The Gospel lesson for today contains two parts. The first is a warning to those pious Christians who should live to see the destruction of Jerusalem, in order that they might know it beforehand and be enabled to escape from the calamity.

The other is a warning that pertains especially to these last times in which we live, inasmuch as terrible heresies will be introduced, in order that we may be prepared, may hold to the true doctrine, and beware of false prophets. Both of these warnings are necessary and in season, therefore we will study them with all diligence.

Though the first has reference to the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, fifteen hundred years ago, we may still derive from it the wholesome and comfortable doctrine that we should learn to love and honor the Word of God, and to live according to it, especially as God in such great wrath has punished the rejection of His Word in His own people. (Luther’s House Postil, Sermon for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Trinity, Volume 3, p. 892-893).

Hence we should be moderate in our complaints and be reasonable, and not merely look to our own rights over against others; but we should also remember our own wrongs over against God, and in all humility and patience lift up our hands unto God, saying: It is true, I have been wronged and have not deserved such treatment by this man; but I must look around and consider my own conduct towards God. If I do this, I will find and be convinced that I have sinned against God, ten, twenty, yea even a thousand times more than my neighbor has sinned against me. Therefore it becomes me to forget my complaints and to say: Forgive, O Lord; I will forgive also.

It would be wrong to defend our rights to the very last whilst we have been doing so much wrong against God. It is true, if one is able to defend his rights in a proper way and by fair means, he cannot be blamed. Law and justice have been instituted by God for the purpose of being used. But where our right cannot be maintained, let everyone abstain from litigation and from being impatient, but let him turn and say: I should have had my rights, and those offending me should have been condemned; but I must confess that before God I have deserved such wrong. Then we would not do like the Jews, who in their life and conduct set a bad example, and still insisted on their rights, though God did not have His rights at their hands. It 877is just as in the ease of the wicked peasants, who expect protection from the government, but will not pay tribute nor give anything. Such wantonness God has condemned by giving the sword into the hands of the powers that be. If these people will not pay their dues of their own account, they can be taken hold of and compelled.  (Luther’s House Postil, Sermon for the Twenty-Second Sunday after Trinity, Volume 3, p. 876-877)

Whoever has eyes of this kind might glory in having Christian eyes. He would view things otherwise than the world does in times of famine or of pestilence. In times of famine everyone will look at his supply in cellar and granary, and feel according to the amount of that supply. If it be large he will feel happy; if small, he will feel discouraged and despondent. So also in times of pestilence. Whoever then can flee will do so, and seek safety at some other place. But a Christian who has a strong faith in Christ, would argue thus: Though I were attacked, if possible, by a thousand pestilences, I will not fear death, because I have Christ. If it is His will, no pestilence shall harm me any more than a flee, which may bite and sting me a little, but cannot take my life. And certainly if one could had such faith, he would feel secure, fear nothing, and be of good cheer. But because we do not believe and have no spiritual eyes, but look upon everything with carnal eyes, we are afraid and despondent, and are given to foolish thoughts, as though we could flee many miles from the wrath of God.

Now the Lord Jesus testifies that also those live unto God who, according to our view, have died, been buried, and decayed long ago. Therefore the Lord says, Matt. 22: “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” Therefore Abraham, Isaac and Jacob must live and not be dead, though they have lain in the earth thousands of years, and are long since turned into ashes so that neither hair nor skin is left. But Christ proves plainly that they are living; because unto God all must live, whilst to us all is dead. For the world and human reason cannot see anything but death. But the eyes of Christians should see what they do not see, but only hear in the Word, as the father and Christ here look upon the deceased maiden (Luther’s House Postil, Sermon for the Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity, Volume 3, p. 889)

To think of God as a severe judge with whom sinners find no mercy, but of whom they can expect nothing but wrath, is altogether erroneous. This is not the case, though the law teaches nothing else of God. For the law speaks of sinners who do not desire and do not hope for any grace. But those sinners who acknowledge their sins, repent of them, and wish that they had not offended God — who mourn and lament that their lives have been in opposition to God and His commandments, and therefore ask for mercy — shall find mercy, as is here testified. The reason is that God is a merciful God and has a paternal heart. He has pity on us in our misfortune and is moved with compassion, as He declares by the prophet: “Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?” Therefore when He finds you to be desirous of divine grace, and to hate sin and abandon it, He will cheerfully forgive your debt and show mercy unto you; as we here learn from the servant who acknowledges his debt and asks for mercy.

