Martin Luther “Kidnapped”

After his speech before the German nation at Worms, Luther remained in Worms for eight days. The Emperor gave a speech to the Diet, written by his own hand, in which he vowed like his ancestors to be a faithful son of the church. He would move against Luther and all who supported him. The estates (the noble rulers of all the German territories and representatives of the free cities) pledged to support the Emperor, but requested a chance to try one more time to change the reformers mind. The efforts were sincere, but since they did not promise Luther a hearing to be decided by Scripture a sound reason alone, it did not succeed. Yet the time was not wasted.

While the Emperor and papal ambassador Aleander drafted a edict to sanction Luther and his friends, in effect an arrest warrant and warrant to seize their property, plans were being made by the court of Electoral Saxony to carry Luther away to safety. The elector approved the plan, but did not want to be told the details of the effort. Luther and his close friends, including Amsdorf, were quietly informed of the initiative, but the details were not provided. The idea was to have Luther drop out of sight quietly as to both protect him and to avoid upsetting the Emperor. Instructions were sent ahead to the Warden of the Castle Wartburg, overlooking the city of Eisenach, where Luther attending elementary school.

Philip of Hesse issued a safe conduct through his territory to Luther and his party. Elector Frederick provided 40 Gulden to finance the trip and arranged a farewell dinner. On 26 April, Luther left Worms to travel home to Wittenberg via Hesse and his boyhood region, where he intended to visit relatives. The imperial herald accompanied them as far as Hesse, where Luther gratefully dismissed him, stating he felt safe for the balance of the trip. In fact, they were reducing the number of people who would be able to identify his “captors,” escorts from the Saxon army really.

On the 3rd of May, Luther preached in Eisenach. He left more of his friends there, taking only Amsdorf and a few others to go on to Möhra, where his relatives lived. On May 4th, on their way back from his relatives, a force “attacked” Luther’s party. Some ran away, the few attendants and driver not aware of the plan held at crossbow point. Luther was hustled out of the cart, Amsdorf making a show of cursing and protesting the treatment. Luther was forced to run alongside the horses until they were out of sight. He was then provided a horse and the party proceeded with detours to throw of possible pursuit to Wartburg Castle, where Luther was kept safe for ten months.

©2021 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com

Captive to the Word of God

On April 18th, 1521, the imperial herald escorted Martin Luther to a larger chamber in the archbishop’s residence. There the Diet gathered to hear him. The group was larger — many people not a part of the assembly had joined them to hear the reformer. He had to wait until six o’clock, since other business had occupied the attention of the estates. Due to the lateness of the hour, torches were lit to light the chamber.

Johann von der Ecken, the Emperor’s spokesman, repeated the questions from the day before. Unlike his first appearance, Luther spoke loudly and confidently, first in German and then in Latin. His language was appropriately humble and restrained, yet firm and in command of his answer. He had prepared well.

He began by apologizing for his lack of courtly manners, noting he was unaccustomed of being before so worthy an audience. His motive for teaching and writing was to honor God and instruct the faithful. He acknowledge that, unless the contents of the books on the table had been altered in some way, that the writings there were his.

In reply to whether he would confess or retract any of them, he divided the works into three types. The first group were so innocent and useful that even his opponents praised them. It would not do to retract them. The second group of works address the abuses and evil done and taught in the church that even the German nation complained about. To retract those works would be to let those evils continue. He could not do that. The third group were those that attacked personally those defending these errors. He admitted that his language was over the top and not fitting for his office and vocation. To retract these would be to condone their views, which he could not do.

Answering Von der Ecken’s admonition that he give heed to the peace of the church, he believed it necessary to bring conflict for the sake of the Gospel, that Jesus had come not for peace but the sword. One must fear God. He did not intend, nor needed to instruct the authorities of the German nation, but he did not want to fail his nation. He begged them not to be poisoned by the words of his opponents. If he was in error, he invited them to correct him from the word of God and solid reason. If they did so, he would throw his own books on the fire. Elector Frederick was especially pleased with the latin version of this reply.

