persecution. He instituted it for this reason: that it should be the watchword and distinguishing mark of Christendom, by which people could know us.9 For if we didn't have it, no one could know where and which people were Christians, or where the Gospel was bearing fruit. But when people go to the Sacrament, you can see who they are—the ones who have heard the Gospel. After that, you can also pay attention to whether they live as Christians. So this is a distinguishing mark by which people know us, so that we also confess God's name—that we are not ashamed of his Word.10 So when the Pope sees that I go to the Sacrament and receive both kinds according to the Gospel, that is11 a testimony that I intend to hold to the Gospel.12 If he then starts to get angry and wants to kill me, then things are going as they should—just as they first went in Christendom, when the Christians also confessed God by this same sign.13 Our bishops have forbidden receiving both kinds. If we want to confess Christ now, we must go and receive both kinds, so that people will know we are Christians and hold to the word of God.14 If they strangle us for it, then we should suffer it; God will give us life back richly enough.✦ That's why it's right that we're persecuted this way; otherwise, if it all went with honor, there would be no true confession there. So we remain in a right standing when we must expect shame, disgrace, and even death for the Lord's sake, just as it was in the early Church.15

The Words of Institution and Personal Faith

Believers must know the words of institution for themselves to defend their faith and understand the promise of the Sacrament.

Further, I've said that it isn't enough for you to go to the Sacrament unless you're certain and know a defense for yourself, so you can give the ground and reason that you're doing the right thing. So that you'll be equipped if someone attacks you, and can defend yourself against the devil and the world with God's Word. That's why you can't simply rely on someone else's faith. You have to believe for yourself just as much as I do, since you have to fight just as much as I do. Therefore, above all else, you must know well the words with which Christ instituted the Sacrament—namely these. On the night Jesus was betrayed, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take, eat; this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.✦ In the same way, after they had eaten the evening meal, he also took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and said: Drink from it, all of you. This is the cup of the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.16 These are words that neither they nor the devil can deny; we must take our stand on them. And let them interpret it however they like: we still have God's Word, which clearly says that the bread is Christ's body, given for us, and the cup is his blood, poured out for us.17 That is what he tells us to do: to remember him as we do it.✦ But the pope has commanded that people not do it this way.18 Yes, they say, "We're laypeople and we go astray; we don't understand it and can't interpret it." So we answer back: Interpreting it belongs to us just as much as to them. For we're just as much commanded to believe in Christ, confess the faith, and keep all God's commandments as they are. For we have the very same God they want to have. How are we supposed to believe in him and not know or understand his Word? Since I am commanded to believe, I must also know the words I am supposed to believe—for how can I believe without the Word?✦ What's more, I must also stand firm on it, know how to defend myself with it, and refute what people throw up against it. That way you can shut those people's mouths. My faith has to be every bit as good as yours; therefore I must have and know the Word just as well as you.19 As when the Evangelist says here: Jesus took the cup and gave it to the✦20 disciples, and said, "Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the New Testament, which is poured out for you," and so on.✦21 These words are clear enough, and no one is so dull that they don't understand what they mean: "Take and drink from it, all of you. This is the cup of the New Testament in my blood."✦ So we say: unless they teach us that “drink” means something other than what the whole world means by it, we stand by this—that we all ought to drink from the cup. Now, let whatever will stand against it—whether custom or councils—we reply: God is older and greater than all things.22 Likewise, these words are also clear: "Do this in remembrance of me." Tell me, who is supposed to remember the Lord? Is it said only to the priests, and not to all Christians?23 But what is remembering him, if not preaching about him and confessing him? Should we all, then, [remember] the24 remember the Lord, then both must also have been given to us to take: to eat from the bread and to drink from the cup. No one can deny that.✦25 It doesn't do you any good to cover it up and claim we shouldn't know the words. If we aren't supposed to know them, then what are you even doing? You want to be a shepherd, after all, and you should be there for this very reason: so that you teach me and them and preach it to them.26 And so, with these rotten excuses, you have to confess your own shame and bite your own tongue for daring to speak so shamelessly against the truth.2728

The Treasure of Forgiveness

The Sacrament is a treasure of grace for the forgiveness of sins, intended for those who feel their need and weakness.

You can see how a person should embrace the words of the Sacrament and hold them as certain—for the entire power rests on that. We all must know these same words, understand them, and cling to them by faith, so that we can defend ourselves with them and drive our enemies back.29 So when you want to go to the Sacrament, listen to the words, and take it that the whole treasure lies right there—what you should stand on and rely on. For they are truly spoken to you: "My body is given; My blood is poured out" (says Christ). For what?✦ Just so that you should eat and drink it?30 No—it is for the forgiveness of sins.✦ That is exactly what concerns you, and everything else that happens and is spoken here serves only this purpose: that your sins should be forgiven. But if it serves to forgive sins, it must also be effective for overcoming death—because where sin is gone, death is gone too, and hell along with it.✦ Where these are gone, all misery is gone too, and every blessedness must be there.31 That is where the great treasure lies. Focus on that, and leave behind the foolish busywork that universities fuss and worry over: how the body of Christ is present and hidden under such a small form.32 Put such wonders out of your sight, cling to the Word, and aim at this: that you receive real benefit and fruit from the Sacrament—namely this, that your sins are forgiven you. Therefore you must prepare yourself so that the words hit home with you. That happens when you feel your sin biting and frightening you—when you lie under the assault of the flesh, the world, and the devil.✦33 At times you are angry and impatient; at others, greed, anxiety about your livelihood, and similar things attack you. You never stop meeting many stumbles, and sometimes coarse sins slip in too, so that you fall and the soul is wounded.34 Then you are a poor, wretched person: you fear death, grow discouraged, and cannot find joy. Then there is time enough and reason enough for you to go, confess, lay your need before God, and say: Lord, you have instituted and left us the Sacrament of your body and blood for this very reason, that people should come there to receive forgiveness of sins.✦ So I feel that I need it. I have fallen into sins, and I stand in fear and despair; I am not bold enough to confess your Word; I have so many failings, and still more.35 That is why I come now: so that you would heal me, comfort me, and strengthen me, and so on. That's why I've said that no one should be given the Sacrament unless he first knows how to state that this is how things stand with him — namely, that he says what he lacks and seeks to receive strength and comfort there through the Word and the Sign. Anyone who cannot use it this way should stay away from it, rather than acting like those who torment themselves so miserably when they go to the Sacrament, yet have no idea at all what they are doing. Now when you've received the Sacrament, go on and exercise your faith. That's what the Sacrament is for — so that you can then say: There I have, publicly, the word that my sins are forgiven. And with that public sign taken into my mouth, I can bear witness to it, just as I have also publicly confessed it before the devil and the whole world. When death and a bad conscience assail you, you can lean on this and defy the devil and sin, strengthening your faith and making your conscience glad toward God; you’ll improve day by day, whereas otherwise you’ll remain sluggish and cold, and the more you pull away from it, the more unfit you become.36 But if you feel that you are unfit, weak, and without faith, where else will you find strength if not here? If you wait until you are first pure and strong, you’ll almost certainly never get there—and then the Sacrament will be of no use to you either. This would be the right use of the Sacrament: that consciences are not tormented, but become confident and joyful. For God did not give it so that it would be poison and torment, something to dread—as we have done through the distorted teaching, as if we were supposed to offer our piety to God there—and we have hidden the words that were given to us for comfort and salvation, to strengthen the conscience, refresh it, make it joyful, and free it from every misery.37 So this is how you should take it, and not look at the Sacrament as anything other than pure, sweet grace, comfort, and life within it. For those who go boldly up to it without feeling any weakness, frailty, or need that should drive them there—as if they were already pure and godly—it is poison and death. But it wants those who recognize their failings and feel that they are not godly, and yet would gladly become so. It all comes down to that kind of awareness. We are all frail and sinners, it’s true—but not all of us recognize it. Let this be enough about how one should prepare for the Sacrament and conduct oneself toward it: to exercise and strengthen faith through the words in the Sacrament — that the body and the blood were given and poured out for us for the forgiveness of sins. Through those words all the benefit, fruit, and proper use of the Sacrament are sufficiently shown and expressed, so far as we receive it for ourselves.✦

The Fruit of Love and Mutual Bearing

True reception of the Sacrament bears fruit in Christian love, where believers serve one another as Christ has served them.

