When these seventy disciples returned with joy and brought Him a report of their work{Luke 10}, that even the devils were subjugated in the name of the Lord Christ, Jesus rejoiced in spirit and burst forth with a joyful heart into this thanksgiving and said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and clever and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.”

Here Christ calls the Lord His Father, since, according to His divine nature, He was begotten of Him from eternity (Psa. 2:7), wherefore Christ is His only-begotten, only, and most beloved Son (John 3:16). He also calls Him Lord of heaven and earth, since He not only created them and all their host in the beginning by means of His almighty Word, but still to this hour He powerfully preserves and rules them as a mighty Ruler, whose throne is heaven and whose footstool is the earth (Isa. 66:1).

The Lord Christ now gives thanks to this same One, to His heavenly Father and the Lord of all lords, that He has hidden the mystery of the Gospel from the wise and clever but has revealed it to infants. With “wise and clever” are understood the wise of this world; that is, those who are wise according to the flesh, as St. Paul calls them in 1 Corinthians 1:20, who place their worldly wisdom and carnal cleverness ahead of the heavenly wisdom that is revealed to us in the word of the Gospel. “They seek wisdom,” says the Apostle in the passage just cited. That is, they want the heavenly wisdom, set forth to us in the revealed Word, to harmonize with their own carnal wisdom. And when they do not find that such is the case, they would rather allow the heavenly, divine wisdom to depart than to allow their worldly wisdom and reason to be brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5), since the wisdom of this world is foolishness to the Lord God (1 Cor. 3:19).

(Sermon for St Matthias-February 24, Postilla Volume 3 by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, page 49-50)

   In the second part of the Gospel {From Luke 7:36-50}, a beautiful parable is presented to us in which the Lord Christ defended Himself and this penitent sinful woman against the Pharisee and also spoke the absolution to her. For when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, He would know who and what kind of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.” He means as much as to say, “The holy prophets could have seen in the Spirit even things that were invisible and hidden; but since this Jesus does not see or know the sins of this woman, then He must not be a prophet. Since He even lets Himself be touched by such a great sinner, He must not be the Most High or the Messiah (Dan. 9:24).”

But the Lord Christ answers him as an all-knowing Lord who sees the thoughts of the heart, saying to him: “There was a lender,” that is, a rich man, “who had two debtors: the one owed five hundred denarii and the other fifty. And since they had nothing with which to repay, he forgave them both. Now tell Me, which of them will love him more?” To which Simon the Pharisee answered, “I suppose, the one who was forgiven more.” Christ was pleased with this and said to him, “You have judged rightly.” At this point, He turned to the woman with a kind and friendly face and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You gave Me no water for My feet,” as was normally the custom (Gen. 18:4, 19:2; Jud. 19:21; John 13:5). “But she has wet My feet with her tears and dried them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss,” as good friends normally tended to welcome one another. “But since the moment I came in, this woman has not stopped kissing My feet. You did not anoint My head with oil,” or perfume, as was normally done with guests. “But this woman has anointed My feet with costly perfume. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins are forgiven, for she loved much.” She has definitively demonstrated by her deeds that she loves and honors Me more than you do, although you invited Me to be your guest. And this love of hers is a fruit of faith, through which she has obtained the forgiveness of her onerous debt of sin.

(Sermon for Mary Magdalene-July 22, Postilla Volume 3 by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, page 111-112)

3. In addition, we have here a mirror of true repentance, that it changes the whole man and makes an entirely new man out of him. This woman was formerly insolent and proud; but now she has humbled herself to the point that she approaches Christ meekly and kisses His feet. She formerly lived in the lust of the flesh and in the sensuality of the wicked world; now she sheds humble tears from a contrite heart. She formerly misused her eyes for vanity, pursuing the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and a proud life (1 John 2:16). Now she turns these eyes of hers into wellsprings of tears. She formerly used her hair to make herself glamorous; now she uses it as a foot towel. She formerly ignored her own dignity for something trivial; now she pours out precious, costly perfume on Christ’s feet. She formerly permitted all sorts of foul and filthy prattle to come out of her mouth; now she kisses Christ’s feet.

Yes, this is a true mirror of repentance, presented as an example for us all. For repentance is incongruous with a laughing mouth; it is rather a rending of the heart (Joel 2:13), a breaking and a crushing of the heart (Psa. 51:19), a distress of the spirit (Psa. 143:4), as such descriptions are found all over the Psalms, that a man feels inner distress of the heart, humbles himself deeply before God and His judgment on account of his sins, and yet, there in the depths, he lays hold of Christ’s merit with true faith. Through such repentance, which is a “regret that is not to be regretted” (2 Cor. 7:10), a man is entirely changed and renewed, so that he now highly disapproves of that which formerly pleased him; and that which he formerly hated he now holds dear. Where this is not the case, there true repentance of the heart has not yet taken place.

(Sermon for Mary Magdalene-July 22, Postilla Volume 3 by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, page 110-111)