Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” – John 11:25-26

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 31, 2017): John 11

Five hundred years ago today, a monk named Martin Luther nailed his “95 Theses” to the door of Wittenberg University, an act that is remembered as the start of the Reformation and one of the initial movements toward a split that developed within the Roman Catholic Church. It was that split that eventually resulted in an independent Protestant Church (because we “protested”) that existed outside of papal authority. In popular thought, the cause of Luther’s “95 Theses” was found in his conflict with Johann Tetzel, a popular preacher who promised that souls of the deceased could be forgiven of their sins through the monetary gifts to the church on behalf of their loved ones. According to Tetzel, these payments or indulgences came in two varieties, one for the living and one for the dead. Indulgences paid for the forgiveness of the sins of a living person existed in a complicated relationship with repentance and acts of contrition. But repentance and contrition were impossible for the forgiveness of the sin of the one who had already died. So Tetzel preached that offerings for the dead were all that was needed to guarantee the entrance of the pre-deceased person into heaven. And payment of an indulgence could be applied to any person guilty of any sin. (Just think of the evilest person that you can imagine and, according to Tetzel, even that person could find his or her way into heaven as long as the appropriate offering was made on their behalf.) The following couplet is thought to have originated with Johann Tetzel.

As soon as the gold in the casket rings
The rescued soul to heaven springs.

Martin Luther disagreed, and several of his Theses took direct aim at the practice of indulgences, but maybe three of his Theses, Theses 27 – 29, took immediate issue with the teaching of Johann Tetzel. Here Martin Luther argues that (27) Tetzel’s doctrine was merely a human one and contained no divine wisdom or authority, (28) that it is only greed that is increased by the ringing of a coin in the money-box, and that the result of any intercession lays in the hands of God, and (29) some souls might not want to be brought out of their purgatorial existence. But in all of this, it is God who knows, and God is the judge.

But the heart of Martin Luther’s argument with the Roman Church really focused on the idea of Salvation by faith. This is the same argument that Jesus is making with Lazarus’s sisters. It is a belief in Jesus that is ultimately important, even in the worst moments of life.

As we read this passage, the question that should ring out in our minds is “do you believe this?” Because if you believe this, then nothing else matters – and that includes the payment of any sort of indulgence.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Matthew 19