Judensau

Hi, I’m Pastor Lutzer, and we are here in Wittenberg, Germany, and we are at what is known as the town church. It’s not the church where Luther posted the 95 Theses. That’s a little ways from here. This is the church where the Gospel was preached in German. And of course, it has huge implications. Martin Luther and his wife, Katie, were actually married in this church, but I’m standing here outside to illustrate the hatred against the Jews from Christians throughout the centuries.

It’s a very sad time, but above me, there is a Judensau. A Judensau is a German phrase for “Jewish pig.” Now, you know that pigs were the most unclean animals among the Jews, so it was put up there to spite the Jews. And if I might get more blunt than perhaps I should, you have little piglets, and they are eating from their mother. Actually, there are little Jewish children embedded among them, Horrible, yes, but here we have a plaque that was put up in 1988 asking forgiveness for the kind of hatred that there was against the Jews.

Now, I want to say that this sandstone pig was here hundreds of years before Luther, but Luther, of course, added fuel to the fire because of the terrible things that he said about the Jews. When you read Luther’s writings, you can scarcely believe that this was the man who uncovered the Gospel. That’s a larger discussion, not for now. But the question is, “Why was Luther so angry and filled with hate when it came to the Jews?” I want to emphasize that the churches here in Wittenberg want to say to the Jewish community, “We ask your forgiveness.”

When you look more closely at the plaque that was put up in 1988, you’ll notice that there is a saying around a cross, but out of the cross is cropping evil. In other words, the cross of Christ was actually used to persecute the Jews, and the statement around says,

“The true name of God, which even the Jews, before the dawn of Christianity, regarded as most inexpressibly holy. This name died with 6 million Jews under the symbol of the cross.”

We always have to face the past and recognize the horror that was done against them.

Also inscribed is Psalm 130:1, “Out of the depths. I cry to You, O Lord.” So here you have a modern understanding that the history of the Jews in Europe must be faced. And tragically, the church was a part of it. They interpreted the words that the Jews said at the crucifixion of Christ, “His blood be upon us and upon our children.” But God did not say that. That was said by the Pharisees and those who wanted to crucify Christ.

So we say to the Jewish community today, we ask forgiveness for the past, and we have to understand that they are welcomed into the body of Christ through faith in Jesus Christ, and it’s wonderful that I personally have so many Messianic Jewish friends reminding ourselves that there is a unity despite the differences and despite the past. Let’s learn that we might not repeat the past.

Well, this is Pastor Lutzer. Thanks so much for joining us directly from Wittenberg, Germany. God bless you.