The second part that follows from the first is now Christian love, and we should pay close attention to that as well. For we are also bound to let the benefit and fruit of the Sacrament show, and to be able to prove that we have received it to good purpose. Now we see that it is received throughout the whole world in so many Masses. But where does anyone see any fruit that actually follows afterward? But this is the fruit now: that we in turn let ourselves be eaten and drunk, just as we have eaten and drunk the body and blood of the Lord Christ, and that we also speak these words to our neighbor.✦38 Take it; eat and drink—so that it isn't a mockery but serious: that you give yourself over with your whole life, as Christ has done in these words with everything he is.✦ It is as if he were saying: Here I am myself, the one who is given for you. I give you this treasure; what I have, you should have too. When you lack something, I will lack it too. There you have my righteousness, life, and blessedness, so that neither sin nor death, hell, or any misfortune should overpower you.✦✦39 As long as I am righteous and live, you too will remain godly and alive.✦40 He speaks these words to us, and we must take hold of them too and speak them to our neighbor—not only with our mouths, but also with our deeds. Namely like this: Look, my dear brother, I have received my Lord; he is mine, and now I have more than enough and all fullness.✦ So now you take too what I have; all of it shall be yours, and I will put it up for you as well. If it is necessary that I die for you, then I will do that too.✦41 This is the goal set for us here in this Sacrament: that such a demonstration toward our neighbor may appear in us.42 But it's true: we won't reach the point of becoming so perfect that we stake our soul, body, possessions, and honor for another. We still live in the flesh, and it is so deeply rooted in us that we can't offer this sign and proof with such purity. Because of this lack, Christ instituted the Sacrament for us to practice, so that we may receive from it what we still lack in this regard.43 After all, what else will you do if you don't find that within yourself? You must always bring it to him as well and say: "See, this is where I fall short. You give yourself to me so richly and abundantly, but I cannot do the same in return for my neighbor. I confess this to you and pray: let me become so rich and so strong that I may do it too." And even though it is indeed impossible that we should become so perfect, we should still sigh for it; and though we lack it, we should not despair, so long as such desire remains in us that we would gladly do it. But this is not the least part of love or self-giving: being able to let go of my own conceit.44 I can certainly give my neighbor material goods and physical service through my own effort and labor; I can also serve them through teaching and intercession. Likewise, I can visit and comfort them when they are sick or distressed, feed them when they are hungry, free them if they are imprisoned, and so on.✦ But the greatest thing of all is when I can bear my neighbor's weakness.✦ But a shortcoming will still remain among us: we can't do it fully the way Christ has done. He is the pure, bright sun, with no fog in it; next to that, our light is barely a straw set on fire against this sun. There is a glowing oven full of fire and perfect love—and yet he is content when we only light a little candle and put ourselves forward a little, as if we meant to let love shine out and burn.45 This is the shortcoming we all see and feel in one another. No one should ever judge and say, "That is not Christ." Instead, look at how he acted in the Gospel, when he so often let his disciples play the fool and stumble, letting his wisdom yield and serve their folly. He didn't condemn them, but endured their weakness, telling them: "Where I am going, you cannot come now."✦ Likewise, to46 Peter, what I am doing, you do not know now.✦ Through such love, He sets aside His justice, judgment, power, vengeance, and punishment, along with the claim He holds over us and our sins.47 He could easily condemn us for our foolishness, yet He does nothing more than say, "You're in the wrong; you don't understand a thing." But He doesn't cast us off; instead, He comforts us. That is why I say it is no small example of love that we can bear with our neighbor when he is weak in faith or in love.48 But again, even though Christ deals so kindly with his disciples, we aren't allowed to use that as an excuse to approve of weakness or sin. For afterward he says to Peter, "What I am doing now you will only understand later." There he only granted the weakness time, and bore with it.49 It was as if he meant to say: I will put up with your lack of understanding and weak faith for your sake, and I will spare you, as long as you hold onto this truth—that you still have further to go and intend to get there—but not so that you become lazy and overconfident.50 Therefore we must not let ourselves grow lazy once we've received the Sacrament, but be diligent and careful to grow in love, take our neighbor's need to heart, and lend him a hand where he suffers want and needs our help.✦51 If you don't do that, you aren't a Christian—or at best, you're a weak one—even if you boast that you've received the Lord, with all that He is, in the Sacrament.✦52 But if you want to be sure whether you've gone to the Sacrament fruitfully, you can't hit on a better test than to watch how you treat your neighbor. You shouldn't measure it by how much devotion you felt, or by how sweetly the words taste in your heart.53 Those are good thoughts, to be sure, but they aren't certain, and they can fail you. But by this you'll be sure that it's working powerfully in you: look at how you stand toward your neighbor.54 If you find it so—that the Word and the sign or Sacrament soften and move you so that you're well disposed toward your enemy, take your neighbor's need to heart, and help him bear his misery and suffering—then things are right.✦✦ Otherwise, if you don't do that, you'll remain uncertain—even if you received the Sacrament a hundred times a day with such great devotion that you even wept for joy. For such wonderful devotion is nothing before God; it comes on so sweetly, and it's every bit as dangerous as it is good.55 That's why, above all else, we must be certain of this in ourselves, as St. Peter says: Make every effort to make your calling firm through good works. The Word and the Sacrament are, of course, quite certain in themselves—for God himself bears witness to them, along with all the angels and devout people. But what's still lacking is in you: whether you also give that same testimony. So even if all the angels and the whole world testify about you that you've received the Sacrament fruitfully, that is still much weaker than the testimony you yourself give. But you can't reach that unless you look at your own life — whether it shines forth and has worked in you and borne fruit.56 If there’s no fruit, and you feel that you’re staying exactly as you were before and not caring for your neighbor, then you have reason to change your approach—because that’s not a good sign. Even Peter had to hear it—though he was devout and wanted to die for Christ and work miracles. But what will you do?✦ Do you still feel evil desire, anger, impatience, and the rest? Then you have a need that drives you to the Lord Christ, so that you can complain of it to him and say: I go to the Sacrament, and yet I remain as before, without fruit. I have received such a great treasure, and it just lies there with me idle and unused—this is what I complain of to you.57 If you have given and granted me this treasure, then also grant that it may produce fruit and a different nature in me, prove itself, and show itself toward my neighbor.58 When you now begin a little to put it into practice, you will grow ever stronger, and from day to day break forth more and more. For this life is nothing more than a life of faith, of love, and of the holy cross. But these three will never be perfect in us while we live on earth, and no one possesses them perfectly except Christ alone, who is the sun, and who has been given and set before us as an example we must imitate. That’s why among us you’ll always find some who are weak, some who are strong, and others who are even stronger. These can suffer little, the others much—and so all must remain in the likeness patterned after Christ.59 For this life is a journey of just that kind, in which you keep pressing on from faith to faith, from love to love, from patience to patience, or from cross to cross. It’s not righteousness, but justification; not purity, but purification. We haven’t yet arrived where we ought to be, but we’re on the path and on the way, and on it some have gone farther and farther.60 God is content to find us in the labor and the resolve. When he wills, he comes quickly and strengthens faith and love, and in a single moment takes us out of this life into heaven.61 But because we live on earth, we must always bear with one another, just as Christ has borne with us, seeing that none of us is wholly perfect. Christ hasn't just set this before us through his own example and handed it down through the Word, but has also portrayed it in the form of the Sacrament—namely, in bread and wine. We hold that under the bread and wine is the true body and blood of Christ, as it also is.✦62 There we see one thing and believe another—and in that, faith is set before us. For when we hear the Word and receive the Sacrament, we have only a plain word and work—and yet in them we grasp life and every good thing, and God himself as well.63 Love, too, is pictured in these signs and forms. First, in the bread: for when the grains lie in a heap and have not been crushed, each one is its own body by itself and is not mixed with the others; but when they are crushed together, one body is made out of them all.✦ It’s the same with wine: if you don't press the grapes, each one keeps its own shape. But once they are pressed, everything flows together and becomes a single drink. So that you can no longer say, "This flour was in this grain," or "This little drop was in this berry"—for each one has crept into the form of the other, and so one bread and one drink have come from them.64 Saint Paul explained it this way:65 Cor.66 10. We who are many are one bread and one body, we who all share in one bread. We eat the Lord through faith in the Word, which the soul takes to itself and partakes of.67 In the same way, my neighbor eats me in turn: I give him my goods, my body, my life, and everything I have, letting him enjoy and use it all for every need. Likewise, I need my neighbor in turn; I am also poor and wretched, and I let myself be helped and served in return.68 In this way we are woven into one another, so that one helps the other as Christ has helped us—which is what it means to eat and drink one another spiritually. Let this now be said as a further word about the Sacrament: after we have gone to it, we should then pay attention to love—by which we ourselves become sure whether we have received the Sacrament fruitfully, and by which we can also show the same toward others—so that we do not merely run up to it and yet remain just as we were before. Therefore we should, as I have said, turn from our own devotion and thoughts to our real life toward the neighbor, and take that as our mirror, so that we take it seriously.69 The Sacrament should so deal with us that it transforms us and makes us into different people. For God's word and work won't sit idle; they will accomplish great things—namely, that we become free and released from sins, death, and70 the devil, and that we fear nothing.71 And yet again, that we become servants of the least person on earth, and not be burdened by this at all, but glad that we may find someone who needs our help—and that we let ourselves feel anxious that we have so much good and are not putting it to use.72 If the Sacrament doesn't produce these results, then it's to be feared that it does harm. Yet even if it is not so fully powerful, we should not on that account cast out the imperfect and the weak, but only those who are lazy and brazen and think it is enough that they have run over and fetched the Sacrament.73 You must become different and prove it; then you can sense through the sign that God is with you, and your faith will become certain and secure. For you can well feel whether you are becoming more joyful and bold than you were before.74 Before, when we heard about death and thought about sin, the world would grow too narrow for us. If we no longer feel that way now, it isn't by our own strength. For before we couldn't get there, even when we put more effort into it and wanted to help ourselves with works.75 Likewise, you can also tell whether you're kindly disposed toward the person who has wronged you, and whether you have compassion for the one who is sick. In this way, you can sense whether it is bearing fruit in you through your own life.76 If you don't feel these things, then lay your lack and need before God, as we all must do our whole lives long, since (as we have said) no one is perfect. Let that be enough about this for now.

