Valerius Herberger: Commemoration of John Hus

 

On the Octave of Peter and Paul
Commemoration of John Hus

Confessio Evangelicæ Veritatis
compensabitur aureola æternæ salutis.

The evangelical truth’s confession
is rewarded with the halo of eternal salvation.

In the name of Jesus Christ, quem candidatus martyrum laudat exercitus, whom the noble army of martyrs praise with a mighty sound, who will joyfully confess before His Father all godly hearts who fearlessly publish His Gospel before men; forever most blessed with God the heavenly Father, the Lover of all believing confessors, and the Holy Ghost, the Support of all bold confessors, world without end. Amen.

Devout hearts, we are minded to hear a beautiful saying from the mouth of the Lord Jesus, and to illuminate the same with the account of John Hus. Now that it may be done prosperously, help me to pray: “Arise, O Lord, help us for Thy mercy’s sake” (Ps. 44).

Hear the noteworthy words which Matthew has recorded in chapter 10:

The Lord Jesus said: Whosoever confesseth Me before men, him will I confess before My heavenly Father; but whosoever denieth Me before men, him will I also deny before My heavenly Father.

Recordatio Johann Huß: Commemoration of John Hus.

Beloved friends, the octave of Peter and Paul, namely the 6th of July, is renowned in the Evangelical churches on account of the forthright, fearless confession of the noble martyr John Hus, who on this same day in the year of Christ 1415 was burned in Constance, Swabia. (Sequor acta Huss. Chytræi Onomasticon pag. 842. Johannem Foxum Anglum qui prolixe descripsit et Indicem Bucholzeri: I follow the Acts of Hus in Chytræus’s Onomasticon, p. 842, the Englishman John Fox, who has given a lengthy description, and Buchholzer’s Index.) Now because his history is worth remembering, let us first lay the foundation and hear from the mouth of Christ that we are all obliged not only to know and to love the Lord Jesus in our heart, but also to confess Him with our mouth, and also the most weighty reasons which we have for this. Second, let us hear how John Hus will present the mirror to us and be a living example of the words of Christ. God grant His blessing to the devout labor of our heart! Amen. <298>

 

Of the First Point.

We are to confess Jesus.

We are indebted, on pain of losing our salvation, to know the Lord Jesus. For He says (John 10), “I know Mine own, and am known of Mine”; and, “This is eternal life, that they know Thee, that Thou alone art true God, and Him whom Thou hast sent, Jesus Christ” (John 17). Therefore Peter says there is salvation in none other (Acts 4). We swear this immediately upon Holy Baptism. Consider this, dear parents! With the mother’s milk, pour also the name of Jesus immediately into the tender, young hearts of your children.

Love.

Second, we are also indebted to love the Lord Jesus in our heart. “To have love for Jesus surpasseth all high imaginings” (Eph. 3). “He that loveth not the Lord Jesus, let him be accursed unto death” (1 Cor. ult.).

Confess.

Yet these two things do not form the whole of Christianity. Rather, we are indebted also to confess the Lord Jesus and His Gospel with the mouth. Of this the Lord Jesus Himself says, “Whosoever confesseth Me before men, him will I confess before My heavenly Father,” etc. And St. Paul says, “if one believeth from the heart, one is justified, and if one confesseth with the mouth, one is saved.”

Jesum multis modis confitemur. Docendo, audiendo: We confess Jesus in many ways: By teaching, hearing.

But now the Lord Jesus is confessed in various ways:

1. When He is preached without fear, as the holy Apostles do (Acts 2; 5). When no heed is given to danger, as with Paul. When His person, office, and benefits are taught rightly, as with Athanasius.

2. When God’s Word is diligently followed, even if danger results, as with that mother of Edessa who took her son with her that he too might become a martyr; as with the godly Christians, some twenty thousand of whom were burned in their church on Christmas Day, as was told at the same time. Victorinus, a Roman rhætor, told old Simplicianus that he was a Christian. Simplicianus answered him, “I will not believe it until I see thee in our church.” Then said Victorinus, “Then if I hear aright, your church walls make one a Christian.” For he did not wish to anger his friends and kinsmen. Thereupon Simplicianus recited the words of the Lord Jesus just read, which so struck his heart that he appeared in church unexpectedly. All this is called confessing Christ publicly.

