238.1...'God's revelation is veiled, concealed in the human word and becomes ours only through the Holy Spirit. this a man experiences in temptation, anfechtung. the securi et fortunati, who regard themselves as safe and happy, read the bible as a human book, but the anfectung teaches us to note the word.
'God wills that through the scriptures we learn to know Christ in the Spirit.
but how does he accomplish this?
he casts you into poverty, shame, disrepute, hunger, thirst and a stricken conscience.
if there was ever a man who was driven to understand the bible by his own need, it was L.
whoever wishes to understand scripture
'must a good many times have striven and fought with sin and death,
or have boxed and wrestled with the devil,' he says.
two days before his death, feb. 16.1546, L wrote a few abrupt sentences, which comprise his spiritual testament.
here are the last words his pen put on paper:
'no one can understand vergil in his shepherd poems and peasant songs, if he has not himself been a shepherd or a peasant for five years. cicero's letters cannot be understood, i contend by anyone who has not been seasoned for twenty years in political affairs.
no one should think that he has tasted holy scripture adequately if he has not, with the prophets,led the congregations for a century.
so tremendous is the miracle of john the baptist, of Christ, of the apostles.
do not attempt to imitate this divine aeneas journey, but bow reverently over his tracks.
we are beggars.
that is true.
these words sum up the experience of a whole lifetime of association with the bible. no document can be understood from its exterior. even from within, its meaning is opened only to one who is spiritually related to the author. if even the life of a peasant has its secrets, how much more the work of a statesman? whoever wishes to enter truly into their writings must be willing to live their lives for five or twenty years thus saturating himself in that particular world. much greater is the mystery of the bible. one does not learn to know it by studying the bible as an abstract document, without fellowship with the prophets and apostles, the baptist and the Christ. no theoretical knowledge, however necessary it may be in itself, unlocks this treasure. here a man must be grafted into the life of the Spirit and the congregation, where the truth of the faith is experienced. our lives are too short, too small, ever to complete the task. this man, who had occupied himself day and night with the book for decades, warns us just before his death:
do not attempt to follow god's way through the world ,
but bow reverently over the marks left by His holy feet.
we are beggars. that is true. but there is a god who opens his hand.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment