Hence the Evangelist says, as already mentioned: “Tell ye the daughter of Zion.” And the prophet says: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, behold thy King cometh unto thee,” as if he would say: This is told to you and God wishes to have it proclaimed to you, that you may find consolation in Him by faith, and be defended by such faith against doubt and despair on account of your unworthiness and sins. What is it that is told, and on account of which she is to rejoice? It is this: “Behold thy King cometh unto thee.” What kind of a king? A holy and just King, a Physician and Savior, or Helper, who would heal and save you. He would give His glory and righteousness to you, that you may be free from your sins; His life also He would lay down for you, that through His death you may be delivered from eternal death. Therefore be not offended at His lowly and humble form, but thank Him for it, and comfort yourself in Him. For all that He does and accomplishes in His coming, is done for your good; thus He would deliver you from your sins and from death, and justify and save you.  (Luther’s House Postil, Sermon for the 1^st Sunday in Advent, Volume 1, p. 20-21)

Whoever will not receive this with his ears and heart, but would see it with his eyes and feel it with his hands, deprives himself of this King; for it is very different from what we find it with other kings. What they do, they do with pomp, and everything has a grand, imposing appearance. In Christ we do not find this; His office and work is to help us from sin and death, and this He does in no other external manner but through His word and gospel, which He orders to be told and preached to us, and through the signs which He gives besides the promise, through which also He works and shows His power; as that He first plunges us into baptism, where our eyes see nothing but simple water, like other water. Likewise, He has comprehended it in the word we are preaching, where our eyes see nothing but man’s breath. But we must beware and not follow our eyes here, but shut our eyes, open our ears and hear the word. This teaches us how our Lord Jesus shed His blood for the forgiveness of our sins, that we might live. These gifts He would bestow upon us in holy baptism, in the Lord’s Supper, in the preaching and absolution; there we certainly find them. Now it is true, it seems small matter. that through the washing of water, through the word and sacrament, such great things should be accomplished; but do not let your eyes deceive you. There also it seemed a small matter that He who rode on a borrowed ass, and afterwards suffered Himself to be crucified, should take away sin, death and hell. No one could see it in His appearance; but the prophet says so. Therefore we must simply receive it with our ears, and believe it with our hearts; with our eyes we cannot see it. (Luther’s House Postil, Sermon for the 1^st Sunday in Advent, Volume 1, p. 20)

For no emperor, king or temporal authority, with all their power, can deliver you from one sin, or with their money and goods heal the least disease, much less afford help against eternal death and hell. But this lovely King, Christ, delivers me, not only from one sin, but from all my sins, and not me only, but the whole world. He comes to take away not only sickness, but death, and not only from me, but from the whole world.

This is what the Evangelist desires to have announced to the daughter of Zion from the prophet; not to be offended at His lowly coming, but to close the eyes and open the ears, that she may not see in what poverty He rides, but hear what is said of this poor King. Reason looks only on this poor and humble form, that He rides upon an ass without saddle or spurs, like a beggar, and is offended at it; but does not see that He can deliver us from sin, destroy death, and give us everlasting holiness, righteousness, eternal salvation and eternal life. Therefore we must tell and proclaim it, that the people may hear and believe. This is what the Evangelist means when he says: “Tell ye the daughter of Zion.” Why? In order that she may know it, and not heed, nor be offended at this, that He comes in such poverty and soon after dies ignominiously. For all this takes place for your good, in order that He, as a Savior, may help you against the devil and death, to sanctify and deliver you from sin. (Luther’s House Postil, Sermon for the 1^st Sunday in Advent, Volume 1, p. 19-20)

On the other hand, says Zechariah, this poor and humble King will have a power greater than that of all emperors and kings who have ever lived on earth, great as their power may have been. For He is called Justus et Salvator. Not a rich, noble and mighty king before the world, but the Just One and Savior, who shall bring with Him righteousness and salvation, attack sin and death, be the enemy of sin and destroyer of death; for He comes for the purpose of saving from sin and eternal death all who believe in Him, receive Him as their king, and are not offended at the poor borrowed ass. Those who receive Him in faith and find their consolation in Him, receive forgiveness of sins, and shall not die, but live forever. And though after their bodies they must die and be buried, it shall be to them, and be called by them, not death, but only a sleep.