Quærendo absolutionem et cenam Domini: By seeking Absolution and the Lord’s Supper.

3. When the Absolution is sought in humility, and the Table of the Lord attended with a hungry and thirsty heart. For when this does not happen, no godly heart can be distinguished from a frivolous, Epicurean sow.

Orando: By prayer.

4. When the Lord Jesus is called upon, as with Stephen, as with the Canaanite woman, as with blind Bartimæus. For “whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10).

Pie vivendo: By living godly lives.

5. When a Christian life is lead according to St. Paul’s teaching (2. Tim. 2): “Let everyone that confesseth and nameth the Lord Jesus depart from unrighteousness,” when testimony is made in deed that the Lord Jesus is regarded as one’s sovereign Lord.

Impiorum consortiæ vitando: By avoiding the fellowship of the ungodly.

6. When entanglement with the ungodly is avoided according to the teaching of Psalm 1, and they are shunned, as John did Cerinthus’ bath, as Polycarp said to one devil-head, “Cognosco te primogenitum Satanæ: I know thee, firstborn of Satan.”

Non desperando: By not despairing.

7. When one does not doubt in the cross, but confidently says with Job (ch. 19), “I know that my Redeemer liveth.” When one in tribulation does not let oneself be blinded by the devil, as Judas, Cain, and Saul did, but steadfastly confesses that a single drop of the Lord Jesus’ blood outweighs all our sin.

Veritatem non dissimulando: By not feigning truth.

8. When one’s religion is not set on a screw, one does not waver and lean to either side. If the Lord Jesus had kept His love <299> secret, what would we know to speak of it? But He demonstrated it to us with words, with deeds, and with every drop of His blood. We are obliged to show Him the same degree of gratitude.

Constanter perseverando: By persevering steadfastly.

9. When in persecutions one remains steadfast until the end, as the holy martyrs did (Matt. 10; 24; Rev. 2).

Hinc apparet, quot modis Christus abnegetur: Hence it is clear in how many ways Christ is denied.

From this it becomes clear as day what it means, on the contrary, to deny the Lord Jesus. They are not confessors of Jesus, but rather traitors and deniers of Him:

1. Who hinder the course of the Gospel of Jesus, who call themselves by Jesus’ name and yet sweep under the rug all that is said in Scripture to the glory of the Lord Jesus, as though they had sworn an oath to that effect; who slay and put to death so many sincere lovers of the Lord Jesus, or who teach wrongly of the Lord Jesus’ person, office, and benefits, such as the Photinians and other rash spirits.

2. To whom God’s Word is as dear as a hot turnip in the mouth, who for a despicable little portion neglect all sermons or, if they hear them, are not improved by them, as though the Lord Jesus had nothing to command them.

3. Who do not go to the confessional chair and Holy Supper once a year or over several years. Ambrose says they are perfidi desertores castrorum Domini: false people who have sworn loyalty to the bloody banner of the Lord Jesus in Holy Baptism, but have proved unfaithful. God, help us, it is horrible to hear! See, O traitor of God, how you can adorn yourself. If all did as you do, what distinction would there be between angels and devils, or Jews or heathens and Christians?

4. Who do not wish to call upon the name of Jesus, as Servetus in Geneva, who refused to pray, “Christ, Thou Son of God, have mercy upon me,” even when prompted by Guilelmus Farellus. Moreover, this Servetus is the grandfather of the new Arians of our times. Pertinent here are also the ruffians who bend no knee at the name of Jesus, much less doff their crude felt hat.

5. Who live unchristian lives, are Evangelical and Lutheran with their lips, evil-minded and loose with their life (Ps. 14). May God root out all such noxious weeds, that the mangy sheep may not corrupt the healthy ones.

6. Who associate with all the enemies of Christ, play with them under their hat, eat out of the same spoon, and betray the welfare of the whole church for the sake of little sip. Whoever gets mixed up with the slop is devoured by the swine.

7. Who in tribulation fall into despair, like Latomus and Spira, and count their sins greater than the precious merits of Jesus Christ, as Cain did.