The Emperor’s spokesman then said it was not the books themselves that concerned him. If Luther would retract his heretical statements and theology, the Emperor would intercede with the Pope and the good need not be destroyed with the evil. If he did not, then they would all be destroyed. Von der Ecken dismissed the appeal to Scriptures as the attempt of all heretics to be the final judge over doctrine. He then asked Luther for a simple answer without horns or teeth.

Luther’s answer has gone down through five hundred years as a classic statement of confession and bravery:

Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen

Martin Luther (from Martin Brecht, Martin Luther, 1:160.

The words, “Here I stand, I can do no other” were likely not said by Luther. They do not appear in accounts from that time, but in later editions of the reports.

After exchanging a few words, Luther was escorted out by two imperial officials. When the crowd asked if he had been arrested, the answer was no. Back in his room, Luther was elated at his performance. Elector Frederick commented to Spalatin: “Father Martinus spoke well before the Lord Emperor, all the princes, and the estates. But be is much too bold for me.”

For several weeks, an imperial commission met with Luther to see if some sort of settlement could be reached while the Diet struggled to decide what action to take.

©2021 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com.

Luther Before the Emperor and the German Nation

In early afternoon on April 17th, the imperial marshall and the imperial herald led Martin Luther through a roundabout route from his lodging to the back entrance of the bishop’s residence, where the rulers and representatives of all the German territories, free cities and lands ruled by bishops and monasteries. Crowds filled all the streets and they wanted to avoid any incidents along the way.

As they entered the chamber where the Diet met, Luther looked around to see all the majesty of the gathered powers of his people. He had never been in the presence of secular power before, having been raised in a common household and joined a monastic community. He did not realize not to focus on the emperor was a breach of custom. On a table in the center of the room were piled many of his books. The imperial marshall warned him not to speak unless spoken to.

The Emperor had chosen an aide of the archbishop of Trier, Johann von der Ecken, to speak for the court. He addressed Luther in German and Latin. The emperor had summoned Luther to determine if he would acknowledge that the books printed under his name were his and if he would stand by his books or retract anything in them. This was at odds with the summons itself, so Luther was unprepared for the question. Luther’s lawyer, a judge in the service of Elector Frederick, asked that all the titles be read aloud. This was done. Not all of Luther’s works were there, but the collection was fairly up-to-date.

Luther spoke in a subdued, soft voice. He acknowledged the books were his. Since his answer was of grave importance to be faithful to God’s word and to preserve his soul, he requested time from the emperor to careful ponder his answer. This caught the court (or most of it) completely by surprise. Some thought the seriousness of his situation moved him to give pause to his resistance. Others suspected the move was a tactic designed by Elector Frederick. After the Emperor and the princes conferred, Von Der Ecken lectured Luther to put the unity of the Church and the peace of the state before his own opinions. He should have known, von der Ecken insisted what he would be asked to do. The Emperor in his leniency would nevertheless grant him a day to think. He was summoned to return the next day. The herald ushered Luther back to his quarters. There Luther was visited by many nobles, all of whom assured him the emperor would honor the safe conduct. To do otherwise would spark a revolt. To all visitors, Luther appeared in very good spirits.

©2021 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com.

Luther Greeted by Crowds as he Arrives in Worms

Aleander, Pope Leo X‘s ambassador to the Diet of Worms was worried. Reports of the crowds cheering Luther on had reached him. He knew the imperial herald and many of the princes, lords and territories were very critical of the Papacy and its supporters. They favored Luther and many of his reforms. He suspected that many in the the Imperial court were also sympathetic to the Wittenberg monk. The Imperial Confessor, Jean Glapion, made a secret offer to meet Luther outside of Worms to come to some kind of settlement. He had the support of several nobles and the future reformer, Martin Bucer. Spalatin did not trust the Franciscan and Luther suspected a trick to invalidate his safe conduct. So Luther declined the offer.

