The following is my translation of Martin Chemnitz’s Homily Outline for the Ascension of Our Lord (Himmelfahrts Tage deß Herrn) as found in his Postilla (Vol. II, pg. 193). Chemnitz uses a composite text that includes Matthew 28:16–20, Mark 16:15–20, Luke 24:50–53, Acts 1:4–14, and 1 Corinthians 15:3–8. Square brackets indicate my own personal notes or additions.
Chemnitz’s Homily Outline
In order that such may be done all the better by us through God’s grace, so we want to direct this sermon in a simple way and thus grasp thus:
First, that we take not of the accounts, how they have been described thus far by the evangelists and apostles, what the Lord had done during the forty days which He spend with His disciples after His resurrection before He ascended into heaven in a bodily manner (leiblich Weise), how He finally carried out the ascension on the fortieth day and had allowed it to be seen by His apostles and disciples, insofar as that He lifted His feet into the air from the Mount of Olives and thus ascended even higher until a cloud came and had placed itself between the sight of the apostles and the body of Christ and which shortly thereafter led Him to heaven. This shall be the first part.
Second, we want to further search out from other places in Scripture how the holy fathers and prophets, in the Spirit, had looked through the clouds, and had become aware of this most-Christian and most powerful triumph which the Lord Christ has held in the air and in heaven at His ascension, the like of which has happened to no other potentate on earth; which thereafter also the Holy Spirit, when He was given to the apostles, had properly showed and revealed to them. Therefore, they have spoken and written so gloriously and powerfully about [Christs’s ascension] as the prophets in the Old Testament, that even Paul in his sermon, which He gives in Ephesians 4[:8] on this article [of the ascension], expressly refers to David and has taken from Psalm 68[:18] the words used and introduced concerning the ascension of Christ, so that one can see from it the unanimity of this doctrine among the saints (die Einhelligkeit dieser Lehr bei den Heiligen) in the Old and New Testaments.
Third, how thereafter God the heavenly Father had further received His beloved Son into heaven, and set Him with great solemnity and glory upon the thrown of majesty (den Stul der Maiestät) and has given Him, according to His human nature (nach seiner menschlichen Natur), inexpressible majesty and glory. There, He is also preparing our place for us, that we, in His time, shall come to Him and be with Him in eternal joy and glory also, as He Himself is; and there He now intercedes (vertritt) for us with His heavenly Father, governs (regiert) and protects (beschützet) us on earth, preserves (erhält) us, and provides (versorget) for all our needs of body and soul.
Fourth, how we ought to rightly make use of this doctrine of such a glorious ascension of Christ, so that we also can grasp from it enduring comfort and joy in our hearts.
To these four points Your Grace (E. L.; an abbreviation for Eure Liebden) should now give attention and mark them in this sermon, and thus rightly learn to rightly understand this high article as it is set forth in Scripture according to such instruction; then, without doubt, the Holy Spirit will be present it it so that we can also understand the use of this doctrine and comfort which is contained herein.
The following is my translation of Martin Chemnitz’s Homily Outline for the Fifth Sunday after Easter (Dominica Rogationum, or, Vocem Jucunditatis) as found in his Postilla (Vol. II, pg. 176). Chemnitz’s gospel text is John 16:23b–33 (beginning from “Amen, Amen…” or “Most assuredly…”). Square brackets indicate my own personal notes or additions.
Chemnitz’s Homily Outline for Rogate
“Now in order that a pious Christian cannot falsely use (fälschen) this doctrine, so we want to divide it thus:
First, we want to remember how much depends on it, that on prays and performs this divine service (Gottesdienst) with all diligence, and how therefore dear prayer has been in use and has remained in constant practice among all the saints and children of God at all times [e.g., Acts 2:42; Ephesians 6:18; Colossians 4:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18].