Read the original Latin

AVffs Dritte / müssen wir weiter vom heiligen Sacrament reden. Zuuor haben wir gesagt / daß man niemand dazu zwingen / sondern frey lassen sol. Vber das ist noch von beyder gestalt zu reden.

Ich hab vorhin gesagt / daß man bey vns hinfort nicht solle Eine gestalt reichen / Wer das Sacrament haben wil / der sol es gar holen. Denn wir habens nu lang gnug gepredigt vnnd getrieben / daß nicht zu vermuten ist / daß da jemand sey / der es nicht hab können verstehen. Ist aber jemand noch so grob / oder wil so schwach seyn / daß ers nicht fassen kan / den lassen wir gehen / Es ist eben so gut / daß er dauon bleibe. Solt einer Gottes Wort so lange hören / vnnd sich auff den Henden tragen lassen / vnd doch immer sagen / Ich verstehe es nicht / das were kein gut Zeichen. Denn es ist nicht müglich / daß du es so lange soltest hören / vnnd dennoch nicht erleucht werden. Weil du denn blind bleibest / so ists besser / daß man dir das Sacrament nicht gebe. Kanstu das Wort nicht fassen / das doch helle vnd gewis ist / so fasse auch das Sacrament nicht. Were doch das Sacrament nichtes / wenn das Wort nicht were.

Auch ist es nu also erschollen / durch vnnd durch in die Welt / daß es auch die wissen / so dawieder sind.

Weil aber dieselben nicht schwach / sondern verstockt vnd verhertet sind / vnnd sich dawieder mit dem Kopff setzen / vnnd doch hören / daß wir vnsere Lehre so klar mit der Schrifft beweisen / daß sie nichts dazu antworten / noch dargegen etwas auffbringen können / sondern bleiben bey jhrer Römischen Kirchen / wollen vns mit gewalt dazu dringen / daß wir jhn folgen. Darumb gilt nu nicht mehr weichen noch leiden / weil sie vns wollen trotzen / vnd für ein recht haben / was sie lehren vnd thun.

So wollen wir beyde gestalt nehmen / eben darumb / daß sie es vns weren wollen. Darumb ist hie nicht mehr das Ergernis anzusehen bey diesen Leuten. Wenn aber ein ort were / da das Euangelion nicht gehöret were / da were es billich vnnd Christlich / daß man eine zeitlang sich den schwachen eben machte. Wie wir zum ersten / da diß ding noch zu new war / auch gethan haben. Nu aber / weil man sich also dawieder setzet / vnd wil es mit gewalt teuben / gilt es nicht mehr schonens.

Es ist auch ein fein ding / daß Gott also regiert vnnd ordnet / daß diß Sacrament nicht ohn Verfolgung sey / Denn er hat es drumb eingesetzt / daß es der Christenheit Losung vnd Malzeichen sey / dabey man vns kennen könte. Denn wenn wirs nicht hetten / könte man nicht wissen / wo vnnd welche Christen weren / vnnd wo das Euangelion Frucht schaffete. Wenn man aber zum Sacrament gehet / so sihet man / wer sie sind / die das Euangelion gehöret haben. Darnach kan man auch achtung haben / ob sie Christlich leben. Also ist das ein Malzeichen / dabey man vns kennct / damit wir auch Gottes Namen bekennen / daß wir vns seines Worts nicht schemen.

Wenn nu der Bapst sihet / daß ich zum Sacrament gehe / vnd nehme beyde Gestalt nach dem Euangelio / so ist das

Zeugnis da / daß ich ans Euangelion wil. Fehet er denn an zu zürnen vnnd wil mich erwürgen / so gehet es recht / wie es zum ersten in der Christenheit gangen ist / da die Christen auch bey diesem Warzeichen Gott bekenneten.

Vnsere Bischoffe haben beyde Gestalt verboten / wollen wir nu Christum bekennen / so müssen wir hingehen vnd beyde gestalt nemen / daß man wisse / daß wir Christen sind / vnnd vber dem wort Gottes halten. Würget man vns darüber / so sollen wir leiden / Gott wird vns das Leben reichlich gnug wieder geben.

Darumb ists recht / daß wir also verfolget werden / sonst wenn es in ehren gienge / so were kein recht Bekentnis da. Also bleiben wir in einem rechten Stand / daß wir müssen Schande vnd Schmach / vnnd dazu des Todes gewarten vmb des HERRN willen / wie es in der ersten Kirchen gangen ist.

Weiter habe ich gesagt / daß es nicht gnug sey / daß du zum Sacrament gehest / du seyest denn gewis vnd wissest einen schutz für dich / damit du küntest Grund vnnd Vrsach anzeigen / daß du recht daran thust. Auff daß du gerüstet seyest / wenn man dich angreiffen würde / vnnd küntest dich für dem Teuffel vnnd der Welt schützen mit Gottes Wort. Drumb kanstu nicht auff eines andern Glauben hingehen / Denn du must für dich selbst gleuben eben so wol als ich / denn du eben so wol streiten must als ich. Darumb mustu für allen dingen die Wort wol wissen / damit Christus das Sacrament eingesetzt hat / Nemlich diese.

IN der Nacht da Jesus verraten ward / nam er das Brod / dancket vnd brachs / vnd gabs den Jüngern vnd sprach: Nemet / esset / das ist mein Leib / der für euch gegeben wird / das thut zu meinem Gedechtnis.

Desselbigen gleichen nam er auch den Kelch / nach dem sie zu Abend gessen hatten / vnd dancket / vnnd gab jhn den / vnnd sprach: Trincket alle daraus / Das ist der Kelch des newen Testaments in meinem Blut / das für euch vergossen wird / zu vergebung der Sünde / Solches thut / so offt jhr trincket / zu meinem Gedechtnis.

Diß sind Wort / die weder sie noch der Teuffel leugnen können / drauff müssen wir stehen. Vnnd las sie es glosieren / wie sie wollen / so haben wir Gottes Wort klar / das da sagt / Das Brod sey Christus Leib / für vns gegeben / vnnd der Kelch seines Bluts für vns vergossen. Das heist er vns thun / daß wir sein dabey gedencken. So hat der Bapst geboten / man sol es nicht also thun.

Ja sagen sie / Wir sind Leyen vnnd irren / verstehens nicht vnnd könnens nicht außlegen. So sagen wir wider / Vns gebürt es eben so wol auß zu legen als jenen / Denn vns ist eben so wol geboten / an Christum zu gleuben vnd den Glauben zu bekennen / vnd alle Gebot Gottes zu halten / als jhenen. Denn wir haben eben den Gott / den sie haben wollen / Wie sollen wir den gleuben / vnd sein Wort nicht wissen noch verstehen?

Weil mir denn geboten ist zu gleuben / so muß ich ja auch die Wort wissen / die ich gleuben sol / Denn wie kan ich ohn wort gleuben? Dazu muß ich auch feste darauff stehen / vnd mich wissen damit zu schützen / vnnd wiederlegen was man dagegen auffwirfft / Also kanstu jenen das Maul stopffen vnnd schliessen / Mein Glaube muß je eben so gut seyn / als deiner / darumb muß ich je das Wort so wol haben vnnd wissen als du.

Als wenn hie der Euangelist saget / Jesus nam den Kelch vnnd gab jhn den

Jüngern / vnnd sprach: Trincket alle daraus / Das ist mein Blut des Newen Testaments / welchs für euch vergossen wird etc. Diese Wort sind je klar gnug / vnd ist niemand so grob / der nicht verstehe / was da heisse / Nemet hin vnd trincket alle drauß / Das ist der Kelch des Newen Testaments in meinem Blut.

