31 … Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
A German monk by the name of Martin Luther stands before Emperor Charles V. Pope Leo X has brought a charge of heresy against him. (Earlier, John Huss had been burned at the stake for the same charge.) Piled up on the table before the monk are his writings on morality, abuses of the papacy, and even letters he had written to private individuals. Pope Leo had decreed that Luther was not to be allowed to speak in defense of his writings; he was only to be allowed to take back the teachings and accusations contained in those books. There was only one question they wanted Luther to answer, “Are these your books and do you take back the heresies in them?” Luther had asked for some time to think about his response. He was given 24 hours.
That night was a restless night of prayer for Luther. His career, his reputation, his very life were in jeopardy. But he knew what he must do. Before the crowd of princes, electors, and papal prosecutors Luther said, “Unless I am convinced by Scripture or by clear reason, for I trust neither in popes nor in councils, since they have so often made mistakes and disagree among themselves- unless I am thus convinced, I am bound by the texts of Scripture, and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I am neither able nor willing to take back anything since it is neither right nor safe to act against conscience. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen”. Immediately the crowd erupts. The Spaniards jeer. The Germans cheer. The frustrated Emperor storms out of the room as Luther is quickly surrounded by his supporters and led back to his room for safety.
Over the next week representatives of the Emperor met with Luther and encouraged him to change his mind. They reminded Luther his stance had already resulted in his excommunication and, if he was not careful, It would likely lead to his execution. But try as they might to change his mind, Luther stood fast. The Pope and the Emperor had done everything in their power to cajole and convince Luther into changing his mind, but in the end, they failed to persuade him. They failed because they did not understand what Luther stood for.
In our gospel lesson, John 8:31-36, Jesus is speaking to a group of people who are not quite sure what they stand for. For some time, they had listened as Jesus described salvation as a gift given. But all their lives they had been taught by the Pharisees and teachers of the law that salvation was an effort extorted. But no matter how many rituals were observed, traditions were kept, and practices were followed they felt as if they were still being held tight by guilt’s grip. In verse 34 Jesus explains to them why they feel this way. He says to them, 34“I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”
I imagine you know how the people standing around Jesus felt. Sin has a way of enslaving us all. That damned devil is so good and making sin look attractive to us. He makes it look like sin is fun and exciting, like sin will leave us feeling happy and content. It’s often not until after we have given in to a temptation that we learn the ugly truth. The momentary thrill and pleasure of sin is replaced by an overwhelming and all-consuming feeling of guilt. And no matter what we do: try to ignore it, make excuses why we did it, or do something good to make up for it, we just can’t seem to get rid of guilt. No matter what we do, as soon as we sin, guilt shackles itself to us like some sort of ball and chain.
There was a time when Luther felt shackled by his guilt. Like the pharisees and teachers of the law, the Catholic Church taught (and still teaches) that one must earn their freedom from sin through acts of piety, works of service, or generous donations given to the church. As a monk in the Catholic church Luther did all he could do to follow these teachings. Luther said, “If ever a monk got to heaven by his monkery, it was I." Thankfully, as God would have it, Luther joined the Augustinian order. The Augustinians were academics and they encouraged their monks to ‘read the Scriptures eagerly, to hear them devotedly, and to learn them zealously.’ Luther spent years taking this encouragement to heart. Over the course of his studies a conflict arose within Luther. From passages like Leviticus 19:2 Luther learned what God expected of him, “Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.” Well, Luther knew he was not that. He knew he was not holy. As a result, Luther spent his nights hopelessly weeping. He saw himself as ‘the most wretched man on earth.’ He saw God as, and I quote, ‘a stern judge from whom I wanted to flee yet was unable to escape.’ Soon the thoughts that haunted his nights disrupted his days. The first time he prepared to distribute the Lord’s Supper in worship the words ‘eternal, living, true, God’ caused him to flee from the altar in fear.
Luther realized that he could not be sure that his acts were pious enough, his works were good enough, or his offerings generous enough to satisfy the holy God and this realization tortured Luther. From the Old Testament the prophet Ezekiel threatened him, “The soul who sins is the one who will die.”[1] From the New Testament the apostle Paul exposed him as part of the “all [who] have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”[2] and accused him of being an “object of God’s wrath”[3]. Luther knew no pious act, no good work, and no generous donation could ever set him free. Luther knew he was a slave to sin and the chains of his guilt remained shackled to his soul.
Thankfully for Luther, and for you and me, in our gospel lesson Jesus told the crowd of people gathered around Him how we might be free. In verse 36 Jesus says, “if the son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” We all have been enslaved in a prison of our own making. Each of us wears the shackles of our own guilt. For us there is no escape. Thankfully God sent His one and only Son to set us free. For 33 years Jesus walked on this earth. All throughout those years the damned devil tried everything he could think of to make sin look attractive to Jesus, but Jesus did not give in to a single temptation, He would not allow Himself to be enslaved by sin and as a result Jesus was not weighed down by the chains of guilt. But something else did weigh heavily on Jesus. It was His love for you. He could not stand to see you enslaved by your sin and shackled with your guilt. So, He did what only He could do, He bought your freedom. On the cross He paid the price that needed to be paid so that you would be set free. And He declared you to be innocent. He broke down death’s door and in so doing shattered the shackles of your guilt. God sent His Son to do what no pious act, good work, or generous donation could ever do, God sent His Son to set us free.
Eventually, by the work of the Holy Spirit, Luther came to see Jesus as the one who sets us free. From the depths of sin’s cell came a ray of gospel light that shone upon Luther. The light came from Romans 1:17. There Luther read, “For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” By God’s grace these words showed Luther that salvation was not and is not based on our merit but upon God’s mercy. Luther realized that Christ and Christ alone could, would, and indeed had set him free from sin’s slavery. Luther said, ‘I felt as if I had entered Paradise through widely opened doors.’ He said, ‘Instantly all of scripture looked different to me.’ Whereas before Luther saw the prophets and apostles threatening and accusing him, now, having been set free from his slavery to sin Luther read the words of the prophets with joy. The prophet Isaiah showed Luther how Jesus had been “pierced for our transgressions”, “crushed for our iniquities” and Luther finally understood that; “the punishment that brought us peace was upon [Jesus] him, and by [Jesus’] his wounds we are healed.”[4] At last Luther understood what the apostle Paul meant when he wrote that Jesus was “was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”[5] At long last, Luther understood that salvation was found in Christ and in Christ alone. The Son had set Luther free, and he was free indeed.
Luther knew what it was like to be enslaved by sin, and by the power of the Holy Spirit he knew what it was like to be set free by the Son. Luther had learned the truth about salvation in Christ alone and the truth had set him free. That is why the Pope was unable to convince and the emperor was unable to threaten Luther into changing his mind. Luther stood for freedom and, God help him, he could not do otherwise.
By the grace of God Luther stood for the freedom found in Christ alone and by the grace of God so do we. We may never stand before a pope or an emperor, but we are not ashamed to let the world know that we stand for what Luther stood for. We stand for freedom and “unless we are convinced by Scripture or by clear reason, for we trust neither in popes nor in councils, since they are still making mistakes and disagreeing among themselves- unless we are thus convinced, we are bound by John 8:31-36, and our consciences are captive to the Word of God. We are neither able nor willing to take back our stance on salvation by Christ alone, for it is neither right nor safe to act against conscience. By the work of the Holy Spirit we know the truth, and the truth has set us free. Here we stand. We cannot do otherwise. God help us. Amen”
[1] Ezekiel 18:20
[2] Romans 3:23
[3] Ephesians 2:3
[4] Isaiah 53:5
[5] Romans 4:25