Second, that there is a great distinction in prayer, that not ever prayer is pleasing and acceptable to God [e.g., Isaiah 1:15]; how one therefore thus ought to take care that, above all things, he removes from the way everything that defiles and corrupts a prayer so that it does not become displeasing and abominable before God [e.g., Psalm 66:18; James 4:3].
Third, then what all belongs to right prayer (rechten Gebett); how it must be directed on certain grounds, and to what the heart ought to look when one wants to pray so that God can be at peace with our prayer and may hear it and accept it, that we may thereby obtain that which we seek from God through it. Namely, that we first call upon the correct true God (den rechten wahren Gott) who is God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit [Matthew 28:19]. Thereafter, how we ought to pay attention the causes (die Ursachen), which ought to move us to prayer, such as God’s will and command (Gottes will und Befehl) [1 John 5:14], our great present need (unsere fürstehende hohe Nicht) [e.g., Psalm 50:15], and the dear God’s kind promise and pledge (Verheissung und Zusage) that He will surely hear our prayer [e.g., Matthew 7:7; John 16:23–24].
Lastly, how we ought to bring all of this together and into Christian use; how the heart ought to learn to exercise itself through prayer before God; how we ought to seek the eternal good (das ewig Gut) from God with full confidence and faith, and with what condition we ought to pray for daily bread and temporal need (tägliche Bordt und zeitliche Notturft).
We want to handle these points briefly and simply in this sermon. May the dear God indeed grant that it may produce much fruit in us so that we may accustom ourselves and be diligent (uns gewehnen und befleissigen) to pray willingly, often, and with devotion (gern, oft, und mit Andacht).”
The following is my translation of Martin Chemnitz’s homily outline for the Third Sunday after Easter (Dominica Cantate) as found in his Postilla (Vol. II, pgs. 161–62). Chemnitz’s text is John 16:5–15. Square brackets indicate my own personal notes.
Chemnitz’s Homily Outline:
Now because this text seems to be a dark text which not everyone can easily grasp and understand, so we will deal with the doctrine briefly and simply which is prescribed to us herein:
First, we will hear how in the Gospel Christ shows us that we ought to properly know what He has for a kingdom, and how He leads it, also what goods and jewels He distributes to us in His kingdom so that we do not imagine as if we chiefly ought to expect temporal prosperity, joy and pleasure in the kingdom of Christ, but rather that we turn away from our thoughts and know that Christ’s kingdom is a heavenly kingdom [John 18:36] and that He gives and distributes to us the eternal goods, so that we do not therefore set ourselves on things temporal (Zeitliche), but rather on things eternal (Ewige) [Colossians 3:2]; and how we ought to have our greatest pleasure and joy in this when we hear these this and concern ourselves with it, and thereafter strive that we might become partakers of these goods; but how naive and foolish we are that we do not particularly concern ourselves with it, but rather become sad over it when our fortune and wellbeing do not immediately begin in this life, which the Lord here rebukes in us.
Second, it is also brought to our remembrance how the Son of God deals with us when He wants to bring us into the fellowship (Gemeinschafft) of His kingdom, that for this He uses the Preaching Office (Predigampt) through which the Holy Spirit is effective and works in us so that we also come into the kingdom of God and may become partakers of the goods which He has acquired for us, and how the Holy Spirit deals with us in this, namely that He teaches (lehret) us the right way through one comes into the kingdom of Christ, and if we fall short of the right way, that He at that point rebukes us (straffen) and teaches us to know our sin and our unbelief and that we lack the righteousness that is acceptable to God and that we do not trust in God from the heart, but rather that we fear the devil and the world more than we fear God; but when we recognize our lack and failure, then at that point He further comforts (trösten) us so that we do not despair on account of our sins, nor that we become distressed too much while under the cross.
Third, what benefit it is for us that the Holy Spirit thus carries out His office (Ampt) by manner of teaching, by manner of rebuking, and by manner of comforting (Lehrweise, Straffweise, und Trostweise), namely that He leads us thereby into all truth, to the righteousness that is acceptable before God, and that He comes to help us in our weakness, comforts us while under the cross, and points us to the hope of the future eternal salvation.
The following is my translation of Martin Chemnitz’s homily outline for the Third Sunday after Easter (Dominica Jubilate) as found in his Postilla (Vol. II, pgs. 143). Chemnitz’s text is John 16:16–23a (ending with the phrase “On that day, you will ask me nothing”). Square brackets indicate my own personal notes.
Chemnitz’s Homily Outline
In order that we may take away something useful from this text, that we can make use of it for doctrine (Lehr), remembrance (Erinnerung), warning (Warnung), and comfort (Trost), so we want to parse this sermon in these two parts:
First, how the Lord Christ in today’s Gospel says to His disciples and to all Christians literally and clearly that they ought to know that if they want to be children of God, the cross will by no means stay away, but rather it will certainly come upon them [e.g., Matthew 16:24; Acts 14:22]; therefore, one must learn this beforehand, while he is still outside of the cross, so that he may all the better prepare and gird himself to bear the cross with patience when it comes; and how we ought to rightly understanding the doctrine of the cross (die lehr von Creutz), how one ought to vies the cross, how one ought to judge it from God’s Word and not according to reason (Vernunfft), and how each one ought to bear his own cross, as God has laid it upon him, and be content with it, not looking to others to see whether or not it is lighter or heavier for them than for us [e.g. Galatians 6:4–5].
Second, we want to hear what the Son of God has set before us in today’s Gospel for a beautiful and glorious comfort (ein schönen, herrlichen Trost) [John 16:20, 22], which we are to seek amid the cross (im Creutz) and by which we ought to sustain ourselves so that we do not become faint-hearted (or, discouraged, kleinmütig) and despair, but learn to remain still before God in patience and by God’s grace endure what God has sent upon us. For first, we know that it is God Himself who distributes this cross among His beloved children, that it comes from Him and from no other, that it is His desire (sein Lust) to hide His face from us at times [cf. Isaiah 54:8]. And second, [we know] that God does not act from a wrathful disposition (zornigen Gemüt), but rather from a Fatherly heart (vätterlichen Hertzen), that it may turn out for our best [Romans 8:28]. Furthermore, He says that it is only a small thing to do, that it is only a transitory thing (ein Ubergang), that it will not last forever, but only is as a moment (literally, “blink of an eye,” ein Augenblick) [cf. 2 Corinthians 4:16–18]. And lastly, that we ought to take comfort ourselves that all our sorrow and misery shall one day come to a good and desired end (zum guten und gewündschten Ende), when, after this life, we shall partake in eternal blessedness instead of the temporal cross.
We will [now] deal with both parts of the text of today’s Gospel. May the dear God grant us all His Holy Spirit so that we may usefully grasp this reminder, doctrine, and comfort (Erinnerung, Lehr, und Trost) and make use of it in a Christian manner, and thus also learn to keep still before God and accept all things as love, whatever God will lay upon us according to His Fatherly will. [Amen]
The following is my translation of Martin Chemnitz’s homily outline for the Second Sunday after Easter (Dominica Misericordiae Domini) as found in his Postilla (Vol. II, pgs. 117–18). Chemnitz’s text is John 10:11–16, 26–30. As far as I know, the last few verses are not normally included in the reading for this Sunday and this may be unique to Chemnitz. Square brackets indicate my own personal notes.
Chemnitz’s Homily Outline
“In order that we may now deal with this doctrine so that we may grasp and retain something useful from it, we will deal with aforementioned text of today’s Gospel this time in four parts:
First, we will hear how this Gospel speaks of the single Good Shepherd of whom the sheep are His own, who therefore takes care of them with such faithfulness that He lays down His life for them rather than allowing them to fall prey to the hellish wolf, and how herein the entire office (Ampt) of our beloved Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is described and grasped, and how we ought to learn to know and consider from this the faithfulness and and great love of the Lord Christ.
