Lord’s Day, Vol. 5 No. 42
16th Century Reformation in Germany
– Martin Luther (Part 1)
Martin Luther, the Reformer, belonged to a peasant family in Saxony, Germany, ‘My father, grandfather, all of my ancestors were thorough peasants’, said Luther. His father bore the name of Hans (John), his mother Gretha (Margaret). They lived in Eisleben where Hans Luther earned his livelihood by mining, specially for copper which was abundant in the hills. Their son was born on the 10th November 1483, and as observed by the Roman Catholic Church, he was named after that saint. Half a year after his birth the family moved to Mansfield, about six miles from Eisleben.
At home and in school little Martin was brought up in a simple but strict manner. Occasionally harshness was seen in the home. On one occasion his mother whipped him till the blood flowed, for stealing a hazel-nut. At school, his teacher ruled his class with an iron hand, and Martin, a bright and diligent boy, but also full of boyish pranks, felt he was sometimes unreasonably and over-severely punished. Once, he tells us, he was whipped fifteen times during a single morning for no fault of his own. Indeed, in later years he spoke of the school as ‘the Mansfield purgatory’. At the age of fourteen, the boy was sent to a school at Magdeburg, and the following year to mother’s relations would provide him with board and lodging. Sometimes he would sing from door to door with his friends, to obtain sustenance. ‘I was once a poor mendicant’ he said later, ‘seeking bread at people’s houses, particularly at Eisenach – my own dear Eisenach!’ One good lady who took pity on him was Frau (Mrs.) Ursula Cotta; she welcomed him to her table and exerted a good influence upon his soul. He was introduced by her to a refined home circle and learned to move in a higher rank of society than that to which his parents belonged.
At the age of eighteen Luther entered the University at Erfurt where he greatly distinguished himself in study. A light-hearted young fellow, full of buoyant life, he little realized that even at this God was preparing him for a career of activity which was to astonish Europe, and which was to shake a proud and polluted Church to its foundations. But God’s chosen vessels are often hidden in obscurity until the time of ‘their showing unto Israel’. One day while studying at Erfurt, Luther came across a copy of the Bible. He had never set eyes upon the Book before, but as he read he was deeply stirred. The story of Hannah and Samuel, and above all, Samuel’s calling, impressed him deeply.
At the age of twenty-two Luther had completed his course at the University, and then there came a turning point in his life. One of his best friends was killed in a student brawl, and he could not refrain from asking himself, ‘What if I had been killed instead of my friend?’ On another occasion, as he travelled home from Erfurt, a rapier he was carrying accidently severed a main artery in one of his legs. He called upon the Virgin Mary for aid while a friend ran for helpers who bound up the wound and saved his life. On yet another occasion a terrible thunder-storm broke over his head. Stricken with fear he fell prostrate to the ground, crying out, ‘Help Anna, beloved saint, I will become a monk’.
Luther kept his vow. After gathering with his students-friends for frolic and song in a farewell party, the next day he presented himself at the door of an Augustinian monastery and asked for admission. He was received with open arms, for his university learning commended him to the head of the monastery. But his father was very angry, for he had hoped that Martin, as his eldest son, would obtain a high legal position, whereas as a monk he would achieve no fame or worldly wealth. Luther wanted peace with God; he yearned and craved for it. He had realized that the world could not grant his heart’s desire, and he hoped to find it in the cloister. He certainly did his utmost to obtain it. He obeyed the monastic rules scrupulously, performed the most menial services, and went about begging on behalf of the monastery. He was perhaps the most sincere, conscientious monk who ever tried in genuine earnestness to merit salvation by human effort. He even became proud of his humility! ‘A proud saint’, he declared later, described his condition at that time. To gain salvation he sacrificed everything.
He observed every detail of discipline, praying, fasting, watching, confessing his sins; he literally tortured his body to obtain peace for his soul. But peace and rest he failed to find, for he learned that it was impossible to merit the favour of God by such means. He almost despaired of salvation and his physical strength began to waste away. His fellow-monks could not help him, for they were spiritually blind and could not see the crying needs of their younger brother. Nor could departed saints help him. He appealed to twenty-one of them, and directed his prayers to three every morning so as to include them all in his week’s devotions. Often, Luther tells us, he endured such agony of mind that, lasted for half-an-hour or even five minutes, he must have died under the strain. Once for a whole fortnight he neither ate, nor drank, nor slept. And still peace did not come to him.
But there was one who brought help and consolation to the troubled man. John von Staupitz, the head of the Augustinian Order in Germany, from time to time visited the Erfurt monastery. Between himself a friendship sprang up. ‘Oh, my sins! my sins! my sins!’ cried the young monk to Staupitz ‘Remember that Christ came into the world for the pardon of our sins,’ replied the latter. At another time the very thought of Christ terrified Luther, for he thought of the Lord primarily as the one who punishes sin. ‘Your thoughts are not according to Christ; Christ does not terrify, He consoles’ said Staupitz to him. ‘Look at the wounds of Christ, and you will there see shining clearly the purpose of God towards men. We cannot understand God out of Christ.’ Such sayings sank into Luther’s mind. Gradually the light of the truth dawned upon him.
Yours Lovingly,
Pastor Lek Aik Wee