In his comments on Genesis 45:5, Luther compares Joseph telling his ten
brothers that he is alive to Christ's showing Himself to the ten disciples
after His resurrection from the dead.
"We see with what great long-suffering and kindness Christ deals with
His disciples after the resurrection, how gently He addresses them, shows them
His hands and His side, and offers Himself to be felt, heard, and seen, eats
with them, and has very pleasant conversations with them. Yet they cannot
compose themselves at once. And when the angel orders the resurrection of
Christ to be announced to the disciples, he wants it to be made known to Peter
in particular, because he was in the greatest distress. Peter knew how to
decline the word "eseb" [sorrow, labor]. Three times he had denied
his Lord. He had cursed himself. The others had fled. Therefore it was
necessary and proper for the angel to add the words "and Peter"
(Mark 16:7). Moreover, with what great sincerity Zechariah speaks to
Zerubbabel and the remnant brought back from the Babylonian captivity before
he gathers, strengthens, and, in a measure, raises them from the dead! (Gf.
Zech. 4:6 ff.) For it is much more difficult to console an afflicted
conscience than to wake the dead." LW 8:26
In this comments on Genesis 45:15, Luther compares Joseph's reunion with
his brothers with Christ's reunion with his disciples.
"Accordingly, the example of Joseph is a true and clear picture of the
resurrection of Christ. And such things happen daily in the church. For it is
the peculiar duty of bishops and pastors to teach, buoy up, and comfort, not
hardened and foolish persons who cannot be set right with words and should
rather be left to the executioner and hangman, but to apply the balsam of Holy
Scripture to the afflicted and the distressed. 'Do not fear! Have confidence,
my son! Your sins are forgiven you!' (Cf. Matt. 9:2.) But how difficult this
application is both my own experience and that of others testifies. I have
read the Bible with the greatest zeal and diligence for about 30 years, but I
have not yet been cured in such a way that I could with full confidence find
rest in the remedies shown by God. I would desire to be stouter and stronger
in faith and prouder in Christ, but I cannot be." LW 8:54
Based on the following verse, Luther shows that Christ is described as our
redeemer with two similar but different Hebrew words with two different
meanings. The redeemed share in the glories of the resurrection.
"Genesis 48:16. the ANGEL who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the
lads; and in them let my name be perpetuated, and the name of my fathers
Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the
earth.
In the common translation the words "filiis" Joseph, "the
sons of Joseph," are added without reason; for Jacob, the father, blessed
Joseph himself, even though he laid his hands on the sons and blessed them
too. But in the Hebrew we read: 'He blessed Joseph,' namely, in his sons. For
he had chosen Joseph in order that from him two tribes might come forth to
receive the divine inheritance and promise. And it was to him that he gave the
right of primogeniture in the land of Canaan.
Therefore the two tribes were not chosen because of their own merits or
worthiness, since it is the father who is blessed. Nor were they, properly
speaking, entitled to be called 'Josephites;' but they should rather be called
'Jacobites.' Nevertheless, the prophets sometimes use the name Joseph and
sometimes the name Ephraim, just as they retain the name Jacob, even though
that name had been changed by God, who said: 'No longer shall your name be
called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name' (Gen. 35:10).
But these are words of blessing or consecration. 'The GOD before whom my
fathers walked.' The verb is in the Hithpael, as if he were saying that they
made themselves walk, that they prepared themselves in such a way that they
walked before God; that is, they believed in Him with firm faith and died in
reliance on His promises and with the most certain hope of the future
resurrection, as has been stated above concerning the faith of Abraham and
Isaac.
And he adds: 'God, who has led me, whose sheep I am, and whom He has cared
for like a most watchful shepherd, and has rescued, freed, and defended in
many great misfortunes up to the present day.' Jacob speaks as though there
were two Gods. In the third place, he mentions 'the Angel who has redeemed
me,' 'goel' [redeemer] not "podea" [deliver, redeemer, ransom,
rescue] but a deliverer and liberator, and a relative, as it were, of whom
Moses speaks in Deut. 19:6-'Lest the avenger, 'goel', of blood pursue the
manslayer, etc. '-and who has the right to take vengeance on and punish the
murderer.
Thus Job says: 'I know that my 'goel' [redeemer] lives' (19:25). But this
is a different word from "pada" [deliver, redeem, ransom, rescue]
which occurs in Hosea 13:14, where we read: 'Shall I redeem them from death?'