Second, when we know this, that Christ is the only Good Shepherd, who has acquired and merited salvation for us, His little sheep (Schäflein), granting it also to us all together that we may become partakers together of these goods, therefore, He ordains (verordnet) in His stead (an seine Stat) other faithful pastors (Hirten) and caretakers of souls (Seelsorger), to whom he commits and entrusts His little sheep [see Ephesians 4:11ff.]; how they ought to conduct themselves in their office (Ampt), that they be found faithful and neither neglect nor lead astray the little sheep from the Lord Christ; and how they ought to lead and carry out their office with great diligence, that they remember that the time will come when they must give an account [Hebrews 13:17] to the Chief Shepherd (Ertzhirten) [1 Peter 5:4] on that day as to how they have carried out their office, and thus, how they ought to expect either reward or punishment according to what they have done.
Third, how the devil also sends his apostles so that he may also enlarge his kingdom and draw away the little sheep of Christ to himself and snatch them, strangle them, and devour them. In order to do this, he makes use of false teachers, who with their lies and errors lead the people away from the pure doctrine onto an erring path and seduce them through scandalous examples so that they all turn aside from God’s ways and fall prey to the hellish wolf. Or when He cannot accomplish anything through such wolves in a place, then he makes use of the hirelings, who indeed conduct the teaching (Lehre) rightly, but do not make right use of the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven1 [by] not rebuking false doctrine, not warning their little sheep of [false doctrine], not speaking to anyone concerning their sins, but rather they are concerned only that in their office they may have everyone’s favor and enjoy great benefit and pleasure from their hearers; how one ought to learn to recognize such wolves and hirelings so that he can guard himself and beware of them, because there is great danger and concern in this that such people deprive us of our salvation and blessedness.
Fourth, concerning the little sheep, how thy ought to conduct themselves, how about all they ought to hold fast to their Shepherd, the Lord Christ, hear His voice, and follow Him, how they ought to listen to the preachers which Christ has ordained (geordnet) in His place (an seine Stat) and given to them, how they ought not to despise them, but rather to accept their teaching, how they ought to guard and beware of wolves and hirelings so that they are not led astray by them and thus delivered into the jaws of the hellish wolf; and what comfort they should have if they are and remain the little sheep of the Lord Christ, how they ought to comfort themselves already at this time that they will be pastured and be cared for with temporal and eternal pasture, that is, that they will have their necessities, and that they will be sustained through the saving nourishment of the divine Word and the most worthy Sacraments to eternal life, and thereafter, in the world to come, that they will have fullness and satisfaction.
We will now deal with these four parts briefly. May the beloved God be richly among us with His Holy Spirit, grace, and blessing, and grant that we may rightly receive this teaching (Lehre) and heartfelt warning (Vermahnung) from our faithful Shepherd as obedient little sheep, and make Christian use of it. Amen.”
The following is my translation of Martin Chemnitz’s homily outline for the First Sunday after Easter (Dominica Quasimodogeniti) found in his Postilla (Vol. II, pgs. 89–90). Chemnitz’s text is John 20:19–31. Square brackets indicate my own personal notes.
Chemnitz’s Homily Outline
“Now in order that we may handle this doctrine in a useful manner, so we will set it forth in these points:
First, here is described, because the Lord Christ had previously declared that He had to suffer and die and rise again, in order that He institute the preaching office (Predigamt) on earth: How He has instituted the preaching office (Predigamt), and how preachers and hearers ought to thereby be reminded how the preaching office must and ought to be carried out, that thereby everything happens in the name of Christ and in the stead of Christ (in Namen Christi… und an Christi statt), and what He gives to preachers and to hearers as a reminder (Erinnerung) and for doctrine (Lehre).