Aleander tried to discourage Luther’s friends from entering the city, claiming they would fall under his excommunication. He tried to get the Imperial Court to have Luther enter the city quietly and stay at the Emperor’s lodging, so that he could be kept away from others. He worried that the court would try to strike a compromise with Luther. He was not successful.

Five Hundred years ago, on April 16th, Luther entered Worms from Mainz. A trumpet fanfare sounded from the cathedral announcing his arrival. The imperial herald led the way, followed by the Wittenberg wagon. Justus Jonas followed on a horse obtained by Saxon nobles for him. Two thousand people are said to have been lining the route. Luther and his party stayed in the same lodging as two of Elector Frederick’s counselors and the imperial marshall, near to the place where the Elector himself was staying. Beginning on the 17th, a steady stream of princes, nobles and lord of all ranks visited with him. One of these was Philip von Hesse, who would later become a Lutheran. Later that morning, the imperial marshall brought Luther a summons to appear before the Diet at 4 O’Clock.

©2021 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com

Luther Begins his Journey to Worms

Luther began his journey to the Imperial Diet at Worms during the first week of April 1521. Yet he was by far not alone. The Imperial Herald Caspar Sturm escorted him. Augustinian monk Johann Petzensteiner accompanied him, along with Nicholas von Amsdorf, his Wittenberg colleague and friend. Peter von Suaven, a Pomeranian noble and several students came along. The city of Wittenberg supplied a cart and the University paid him traveling expenses. Judge Justus Jonas joined them at Erfurt. Melanchthon could not go, since he had teaching obligations.

The route took them across the river to Leipzig, whose city council presented him with a gift of wine. From there it was on to Naumburg, Weimar, Erfurt, where he attended University and then on to Gotha and Eisenach, where he was born and would die 25 years later. In Naumburg, he was the guest of the Burgomeister. In Weimar, Duke John, the brother of Elector Frederick, presented him with a gift to cover travel expenses. He there learned of an imperial order to confiscate his books. The herald asked if he wanted to continue. Luther replied that only force to prevent him would stop him from presenting himself before the Emperor.

On April 6, he entered Erfurt, escorted with an honor guard of sixty horsemen. He was greeted with a celebration, complete with public speeches. Luther could not help but compare the reception to the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. It was not a very comforting thought. Luther preached to a packed Augustinian church on April 7th, Notes were taken and the sermon immediately published. He would also preach in Gotha and Eisenach. He fell ill in Eisenach, but soon felt better. The procession reached Frankfort on 14 April, where he felt well enough to party with his friends and play the Lute. There Georg Spalatin met him. He told the elector’s secretary: “But Christ lives, and we shall enter Worms in spite of all the gates of hell and the powers in the air … even if as many devils were in that city as tiles on the roofs.”

©2021 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com

Jesus Faces Off With His Opponents

Encore Post: From Monday to Wednesday of Holy Week, Jesus taught in the temple. His opponents challenged him several times, he told parables against them and warned people about him. First, the priests asked by what authority he did the things he did. Jesus countered by asking them whether John the Baptist was from God. Because they would not answer, neither would he. (Matthew 21:23-27)

Jesus’ three parables were his last attempt to call his opponents to repentance. They were the Parable of the Two Sons, the Parable of the Wicked Vineyard Tenants and the Parable of the King’s Wedding Feast. The point of all three was that his opponents pretended to serve God, but really were disobedient. (Matthew 21:28-22:14)

His opponents responded with several test questions: should we pay taxes to Caesar? Who will be the husband of a woman in the resurrection who was married to seven brothers without having a child? What is the greatest commandment? His answers were so profound, they did not follow up. (Matthew 22:15-40)

He then posed a question to them: if the Christ is David’s son, why does David call the Christ Lord? They did not answer.

The majority of what Jesus taught that week, however, was about his second coming and eternity. In this way, he prepared his disciples for his approaching death. One on the evenings of this week in Bethany, Jesus’ friend Mary anointed him with expensive perfume for his coming burial.