It means one who has the right to redeem. Thus Christ the Lord became our
"podea" [deliver, redeemer, ransom, rescue] and our 'goel'
[redeemer]. For He not only redeemed us but also freed us rightfully for
Himself, so that the devil and hell were compelled in strict justice to let
Him go, because they had killed the innocent Son of God. Therefore the Law
burned its fingers, and death dirtied its pants. The devil, death, and sin
overreached themselves. There they all became guilty and debtors to God, to
this Son Jesus Christ, who now has the right over against His enemies. For why
did you crucify the Son of God, O Law? Why did you kill Him who was innocent,
O devil, death, and hell? We have a law,' they said, "and by that law He
ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God" (John 19:7).
Therefore look at Him as He rises from the dead and triumphs over you, saying:
"I am the Son of God: I am an invincible Person." What now, Satan,
Law, death, and hell? 'Death is swallowed up in victory' (1 Cor. 15:53). 'I
have lost,' they cry out, all together. They acknowledge that they have been
conquered with full right at its peak and most justly.
And after His resurrection Christ orders this to be announced to the whole
world, and the Gospel to be preached to everyone. 'I have come,' He says;
'believe in Me; be baptized. I make you a gift of My victory; you will not be
condemned, but by dying you will also live in My name. You will never die,
because 'I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me, though he
die, yet shall he live.' (John 11:25.)
Therefore He is our 'goel' [redeemer]. In this passage Jacob calls Him an
Angel. 'He is the Angel or Redeemer who was able to redeem me with all right,
and to protect me from all evils of conscience, the Law, sin, death, my
brother Esau, etc., and from all the troubles with which I have been afflicted
in my life.'
From this it is clear what kind of men the saintly patriarchs were.
Concerning them we read in Ps. 4:3: 'Truly, the Lord magnifies His saints.'
For when they begin to speak about faith and the promises, they are borne
above all the heavens, as it were. Again, when they are weakened, as happened
above in the struggle with the angel (Gen. 32:24) and elsewhere, they are so
downcast and show themselves so completely as men that they seem to be almost
at the point of despair and plunged into the depths of hell. Such remarkable
instances of alarm, terror, and despair we have seen above in Jacob, not
otherwise than if he had been one of those who had been cast off and condemned
to everlasting torments. At other times, however, as in this passage, he
exults and triumphs as if no danger and no hostile fear were left anywhere.
Accordingly, when it pleases them, the saintly patriarchs concern
themselves with household and civil affairs, govern their children and
domestics, quarrel with their wives, and busy themselves to such an extent
with secular matters that they seem to be on the lowest plane in household and
civil life. At times they rise above all the heavens, at times they are in
hell, and at times they remain in the midst of the world. They are altogether
extraordinary people.
Their life is wonderful, and their speech is also wonderful. Thus here
Jacob calls God an Angel in the same way in, which he said above after the
struggle: "I have seen the Lord face to face" (Gen. 32:30). For this
Angel is that Lord or Son of God whom Jacob saw and who was to be sent by God
into the world to announce to us deliverance from death, the forgiveness of
sins, and the kingdom of heaven. And this Angel is our 'goel' [redeemer] or
Liberator. He sets us free with perfect justice and liberates us from the
power of the devil, who is subject to the Law because he killed the Son of
God. And now the Law, death, and Satan are compelled to be silent and to
stretch forth their conquered hands to the victorious and triumphant
Christ." LW8:161-164
Luther speaks about redemption through baptism as follows:
"At the present time, thanks to the boundless kindness of God, we have
the most glorious honor of Christ, as is clear from our sermons and the whole
ministry. Look at Baptism, the Lords Supper, absolution, and the Gospel. These
great gifts of the Holy Spirit should be praised and proclaimed by all, and in
them God, who has given such power to men (cf. Matt. 9:8), should be
acknowledged and praised. I am not the patriarch Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. But
observe what I do. I take an infant, and by baptizing it I redeem it from
death, the devil, and sins, and translate it from the kingdom of darkness into
the kingdom of light. This a pastor of the church does, and in an emergency
any Christian does so." LW 8:182
Note: The reference "LW" in all quotations and the body of
this article refer (via volume and page number(s)) to the American Edition of
Luther's Works, jointly published by Fortress Press and Concordia Publishing
House.