But as regards the means by which God will be gracious, the Gospel informs us of this in other places; namely, that the Son of God, our dear Lord Jesus Christ, took pity on poor sinners, took their sins upon Himself and paid their penalty by His death. Whoever now trusts in the Lord Jesus and in His death, has gained the good will of God, so that He can neither be angry nor punish. For aside from this He has a heart full of compassion and is moved by our misery. For this reason He of His own accord promised, as soon as Adam and Eve had fallen into sin and death, that the devil should be divested of his power by the seed of the woman.  (Luther’s House Postil, Sermon for the Twenty-Second Sunday after Trinity, Volume 3, p. 867)

That is, among Christians, forgiveness of sins shall have no measure and no end; one shall forgive the other always and beware of taking revenge; for this belongs to God alone, and His majesty and power we should never interfere with. This the parable treats of at some length, the reasons for which we will hereafter collect and notice one after another….  For the command concerning forgiveness of sins we should never apply to kingdoms of this world, in which offices and persons are not alike, but where one has always power and command over the other. Here malice is not to be tolerated nor are people to be allowed to do what they please; but misconduct must be punished and people must be admonished to live honorably and righteously.

It is not designed here to teach that a father should forgive his children everything and over look their rascality. He should punish, and for give nothing. So master and mistress and the temporal magistrate should not forgive their servants and subjects their misdemeanor, but punish them. For it is the wicked habit of the world to grow worse and worse the more its transgressions are overlooked; and if children do not want to be trained by father and mother, they must be trained by the executioner, who has to put an end to their wantonness.

Therefore this command does not pertain to the kingdoms of this world, where persons and offices are not alike, as was said before, but to the kingdom of heaven, in which we are all alike and have but one Lord, who is to be enjoyed by all. This “kingdom of heaven” begins here on earth, and is otherwise called the Christian Church on earth, in which God reigns by His Word and Spirit.  (Luther’s House Postil, Sermon for the Twenty-Second Sunday after Trinity, Volume 3, p. 864)

We should therefore follow the example of the nobleman and apply to Christ for counsel and help in all our troubles. It is an easy matter for Him to help us in our distress; He needs but to speak the word and we are delivered. He is besides very willing to help us. The nobleman is in great haste and wants to avoid every delay, but the Lord is in still greater haste, and is not willing to leave the son of the nobleman in danger, until He and his father could reach him, but heals him at once even at a distance, and at the very moment when He said to the father: “Go thy way, thy son liveth.” Thus the Lord Jesus is no doubt willing to help us, if in all confidence we ask Him. He was sent upon earth for the purpose of delivering us from sin, death and the tyranny of the devil, and to translate us into the eternal kingdom of God. For this purpose the Father, our merciful God in heaven, has sent Him, and for this purpose alone did He come.

Whoever therefore desires and seeks help against sin and death, shall surely find it, as we here learn from the nobleman, who merely sought bodily help. How much more willing will not the Lord be to help us out of a far greater danger and when we are in far greater need of His help when our eternal salvation is at stake? (Luther’s House Postil, Sermon for the Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity, Volume 3, p. 855)

Therefore whenever you hear of the kingdom of heaven, you should not merely gaze up to heaven, but look around you upon the earth and seek it among the people, in the whole world, where the Gospel is taught and Christ is believed in, and the Sacraments are properly used. The “kingdom of heaven,” in plain language, is the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of the Gospel and of faith.