Darumb sagen wir / Es sey denn daß sie vns lehren / daß trincken etwas anders heisse / denn wie es die gantze Welt heisset / so bleiben wir dabey / daß wir alle aus dem Kelch trincken sollen. Es stehe nu dawieder was da wolle / gewonheit oder Concilia, So sagen wir dargegen / Gott ist elter / vnd grösser denn alle ding.

Item / So sind diese Wort auch klar / Das thut zu meinem Gedechtnis. Hie sage mir / Wer sol des HERRN gedencken? Ist es allein den Pfaffen / vnnd nicht allen Christen gesagt? Was ist aber sein gedencken anders / denn von jhm predigen vnnd jhn bekennen? Sollen wir denn alle des

HERRN gedencken / so muß vns je auch beydes gegeben seyn zu nehmen / vom Brod zu essen / vnd vom Kelch zu trincken / das kan je niemand leugnen.

Darumb hilffts nichts / daß du einen Deckel darüber machest / vnnd sagest / wir sollen die Wort nicht wissen. Sollen wirs nicht wissen / was thustu denn? Wiltu doch ein Hirt seyn / vnd soltest darumb da seyn / daß du mich sie vnterweisest vnd fürpredigest. Vnd must also mit den faulen Thedingen deine eigene schande bekennen / vnd dich selbst in die Zungen beissen / daß du so vnuerschampt wieder die Warheit reden darffst.

Also sihestu / wie man die Wort des Sacraments fassen / vnd gewis halten sol / deñ da ligt die macht alle an. Dieselbẽ müssen wir alle wissen / verstehen vnd mit dem Glauben daran hangen / daß man sich damit könte wehren / vnd die Feinde zu rücke schlagen.

Wenn du nu zum Sacrament wilt gehen / so höre die Wort / vnnd halt es dafür / daß da der Schatz gar ligt / darauff du stehen vnd dich verlassen sollest. Denn sie eigentlich zu dir gesprochen werden / Mein Leib wird gegeben / Mein Blut wird vergossen (sagt Christus) Wozu? Daß du es allein essen vnd trincken sollest? Nein / sondern zu vergebung der Sünden. Das ist eben das dich trifft / Vnd alles ander was sonst hie geschicht vnd gesprochen wird / dienet alleine dazu / daß dir deine Sünde sollen vergeben werden.

Sol es aber zur vergebung der Sünden dienen / so muß es auch gut seyn den Todt zu vberwinden / Denn wo die Sünde weg ist / da ist auch der Todt hinweg / vnd die Helle dazu. Wo diese hinweg sind / da ist auch alles Vnglück hinweg / vnnd muß alle Seligkeit da seyn. Da da ligt der grosse Schatz / da sihe auff / vnnd las das Narrenwerck faren / damit die hohen Schulen vmbgehen vnnd sich bekümmern / wie der Leib Christi da sey / vnd sich verberge vnter einer solchen kleinen Gestalt. Solch Wunderwerck setze aus den Augen / vnnd hange an dem Wort vnnd trachte darnach / daß du Nutz vnnd Frucht von dem Sacrament habest / nemlich diese / daß dir deine Sünde vergeben werden.

Darumb mustu dich also schicken / daß dich die Wort treffen. Das geschicht denn / wenn du fühlest / daß dich deine Sünde beisset vnnd erschrecket / daß du in Anfechtung ligst des Fleisches / der Welt vnd des Teuffels. Hie bistu zornig vnnd vngedultig / jtzt fichtet dich der Geitz an vnd sorge der Narung etc. Daß du ohn vnterlas viel anstösse hast / vnd zu weilen auch grobe stück mit lauffen / daß du fellest vnnd die Seele verletzt wird. So bistu denn ein arm elend Mensche / fürchtest dich für dem Todt / wirst verzagt / vnnd kanst nicht frölich seyn.

Da ist zeit vnnd vrsach gnug / daß du hin gehest / beichtest vnnd deine Noth für Gott klagest vnd sprechest / HERR du hast das Sacrament deines Leibs vnd Bluts darumb eingesetzt vnnd vns gelassen / daß man da vergebung der Sünde holen sol. So füle ich daß ich sein nottürfftig bin / Ich bin in Sünden gefallen / vnd stehe in Furcht vnd verzagen / bin nicht küne dein Wort zu bekennen / habe so viel vnd so viel Gebrechen. Darumb kom ich nu / daß du mich heilest / tröstest vnd sterckest etc.

Darumb habe ich also gesagt / daß man das Sacrament keinem geben solle / er wisse denn zuuor anzugeben / daß es also vmb jhn stehe / Nemlich daß er sage / was jhm feile / vnd begere da Stercke vnd Trost zu holen / durch das Wort vnd das Zeichen. Wer es nu nicht also brauchen kan / der bleibe dauon / vnnd thu nicht wie die thun / die sich auff diese zeit so jämmerlich Martern / wenn sie zum Sacrament gehen / vnd doch gar nicht wissen / was sie thun.

Wenn du nu das Sacrament geholet hast / so gehe fort vnd vbe deinen Glauben / da dienet das Sacrament zu / daß du denn köntest sagen: Da habe ich öffentlich das wort / daß mir die Sünde vergeben sind. Dazu auch das öffentliche Zeichen in meinem Munde genommen / das kan ich bezeugen / wie ichs auch öffentlich bekant habe / für dem Teuffel vnnd aller Welt.

Wenn dich nu der Todt vnd das böse Gewissen anficht / kanstu darauff stönen / vnnd trotzen wieder den Teuffel vnnd die Sünde / vnd also deinen Glauben stercken / vnnd das Gewissen frölich machen gegen Gott / vnnd wirst also gebessert / von tage zu tage / da du sonst träg vnnd kalt bleibest / vnd je mehr du dich dauon zeuchst / je vngeschickter du wirst. Fülestu aber daß du vngeschickt / schwach / vnnd ohn Glauben seyest / wo wiltu anders stercke holen denn hie? Wiltu so lange harren / biß du zuuor rein vnnd starck werdest / so kömpstu wol nimmermehr dazu / vnd ist dir auch das Sacrament kein nütz.

Diß were der rechte brauch des Sacraments / damit die Gewissen nichts gemartert / sondern getrost vnd frölich werden. Denn Gott hat es nicht gegeben / als solt es ein Gifft vnd Marter seyn / daß man dafür erschrecken solt / wie wir gethan haben / durch die verkerete Lehre / als solten wir da vnser frömigkeit Gott opfferen / vnd haben die Wort / die vns zu Trost vnnd Heyl gegeben sind / die Gewissen zu stercken / erquicken / frölich vnd los von allem vnglück zu machen / verborgen.

Also solt man es fassen / vnd das Sacrament nicht anders ansehen / denn daß drinne eytel süsse Gnade / Trost vnd Leben sey. Den jenigen ist es ein Gifft vnnd Todt / so da frech hinan gehen / keine Schwachheit / Gebrechen oder Noth fühlen / die sie dazu treiben solte / gleich als weren sie zuuor rein vnd from. Solche wil es aber haben / die jhre Gebrechen erkennen / vnd fühlen daß sie nicht from sind / vnd doch gerne from werden wolten. Also ligt es allein an solchem fühlen / Denn wir sind zwar alle gebrechlich vnnd Sünder / wir erkennens aber nicht alle.

Diß sey gnug gesagt / wie man sich gegen dem Sacrament bereiten vnnd halten sol / den Glauben zu vben vnd stercken durch die Wort im Sacrament / daß der Leib vnnd das Blut für vns gegeben vnnd vergossen sey / zu vergebung der Sünde / durch welche Wort gnugsam angezeiget vnnd außgetruckt ist aller Nutz / Frucht vnnd Brauch des Sacraments / so ferne wir sein für vns selbst geniessen.

Das ander Stück das aus dem ersten folget / heist nu die Christliche Liebe / drauff man auch wol achtung haben sol. Denn wir sind auch schüldig / daß wir den Nutz vnd Frucht des Sacraments scheinen lassen / vnd beweisen können / daß wir es nützlich empfangen haben. Itzt sehen wir / daß es durch alle Welt in so viel Messen empfangen wird. Wo sihet man aber irgent einige Frucht die auch hernach folget?

Dis ist aber nu die Frucht / daß wir vns wieder lassen essen vnnd trincken / wie wir des HERRN Christi Leib vnd Blut gessen vnd getruncken haben / vnd auch zu vnserm Nehesten diese Wort sprechen. Nim hin / iß vnd trinck / daß es nicht ein spot / sondern ernst sey / daß du dich dahin gibst mit allem deinem Leben / wie Christus in diesen Worten gethan hat / mit allem das er ist. Als solt er sagen / Da bin ich selber / der für dich wird gegeben / den Schatz schencke ich dir / was ich habe / das soltu auch haben / wenn dirs mangelt / sol mirs auch mangeln / Da hastu meine Gerechtigkeit / Leben vnnd Seligkeit / daß dich weder Sünde noch Tod / Helle vnd alle Vnglück vberweltigen sol. So lang ich gerecht bin vnd lebe / so lange soltu auch from vnnd lebend bleiben.

