Luther on Redemption, the Resurrection, and Easter
Edited by Rev. Jack Cascione

 

In his comments on Genesis 45:5, Luther compares Joseph telling his ten brothers that he is alive to Christ's showing Himself to the ten disciples after His resurrection from the dead.

"We see with what great long-suffering and kindness Christ deals with His disciples after the resurrection, how gently He addresses them, shows them His hands and His side, and offers Himself to be felt, heard, and seen, eats with them, and has very pleasant conversations with them. Yet they cannot compose themselves at once. And when the angel orders the resurrection of Christ to be announced to the disciples, he wants it to be made known to Peter in particular, because he was in the greatest distress. Peter knew how to decline the word "eseb" [sorrow, labor]. Three times he had denied his Lord. He had cursed himself. The others had fled. Therefore it was necessary and proper for the angel to add the words "and Peter" (Mark 16:7). Moreover, with what great sincerity Zechariah speaks to Zerubbabel and the remnant brought back from the Babylonian captivity before he gathers, strengthens, and, in a measure, raises them from the dead! (Gf. Zech. 4:6 ff.) For it is much more difficult to console an afflicted conscience than to wake the dead." LW 8:26


In this comments on Genesis 45:15, Luther compares Joseph's reunion with his brothers with Christ's reunion with his disciples.

"Accordingly, the example of Joseph is a true and clear picture of the resurrection of Christ. And such things happen daily in the church. For it is the peculiar duty of bishops and pastors to teach, buoy up, and comfort, not hardened and foolish persons who cannot be set right with words and should rather be left to the executioner and hangman, but to apply the balsam of Holy Scripture to the afflicted and the distressed. 'Do not fear! Have confidence, my son! Your sins are forgiven you!' (Cf. Matt. 9:2.) But how difficult this application is both my own experience and that of others testifies. I have read the Bible with the greatest zeal and diligence for about 30 years, but I have not yet been cured in such a way that I could with full confidence find rest in the remedies shown by God. I would desire to be stouter and stronger in faith and prouder in Christ, but I cannot be." LW 8:54


Based on the following verse, Luther shows that Christ is described as our redeemer with two similar but different Hebrew words with two different meanings. The redeemed share in the glories of the resurrection.

"Genesis 48:16. the ANGEL who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and in them let my name be perpetuated, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.

In the common translation the words "filiis" Joseph, "the sons of Joseph," are added without reason; for Jacob, the father, blessed Joseph himself, even though he laid his hands on the sons and blessed them too. But in the Hebrew we read: 'He blessed Joseph,' namely, in his sons. For he had chosen Joseph in order that from him two tribes might come forth to receive the divine inheritance and promise. And it was to him that he gave the right of primogeniture in the land of Canaan.

Therefore the two tribes were not chosen because of their own merits or worthiness, since it is the father who is blessed. Nor were they, properly speaking, entitled to be called 'Josephites;' but they should rather be called 'Jacobites.' Nevertheless, the prophets sometimes use the name Joseph and sometimes the name Ephraim, just as they retain the name Jacob, even though that name had been changed by God, who said: 'No longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name' (Gen. 35:10).

But these are words of blessing or consecration. 'The GOD before whom my fathers walked.' The verb is in the Hithpael, as if he were saying that they made themselves walk, that they prepared themselves in such a way that they walked before God; that is, they believed in Him with firm faith and died in reliance on His promises and with the most certain hope of the future resurrection, as has been stated above concerning the faith of Abraham and Isaac.

And he adds: 'God, who has led me, whose sheep I am, and whom He has cared for like a most watchful shepherd, and has rescued, freed, and defended in many great misfortunes up to the present day.' Jacob speaks as though there were two Gods. In the third place, he mentions 'the Angel who has redeemed me,' 'goel' [redeemer] not "podea" [deliver, redeemer, ransom, rescue] but a deliverer and liberator, and a relative, as it were, of whom Moses speaks in Deut. 19:6-'Lest the avenger, 'goel', of blood pursue the manslayer, etc. '-and who has the right to take vengeance on and punish the murderer.