For wherever the Gospel is there Christ is also. And where Christ is there is the Holy Ghost also and His kingdom, the true kingdom of heaven. And all who have the Word and Sacraments and believe and remain in Christ by faith are heavenly princes and children of God. All that remains to be done is that God remove the partition which still separates us, that is, that we die, then all will be heaven and salvation.

Learn to understand then, in the first place, that the kingdom of heaven is the kingdom of our Lord Jesus and is to be found wherever the Word and faith are. In this kingdom we have life in hope and are, according to the Word and faith, cleansed from all sin and delivered from death and hell, notwithstanding the old Adam and the corruption of the flesh. The old Adam has not yet been destroyed and the sinful flesh has not been put away; this must yet be done, then there shall be nothing but life, righteousness and salvation. (Luther’s House Postil, Sermon for the Twentieth Sunday after Trinity, Volume 3, p. 843)

All now depends on this, that you accept such assurance and hold it to be true that God is merciful unto you for Christ’s sake. This we here learn from the man sick with the palsy. In the first place, the Lord admonishes him to believe, saying: Son, be of good cheer, and doubt not, thy sins are forgiven thee. As soon as the palsied man believed these words his sins were really forgiven.

Thus we come into possession of the forgiveness of sins in our day also, when the servant of the Church, or any other Christian, assures you: God is not angry with you, do not you be angry with Him, because He has, for the sake of His Son Jesus Christ, forgiven you all your sins. You should therefore, with all confidence, trust in this assurance and suffer yourself to be torn to pieces rather than to doubt it. For if you doubt, the absolution, even if it were pronounced over you orally by God and His holy angels, would profit you nothing.

Where there is no faith, there God is considered a liar, as though He did not tell us the truth and would not fulfill His promises. May God in mercy graciously deliver us from such unbelief and sin, although the devil is a real expert in leading people to consider God a liar and to distrust His promises. (Luther’s House Postil, Sermon for the Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity, Volume 3, p. 832)

This Gospel teaches us to note particularly the good tidings which God has granted us, that we may here on earth say to each other, “Thy sins are forgiven thee,” so that with the people here spoken of we may marvel and glorify God, Which had given such power unto men. And it is indeed a great power that one Christian may say to another: My brother, be of good cheer, you have a gracious God; only believe the assurance which I give you in Christ’s name and it is as certain as if God Himself had said to you, Thy sins are forgiven thee. Such power, as we hear, originated in Christ and is now given unto men, especially to those who are in office and are commanded to preach the Gospel, that is, repentance and forgiveness of sins, in Jesus’ name. Other Christians, although they are not in that office, also have the command, in case of necessity, to comfort you when you are troubled on account of your sins, and to say: Why are you troubled? I, as a Christian, assure you that you are wronging yourself; God is not unmerciful unto you. You are for Christ’s sake to put all your trust in His grace. You are to comfort yourself as surely with these words as if Christ spake them in person from heaven. (Luther’s House Postil, Sermon for the Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity, Volume 3, p. 831-832)

The sum of the matter is that our Lord boldly tells the Pharisees that they do not know what it is to keep the Sabbath day and to sanctify it. According to your idea, He tells them, it is sanctifying the Sabbath day to be altogether idle and to do no work whatever. No, this is not the meaning of the Sabbath day. To sanctify the Sabbath day means to hear the Word of God and to help our neighbor wherever we can. God does not want a keeping of the Sabbath day in which our neighbor is neglected or left to suffer. For if I serve and help my neighbor, I have kept the Sabbath as it should be kept, and have done a truly good work. This doctrine concerning the Sabbath day shows us how to understand the third commandment aright, according to which we are required, not to be idle or to do nothing, but to hear the Word of God and to live according to that Word. And what does that Word teach us? It directs us, according to the second table, to love and serve one another. This God wants us to learn on the Sabbath day. Hence it must also follow that we are not desecrating the Sabbath day by such good works as these. (Luther’s House Postil, Sermon for the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity, Volume 3, p. 815)