Solche Wort spricht er zu vns / die müssen wir auch fassen / vnd gegen vnsern Nehesten reden / nicht allein mit dem Munde / sondern auch mit der That / Nemlich also / Sihe mein lieber Bruder / Ich habe meinen HERRN empfangen / der ist mein / Vnd habe nu vberig gnug vnd alle fülle. So nim du nu auch was ich habe / das sol alles dein seyn / vnd ich wil es auch für dich da setzen / Ist es noth / daß ich für dich sterben sol / so wil ichs auch thun. Dis Ziel ist vns hie in diesem Sacrament gesteckt / daß solche beweisung gegen dem Nehesten in vns erscheine.

Das ist aber wahr / wir werdens nicht dahin bringen / daß wir so vollkommen werden / daß einer Seele / Leib / Gut vnnd Ehre für den andern setze / Wir leben noch im Fleische / das so tieff in vns gewurtzelt ist / daß wir dis Zeichen vnnd Beweisung nicht können so reine geben. Vmb des mangels willen hat Christus das Sacrament auch eingesetzt zur vbung / daß mans da hole / was vns hierinne fehlet. Denn was wiltu sonst thun / wenn du das nicht bey dir findest? Du must es je jhm auch klagen vnnd sprechen: Sihe / daran fehlet mirs / du gibst dich mir so reichlich vnnd vberflüssig / Ich kan aber nicht widerumb also thun gegen meinem Nehesten / das klage ich dir vnnd bitte / Las mich doch so reich / so krefftig werden / daß ichs auch thun könne. Vnnd ob es wol vnmüglich ist / daß wir so vollkommen mügen werden / so sollen wir dennoch darnach seufftzen / vnd ob es vns mangelt / nicht verzweyffelen / so ferne solche Begierde in vns bleibet / daß wirs gern thun wolten.

Dis ist aber nicht das geringste stück der Liebe oder hingebens / wenn ich kan meinen dünckel hinweg geben. Meinem Nehesten kan ich wol zeitlich Gut vnnd Leiblichen dienst geben / mit meiner mühe vnnd arbeit / ich kan jhm auch dienen mit der Lehre vnd Fürbit. Item daß ich jhn heimsuche vnd tröste / wenn er kranck oder betrübt ist / speise / wenn jhn hungert / löse / so er gefangen ist etc.

Aber das ist das aller gröste / wenn ich des Nehesten schwachheit tragen kan.

Es wird aber ein mangel vnter vns bleiben / daß wirs nicht vollkömlich thun können als Christus gethan hat. Er ist die reine helle Sonne / darinne kein Nebel ist / dargegen ist vnser Liecht kaum als ein Strohalm angezündet gegen diese Sonne. Dort ist ein glüender Backofen vol Fewers vnd vollkommener Liebe / noch ist er zu frieden wenn wir nur ein Kertzlin anzünden / vnd vns ein wenig stellen / als wolten wir die Liebe herfür leuchten vnd brennen lassen.

Dis ist nu der mangel / den wir alle vntereinander sehen vnd spüren / da sol bey leib niemand Vrtheilen / vnnd sprechen / das ist nicht Christus / sondern sihe / wie er gethan hat im Euangelio / da er seine Jünger so offt narren vnd strauchlen lest / vnd damit seine Weißheit jhrer Thorheit lesset weichen vnnd dienen / verdampt sie nicht / sondern duldet jhre schwachheit / vnnd sprich zu jhn: Wo ich hingehe / da könnet jhr itzt nicht kommen. Item zu

Petro / Was ich thu / das weistu jtzt nicht.

Durch solche Liebe gibt er dahin seine Gerechtigkeit / Vrtheil / Gewalt / Rach vnd Straffe / vnd das recht / so er vber vns vnd vnsere Sünde hat. Er könd vns wol verdammen vmb vnser thorheit willen / Noch thut er nicht mehr denn daß er sagt / du thust vnrecht / du weist nichts. Wirfft vns aber nicht hinweg / sondern tröstet vns. Darumb sage ich / daß es nicht ein geringe Exempel der Liebe sey / daß man den Nehesten könte tragen / wenn es schwach ist im Glauben / oder in der Liebe.

Wiederumb aber ist vns nicht zugelassen / ob Christus gleich mit seinen Jüngern so freundlich handelt / daß man darumb die schwachheit oder Sünde billichen solle. Denn er hernach zu Petro spricht / Was ich jtzt thu / wirstu erst hernach wissen. Da hat er alleine der schwachheit frist gegeben / vnd dieselbe getragen. Als solt er sagen / Den Vnuerstand vnd schwachen Glauben wil ich vmb deinen willen tragen / vnd dir schonen / so ferne du in dieser erkentnis bleibest / daß du noch bas heran müssest / vnd denckest / du woltest hernach / nicht daß du faul vnd zu sicher werdest.

Darumb sollen wir vns nicht träge lassen machen / wenn wir das Sacrament empfangen haben / sondetn fleissig seyn / vnd acht haben / daß wir in der Liebe zunemen / vnd vns des Nehesten notturfft annehmen / vnnd jhm die handreichen / wo er noth leidet / vnnd vnser hülffe bedarff. Thustu das nicht / so bistu nicht ein Christen / oder je ein schwacher Christ / ob du gleich dich rhümest / du hast den HERRN mit allem was er ist empfangen im Sacrament. Wiltu aber gewis seyn / ob du Fruchtbarlich zum Sacrament gegangen seyest / so kanstu es nicht besser treffen / denn daß du acht habest / wie du dich gegen deinem Nehesten erzeigest. Du darffst nicht darnach gedencken / wie grosse andacht du gehabt habest / oder wie wol dir die wort im Hertzen schmecken. Es sind wol gute gedancken / es ist aber nicht gewis vnd kan dir fehlen. Damit wirstu aber gewis / daß es in dir krefstig sey / daß du darauff sehest / wie du gegen deinem Nehesten stehest. Findestu es also / daß dich die Wort vnd das Zeichen oder Sacrament erweichen vnnd bewegen / daß du deinem Feind hold seyest / vnd dich deines Nehesten annimpst / vnnd hilffest jhm seinen Jammer vnd Leid tragen / so gehets recht.

Sonst wo du das nicht thust / so bleibstu vngewis / wenn du einen Tag hundert mal des Sacraments genössest mit so grosser andacht / daß du auch für frewden weinetest. Denn solche wünderliche Andacht für Gott nichts ist / die so lieblich eingehet / vnd wol so fehrlich / als sie gut ist. Darumb müssen wir für allen dingen des bey vns selbst gewis seyn / wie S. Petrus sagt / Thut fleis ewren Beruff fest zu machen / durch gute Werck. Es ist zwar wol gewis an jhm selbst / das Wort vnnd Sacrament / Denn darüber zeuget Gott selbst mit allen Engeln vnnd frommen Leuten. Aber es fehlet noch an dir / ob du auch dasselb Zeugnis gebest. Darumb wenn gleich alle Engel vnnd die gantze Welt von dir zeuget / daß du das Sacrament nützlich genommen hast / so ist es doch viel schwecher / denn das Zeugnis das du selbst gibst: Aber dazu kanstu nicht kommen / du schest denn dein wesen an / ob es herfür leuchte / vnd in dir gewircket vnd Frucht geschaffet habe.

Wo denn die Frucht nicht folgen wil / vnd du fühlest / daß du jmmerdar bleibest wie zuuor / vnd dich des Nehesten nicht annemest / so hastu vrsach / daß du dich anders drein stellest / denn es ist kein gut Zeichen. Must es doch Petrus auch hören / der doch from war / vnd wolt für Christum sterben vnd wunder thun / Wie wiltu aber thun? Fülestu noch böse Lust / Zorn / Vngedult etc. So hastu abermal eine noth die dich treibet vnd jaget zum HERRN Christo / daß du es jhm klagest / vnnd sprechest: Ich gehe zum Sacrament / vnd bleibe dennoch wie vor ohn Frucht / Ich habe so grossen Schatz empfangen / der bleibt da bey mir ligen vnnd rugen / das klage ich dir. Hastu mir den Schatz gegeben vnnd geschenckt / so gib auch / daß er Frucht vnnd ein ander wesen in mir schaffe / sich beweise / vnnd erzeige gegen meinem Nchesten. Wenn du dich nu ein wenig anhebest zu beweisen / so wirstu immer stercker werden / vnd von tage zu tage mehr herfür brechen.