This the prophet would teach us of this King, when he gives Him these two glorious, nay divine, titles and names, calling Him the Just One and Savior, who shall rob death of his power, hell of its destruction, tread the devil under His feet, and thus deliver us who believe in Him from sin and death, and introduce us to the society of angels, where there is eternal life and salvation. He leaves other kings in possession of their external government, authority, pomp, castles, houses, money and goods, allows them also to eat, drink, clothe themselves, and build in a more costly manner than other people; but this art they do not understand, this work they cannot do, which this poor and humble King, Christ, understands and does. (Luther’s House Postil, Sermon for the 1^st Sunday in Advent, Volume 1, p. 19)

For here is clear and plain prophecy: When Christ shall ride into Jerusalem, He will not come, as worldly kings are wont, on a proud steed, clothed in armor, with implements of war, but He will come, as the Evangelist says, meek, or as the prophet terms it, lowly. It is as if the prophet would thus warn everyone, saying: Mark well the ass, and know that He who comes on it is the true Messiah. Therefore, beware; do not look for a golden crown, sumptuous apparel or costly ornaments, or any great display. For Christ will come poor, with a meek and lowly heart, and will not be seen otherwise than riding upon an ass. This is all the pomp and glory He will show the world at His entry into Jerusalem.

This prophecy {Zechariah 9:9) induced our Lord now to make this entry, and He attaches much importance to it. Therefore He also gives the disciples such strict command about this matter; and will not enter Jerusalem by night, or secretly, but openly in the full light of day; not alone, but in the midst of a great multitude of. people going before and following after, calling aloud to Him as the true Son of David, and wishing Him great prosperity in His kingdom. Jerusalem must know of this entry, must see and hear the ass and this poor King, concerning whom Zechariah had prophesied, warning the Jews not to be offended at His poverty and humble entry, but to dismiss their idea that Christ would come with great worldly pomp. He will indeed be a king, says Zechariah, but a humble, poor king, who has nothing of the appearance of a king, judging by the outward pomp which worldly kings and princes usually show before men. (Luther’s House Postil, Sermon for the 1^st Sunday in Advent, Volume 1, p. 18-19)

The best thing in the saying is that He does not say, “Other people shall do so to you,” but, “You shall do so to other people.” Everyone would like to have others do good to him. There are many villains and rascals who have no objection if other people are pious and do good to them, but they refuse to treat anyone else that way. So our peasants nowadays suppose that it is an injustice and a great burden that they are required to give fair measure, and yet they can yell and complain that their taxes are robbery. Such people are simply snakes. Now, some are a little better when they say: “I would be willing to take my turn and to do what I should if other people did it to me first.” This saying declares: “You should do what you expect from another.” If you want others to do it to you, you begin and be the first. And if they refuse, you do it anyway. If you will not be pious and do good until you see it in someone else, nothing will ever come of it. If others refuse, you are still obliged to do it, on the basis of the Law and of what this ordinance declares to be right, since that is how you would like to be treated. Whoever wants to be pious must not let himself be diverted by the example of other people. It is not right for you in turn, even those who used to do you damage before. When you do not do good yourself, your reward is that no one does good to you either.  And it serve your right, before God and the people. (Luther’s Works, v. 21, pages 240-241).

But you may say: “How can He say that the Law and the Prophets consist in this? Do not the Scriptures of the Law and the Prophets contain much more than this? They contain the doctrine of faith and promises, which are not mentioned here.” The answer is that here Christ names the Law and the Prophets in direct contrast to the Gospel or the promise. He is not preaching here about the sublime doctrine of faith in Christ but only about good works. These are two distinctive proclamations; both must be preached, but each at its appropriate time. You can tell that plainly from the words in the text where He says: “Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.” By this He indicates that His preaching here does not go beyond the relation that people have with us and we with them, and that it is not talking about the grace of Christ which we receive from God. What He intends to say now is this: “When the time comes to preach about the good life and about the works which we should perform in our relations with our neighbor, you will find nothing in all the Law and the Prophets except what this saying teaches.” He uses the words “men” and “do so to them” to specify that He is discussing only the commandments of the Second Table. (Luther’s Works, v. 21, pages 239-240).

Oh, how many fellows like this there are in all the businesses and trades! They go along, smugly deceiving and cheating the people wherever they can; still they refuse to be called thieves and villains, so long as they do it secretly and adroitly. If everyone had to give back what he has stolen and robbed in his business or job, very few people would be able to keep anything. Yet they go along like pious people, because no one dares to accuse and denounce them publicly. They suppose that they are sinless; yet if they look around, every corner of their house and home is full of theft and, by God, they do not have a single gulden or two in the house that was not stolen. Yet none of this is supposed to be called theft. If it were merely theft, and not murder in addition! Shoddy merchandise or unwholesome food and drink can make people weak and sick. Thus you deprive them not only of their money but also of their health. Many a person eats and drinks and then gets sick and often dies as a result. My friend, except for the name, is this not as bad as breaking into his house or rifling his treasure chest or striking him dead?