Thus Job says: 'I know that my 'goel' [redeemer] lives' (19:25). But this is a different word from "pada" [deliver, redeem, ransom, rescue] which occurs in Hosea 13:14, where we read: 'Shall I redeem them from death?' It means one who has the right to redeem. Thus Christ the Lord became our "podea" [deliver, redeemer, ransom, rescue] and our 'goel' [redeemer]. For He not only redeemed us but also freed us rightfully for Himself, so that the devil and hell were compelled in strict justice to let Him go, because they had killed the innocent Son of God. Therefore the Law burned its fingers, and death dirtied its pants. The devil, death, and sin overreached themselves. There they all became guilty and debtors to God, to this Son Jesus Christ, who now has the right over against His enemies. For why did you crucify the Son of God, O Law? Why did you kill Him who was innocent, O devil, death, and hell? We have a law,' they said, "and by that law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God" (John 19:7). Therefore look at Him as He rises from the dead and triumphs over you, saying: "I am the Son of God: I am an invincible Person." What now, Satan, Law, death, and hell? 'Death is swallowed up in victory' (1 Cor. 15:53). 'I have lost,' they cry out, all together. They acknowledge that they have been conquered with full right at its peak and most justly.

And after His resurrection Christ orders this to be announced to the whole world, and the Gospel to be preached to everyone. 'I have come,' He says; 'believe in Me; be baptized. I make you a gift of My victory; you will not be condemned, but by dying you will also live in My name. You will never die, because 'I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live.' (John 11:25.)

Therefore He is our 'goel' [redeemer]. In this passage Jacob calls Him an Angel. 'He is the Angel or Redeemer who was able to redeem me with all right, and to protect me from all evils of conscience, the Law, sin, death, my brother Esau, etc., and from all the troubles with which I have been afflicted in my life.'

From this it is clear what kind of men the saintly patriarchs were. Concerning them we read in Ps. 4:3: 'Truly, the Lord magnifies His saints.' For when they begin to speak about faith and the promises, they are borne above all the heavens, as it were. Again, when they are weakened, as happened above in the struggle with the angel (Gen. 32:24) and elsewhere, they are so downcast and show themselves so completely as men that they seem to be almost at the point of despair and plunged into the depths of hell. Such remarkable instances of alarm, terror, and despair we have seen above in Jacob, not otherwise than if he had been one of those who had been cast off and condemned to everlasting torments. At other times, however, as in this passage, he exults and triumphs as if no danger and no hostile fear were left anywhere.

Accordingly, when it pleases them, the saintly patriarchs concern themselves with household and civil affairs, govern their children and domestics, quarrel with their wives, and busy themselves to such an extent with secular matters that they seem to be on the lowest plane in household and civil life. At times they rise above all the heavens, at times they are in hell, and at times they remain in the midst of the world. They are altogether extraordinary people.

Their life is wonderful, and their speech is also wonderful. Thus here Jacob calls God an Angel in the same way in, which he said above after the struggle: "I have seen the Lord face to face" (Gen. 32:30). For this Angel is that Lord or Son of God whom Jacob saw and who was to be sent by God into the world to announce to us deliverance from death, the forgiveness of sins, and the kingdom of heaven. And this Angel is our 'goel' [redeemer] or Liberator. He sets us free with perfect justice and liberates us from the power of the devil, who is subject to the Law because he killed the Son of God. And now the Law, death, and Satan are compelled to be silent and to stretch forth their conquered hands to the victorious and triumphant Christ." LW8:161-164


Luther speaks about redemption through baptism as follows:

"At the present time, thanks to the boundless kindness of God, we have the most glorious honor of Christ, as is clear from our sermons and the whole ministry. Look at Baptism, the Lords Supper, absolution, and the Gospel. These great gifts of the Holy Spirit should be praised and proclaimed by all, and in them God, who has given such power to men (cf. Matt. 9:8), should be acknowledged and praised. I am not the patriarch Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. But observe what I do. I take an infant, and by baptizing it I redeem it from death, the devil, and sins, and translate it from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. This a pastor of the church does, and in an emergency any Christian does so." LW 8:182

Note: The reference "LW" in all quotations and the body of this article refer (via volume and page number(s)) to the American Edition of Luther's Works, jointly published by Fortress Press and Concordia Publishing House.


Rev. Jack Cascione is pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church (LCMS - MI) in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. He has written numerous articles for Christian News and is the author of Reclaiming the Gospel in the LCMS: How to Keep Your Congregation Lutheran. He has also written a study on the Book of Revelation called In Search of the Biblical Order.
He can be reached by email at pastorcascione@juno.com.

March 24, 2002