When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"

They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"

Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. [NIV]

The close of the middle ages was a time of invention, exploration, war, church- state politics, and disease. Invention: in 1450, Johann Gutenburg invented the printing press, allowing the mass production of literature at much reduced cost. This enabled many common folk to afford books and other literature for the first time. Exploration: in 1492, Christopher Columbus landed in the Caribbean of the New World. War: From the mid- 1400’s through the 1530’s, the Ottoman Empire, a Muslim kingdom, threatened to sweep through all of Christian Europe from the south. Church- state politics: The Catholic popes and the European emperors and kings were in league to govern Europe as a Catholic church- state. Any dissension from church or state was not tolerated. Disease: Everyone lived in fear of the Bubonic or black plague, which killed thousands upon thousands. In the midst of all this, a baby was born to Hans and Margaretta Luther in 1483. These poor German peasants baptized their infant son on the day of the Feast of St. Martin, naming their boy after the saint: Martin Luther. And we ask: so what? A baby boy born in the midst of such great, sometimes threatening, events doesn’t sound important. But little did anyone know, God would use him years later to bring about the greatest event of the age, greater than any invention or new world discovered. Through Martin Luther, God returned the teaching of His church to the Bible, and its central testimony about Jesus Christ, the world’s one Savior, sent from the Father!

As God’s instrument to lead the Reformation, it is easy to imagine Luther as some sort of spiritual superman. He never saw himself this way. In fact, Martin Luther saw himself as a sinner who had no right to stand in God’s holy presence. Before God brought him to true faith in Christ, he spent his first 35 years weighed down with guilt of his sins, and in fear of God’s judgment. But God used this fear for his good, and for the good of all Christians.

Here’s how God made it happen. Even into his early adult years, Luther had no thought of being a teacher and preacher of God’s word. Instead, he was studying to be a lawyer— probably a very successful one. (His own classmates nicknamed him, “The Philosopher.”) As today, that profession was highly lucrative. Luther’s father found comfort in the thought of having a lawyer son to provide for him and his wife in their old age.

But one day as Martin journeyed by foot from his parent’s home in Mansfeld, Germany, to the University in Erfert, he was caught in a sudden thunderstorm, and nearly struck by lightning. In his fear, he cried out to St. Anne, a patron saint: “Save me! I will become a monk!” Martin survived the storm, and followed through on his vow. He sold his books and belongings. He joined the Observant Augustinians, one of the strictest monastic orders. This decision angered Luther’s father, but Luther was determined.

As you can see, Luther’s brush with death revealed something about his understanding of God— He saw Him as His Judge, not Savior. He saw Him as a judge who demanded that people must do certain things to remain in His good graces, in addition to what Christ had already done. He entered the monastery to fulfill his these things. But Luther’s fear was no different than most Christians of that age, who were taught to see God as Judge and only secondarily, as Savior. This is why artists of that time depicted Christ, as often as not, seated on His Judgment throne, rather than dying on the cross for the world’s sins.

As a monk, He strived as a dutiful son of his church to earn God’s favor and escape the judgment. To achieve this, he was fully committed to enumerate every sin before His priest in confession and reveal to him every false motivation of his heart. He was prepared to perform every penance the priest assigned to him in order (as he was taught) to merit forgiveness from these sins. But there was more. One author put it this way: “Luther was now free to choose an even more rigorous path. Long periods with neither food nor drink, nights without sleep, bone-chilling cold with neither coat nor blanket to warm him— and self-flagellations— were common and even expected in the lives of serious monks.” 1 The diligent and self- disciplined Luther said of himself: “If anyone could have gained heaven as a monk, then I indeed would have been among them.”