Second, how the Lord did not only institute the preaching office (Predigampt) in general (ins gemein), but rather directed it that it ought to be carried out that it be (seien) the keys of the kingdom of heaven, by which the unrepentant are to have heaven closed to them and the repentant are to have heaven opened and unlocked to them. And how the preacher ought to carry out and use these keys. Also, what the hearers ought to think of the keys, how they ought to use the loosing key for consolation (Trost), but ought to use the binding key for warning (Warnung), and how they ought not think, ‘Why do I care whether heaven is being barred only by the preacher? What power (Macht) does he have?’ But rather we ought to consider what the Lord says here: that what the preacher does here is valid in heaven with our Lord God and is effective there [John 20:23].1
Third, how no man of high or low station (Standts), ought to presume to hinder God in this order and not allow the preaching office (Predigamt) to take its course both in its teaching office (Lehrampt) as well as in its rebuking office (Straffampt).2 Because God wants to maintain this order (Ordnung), and thereby be efficacious and through this means allow His treasury to be opened so that from it all the treasures of God—which are God’s, which the Son of God has acquired and earned for us through His obedience, suffering, and death—may be brought forth and be distributed among us. And how, the devil therefore sets himself so opposed to this office (Ampt), and especially the rebuking office (Straffampt). Therefore, all Christians, preachers, political authorities, and hearers ought all the more strongly to uphold it, that this office may be carried out unhindered among them.
We will now deal with these three points briefly in this sermon. To this end, the blessed God give us His Holy Spirit, that we may hear and learn fruitfully.”
Footnotes:
The reader should remember and consider the Small Catechism’s explanation of the Office of the Keys: “The Office of the Keys is that special authority which Christ has given to His church on earth to forgive the sins of repentant sinners, but to withhold forgiveness from the unrepentant as long as they do not repent.” ↩︎
The rebuking office (Straffampt) is typically dealt with more explicitly on the Fifth Sunday after Easter because of John 16:8, “And when the Paraclete comes, He will convict/rebuke the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” See Chemnitz, Postilla, Vol II. pgs. 166ff. See also Johann Gerhard, Theological Commonplaces, Vol. XXVI/2, § 270. ↩︎
The following is a translation of Chemnitz’s outline for Holy/Maundy Thursday (“Green Thursday,” Gründonnerstag) as found in his Postilla (Vol. I, pg. 648). Chemnitz uses a composite text from Matthew 26:20–39, Mark 14:12–25, Luke 22:7–20, and 1 Corinthians 11:23–29. The text in parentheses comes from the original text. I have added additional text in square brackets to aid the reader.
Chemnitz’s Outline:
“This present day, which we call Good or Green Thursday (guten oder den grünen Donnerstag), has at all times been honorably, commendably, and Christianly observed in the holy Christian Church of the New Testament, and it observes this not out of frivolity or custom, but because of the remarkable history and great deeds which the Son of God, our dear Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, accomplished on this day.
For first, the Lord Christ today had eaten the passover lamb (Osterlamb), according to the Law and order of God (nach Gottes Gesetz und Ordnung) [Exodus 12], and according to the manner and custom of the Old Testament, and thereby bid farewell (Valete gegeben) to Moses and the entire Old Testament [see Hebrews 8:13].
Second, He immediately thereafter instituted, ordained, and established the New Testament of His body and blood, which He gives us to eat and to drink in His Supper (in seinem Abendmal), that we thereby be reminded of His death [1 Corinthians 11:26], and by this means be assured that we also ought to enjoy His suffering and death (seines Leidens und Sterbens geniessen) for the forgiveness of our sin and the assurance of our salvation.
So we will now briefly deal with these two parts and see what we have therein for instruction (Lehr), necessary reminder and warning (Erinnerung und Warnung), as well as constant comfort (Trost), and how we can apply them usefully.”