8. Who are neither cold nor hot, like those of Laodicea (Rev. 3); who let themselves dream that the truth may be known in the heart and enemies be vexed with deceptive words, as Gordius’ friends thought, whom the noble knight refuted from St. Paul’s words (Rom. 10); or as formerly Basilides and the Elcesaites claimed (Lege Onom. Chytræi).

9. Who for the sake of temporal glory raise the flag of the rabbit, as did Julian the Apostate, better named Idolian, and Demas, who forsook St. Paul and loved the world, like Ecebolius the weathercock.

Praxis: Practical application.

Now you know what Jesus means by confessing and denying. “If ye know, blessed are ye, if ye do according thereto” (John 13) and by no means deny Jesus, but openly confess Him in the manner recounted above.

Causæ impulsiva: Impulsive cause.

But what powerful, compelling reasons do we have for this? The Lord Jesus brings to our mind great benefit and certain harm.

Benefit.

The benefit is this. “Whosoever confesseth Me before men, him will I confess before  My heavenly Father.” When they pray, the Lord Jesus will <300> take up their cause before His Father, and be their advocate (Rom. 8; 1 John 2). When they whimper in their cross, He will confess Himself as their Savior and not leave them (John 14; Ps. 9). He will creep with them in all furnaces of the cross (Dan. 3) and deliver them, as He did Peter (Acts 12). In distress and death He will give them a champion’s courage as He did Laurence, who said, “Has epulas diu exoptavi: I have long desired these banquets.” On the Last Day He will publicly know and confess them as those who love Him. Then will follow the dies confessionis Jesu Christi: the day of the confession of Jesus Christ, when He will deliver the kingdom to His Father (1 Cor. 15), that thenceforth God may be All in all. Then He will confess and say, “These are My beloved sheep, My dear brothers and sisters whom I have delivered, dear Father. Love them as Thou lovest Me, and let them abide with Thee forever.” Tunc erit tibi gloria: Then glory will be yours. Oh what singing of praise and what thanksgiving will be raised (as may be read in Revelation at the end of chapter 7 and in the middle of chapter 12).

Detriment.

The detriment is found in the statement, “But whosoever denieth Me before men, him will I also deny before My heavenly Father.” That is, when they pray, the Lord will not know or hear them, but let them babble in vain as did the priests of Baal (1 Kings 19). When they whimper in their cross, He will not have mercy on them, as He did not on Antiochus (2 Macc. 9). Suchlike is not to be read in all the Bible. From this may God preserve all hearts who hear it. In tribulation the devil shall be the abbot of such unfaithful souls, and receive the best thereof, as happened with Franciscus Spira. When death comes, evil shall be made worse. They shall be buried in hell, and cry out with the rich man, “Crucior in hac flamma: I am tormented in this flame!” (Luke 16). On the Last Day, they shall hear the disheartening declaration, “I have never known you. Depart from me, all ye evildoers” (Matt. 7). “I never knew you” (Matt. 25). That it is what it means when it says, “Thou repayest each according as he deserveth” (Ps. 62)

 

Of the Second Point.

Applicatio historiæ Iohannis Huß: Application to the history of John Hus.

These words of the Lord Jesus were zealously followed by the honor-loving martyr from Bohemia, John Hus. From this not only does he have a Christian name in the world, but the Lord Jesus, whom he confessed, and who by His Spirit gave him the courage to be able to confess steadfastly, will confess him in turn before His Father. Blessed John Hus, from his confession veritatis, of the truth, can await the aureolam salutis, the halo of salvation. Let us examine the chief points of his history.

Patria Hußi: Hus’s homeland.

He was born in a Bohemian village Hussinecz, just like Valentius Fridland von Trotzendorff, and Master Vechner, former rector of Freystadt, who both educated many learned people. Luther was the son of a simple woodcutter, and in his youth also ate the bread of charity. God begins His enterprises humbly but concludes them loftily. He accomplishes the greatest objects through poor people, that the glory may remain His own (1 Cor. 1).

Doctrina Hußi. Hus’s teaching.

