Fourth Sunday of Advent (1885)

John 1:19-28 "I believe, therefore I speak; I am very plagued."1 Two different things are testified with these words, first of all: whoever is in true faith in Jesus Christ and has the Holy Spirit in the heart cannot do otherwise than freely confess his faith before the world; secondly, hate and persecution from the world is inextricably linked with such a confession. All of church history confirms this. Even the holy apostles found this out, of whom only John alone died a natural death. The others were martyred. In the first three centuries Christians were slaughtered by the thousands, yet their confession fell silent as little as the Christians were exterminated; on the contrary, the courageous continuing confession converted more people to the Christian faith. This was repeated at the time of the Reformation and is still valid today. For as long as there are Christians, these words apply: "I believe, therefore I speak", as well as "I am very plagued", though not always fulfilled so terribly as at the time of the persecution of Christians. The Lord has spared us so far from this, no doubt because we are all too weak and frail. We have to expect just a little ridicule and contempt on the part of the world because of our confession. But oh, how humiliating this is for us! Even this small plague closes our mouths, we are silent instead of cheerfully confessing and thinking nothing of the solemn threatening words of Christ: "Whoever denies me," etc. How hard do we sin against Christ, how hard to our neighbor, who could perhaps be won by our cheerful and courageous confession! So let the glorious confession of John the Baptist remind us of our sacred duty and encourage us to free confession. The cheerful confession of Christians about Christ before children of the world; 1. how it is a sacred duty of Christians; a. that John the Baptist had the duty to confess Christ, his Lord, is undeniable; because . He was specifically asked by the leaders of his country and must answer them2; . he has the office to reveal Christ3; . such a confession also demanded the love of Christ and people from him, therefore his testimony4 and the important words5: "he confessed and did not deny, but he confessed"; which the Holy Spirit indicates that John accomplished this sacred duty in the most faithful way; but such a confession is b. all Christians sacred duty still today; because . Christ has expressly commanded it with glorious promise and serious threat attached to it6; how cheerful to confess, how anxious because of denying Christ should this word make us! . it is the holy
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Psalm 116:10. John 1:19-22. 3 John 1:23, 26-27. 4 John 1:29. 5 John 1:20. 6 Matthew 10:32-33

office of all Christians, Christ has already anointed us to this in Baptism; preachers, like John, publicly have to confess Christ because of their call; but in the New Testament all Christians are ordained priests through Baptism, in order that they proclaim the virtues, etc.7; . such confession is the duty of love and gratitude toward Christ, He is not ashamed that we are poor sinners, he will confess us as His own before the world, before God and the angels, how shall we not now also let ourselves confess love and gratitude: "In this way all creatures know, Jesus, Jesus, I love only!"? . love toward neighbor, for thereby also I preach Jesus to him as his Savior and can lead him to faith and salvation. Oh, how many more souls would be won if we would be faithful, courageous, cheerful in our confession! Therefore on the solemn promise of more faithful fulfillment of this sacred duty! 2. how Christians fulfill this sacred duty in the right way; namely by the fact a. that they confess the Christ of the Bible; this is very important because many now talk quite a lot about Christ as the most pious man and the highest teacher of virtue, but is only human; that denies Him, does not confess Him. No, John confesses Jesus as eternal God8, as man and as Savior of sinners9; behold, this is the proper confession, that Jesus Christ is born true God, from the Father in eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary; any other confession is wrong and a denial of Christ; b. such a confession must come from a living, faithful experience of the heart; everyone must, as John with the words, "you do not know Him", at the same time confess: I know Him, also are able to say in truth: I know Him as my God and Savior, in Whom I have redemption through His blood, forgiveness of sins; whoever cannot say this from a faithful experience, his knowledge is hypocrisy that condemns him; at the same time the humble confession must be connected with it: Without Jesus I am a lost and condemned sinner, not worthy that I bear His precious Name, as John says: "I am not worthy that I unloose His sandal strap." Our confession should give all glory to Christ alone. Thus it is a proper, God-pleasing confession alone that will reap eternal reward. Otto Hanser

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1 Peter 2:9. John 1:27, 34. 9 John 1:29.