Denn dis Leben ist nicht anderst / denn ein Leben des Glaubens / der Liebe vnd des heiligen Creutzes.

Aber diese drey werden nimmer in vns vollkommen / weil wir auff Erden leben / vnnd hat sie niemand vollkommen / denn allein Christus / der ist die Sonne / vnnd vns gegeben vnnd gesetzt zum Beyspiel / dem wir nachömen müssen. Darumb findet man allezeit vnter vns etliche / die da schwach / vnnd etliche / die da starck sind / vnd aber etliche die noch stercker sind. Diese können wenig / die andern viel / leyden / vnnd müssen also alle bleiben in dem Ebenbilde nach Christo. Denn diß Leben ist ein solcher Wandel / darinne man immerdar fort feret von Glauben in Glauben / von Liebe in Liebe / von Gedult in Gedult / oder von Creutz in Creutz. Es ist nicht Gerechtigkeit / sondern Rechtfertigung / nicht Reinigkeit / sondern Reinigung / Wir sind noch nicht kommen / dahin wir sollen / wir sind aber auff der Bahn vnd im Wege / darauff sind etliche weiter vnnd weiter. Gott ist zu frieden / daß er vns findet in der Arbeit vnnd Fürsatz / Wenn er wil / so kömpt er bald vnnd stercket den Glauben vnd die Liebe / vnnd setzt vns in einem Augenblick aus diesem Leben in Himmel. Weil wir aber auff Erden leben / müssen wir immerdar ein ander tragen / wie vns Christus getragen hat / angesehen / daß vnser keiner gantz vollkommen ist.

Solches hat vns Christus nicht allein fürgebildet durch sein eigen Exempel / vnd durch das Wort dargegeben / sondern auch in der Gestalt des Sacraments abgemahlet / nemlich / in Brod vnnd Wein. Wir halten / daß vnter dem Brod vnnd Wein sey der wahre Leib vnd das Blut Christi / als es auch ist. Da sehen wir anders / vnnd gleuben anders / darinne der Glaube fürgebildet ist. Denn wenn wir das Wort hören / vnnd das Sacrament nehmen / so haben wir ein schlecht Wort vnd Werck / noch ergreiffen wir darinnen das Leben vnd alles Gut / dazu auch Gott selbst.

Also ist auch die Liebe abgemalct in diesen Zeichen vnd Gestalten. Zum ersten im Brod / Denn wenn die Körner auff einem hauffen ligen / vnnd nicht gestossen sind / so ist ein jeglichs für sich ein eigen Leib / vnnd wird nicht mit dem andern vermischet / Wenn sie aber zusammen gestossen werden / so wird aus allen ein Leib.

Darnach geschicht solches auch im Wein / wenn man die Beer nicht drucket / so behelt ein jgliches seine Gestalt für sich. Wenn sie aber außgedruckt werden / fleusset es alles zusammen / vnnd wird ein Tranck. Daß man nicht mehr sagen kan / das Meel ist in diesem Korn gewesen / oder das Tröpfflin in dieser Beer / denn es ist ein jgliches in des andern Gestalt gekrochen / vnd ist also ein Brod vnd ein Tranck daraus worden.

Also hat es S. Paulus auch gedeutet 1. Cor. 10. Wir viel / sind ein Brod vnnd ein Leib / die wir alle eines Brodes theilhafftig sind. Wir essen den HERRN durch den Glauben des Worts / das die Seele zu sich nimpt vnd sein geneusset. So isset mein Nehester mich wieder / mein Gut / Leib vnd Leben gebe ich jhm / vnd alles was ich habe / vnd las jhn des alles geniessen vnd gebrauchen zu aller notturfft. Item so darff ich meines Nehesten wieder / bin auch Arm vnnd Elend / vnnd las mir wieder helffen vnnd dienen. Also werden wir in einander geflochten / daß einer dem andern hilfft / wie vns Christus geholffen hat / Welches Geistlich einander essen vnd trincken heist.

Diß sey nu zur Zugabe vom Sacrament gesagt / wenn wir hingegangen sind / daß wir denn achtung haben sollen auff die Liebe / dadurch wir für vns selbst gewis werden / ob wir Fruchtbarlich das Sacrament empfangen haben / vnnd dasselbe auch gegen andern beweisen können / auff daß wir nicht hinzu lauffen / vnd doch immer bleiben wie zuuor. Darumb sollen wir vns (wie ich gesagt habe) von vnser eigener Andacht vnd gedancken geben / auff das wesen gegen den Nehesten / vnnd den Spiegel für vns nehmen / also daß wir es vns lassen ein ernst seyn.

Das Sacrament sol also mit vns vmbgchen / daß es vns wandele vnd ander Leute mache. Denn die Wort vnd Werck Gottes wollen nicht müssig seyn / sondern gros ding schaffen / Nemlich / daß wir frey vnd los werden von Sünden / Todt vnnd

Teuffel / vnnd vns für keinem ding fürchten. Vnd doch wiederumb Knechte werden des aller geringsten Menschen auff Erden / vnd vns des gar nicht beschweren / sondern froh werden / daß wir jemand finden mügen / der vnser hülffe darff / vnnd vns lassen bang seyn / daß wir so viel Guts haben vnd nicht anlegen sollen.

Wo nu das Sacrament solches nicht schafft / so ist zu fürchten / daß es schaden thu. Doch ob es nicht so gantz krefftig ist / sol man die vnuollkommenen vnd schwachen darumb nicht hinweg werffen / sondern nur allein die / so da faul vnnd frech sind / vnd meynen es sey daran genug / daß sie hin gelauffen sind / vnd das Sacrament geholet haben. Du must anders werden vnnd dich beweisen / so kanstu durch das Zeichen spüren / daß Gott bey dir ist / so wird dein Glaube gewiß vnd sicher / Denn du kanst je wol fühlen / ob du frölicher vnd kühner werdest / denn du vor gewesen bist.

Vorhin wenn wir vom Tode höreten / vnnd an die Sünde gedachten / wolt vns die Welt zu enge werden. Fühlen wir nu jtzt solches nicht mehr / so ist es vnser eigene Krafft nicht / Denn vorhin kunten wir dahin nicht kommen / da wir auch mehr fleis daran wendeten / vnd vns selbst mit Wercken helffen wolten.

