Thursday, March 17, 2005 AD
A pearl of (not so) great price
Bunnie draws attention to CPH's edition of Martin Luther's sermon, How to Meditate on Christ's Passion. "At $4.99," she writes, "it's more costly *not* to buy it".
Aah, there speaks someone who's never had the dubious pleasure of asking CPH to quote for international shipping (I learnt to ask before ordering after I paid $13 shipping on a $3.75 pack of Small Catechism booklets...).
Attractive booklet: $4.99. Unattractive shipping costs: I dread to think. A link to a PDF copy of the text on CPH's website: Priceless.
It is a truly great piece of work. Luther starts off by criticising the wrong ways of meditating on Christ's Passion - as a means to stir up hatred against the Jews, as a superstitious way to acquire merit and defend oneself against bodily danger, or for stirring up merely emotional empathy with His sufferings (the last of these certainly being a potential problem with Mel Gibson's film).
(As for the first point, those who think that Luther's attitude towards the Jews began and ended with the ghastly anti-Semitic pamphlets that blight his later reputation may be interested in reading Pr Joel's post on this subject recently, particularly his point about how Luther's earlier teachings abruptly ended the traditional Holy Week pogroms, and led over time to a greater awareness of how it is our own sins that nailed Jesus to the cross, with the individuals who carried out the deed really acting as no more than our agents).
Luther then goes on to consider the right ways of meditating on Christ's Passion. Firstly, Christ's Passion should lead us to realise how serious our sin really is, "that a person so great as Christ went out to meet this fate, suffering and dying for sinners":
Aah, there speaks someone who's never had the dubious pleasure of asking CPH to quote for international shipping (I learnt to ask before ordering after I paid $13 shipping on a $3.75 pack of Small Catechism booklets...).
Attractive booklet: $4.99. Unattractive shipping costs: I dread to think. A link to a PDF copy of the text on CPH's website: Priceless.
It is a truly great piece of work. Luther starts off by criticising the wrong ways of meditating on Christ's Passion - as a means to stir up hatred against the Jews, as a superstitious way to acquire merit and defend oneself against bodily danger, or for stirring up merely emotional empathy with His sufferings (the last of these certainly being a potential problem with Mel Gibson's film).
(As for the first point, those who think that Luther's attitude towards the Jews began and ended with the ghastly anti-Semitic pamphlets that blight his later reputation may be interested in reading Pr Joel's post on this subject recently, particularly his point about how Luther's earlier teachings abruptly ended the traditional Holy Week pogroms, and led over time to a greater awareness of how it is our own sins that nailed Jesus to the cross, with the individuals who carried out the deed really acting as no more than our agents).
Luther then goes on to consider the right ways of meditating on Christ's Passion. Firstly, Christ's Passion should lead us to realise how serious our sin really is, "that a person so great as Christ went out to meet this fate, suffering and dying for sinners":
If you truly and deeply reflect on the fact that God’s Son, the eternal Wisdom of God, suffers, you will be filled with terror ... You should deeply believe, and never doubt, that in fact you are the one who killed Christ. Your sins did this to Him ... It is as if Jesus is saying, "Learn from my death what you have earned and what you deserve to receive."Then we should recognise the comfort of Christ's suffering:
Just as our sins flowed out of Christ and we became aware of them, so we should pour them back on Him again and set our conscience free ... Take your sins and throw them on Christ. Believe with a joyful spirit that your sins are His wounds and sufferings. He carries them and makes satisfaction for them...This should also provide support to us in times of trouble or temptation:
If we dwell too much on our sins, going over and over them in our conscience, keeping them close to our hearts, soon they become too much for us to manage and will live forever. But when we see our sins laid on Christ, and see Him triumph over them by His resurrection, and fearlessly believe this, our sins are dead and become nothing. Our sins don’t stay on Christ, but are swallowed up by His resurrection...
Therefore, here is what you need to do. First, stop looking at Christ’s sufferings any longer. They have already done their work and have terrified you. Press forward through all difficulties and see His friendly heart. Look how full God’s heart is with love for you. This love moved Him to bear the heavy load of your conscience and sin.
When the day comes that sickness and sorrow weigh you down, think how little it matters compared to the thorns and nails of Christ. If you have to do something you don’t want, or can’t do something you want to do, think about how Christ was led about by others, tied up as a prisoner.Luther concludes:
Does pride attack you? Look at how your Lord was mocked and disgraced along with murderers. Do sexually impure thoughts and lust come your way, thrusting themselves on you? Think how bitter it was for Christ to have His tender flesh torn, pierced and beaten, again and again.
We need to meditate on Christ’s Passion, not with lots of words or with a showy display, but put it to true use in our lives. Paul admonishes us, "Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted" (Hebrews 12:3). Peter says, "Since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking" (1 Peter 4:1).Or DVDs?
But this kind of meditation on Christ’s Passion is not used much. It is very rare, although the Epistles of Paul and Peter are filled with it. We have changed the essence of meditation on Christ’s Passion into a show, and simply painted meditation on Christ’s Passion in letters and on walls.
