Elster Gate

Hi, I’m Pastor Lutzer, and we are in Wittenberg, Germany. Of course, you know the city of Wittenberg because it is here that the Reformation began. But we’re at a special place. This is known as the Elster Gate. And I’d like to be able to share with you a very interesting event that took place here.

Now, when Luther published his 95 Theses, Pope Leo back in Rome, said, “Luther is a drunken German. He will think differently when he is sober.” Luther loved beer, but I don’t think he was drunk, and most assuredly, he did not think differently. As a result of what he had done, he entered into various disputes. He also wrote books against the papacy. And so, Pope Leo thought it was time that something very serious be done to punish this man, to punish this heretic. So in June 1520, he issued what is known as a papal bull. Now, that word “bull” actually comes from the Latin, and it has to do with “lead.” In other words, molten lead was poured over the document after it was folded in such a way that people knew that this was a very official document. This came from the Pope. That’s why we call it a papal bull.

Now, the name of the bull was “Exergy Domini.” Those are the first two words of the papal bull, and what it said was, “Arise, O Lord, and judge thy cause. A wild boar has invaded thy vineyard. Arise, O Peter, and consider the case of the Holy Roman Church, the mother of all churches consecrated by thy blood. Arise, O Paul, we can no longer suffer this serpent to creep through the field of the Lord. The books of Martin Luther, which contain these errors, are to be examined and burned.” And then the document listed 41 errors of Martin Luther.

Now, what’s interesting is that the bull took 60 days to get here to the city of Wittenberg. In those days. communication was rather slow, but Luther knew what was in it through word of mouth and other ways. He knew what was in it, and he spoke against it, even at times with violence. He said, on one occasion, “If we punish heretics with fire, why do we not rather assault the monsters of perdition, these cardinals, these popes, and the whole swarm of Roman Sodom who corrupt youth and the Church of God. Why do we not rather assault them with arms and wash our hands in their blood?”

Later on, Luther apologized and said that he retracted that statement. More soberly, he said this, “Our warfare is not with flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places, against the world rulers of this darkness. Let us then stand firm and heed the trumpet of the Lord. Satan is fighting not against us but against Christ in us.”

Well, what happened when the papal bull came? It, of course, was taken to the town square that we are in today. It was brought here, at the Elster Gate, where it was burned. Now, what I want to do is to actually read for you an eyewitness account of what took place here, and then we’ll make some conclusions. “In the year of our Lord and Savior, 1520, the students of Wittenberg were informed by a notice on the bulletin board in front of the lecture building that the anti-Christian decretals were to be burned at nine o’clock in the morning. At that hour, a large throng of students gathered at a place outside the Elster Gate (the Elster Gate was located right here, where we’re standing). Dr Martin Luther himself threw the anti-Christian decretals into the fire, together with the recent bull of Pope Leo, and he said, ‘Because you have grieved the saints of the Lord, may eternal fire grieve you.’ Thereupon, Luther returned to the city along with some professors and doctors, but about 100 students stayed on and stood around the fire. Some sang with a solemn voice, and they celebrated a requiem for the decretals.”

But then there were other pranks that students committed. I’ll just tell you about one of them. Some of the students went around the city of Wittenberg with a horse and wagon. They took a pole, and on the pole, they put what they called “The Decree (the papal bull)”, and they made fun, and they had lots of fun all day.

Later on, Luther said that he was excommunicated three times. First of all, when Staupitz delivered him from his need to keep his vows of monasticism. Secondly, this event, and then thirdly, after this, he goes to the Diet of Worms … that’s where he makes this famous statement, “My conscience is taken captive by the Word of God.”

I want to add this. We think to ourselves, “Oh, Luther was this great hero,” and certainly he was, but the night before the Diet of Worms, you should just read the prayer he prayed. He said, in effect, “O God, where are you when they kill me? When they lay me down and they dismember my body? Are you going to be with me?” Luther didn’t even feel the presence of God, but he believed God’s bare Word.

By the way, regarding the event here, Luther said, “Since the pope excommunicated me, I excommunicate the Pope, and we shall see whose excommunication stands.”

I want all of us to recognize something – standing for truth oftentimes is very difficult. Luther decided that he was going to stand for the Word of God, against the papacy, against a thousand years of tradition … and the question that I want to ask is, “Do we have courage like that? Are we willing to say, ‘Here I stand. I can do no other?'”

From the life and work of Martin Luther, the Christian church splits in two – Protestantism … Catholicism. They never come together. And the seminal point is this, are we saved through works and through sacraments, or by faith alone? Right here, that decision was made by Luther. He was going with the Scriptures and not with the Pope. Thanks so much for joining us. God bless you.