Contrast this sad life to the happy confession of faith given by Peter in today’s Gospel lesson. Jesus was just six months from his death on the cross for the world’s sins, yet public opinion still was divided about Him. He asked His disciples: “‘ Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. ’” Then He asked them this: “Who do YOU say I am?” Peter gave this wonderful response: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

For Peter to identify Jesus as “the Christ” is to say something about Jesus’ identity that mostly was lost on Martin Luther and the Christians of Western Europe under the Pope. “Christ” is a Greek word synonymous with the Hebrew word, “Messiah.” It means anointed one, or chosen one. Chosen to do what? We learn from the Bible time and time again that Jesus “the Chosen One” was chosen as The One to take away the world’s sins from God’s sight! Christ did this for Peter, Luther and for you and me, because we weren’t able to take away our own sins!

How did Christ accomplish this? We first think of the cross. But long before going to the cross, He was working to win our salvation. He lived each day of His life— from conception in Mary’s womb by the Holy Spirit, to His death on the cross— in perfect keeping of the Ten Commandments on our behalf since we couldn’t keep them as God demands. But in keeping the Commandments, Jesus didn’t flog or starve Himself to prove himself worthy, as Luther was taught to do. True obedience to God’s commandments is to love and trust God and love neighbor. Through trial and tribulation, Jesus trusted and loved His Heavenly Father, never doubting. He loved his neighbors by fighting the devil for them, suffering for them, teaching, healing, comforting them, even when they rejected Him. In short, He lived a perfect life on behalf of us all. Then He died for our sins on the cross, only to burst alive from the tomb three days later. In all this, the world’s sins were taken away, Christ’s perfection was transferred to the world’s account, and God promised resurrection and eternal life to all that trust in Christ, even without having done a single good thing to earn or keep it.

Today, we celebrate this great message of salvation. Jesus lived a perfect life to give us His perfection to wear as our own. On the cross, He took our sins upon himself as if they were his own. He descended from heaven to suffer hell on the cross as if He deserved it. In doing so, He lifted us to heaven as if we deserved it. Is this Christ someone to fear? No way! By Word and Baptism, He gives us the faith to confess him as the Christ, as Peter did. In this confession, we stand on HIM as the rock of our salvation, upon which we shall never fall! As Jesus says of Himself: “On this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it!” What hope this gives us when we feel guilt over our short- armed love as husband, wife, parent, son or daughter, friend, employee, or church member! We deserve hell for the “smallest" sin, but He has saved us from it!

This is the hope that God gave Luther one day to rescue him from his life of fasting, sleep deprivation, and self- flagellation. It happened during Luther’s later position as a theology professor at the University of Wittenberg, Germany. Through his Bible studies as a professor, God brought Luther to the realization that Jesus had already cleansed him of all sins by His holy life, innocent death for sins, and victorious resurrection. He was already in God’s good favor. With Jesus being the rock of his salvation, Luther no longer felt driven to obey God to stay in God’s good graces. Being saved in Christ, He now wanted to serve God by helping the needs of others and God’s glory!

Over the years, from 1517 until 1530, Luther labored to have the Pope listen to the true Gospel about Jesus, but he refused to hear. Luther was excommunicated for preaching what I have preached today. He lived the rest of his days under a death sentence. But no longer sinking in the despair of his shortcomings as a sinner, he now stood confidently upon Jesus Christ, the Rock. He kept preaching about Jesus the Rock! This is what the work of the church must always be about! If we continue to preach only what the Bible says, the Reformation will live on, and our faith will remain grounded on Christ, not as judge, but as dear Savior. We will always be able to confess with joy: On Christ, the solid rock, I stand! SOLI DEO GLORIA

DEAR HOLY SPIRIT, GRANT OUR CHURCH FAITHFULNESS TO HOLD TO ALL THAT GOD’S WORD TEACHES, BUILT ON JESUS CHRIST, THE REDEEMER OF MANKIND. GIVE IT STRENGTH TO REJECT ANY TEACHING THAT DOES NOT AGREE WITH THE WORD OF GOD. BY YOUR STRENGTH MAY IT PROCLAIM ALL THAT JESUS HAS DONE TO SAVE THE WORLD. GRANT PEOPLE EVERYWHERE FAITH TO BELIEVE. AMEN.

[NIV] New International Version used throughout.