The following is my translation of Chemnitz’s homily outline for the First Sunday of Advent (Ad Te Levavi) found in his Postilla (Vol. I, pgs. 4–5). The gospel text is Matthew 21:1–9. Parentheses indicate the Scriptural citation or contain Chemnitz’s notes. Square brackets indicate my personal annotations. See also Chemnitz’s homily outline for Palmarum.
Chemnitz’s Homily Outline:
“Firstly, here with today’s Gospel, we thereby make the the beginning of the Sunday gospels in our churches, we deal with the fact that our King and our High Priest is not a newly introduced Messiah, but rather, He is the same one who was promised to the Fathers, in whom they also hoped, the one whom God the Father finally has sent and given that all the world hear Him (Deuteronomy 18[:15–22]), and through whom they ought to be saved, to whom God has pointed us toward in prophetic Word, and He alone that we ought to hear, receive and thereby abide in. This foundation is shown and demonstrated today to all pious Christians from God’s Word, so that we may be certain that we have the right Messiah, and, besides this, that we have the old faith which all the Fathers and the Prophets had. Of these two chief points the Jews were lacking, who when their Messiah came to them, they did not want to recognize Him nor receive Him, as John laments in John 1[:11], “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him,” etc. Even today, the blinded Jews are lacking both of these two pieces and thereby lose their salvation. Here, we hear who the right Messiah is, and how we ought to correctly recognize Him and accept Him with the old pious Jews and the holy prophets, that we do not want to know of any other messiah than the one whom the Fathers and the Prophets saw and knew in the Spirit, and the one whom they also pointed us toward.
Besides this, we ought to consider this in relation to Advent, what a great blessing of God it is that that this Messiah did not only come once in the flesh to accomplish the work of salvation such that He is now gone now that He is in His glory and will no longer concern Himself with us, His children, here on earth as to whether we come to salvation. Rather, we ought to lift up our souls today and learn to recognize this grace and blessing of God, that the same one who obtained and merited salvation for us wants also to come to us now today and also bring it about with us that He will give us into our laps the goods which He has obtained for us that we may also partake of them through the means [of grace], of which the prophet speaks when he says, “Say to the daughter of Zion: Behold, your King comes to you!” [Zechariah 9:9], etc. And who this daughter of Zion is, namely, not only the Jews, but rather also the Gentiles, until the end of the world, as the prophet says. And when we are reminded of this and told this today at the beginning of the Sunday gospels, so we ought to thank our dear Lord Jesus Christ for it from our hearts and be happy about it, as the prophet says, “Rejoice, you daughter of Zion!” so that when we go elsewhere, and do not consider this high and great blessing of God as we ought and do not always thank God for it, that we nevertheless today do this at the very least in the great congregation of God (Gemein Gottes), when we are with one another so that God may be given His due of many thanks from many people together, as St. Paul says in His second epistle to the Corinthians [2:1:11, 14, 15; 9:12, 15].
But chiefly, this is also to be well-noted, that in today’s Gospel we have a beautiful guide as to what the right ancient religion and doctrine is, which bears witness that this alone is the truth of the divine Word and is a power of God unto salvation for those who believe in it (Romans 1[:16–17]).”
“Now in order that we can grasp these accounts all the better, because this account is somewhat extensive, so we want to divide it thus:
That we want to hear what happened on the way between Bethany and Jerusalem, how the Lord went on foot from Bethany, not by the most direct way, but rather according to the Mount of Olives, and how He had a donkey and a colt brought to Him at that place, upon which He sat down, the disciples laid their clothes under Him, the people had strewn the way with branches and wished Him good luck in His kingdom, what conversation He had with the people until he came into the city, what He gave them as a warning, and what other preaching He had done before He arrived in the city.
What happened in the city when He rode in and the people ran around Him, how the entire city was excited and wondered where this would go.
What happened in the temple, how He reformed it and blessed the children of Levi according to the prophecy of Malachi [3:3], and how He was received by the children, and how the high priest had undertaken in vain to hinder this.
And lastly, what He gives to the despisers as a farewell (Valete), and how he warns them how God will punish them for the sake of their ingratitude both bodily and spiritually if they do not repent.
Therefore, we want to briefly go through these four parts of the account, because we have already dealt with the doctrinal points mostly on the [First] Sunday of Advent.”
The following is a translation of Chemnitz’s homily outline for Laetare (Lent 4), found in his Postilla (Vol I, pgs. 550–51). Chemnitz uses a combination of all four Gospel accounts: Matthew 14:13–21; Mark 6:30–44; Luke 9:10–17; and John 6:1–15 (see below). Square brackets indicate my own notes.
Chemnitz’s Combined Reading:
And the apostles came again to gather to Jesus, and they reported everything to Him (what had happened to John), and they told Him the great things they had done and what they had taught. And He said to them, “Let us go into the desert and rest a little.” For there were many of them coming and going and they did not have enough time to eat. And he took them with Him and went away in a boat over the sea, to the place of Tiberias, in Galilee, which is called Bethsaida. And when the people heard this, and became aware of this, and they saw Him depart, they followed Him and went after Him. And many knew Him, and went together on foot from all the cities. And a great multitude followed Him and arrived before Him and came to Him because they saw the signs that He had done for the sick. But Jesus went up on a mountain and sat there by Himself with His disciples. Now the Passover, the Jewish festival, was near. And Jesus went out and saw the large crowd and He had compassion on them, for they were like sheep who had no shepherd. And He called them to Himself and began a long sermon and spoke to them of the Kingdom of God, and He healed their sick and made healthy those who were needy. But in the evening, when the day was beginning to draw to a close and the day was almost over, His disciples, the Twelve, came to Him, and said to Him, “This is a desert, and it is desolate here, and the day is now spent and the night is falling. Send the crowd away that they may go around into the villages and markets and buy themselves bread and food, for they have nothing to eat; that they may find lodging and food, for we are here in the desert.” But Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not necessary that they depart. You give them to eat.” And they said to Him, “Should we depart and and go buy two hundred pfennigs worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” Then Jesus lifted up His eyes and saw a great crowd coming to Him, and He said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread, that these may eat?” (He said this to test him, for He knew what He wanted to do.) But Philip answered Him, “Two hundred pfennigs is not enough for them that each of them take a little.” But He said to them, “How much bread do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “We have nothing more than five loaves of bread and two fish. Therefore, we must go and buy food for so large a crowd.” (For there were about five thousand men.) Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to them, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what is this among so many?” But Jesus said to His disciples, “Make the people to lie down and sit in groups, fifty by fifty.” Now there was plenty of grass in that place. And He commanded them all to sit down in full table groups on the green grass. And they did so, all of them sat down in groups, hundreds by hundreds, fifty by fifty, so that about five thousand men laid down. Now Jesus took the five loaves of bread and two fish, sighed into heaven, gave thanks over them, and broke the bread, and gave it to the disciples so that they lay it before the people, and He divided the two fish among them all. And the disciples gave it to those who were seated, and likewise of the fish, as much as each desired. They all ate and they were satisfied. Now when they were satisfied, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the remaining fragments, so that nothing be lost.” So they gathered them and took up what remained of the fragments of the five barley loaves and fish which remained from those who had eaten. Now those who had eaten were five thousand men, besides women and children. Now, when the men saw the sign which Jesus did, they said, “Truly, this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” When Jesus therefore noticed that they were coming to take him in order to make Him king, He immediately urged His disciples that they get into the boat and go over before Him to Bethsaida, until He had dismissed the crowd. And when He dismissed the crowd and sent them away, He climbed up into a mountain alone so that He could pray, and He withdrew once more to the mountain, He Himself alone.