In the year of Christ 1400, the pope held a great jubilee year in Rome, and offered indulgences lavishly to all who came with a full purse. John Hus rebuked this and said it was intolerable greed and simoniacal trafficking, basing his argument on Peter’s words in Acts 8: “So that thou shalt be damned with thy money, because that thou thinkest God’s gift is obtained by money”; and in 1 Peter 1: “Know that ye were redeemed not with perishable silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ,” etc.; and said, “The true indulgence is found only in the precious merit of Jesus Christ. For ‘the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, cleanseth us from all sins’ (1 John 1). This letter of indulgence Jesus, the Legatus a latere æterni Patris, the Legate from the side of the eternal Father, appointed Himself (John 6): ‘This is the will of Him who sent Me, that whosoever seeth the Son and believeth in Him hath everlasting life.’ (Lege Mourning-Bands, part 2.) <301> This indulgence must be bought by grace, for free, without money, as Isaiah says (Isa. 25), and this indulgence is free and open all year, every day and hour, to all penitent hearts, in the Absolution whenever they come to confession. God’s grace is without moderation. There is no need to run to Rome first. That is why the Lord Jesus commanded the Gospel, in which the true indulgence is comprehended, to be preached in all the world.” Behold, the business began as it did with Luther. Therefore he recalls him approvingly in the preface to the Bohemian Brethren hymnal. Just as Luther had his Philipp, so Johan Hus had with him the learned Hieronymus from Prague. Peter of Dresden, who made the songs Quem pastores, In dulci jubilo, and other Christmas hymns, in which German and Latin are mixed together, in the year 1410, also began to rebuke the withholding of the chalice in the Holy Supper, when John Hus was already at Constance, he ventured it and re-established its use. Therefore Hus wrote at home, “You have found the chalice in which I shall drink my death,” which also happened. For Hus had to do everything. He also said that the Roman Church is no longer the etrue church; for of the true church the Lord Jesus said above in John 10, “My sheep hear My voice.” The same thing was also said by a notable theologian to Bishop Gerstman when he asked why had left the papacy: “The word, Hunc audite (Matt. 17), does it all. Hus said that the doctrine of the Roman priests was as far from the doctrine of the holy Apostles as heaven from earth. For the latter sought the salvation of men, but the former sought the money and property of men, and consumed it with dogs, whereas the Lord Jesus, Vos autem non sic. He also rejected Masses for the souls of the deceased. For ex inferno there is nulla redemptio. Likewise, the worshiping of images; for we are to call upon God alone (Deut. 6; Matt. 4). Behold, dear heart, John Hus was not the first to speak against the papacy. Even in the midst of the papacy there were the “seven thousand who did not bend their knee before Baal,” as in the days of Elijah (1 Kings 19). There have always been those who distinguished black and white, as may be seen in the great, enlarged catalogus testium veritatis. Only they could not make progress becauase of the great power, or they did not have the courge to put it into the light. Only Luther is able first to venture what no emperor and prince was able to venture.

Concilium constantiense: The Council of Constance.

Concerning this religious schism, the emperor Sigismund was concerned, and brought a free council out to Constance in the year 1414 (two fourteens—there was to be a great change) and to it cited John Hus, and also sent him safe conduct. Hus immediately arose before he received the safe conduct and on the way testified everywhere to what his opinion was, as Luther did (lege ejus vitam apud Matthesium 21b). The truth does not creep into a secret place; it does not flee the light (John 3).

The pope himself came to the council and began the sessions with a glorious oratio from the words of Zechariah 8: “Love ye truth and peace.” This was made to be a cloak. It goes according to the proverb: in God’s name all calamity begins, just as in the cellar the drink is also spoiled when in God’s name water is poured into wine, and the table-beer and “fish-beer” is poured into the best stuff. The emperor also came afterward and on Christmas Eve put on a choir gown and publicly sang the Gospel from Luke 2. A decree was issued by Emperor Augustus. The business, however, was greatly prlonged. In the year 1415, on July 5, Hus was presented and asked where he persevered in his teaching. He said, “Yes.” Further, whether he would recant. He said, “Yes, willingly, if it is against God’s Word.” Then said the bishop, “Hui, tune plus vis sapere universo concilio: Wilt thou be more knowledgeable than all of us?” Hus said, “No, dear sirs, but neither are ye to be more knowledgeable <302> than God and His Word. I will step around the least letter in God’s Word.” Then cried the bishop, “Heu quam pertinax ille in sua hæresi: Oh, how the fellow sticks and stands fast in his heresy!” For Satan cannot hear the “scriptum est: it is written.”