©2018 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com

Think Like Jesus Thinks

Sermon on Philippians 2:5—11
Palm Sunday
28 March 2021
Our Hope Lutheran Church

Text: “Think the way Jesus thinks. Even though he was fully God, he did not think to assert his equality with God, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a slave, being born fully human. Being human, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Yahweh, to the glory of God the Father.” (translation by Robert E. Smith)

Intro: Ride on, ride on, in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die.
O Christ, Thy triumphs now begin
O’er captive death and conquered sin.

The Ministry of Jesus is full of contrasts. Jesus, as both God and Man at the same time has a right to use all his power as God, yet he performed no miracle for thirty years. When he first performed miracles, he did just enough to create faith in him — and then told those who saw them to keep quiet. He lived in every way like we do and performed most of his ministry the way we do. Then there was the Palm Sunday – and its lead up.

 “It is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish,” prophesied Joseph Caiaphas, the High Priest. (John 11:50) On his way to Jerusalem, Jesus had healed a blind man, performing a sign of the Messiah. A week before the first Palm Sunday, Jesus was at the Bethany home of his friends Mary and Martha. In this bedroom community, he raised their brother Lazarus, who had been in the grave four days. On Palm Sunday, he did not calm the fears of his opponents, but intensified them. Like Solomon had done one thousand years earlier, he rides a donkey into Jerusalem along the road from Bethlehem.  The people spread their coats and palm branches on the road before him, sung praises to God and shouted, “Save now! Son of David” Jesus not only did not discourage them, he accepted their praises. The leaders of the people united in their plans to kill Jesus. He was in their minds a blasphemer and a threat to them and to the nation. What they missed was that Jesus the Messiah was not intent on earthly revolution, but to die for their sins and the sins of the world and rise again to open the tombs of all believers. He agreed with Caiaphas. He must suffer and die —and rise again.

A few decades or so, everyone was encouraged to think, “What would Jesus do?” Jesus answered that. Die … that is what he would do. We heard last week Jesus ask James and John if they would do same. Are we ready to die with Jesus?

  1. Paul urges us to think like Jesus thinks.
    1. a. Serve God above all things.
    1. b. Put the welfare of others first.
    1. c.Set aside personal glory.
  1. The world prizes glory, fame, honor above all else.
    1.  a.We celebrate the rich, glorify entertainers and athletes.
    1.  b. We dream of being like them, work hard at it, and sometimes try to take shortcuts.
    1.  c. We think that people are troubled because they lack self—esteem.
    1. d. Some preachers play to this culture, insisting God wants to make Christians rich.
    1.  e. Self—service ends in conflict, quarrels and discord.
  1.   Jesus thinks differently.
    1. a. He set aside all His glory and was born to Mary.           
    1. b. He took our nature and went to the cross.
    1. c. He died so that we might live and rose that we might live forever.
    1. d. He is with us to strengthen us for our journey.
    1. e. So… Think like Jesus thinks.

Ride on, ride on in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die;
bow your meek head to mortal pain,
then take, O God, your pow’r and reign.

What Does This Mean? Blog Programming Note for Holy Week

Dear Regular Readers of our blog:

As you know, I have three fellow pastors writing posts for our modest site. That has been a great blessing, for it has made it possible to have enough material to share something each day — either new or from the post series we’ve run in the past. The embarrassment of riches overflows this week. Between us all, we will be running from two to four posts a day and sometimes written forms of at least two sermons. Typically, I keep people up on this activities by posting links on multiple forums on multiple social media platforms. I don’t think I’ll be able to do that for all of the posts this week.

If you want to keep up, we invite you to visit the blog’s main feed each day this week: http://whatdoesthismean.blog. There is also a subscribe feature available in the left column of all our posts. I’m not sure how well it works, since no one who uses it has told me yet. 😉 In theory, it should email you the title and a link to it each time we post. It could be intense this week. Let me know what you think.

May God bless your meditation on the sufferings, death and resurrection of our Lord — this week and always!