Item / so kanstu auch fühlen / ob du dem hold seyest / der dir leid gethan hat / vnnd dich erbarmest des / der kranck ist. Also kanstu spüren / ob es Frucht bey dir schaffe durch dein eigen Leben. Fühlestu solches nicht / so klage Gott deinen mangel vnnd noth / wie wir denn alle thun müssen vnser Lebenlang / Sintemal (wie wir gesagt haben) niemand vollkommen ist. Das sey dauon auff dißmal gnug.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Matt.10.39;John.10.10 — Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. John.10.10 — The thief does not come except to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
  2. ↩1Cor.11.23-1Cor.11.24;Matt.26.26;Mark.14.22;Luke.22.19 — For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 1Cor.11.24 — and having given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' Matt.26.26 — While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and having blessed it, he broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." Mark.14.22 — And while they were eating, he took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, 'Take; this is my body.' Luke.22.19 — And he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.'
  3. ↩Luke.22.19;1Cor.11.24-1Cor.11.25 — And he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' 1Cor.11.24 — and having given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' 1Cor.11.25 — In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."
  4. ↩Rom.10.14 — How then will they call on the one in whom they have not believed? And how will they believe in the one they have not heard? And how will they hear without someone proclaiming?
  5. ↩Matt.26.27;Mark.14.23;Luke.22.20;1Cor.11.25 — And taking a cup, and giving thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you. Mark.14.23 — And he took a cup, and having given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. Luke.22.20 — In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you." 1Cor.11.25 — In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."
  6. ↩Matt.26.27-Matt.26.28;Mark.14.23-Mark.14.24;Luke.22.20 — And taking a cup, and giving thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you. Matt.26.28 — For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Mark.14.23 — And he took a cup, and having given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. Mark.14.24 — And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, poured out for many." Luke.22.20 — In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you."
  7. ↩Luke.22.20;1Cor.11.25 — In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you." 1Cor.11.25 — In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."
  8. ↩Matt.26.26-Matt.26.28;Mark.14.22-Mark.14.24;Luke.22.19-Luke.22.20;1Cor.11.23-1Cor.11.26 — While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and having blessed it, he broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." Matt.26.27 — And taking a cup, and giving thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you. Matt.26.28 — For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Mark.14.22 — And while they were eating, he took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, 'Take; this is my body.' Mark.14.23 — And he took a cup, and having given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. Mark.14.24 — And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, poured out for many." Luke.22.19 — And he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' Luke.22.20 — In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you." 1Cor.11.23 — For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 1Cor.11.24 — and having given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' 1Cor.11.25 — In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." 1Cor.11.26 — For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
  9. ↩Matt.26.26-Matt.26.28;Mark.14.22-Mark.14.24;Luke.22.19-Luke.22.20;1Cor.11.24-1Cor.11.25 — While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and having blessed it, he broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." Matt.26.27 — And taking a cup, and giving thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you. Matt.26.28 — For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Mark.14.22 — And while they were eating, he took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, 'Take; this is my body.' Mark.14.23 — And he took a cup, and having given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. Mark.14.24 — And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, poured out for many." Luke.22.19 — And he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' Luke.22.20 — In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you." 1Cor.11.24 — and having given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' 1Cor.11.25 — In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."
  10. ↩Matt.26.28 — For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
  11. ↩Matt.26.28 — For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
  12. ↩1John.2.15-1John.2.16;Eph.6.11-Eph.6.12 — Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 1John.2.16 — For all that is in the world—the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the pride of life—is not from the Father, but is from the world. Eph.6.11 — Put on the full armor of God, so that you are able to stand against the schemes of the devil. Eph.6.12 — For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
  13. ↩Matt.26.26-Matt.26.28;Mark.14.22-Mark.14.24;Luke.22.19-Luke.22.20;1Cor.11.23-1Cor.11.25 — While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and having blessed it, he broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." Matt.26.27 — And taking a cup, and giving thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you. Matt.26.28 — For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Mark.14.22 — And while they were eating, he took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, 'Take; this is my body.' Mark.14.23 — And he took a cup, and having given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. Mark.14.24 — And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, poured out for many." Luke.22.19 — And he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' Luke.22.20 — In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you." 1Cor.11.23 — For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 1Cor.11.24 — and having given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' 1Cor.11.25 — In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."
  14. ↩Matt.26.26-Matt.26.28;Mark.14.22-Mark.14.24;Luke.22.19-Luke.22.20;1Cor.11.24-1Cor.11.25 — While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and having blessed it, he broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." Matt.26.27 — And taking a cup, and giving thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you. Matt.26.28 — For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Mark.14.22 — And while they were eating, he took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, 'Take; this is my body.' Mark.14.23 — And he took a cup, and having given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. Mark.14.24 — And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, poured out for many." Luke.22.19 — And he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' Luke.22.20 — In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you." 1Cor.11.24 — and having given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' 1Cor.11.25 — In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."
  15. ↩Matt.26.26-Matt.26.28;1Cor.11.23-1Cor.11.26 — While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and having blessed it, he broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." Matt.26.27 — And taking a cup, and giving thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you. Matt.26.28 — For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 1Cor.11.23 — For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 1Cor.11.24 — and having given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' 1Cor.11.25 — In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." 1Cor.11.26 — For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
  16. ↩Matt.26.26-Matt.26.27;Mark.14.22-Mark.14.23 — While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and having blessed it, he broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." Matt.26.27 — And taking a cup, and giving thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you. Mark.14.22 — And while they were eating, he took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, 'Take; this is my body.' Mark.14.23 — And he took a cup, and having given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
  17. ↩Luke.22.19;1Cor.11.24 — And he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' 1Cor.11.24 — and having given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.'
  18. ↩Rom.8.38-Rom.8.39;1Cor.15.55-1Cor.15.57 — For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither the present nor the future, nor powers Rom.8.39 — nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord 1Cor.15.55 — Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? 1Cor.15.56 — The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 1Cor.15.57 — But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
  19. ↩John.14.19;Gal.2.20 — Yet a little while, and the world will see me no longer; but you will see me, because I live, and you also will live. Gal.2.20 — I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
  20. ↩John.1.16;Col.2.9-Col.2.10 — For from his fullness we all received, grace upon grace. Col.2.9 — For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, Col.2.10 — and in him you have been made complete, who is the head of every ruler and authority
  21. ↩John.15.13 — No one has greater love than this: that someone lay down his life for his friends.
  22. ↩Matt.25.35-Matt.25.36 — For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you welcomed me in; Matt.25.36 — I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited me; I was in prison and you came to me.
  23. ↩Gal.6.2;Rom.15.1 — Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Rom.15.1 — We who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those who are weak, and not to please ourselves.
  24. ↩John.13.7 — Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand."
  25. ↩John.13.7 — Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand."
  26. ↩Lev.19.18;Matt.22.39 — You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD. Matt.22.39 — And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
  27. ↩Rom.14.1 — Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on opinions.
  28. ↩Matt.5.44 — But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
  29. ↩Gal.6.2 — Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
  30. ↩Matt.26.35;John.13.37 — Peter said to him, "Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you." And all the disciples said the same. John.13.37 — Peter said to him, "Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you."
  31. ↩Matt.26.26-Matt.26.28;1Cor.11.23-1Cor.11.25 — While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and having blessed it, he broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." Matt.26.27 — And taking a cup, and giving thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you. Matt.26.28 — For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 1Cor.11.23 — For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 1Cor.11.24 — and having given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' 1Cor.11.25 — In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."
  32. ↩1Cor.10.17 — Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Early New High German 'beyder gestalt' is the Reformation term for Communion under both kinds (bread and wine), as the next section confirms by rejecting 'Eine gestalt' only.
  2. 2 ↩Eine gestalt / gar holen: communion under one kind versus both kinds (bread and cup). gar holen means to receive the Sacrament completely, i.e. in both kinds.
  3. 3 ↩sich auff den Henden tragen lassen: idiomatic for being handled with extreme care/nurture, not literal carrying.