Huß condemnatur: Hus is condemned.

The following day, July 6, on the octave of Peter and Paul, the archbishop brings them into the parish church. After Mass is celebrated, tables and benches are arranged. The bishop preaches, framing his words in three points: 1. What worthless people heretics are; 2. Authorities have full power to execute them; 3. What great benefit follows such action. When he has concluded, the concilii orator, speaker of the council, steps forward and applices the sermon to poor Hus, and mixes in many irrelevant matters. Hus wishes to respond, but is commanded to keep silent; for a heretic has no power to speak in church. He asks to be convinced of the false accusations, as fitting by law, but no one will hear him. At this he falls into despondency and says, “Then I summon you all before the judgment of God, when all truth shall have room.” Then hell burned: is this how he answers the high priest? He appeals to the emperor’s conduct and says, “For what purpose, then, is his majesty’s certificate and seal if I am not to be heard and speak the truth?” But the clergy claimed, “Hæretico non servandam fidem: faith need not be kept with a heretic.” Over this, Zedekiah also came into sorrow and distress (2 Chron. ult.). And Vladislaus the King of Poland and Hungary, who fell piteously before Varna, whom Cardinal Julian absolved of the oath he had made in the year 1444. The Turkish emperor Amurathes is supposed to have stepped before the crucifix on Julian’s banner and said, “Thou crucified Christ, if Thou be God’s Son, then chasten Thy Christians, which in Thy name sware peace unto me and shamefully brake it.” Thereupon fortune inclined toward the Turkish side. The noble Caspar von Schlick, chancellor of three emperors, stood at Constance and publicly protested, in the name of the emperor, that he had not consented to the priestly business, as may also be read in the Annales Silesiæ. However, might precedes right. Hus was denied his life, and (terrible to hear) the resolution “Hoc non obstante” concerning the Holy Supper was made: “Notwithstanding Christ instituted it under both forms and it was also used by the faitihful in the early church in both forms, yet it is to remain according to the current custom of the church.” Christianity stinks from these people’s throats like Bohemian cheese.

I must make mention of Doctor Andreas Zacharias, who with respect to John Hus earned a rose in his cap from the pope, who said, “Hus, I will overcome you from your own Bible,” (and turned to Ezekiel 34, where it says, “I will strike My shepherds et non populus, and not the people”) “Behold, God Himself wishes to rebuke the pope and his cardinal; you had no power to do so.” And these words stood in Hus’s Bible: “et non populus: and not the people.” The learned might well cross themselves to see how the words appeared. For we find them now in no Bibles, even if they are printed in the midst of the papacy. Spalatin said, “The devil put that text into the Bible.” This Doctor Andreas Zachariæ lies buried before the high altar in the Augustinian monastery in Erfurt. When Doctor Andreas Proles saw his image in the cloister in Gotha with a rose in his cap, he said to Doctor Staupitz, “God protect me from wearing this rose,” since he had overcome Johann Hus unjustly from a falsified Bible. Behold, this was made to be a little cloak to cover the evil affair.

Huß crematur: Hus is burned.

Thereupon Hus was degraded and deprived of all his priestly dignity, and handed over to the secular judges, as Christ was to Pilate and the soldiers. On his head was placed a paper mitre on which three devils were painted along with the title, “Iste est hæresiarcha: This is an arch-heretic.” Then he was burned and his ashes scattered in the Rhine. But in the process he was <303> joyful and of good cheer, just as his colleague Hieronymus of Prague was the next year, 1416, on Saturday after Ascension, who said, “post centum annos respondebitis Deo et mihi: After a hundred years you will answer God and me.” Æeneas Sylvius, an arch-papist, who later became pope, writes a remarkable thing:

Quasi ad epulas invitari ad incendium properarunt, nullum emittentes vocem, quæ miseri animi posset facere indicium. Ubi ardere cœperunt, hymnum cecinére, quem vix flamma et fragor ignis intercipere potuit. Nemo Philosophorum tam forti animo mortem pertulisse traditur, quam isti incendium: They hastened to the fire as if invited to a banquet, emitting no cry which might give indication of a wretched soul. When they began to burn, they sang a hymn, which the flame and crackling of the fire could scarcely hinder. No philosopher is reported to have borne death so boldly as these men did their fire.