Now, if you were not such a heinous and brazen person, you would be ashamed when your conscience says this to you and reminds you of this saying. It would give you pause. In fact, it would make you so afraid that you would be unable to remain at rest anywhere on account of it. This burden continually oppresses us and drives us. It is an eternal witness against us, always condemning us, so that it becomes unbearable. It would soon teach you that you have to stop this robbing and stealing and whatever else you would not like to have someone else do to you. Get used to looking at this saying once in a while and practicing it on yourself. Thus in your whole existence, in every task in which you have contact and dealings with your neighbor, you have a daily sermon in your heart. From it you can easily learn to understand all the commandments and the whole Law, how to control and conduct yourself personally and socially. On this basis you can easily decide what is right and wrong in the world. (Luther’s Works, v. 21, pages 239).

Those who want to be pious, who fear God, and who think about how to live and behave, must know that they simply have no right to do business with their property and manage it as they please, as though they themselves were the lords of all. They have the obligation to carry on their business in a proper and orderly way; this is why there is territorial and civil law. That is how everyone would want his neighbor to treat him; therefore he should also treat his neighbor that way, taking and offering only good merchandise. Christ means this commandment seriously, and He will not let it be made free or optional, as though one could obey it or disobey it with impunity. He will enforce it, too, however much the world may take it as an insult and despise it. If you do not obey it, He will deal with you according to your own standard and judgment, and it will strike you in your house and home. You will have no blessing from what you have acquired in disobedience to this teaching, but you and your children will have only trouble and sorrow. He wants His commandment to be kept; otherwise you will have neither property nor good fortune.

In the second place, Christ not only makes this so intimate, as we have said, that we have to see it in everything we look at, He also portrays it in such a way that everyone has to blush in shame over himself. There is no one who enjoys doing something wrong when other people can see it. No one dares to sin publicly, in the presence of people, with the same freedom as he does privately, where no one can see him. So Christ intends here to appoint us as our own witnesses and to make us afraid of ourselves. Then if we do something wrong, our conscience will stand up against us with this commandment, as an eternal witness, and say: “Look here, what are you doing? According to the usual fair-business practice, you ought to put such and such a price on this. But you are putting on a much higher price. Or the way you are debasing and misrepresenting this merchandise, you would not want to have someone else sell you something like that.” How it would annoy you if someone charged you a gulden for something barely worth ten groschen! If you had one drop of honest blood in your body, you would have to be ashamed of yourself. If someone else acted this way, you would call him a thief and a villain. Then why are you not ashamed of yourself, since it is not someone else but yourself who has to make this accusation, and you are condemned by your own conscience? This may be all right for a brazen hardhead, who has no sense of shame before the people or before himself, much less before God. But when someone else treats you that way you can quickly exclaim: “Is it not a sin and a shame and a clever¹⁸ way of robbing my wallet?” You can quickly recognize a thief and a villain in someone else; but you refuse to see the one working in your own breast, whom you can easily catch and feel. (Luther’s Works, v. 21, pages 237-239).

To take a crude example again: If you are a manual laborer, you find that the Bible has been put into your workshop, into your hand, into your heart. It teaches and preaches how you should treat your neighbor. Just look at your tools—at your needle or thimble, your beer barrel, your goods, your scales or yardstick or measure—and you will read this statement inscribed on them. Everywhere you look, it stares at you. Nothing that you handle every day is so tiny that it does not continually tell you this, if you will only listen. Indeed, there is no shortage of preaching. You have as many preachers as you have transactions, goods, tools, and other equipment in your house and home. All this is eontinually crying out to you: “Friend, use me in your relations with your neighbor just as you would want your neighbor to use his property in his relations with you.” In this way, you see, this teaching would be inscribed everywhere we look, and engraved upon our entire life, if we only had ears willing to hear it and eyes willing to see it. It is being presented to us in such abundance that no one can give the excuse that he did not know it or that it was not announced and preached to him often enough. But we are like the vipers, which stop up their ears and become deaf when someone tries to trap them. We refuse to see or hear what is inscribed on our own heart and thoughts, and we plunge in recklessly: “Ha! What do I care about somebody else? I may do business with my own possessions as I please, and sell them for as much as I can get for them. Who is going to stop me?” That is what Squire Skinflint and Squire Squeeze do at the market. If someone rebukes and threatens them from the Word of God, they simply laugh and mock and become firmer in their wickedness. But we are not preaching to such people, and neither is Christ. He wants to have nothing to do with them and despises them as much as they do Him. He will let them go to the devil, so that He and they will have nothing further to do with each other. (Luther’s Works, v. 21, pages 237).