  4. 4 ↩Early modern jhn is taken as ihm/ihn referring to their Roman Church (or its practice): force us to follow it. Follow them (the opponents) is also possible if the pronoun is read as collective.
  5. 5 ↩beyde gestalt = both kinds/species of the Sacrament (bread and wine), the Reformation practice of communion under both forms.
  6. 6 ↩Ergernis = offense/scandal (stumbling block to the weak). Given the prior section, these people are not the weak but the obstinate, so pastoral concern for scandal no longer restrains the practice.
  7. 7 ↩sich den schwachen eben machte = accommodate / adapt oneself to the weak (make oneself even with them), not 'make the weak even'.
  8. 8 ↩teuben = Early New High German for täuben/töuben, 'to stun, deafen, stifle/suppress'; here 'suppress by force'.
  9. 9 ↩Losung is the challenge-word/password by which one's own are recognized; Malzeichen is a visible brand or mark. Rendered as 'watchword and distinguishing mark' to keep both the recognition-code and the public-sign sense.
  10. 10 ↩Source surface 'kennct' read as 'kennt' (knows); translation follows that obvious Early New High German form.
  11. 11 ↩beyde Gestalt: communion under both kinds (bread and wine), the Lutheran practice claimed as Gospel order against withholding the cup from the laity.
  12. 12 ↩Continues the incomplete previous sentence ('so ist das …'): Early New High German 'Zeugnis da' is the witness/proof itself; 'ans Euangelion wil' means to stand by / go by the Gospel, not merely to want the book.
  13. 13 ↩'Warzeichen' (Wahrzeichen) is the distinctive mark/token; in context it is Communion in both kinds as the public sign of confession, not a generic emblem.
  14. 14 ↩"beyde Gestalt" is the Reformation technical term for Communion under both kinds (bread and wine), not mere outward "form" or appearance.
  15. 15 ↩rechten Stand: the proper Christian condition/estate of readiness to suffer for Christ, not a legal 'status' in the modern sense.
  16. 16 ↩German 'newen Testaments' rendered as 'new covenant' for modern clarity (Luther's Testament here tracks the biblical διαθήκη / testamentum of the Words of Institution, not the later NT book-collection sense).
  17. 17 ↩glosieren = to gloss/allegorize with scholastic commentary that softens the plain sense of the institution words; not mere 'explain.'
  18. 18 ↩also thun = 'do it thus/this way,' pointing back to Christ's plain command (and likely the full use of the institution words / both kinds / memorial practice as Luther frames it). So is adversative against Christ's command in s3.
  19. 19 ↩„das Maul stopffen vnnd schliessen“ is blunt early-modern idiom for silencing opponents; rendered as „shut those people's mouths“ to keep the force without mock-archaic diction.
  20. 20 ↩Section ends mid-clause; the next section continues with the disciples and the words of institution over the cup.
  21. 21 ↩Continues the previous section's incomplete clause ('Jesus took the cup and gave it to the…'); 'Jüngern' is the object of that gift.
  22. 22 ↩Concilia keeps the Latin plural for church councils; ‘custom’ renders gewonheit (usage/tradition opposed to the plain word).
  23. 23 ↩Pfaffen is Luther's pointed term for the clerical estate (priests/clergy); rendered as 'priests' to keep the polemical contrast with 'all Christians' without archaic or slang coloring.
  24. 24 ↩Source sentence is truncated mid-phrase at 'des'; completion continues in Betbuechlein.1.10.21 as 'HERRN gedencken...' ('remember the Lord...'). Bracketed 'remember' supplies the obvious governing sense for readability without inventing the unfinished words.
  25. 25 ↩Continues the previous section’s unfinished clause (“Sollen wir denn alle des…”): “Should we all then remember the Lord…?” The English keeps the printed section’s own wording while making the logical force of so clear.
  26. 26 ↩mich sie: first-person singular plus third-person plural—addressed to the pastor as teacher of both the speaker and the wider flock.
  27. 27 ↩faulen Thedingen: Early New High German for rotten/worthless excuses or empty legalistic talk; rendered as 'rotten excuses'.
  28. 28 ↩wieder die Warheit: 'wieder' here = wider ('against'), not 'again'.
  29. 29 ↩Dieselben points back to die Wort des Sacraments in s1; rendered as “these same words.” Feinde is left as “enemies” (spiritual adversaries in context), not narrowed to a specific class of foe.
  30. 30 ↩allein here means 'merely/only,' not solitary reception: the point is that eating and drinking are not the whole purpose.
  31. 31 ↩Seligkeit rendered as 'blessedness' (full salvation-bliss), not mere good mood; Vnglück as 'misery' covering spiritual calamity, not only bad luck.
  32. 32 ↩hohen Schulen = the scholastic universities/faculties; Narrenwerck is Luther's sharp contempt for speculative mode-of-presence questions versus trust in the promise.
  33. 33 ↩Anfechtung is Luther's dense term for spiritual assault/temptation/trial; rendered as 'assault' to keep the active force of being beset, not mere mild 'temptation'.
  34. 34 ↩anstösse can mean stumbles, offenses, or occasions of sin; 'stumbles' keeps the fall imagery that culminates in fellest. grobe stück = gross/coarse deeds (serious lapses), not minor slips.
  35. 35 ↩"so viel vnd so viel Gebrechen" is emphatic enumeration (many and still many failings/defects); rendered as "so many failings, and still more" rather than a flat "so many defects."
  36. 36 ↩ENHG stönen is read as stützen (lean/rely on), paired with trotzen (defy); less likely as stöhnen (groan). The antecedent of darauff is the publicly received Sacrament and its word of forgiveness from the preceding section.
  37. 37 ↩Early New High German 'frömigkeit' here means piety/godliness offered as one's own righteousness before God, not mere religious feeling; the contrast is with the words of the Sacrament given for comfort and salvation.
  38. 38 ↩lassen essen und trinken: not literal cannibalism, but the fruit of Communion—giving ourselves to the neighbor as Christ has given himself to us in his body and blood.
  39. 39 ↩weder Sünde noch Tod / Helle vnd alle Vnglück: the German joins two pairs loosely; rendered as one escalating list under the governing 'neither... should overpower you.'
  40. 40 ↩from (fromm): rendered 'godly' for natural modern English; 'pious' or 'devout' are also possible.
  41. 41 ↩für dich da setzen: put/set it out for you—self-offering language mirroring Christ's gift in the previous section (Nim hin / iß vnd trinck), not mere transfer of goods.
  42. 42 ↩beweisung: demonstration/proof/showing—here the enacted evidence of self-giving love toward the neighbor, not a mere verbal claim.
  43. 43 ↩vbung: practice/exercise of love, not mere habit-forming drill; the Sacrament is given so the missing self-giving may be received and trained there.
  44. 44 ↩Early New High German dünckel (Dünkel) means conceit, self-opinion, or clinging to one’s own judgment; rendered here as “conceit.” hingebens is self-giving/self-surrender, paired with Liebe.
  45. 45 ↩Early modern 'noch' here is adversative ('yet/nevertheless'), not temporal 'still'. 'zu frieden' = content/satisfied. 'uns ein wenig stellen / als wollten wir' means making even a modest show or effort of willingness, not mere pretense for show.
  46. 46 ↩Source is an incomplete catch-line fragment ("Item zu"). Neighboring section 42 begins "Petro / Was ich thu...", so the intended reading is almost certainly the start of "Item zu Petro..." split across the section break.
  47. 47 ↩gibt er dahin: Christ forgoes / surrenders the exercise of his judicial rights; rendered 'lays aside' for natural modern force without softening the legal claim (das recht).
  48. 48 ↩tragen den Nächsten: 'bear with' keeps the sense of patient forbearance (not mere physical support), matching Christ's forbearing of the disciples' weakness in the surrounding sections.
  49. 49 ↩frist gegeben = granted a respite/time (deferred full reckoning); getragen = bore with / put up with the same weakness, not merely carried it as a load.
  50. 50 ↩bas heran müssest: older German bas = better/further; the sense is still having to advance closer in understanding, not remaining where you are. zu sicher = too secure / presumptuously sure of yourself.
  51. 51 ↩Source reads 'sondetn'; translated as 'sondern' ('but rather'), the only sense that fits the contrast with not growing lazy.
  52. 52 ↩'oder je ein schwacher Christ' rendered 'or at best a weak Christian'; ENHG 'je' here softens the second option as the better of two poor outcomes, not 'ever/always'.
  53. 53 ↩'Du darffst nicht darnach gedencken' taken as 'you shouldn't measure/judge by' (ENHG dürfen often = need/ought not), not mere permission.
  54. 54 ↩'krefstig' read as 'kräftig' (powerful/effective). Second 'daß' taken as the means of assurance (by looking at neighbor-relations), not a second independent content clause.
  55. 55 ↩wünderliche Andacht: 'wonderful/wondrous devotion' — rapturous feeling in reception, not settled devout discipline. fehrlich = gefährlich (dangerous).
  56. 56 ↩schest read as siehest (you look/see); nützlich genommen = received usefully/fruitfully; wesen = one's life/conduct, not abstract essence alone.
  57. 57 ↩ligen vnnd rugen: rest/lie idle; rendered as unused spiritual treasure left inactive rather than mere physical rest.
  58. 58 ↩Source surface Nchesten is almost certainly Nehesten (neighbor), matching s1; translated as neighbor.
  59. 59 ↩Ebenbilde nach Christo: image/likeness patterned after Christ; rendered to keep both the formative 'image' sense and the imitation sense.
  60. 60 ↩Gerechtigkeit/Rechtfertigung and Reinigkeit/Reinigung keep Luther's process-vs-completed-state contrast: not a finished state already possessed, but an ongoing being-made-right and being-cleansed.
  61. 61 ↩Fürsatz = firm purpose/resolve (Vorsatz); not mere wish, but settled intent alongside Arbeit (the working).
  62. 62 ↩Early New High German 'vnter dem Brod vnnd Wein' keeps the Lutheran sacramental idiom 'under' the bread and wine rather than flattening it to 'in' or a generic presence formula.
  63. 63 ↩'schlecht' is taken in the Early New High German sense 'plain/simple/mere,' not modern German 'bad.'
  64. 64 ↩gekrochen ('crept/crawled into') is Luther's concrete image of total intermixture: the separate grain and drop can no longer be told apart once they share one form as bread and drink—the sign of believers joined in love.
  65. 65 ↩The trailing '1' belongs with the split citation in s2–s3 (1 Cor. 10).
  66. 66 ↩Book abbreviation in the citation '1. Cor. 10'; expanded sense is Corinthians.
  67. 67 ↩'Glauben des Worts' rendered as faith in the Word (faith that receives the Word), not mere intellectual assent.
  68. 68 ↩Early modern 'darff' here is need/bedürfen, not modern permission 'dürfen'.
  69. 69 ↩Early New High German 'wesen gegen den Nehesten' is rendered as 'real life toward the neighbor' (conduct/substance of neighbor-love over private interior feelings); alternative: 'how we actually are toward our neighbor'.
  70. 70 ↩Source sentence ends mid-list at 'Todt vnnd'; the following section continues with 'Teuffel' (the devil). Translation preserves the incomplete source boundary.
  71. 71 ↩Sentence fragment continuing the previous unit: free and released from sins, death, and the devil, and that we fear nothing.
  72. 72 ↩anlegen: put to use / invest / employ (one's goods or gifts), not merely 'lay down'.
  73. 73 ↩"faul vnnd frech" rendered as "lazy and brazen": idle neglect plus shameless presumption about mere outward reception.
  74. 74 ↩"das Zeichen" rendered as "the sign" — Luther’s sacramental language for the Sacrament as outward sign through which God is known to be present.
  75. 75 ↩"solches" ("that way") most naturally looks back to the crushing sense of death and sin in s1 (the world grown too narrow). In context it also contrasts with the prior section's fruits of the Sacrament (joy, boldness): the relief is not achieved by our own power or works.
  76. 76 ↩es ("it") most naturally points back to the Sacrament of the Altar / communion discussed in this chapter, not an explicit noun in the sentence.

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