Reformation Day / All Saints Day
“Now if Christ can suffer and die on earth, even though he is at the same time in the Godhead and is one person with God, why should he not much more be able to suffer on earth, though he is at the same time in heaven? If heaven prevented it, much more would the Godhead prevent it. Indeed, what if I said that not only Christ was in heaven when he walked on earth, but also the apostles and all the rest of us mortals on earth, insofar as we believe in Christ? That would kick up a rumpus in Zwingli’s magician’s kit! He would start drawing conclusions and ask, “Is there also sin in heaven? Is there error in heaven? Does the devil assail us in heaven? Does the world persecute us in heaven? Do flesh and blood tempt us in heaven? And so forth. For we sin and err constantly, as we learn from the Lord’s Prayer, ‘Forgive us our trespasses’ [Matt. 6:12], and we are continually being assailed by the devil, the world, and the flesh. In this way you would place the devil and the world and flesh and blood in heaven. See what you have got yourself into, you mad Luther! Phooey! Won’t you ever learn that our spirit is no buffoon? Now, there you have it!”
What shall I do with him? St. Paul has misled me when he said, Ephesians 1[:3], “God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,” and again, chapter 2[:5 f.], “He has made us alive together with Christ and raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places,” and in Colossians 3[:3] he says, “Our life is hid with Christ in God,” which certainly means in heaven” (Luther’s Works, vol. 37, p.223).