"You have heard today the story from the Gospel of St. Luke of
how it came to pass that our Lord Christ was born and then also the message of the angel, who announced who the boy was who was born.
Now we shall go on and take up the message of the angel.
....The Turk too admits that Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, ...and that Christ was more than a man; but the Word of God, as it is given in the gospel, he denies, and yet I fear that the Turk believes more of this article than does the pope.
But for whom was he born and whose Lord and Savior is he? The angels declare that he was born Lord and Savior. The Turks, the pope, and the scholars say the same thing, but only to the extent that it brings in money and honor.
Q: Who, then, are those to whom this joyful news is to be proclaimed?
A: Those who are faint-hearted and feel the burden of their sins, like the shepherds, to whom the angels proclaim the message, letting the great lords in Jerusalem, who do not accept it, go on sleeping.
This is our theology...Mary bore the child, took it to her breast and nursed it, and the Father in heaven has his Son, lying in the manger and the mother's lap.... And yet the text does not sound forth the honor of the mother, for the angel says, I bring to you good news of great joy; for to you is born this day the Savior [Luke 2:10-11].
I am to accept the child and his birth and forget the mother, as far as this is possible, although her part cannot be forgotten, for where there is a birth there must also be a mother.
Nevertheless, we dare not put our faith in the mother but only in the fact that the child was born.
And the angel desired that we should see nothing but the child which is born, just as the angels themselves, as though they were blind, saw nothing but the child born of the virgin.
No, sun, moon, stars, all creatures, physicians, emperors, kings, wise men and potentates cannot help me.
To you is born this day the Savior [Luke 2:11], remains in my eyes and fills all heaven and earth.
-*-I fear that the time will come when we shall not be allowed to hear, believe, and sing this message in public,
*-*and the time has already come when it is no longer understood..
Him, therefore, we should acknowledge and accept; confess him as our Savior in every need, call upon him, and never doubt that he will save us from all misfortune. Amen."
Martin Luther
Now we shall go on and take up the message of the angel.
....The Turk too admits that Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, ...and that Christ was more than a man; but the Word of God, as it is given in the gospel, he denies, and yet I fear that the Turk believes more of this article than does the pope.
Therefore it is a high article to believe that this infant, born of Mary, is true God; for nobody's reason can ever accept the fact that
---He who created heaven and earth
---and is adored by angels
---was born of a virgin.
That is the article.
Nobody believes it except he who also knows this faith, namely, that this child is the Lord and Savior. But for whom was he born and whose Lord and Savior is he? The angels declare that he was born Lord and Savior. The Turks, the pope, and the scholars say the same thing, but only to the extent that it brings in money and honor.
Q: Who, then, are those to whom this joyful news is to be proclaimed?
A: Those who are faint-hearted and feel the burden of their sins, like the shepherds, to whom the angels proclaim the message, letting the great lords in Jerusalem, who do not accept it, go on sleeping.
This is our theology...Mary bore the child, took it to her breast and nursed it, and the Father in heaven has his Son, lying in the manger and the mother's lap.... And yet the text does not sound forth the honor of the mother, for the angel says, I bring to you good news of great joy; for to you is born this day the Savior [Luke 2:10-11].
I am to accept the child and his birth and forget the mother, as far as this is possible, although her part cannot be forgotten, for where there is a birth there must also be a mother.
Nevertheless, we dare not put our faith in the mother but only in the fact that the child was born.
And the angel desired that we should see nothing but the child which is born, just as the angels themselves, as though they were blind, saw nothing but the child born of the virgin.
No, sun, moon, stars, all creatures, physicians, emperors, kings, wise men and potentates cannot help me.
To you is born this day the Savior [Luke 2:11], remains in my eyes and fills all heaven and earth.
-*-I fear that the time will come when we shall not be allowed to hear, believe, and sing this message in public,
*-*and the time has already come when it is no longer understood..
Him, therefore, we should acknowledge and accept; confess him as our Savior in every need, call upon him, and never doubt that he will save us from all misfortune. Amen."
Martin Luther