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Luther Summoned to the Diet of Worms

In January of 1521, Pope Leo X, formalized the excommunication of Martin Luther in his bull Decet Romanum Pontificam. The decree removed, as far as the Pope and the structure of the church were concerned Luther’s right to teach the faith, exercise the pastoral office and receive the sacraments. It was not published until October of 1521, since it also excommunicated most of Germany’s princes and city-state governments. Emperor Charles V needed their financial and military support, especially against Suleiman the Magnificent, Sultan of the Islamic Ottoman Empire, then rising in power. His armies were marching towards Belgrade through Serbia and Hungary as these events were happening.

To address these challenges, and the threat to religious unity Martin Luther and his friends represented, Emperor Charles convened a diet (a cross between a parliament and a diplomatic conference) at the city of Worms in Southwest Germany. In January of 1521, negotiations began between the Emperor and his advisors and Elector Frederick the Wise and his advisors to summon Luther to the Diet to defend himself. The Emperor favored the papacy and the institution of the Church, but he knew to move too strongly against Luther would at best deprive him of badly needed support. Frederick was the key prince in the empire and Luther’s protector. So he agreed to give Luther the hearing that the reformer requested and a safe conduct pledge to go to Worms and return to Saxony.

The imperial summons was worded very graciously, addressing Luther with all the titles due to him as a priest and professor of theology. It was vaguely worded, stated as a request for Luther to answer questions about his books. It could be viewed as allowing everything from a full hearing to a simple demand to renounce them all. The safe conduct was generously worded and issued also by Frederick the Wise and Duke George of Saxony. In the back of everyone’s mind was a similar safe conduct given to Jan Hus one hundred years before, which was violated by the then Emperor. Hus was burned at the stake shortly thereafter. Luther and his prince would be relying on the young emperor’s sense of chivalry and his desire to keep peace in Germany.

To placate the Pope and his supporters, the Emperor also issued a mandate to sequester all of Luther’s books. The Emperor’s officials conveyed to Georg Spalatin that this was for show, that the intent was to give Luther a fair hearing. The Elector, his advisors and Luther’s friends were not entirely sure what the truth was, but advised Luther it was likely safe to attend, given the support of the princes and the estates. Luther was determined to confess the truth before the empire, even if it cost his life. He agreed to go.

©2021 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com

One Flesh in Two Persons: Marriage

Encore Post: For six days, God had been creating the world. He spoke and light appeared, earth took form, land appeared out of the great sea. The sun, moon and stars shown in the sky. Plants grew on the ground, fish swam in the sea and animals roamed the earth.

Now Father, Son and Holy Spirit conferred and said let us make man just like us. And so he made us – male and female. He planted a garden, came down and formed Adam (His name means “ground, soil” in Hebrew) from the soil and breathed life into him. But something still was not quite right. Adam was alone.

So God brought all the animals to him. He named them all one by one. While they were good, something just was not right. Dogs and Cats just didn’t do it. So God made woman from his own bones. Now at last man was just like God – two persons in one flesh. Adam called her woman — she-man and named her Eve–life, because she would be the mother of all people. God’s creation was finally complete. He had made marriage and the family. This was very good.

This perfect image of God, holy like him and the closest human beings have to understanding the nature of God, was ruined by sin and its consequences. When people make themselves the center of the universe there is no room for a god or another. Now sin tempts us to look everywhere for pleasure than in the very good gifts God has given to us. As we turn our hearts from our beloved and the Beloved, they grown cold and unfeeling.

This is why God condemns adultery, pornography, same sex relationships and acts, pre-marital sex, sexual assault, rape and all other seeking of desire outside of the love of one man and woman, united in marriage for a lifetime. It divides what God himself has joined together and marrs the image he placed in us. It destroys the image of the marriage of Christ to the Church and obscures the work he has done for us.

But when we were lost, unfaithful to God our husband, Jesus came and sought us to be his holy bride, with his own blood he bought us and for our life he died. When he found us, he washed us, cleansed us in baptism, so that he could present us as his radiant bride. One the last day, he will come for us, and bring us to the wedding and the marriage reception that lasts forever.

©2018 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com