Chemnitz’s Homily Outline
“We now want to take up these accounts for ourselves and deal with these points in an orderly manner:
First, how in this account we see that it is God’s work, that God feeds and nourishes us men and provides for all our needs richly, which He has demonstrated not only in the first creation, but He does this indeed in every year, every hour, and every moment to men, beasts, and everything that lives on earth and brings it into effect; and how we ought to recognize this and give thanks to God for it.
Second, pious Christians ought to accustom themselves that they always make use of this as a reminder and for comfort, and think that this therefore happened at that time, at the beginning of the New Testament, so that Christians of every time, who belong in the New Testament, can grasp constant comfort, so that just as the Lord Christ once took care of His disciples—leading them out of danger, feeding them in times of hunger and need, and comforting them in times of affliction—that we likewise also even today have to look to him with certainty, so that if we should also suffer something for the sake of God’s Word, be hated and be persecuted, hunger and thirst for the Gospel, we will not become fainthearted, much less despair, but rather trust God, who surely will sustain and provide for us; how this is so beautifully presented to us here, when the Lord sits down in the midst of His disciples and looks over them, comforts them, and speaks to satisfy them, then allows also the people to come to Him, allows Himself to be aroused to pity so that they are not abandoned and left comfortless, and takes care of them and helps them out. From this we ought also learn that God wants to do the same for us, as we have God’s Word, promise, and assurance to which we ought to firmly hold on to, and with this and other examples from Scripture, whereby God has proven that He wants to keep His promise and assurance, that we should regard them as certain and hold them to be true, and from this we ought to look to God, for He wants to provide for us both in body and in soul; and that we can now look to God for us in this time, just as the children of Israel had experienced this in the Old Testament; that we ought to remember and console ourselves with these accounts, just as the Jews had remembered and comforted themselves with the miracles that took place in the desert for forty years.
Third, we also have in this account the manner and way in which God does things when He wants to help those who belong to Him, namely, that He does it in such a wonderful and peculiar way that we cannot judge it and understand it with our reason. For He begins with His beloved children to whom He promises salvation and rich blessings, so wonderfully that everyone must be astonished by it and often become fainthearted, and see nothing other than that everything is against them, and that they have no hope that God Himself will take care of them, while, in contrast, it goes well for the godless, who have everything to the full, who lack nothing, but rather find vain happiness wherever they turn and go about; that we ought not be troubled by this, but rather console ourselves that the happiness and prosperity of the godless will one day come to an end, and that all our misery and suffering will, in turn, come to a blessed end, and that we therefore ought not to place our trust in things that are temporal and transient, but rather that we ought to be content that we have the heavenly eternal goods and eternal salvation with our dear Lord Jesus Christ. Likewise, if our reason cannot deal with it and cannot understand how God wants to help, that we should not therefore think as if it were impossible, but rather that we ought to put all our reason aside and entrust it to God, who, in His time, will surely know how to find the means and way by which He will help us, even when we cannot yet see nor find it. Also that we recognize our misery and weakness, how little we often believe this, so also, that the irrational animals surpass us in this case who can trust God more than men; which is a shame to us and ought to guide us that we can learn to trust God also a little more than we usually do, and that we comfort ourselves with the examples of Holy Scripture, that just as God has cared for His own at all times, so He wants to prove it to us also now, however strange it may otherwise seem to us.
Fourth, we then want to consider these accounts as they are described to us so powerfully by all four evangelists at length and with many beautiful circumstances so that we learn from how God tends to act, that when He has appeared as a stranger, as if He did not know what to advise us or as if He could not help us, He nevertheless finally, when His time has come, He comes for to us and proves Himself so that we must confess that it is a powerful thing and goes beyond all reason, so that God can prove His majesty and omnipotence, so that He can help powerfully, and thus, as St. Paul says, that we cannot understand or comprehend it [Romans 11:33].
We want to consider these points in this sermon and deal with them briefly and simply in order that our faith may thereby be strengthened and that our confidence in God may be strengthened in both temporal and eternal needs and concerns.”
PATTERN OF SOUND WORDS 