When the hangman was about to kindle the fire behind Hieronymus, he said, “Huc accede, et in conspectu ignem accende. Si enim illum timuissem, nunquam in hunc locum, quem fugiendi facultas erat, accessissem: Come here and light the fire before my face. For if I feared it, I would never have approached this place from which there was power to flee.” {Read of Luther’s joy, V. Mathesii, p. 21.} This all flows from a good conscience, which is an everlasting delight. This courage mightily impressed many hearts. They said, “What these men taught we do not know, but their death is very comforting and Christian.” Therefore Emperor Charles said, when he heard of the Elector’s steadfastness, “Of a truth, this doctrine must have more foundation than many of you think.” Gerson, the chancellor of Paris, was also at Constance and helped to season these bad fish in spite of his conscience (lege Examen Concilii Tridentini parte secunda, how boils the bolts), was pricked in his heart because of this. Fourteen years later he died in great misery in Lyons. Shortly before his death, he gathered the children, brought them into the church, and behind closed doors had them kneel before the altar and spoke before them pitifully, “Deus meus, Creator meus, miserere miseri famuli tui Johannis Gerson: O my God, my Maker, have mercy upon Thy miserable servant John Gerson!”

Patientia: Longsuffering. — Vaticinium: Prophecy.

Let us remain with John Hus. When he saw that a farmerwas bringing a greaet armful of wood. Then a monk called out an indulgence for all those who would help put this heretic to death. Then the captive man said, “O sancta simplicitas: O holy innocence, what are you doing?” And he prayed for his enemies, just as Christ and Stephen had done. He also prophesied and said, “You are now cooking a goose (which in Bohemian is ‘Hus’), but in a hundred years, a swan will come, whom you will leave unroasted.” (It this event, no doubt, that Hieronymus of Prague also saw a hundred years before.) This was truly fulfilled. For Hus was burned in the year 1415, but Luther, the white swan from Wittenberg (Whitenberg) began to write in the year 1517. That is two hundred and two years apart. The papists also wished to break his safe conduct to Worms and roast him, but the Rhenish Palsgrave, Elector Ludwig, would not let his certificate and seal be broken; he would never, as an honest German prince, bear the ignominy of having deceived any man to his death. He also said, “It should not be forgotten how Emperor Sigmund no longer had any success from the moment he broke, contrary to the laws of all nations, the safe conduct given to John Hus.”

Agon extremus: Final agony.

As John Hus was led to his death, he prayed without ceasing, “Jesu Fili Dei vivi, qui passus es pro nobis, miserere mei: Jesus, Son of the living God, who didst suffer for us, have mercy upon me!” Behold how he observed the octave of Peter and Paul, how he made use of Peter’s words from the Gospel of Matthew 16. Therefore even the gates of hell cannot prevail against him. Learn likewise to make use of the latest sermons in your prayer. “Qualis concio, talis debet esse precatio: Such as the sermon, so should the prayer also be.”

Praxis: Practical application.

What John Hus did, all who love Christ are obliged to do. Let everyone ask his heart what he is minded to do in this situation. A fine confessor! How would you confess Christ in time of peril, who now in good days exhibit no Christian work to the honor of Christ nor live according to the Gospel, but wallow in all reckless frivolity! May God correct you! <304>
You who are poor, you also have your stake of anguish. Everyone has his little fire of the cross in which his heart is roasted. Come then, confess Christ, do not deny Him. Forget Him not. Call upon Him. Remain faithful to Him even to the last gasp. That will benefit you eternally. Amen.

Closing Benediction.

Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, upon whom John Hus also called; the certain Lover of all who know and confess His name, pour the Holy Spirit into our heart, that we may not only know and love Him with His Evangelical truth, but also with joyful lips fearlessly confess Him before all the world, that He may confess us before His heavenly Father, and we accordingly receive the golden crown of eternal salvation, which is laid up for all who confess Jesus. Amen.

(Translation © 2023 Matthew Carver.)