“Taking up the cross is by nature something that causes pain.  (“Such a cross and pain is necessary; it must be known as such and really bear down painfully, as does some great peril to one’s goods and honor.…” LW 51, 198.).  It must not be self-imposed (as the Anabaptists and all the workrighteous teach); it is something that is imposed upon a person. (“It should be the kind of suffering which we have not chosen for ourselves, as the fanatics do in choosing some suffering for themselves to bear.…” LW 51, 198.)

The Need for It.  We must be conformed to the image of the Son of God, Romans 8 [:29].  “All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,” II Timothy 3 [:12].  “In the world you have tribulation” [John 16:33]. Likewise, “You will be sorrowful; you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice,” John 16 [:20].  “If we share in [Christ’s] sufferings we shall also be glorified with him,” Romans 8 [:17].  “If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons,” Hebrews 12 [:8]. Otherwise, what is the purpose of so many comforting passages of Scripture?  (Luther’s Works, v.43 p.183-184)

Art. XVII  Das Christus ā Jüngstë tag Kome werde ein Richter der lebedige und das toten.
“The Christ will come soon on Judgement day to judge the living and dead.” 
Es. (Isaiah) 66, v. 15 ; “For behold, the Lord will come with fire And with His chariots, like a whirlwind, To render His anger with fury, And His rebuke with flames of fire.
Acts.  17, v. 31 ; “because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

[All of the pictures for this year’s posts are from an etching entitled “Augsburg Confession” by Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677) and found in the Royal Collection Trust.]

Some Excellent and Christian Thoughts of the Ancient and Saintly Fathers and Theologians of the Church, that a Christian Should Bear with Patience the Cross Which God Places upon Him, Applied and Elaborated by Luther

The ancient and saintly fathers and theologians have contrasted the living wood with dead and have allegorized that contrast this way: From the living wood(Gen 2:17, “The tree of the knowledge of good and evil”) came sin and death; from the dead wood(the tree of the cross), righteousness and life. They conclude: do not eat from that living tree, or you will die, but eat of this dead tree; otherwise, you will remain in death.

You do indeed desire to eat and enjoy [the fruit] of some tree. I will direct you to a tree so full that you can never eat it bare. But just as it was difficult to stay away from that living tree, so it is difficult to enjoy eating from the dead tree. The first {tree in the garden} was the image of life, delight, and goodness, while the other {tree-Christ’s cross} is the image of death, suffering, and sorrow because one tree is living, the other dead. There is in man’s heart the deeply rooted desire to seek life where there is certain death and to flee from death where one has the sure source of life.  (Luther’s Works, v.43 p.183)

Art. XVI  Das Weltliche Obrikeit von Gott geordnet sey, denen rum zu gehorsame schuldig ist.
“The secular authorities are ordered by God, to whom obedience is owed.”
Romans 13, v. 1  “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.”
1st Peter 2, v. 13  “Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme.”

[All of the pictures for this year’s posts are from an etching entitled “Augsburg Confession” by Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677) and found in the Royal Collection Trust.]