Fleeing Plague: Medieval Wisdom for a Modern Health Crisis by Martin Luther

Author:Martin Luther [Johnson, Anna Marie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: REL067070 RELIGION / Christian Theology / Ethics, HIS037090 HISTORY / Modern / 16th Century, REL012110 RELIGION / Christian Living / Social Issues
Publisher: Fortress Press

In this etching by Jan Luiken (1649–1712) or his son Casper Luiken (1672–1708), two men lie dying in the foreground of a town square. One of them is given something to drink by a third man, who holds a hand in front of his mouth. Farther away, a dead person is dragged away, people are dying, and bodies are heaped up against a building.

This I well know, that if it were Christ or his mother who was laid low by illness, everybody would be so solicitous and would gladly become a servant or helper. Everyone would want to be bold and fearless; nobody would flee but everyone would come running. And yet they don’t hear what Christ himself says, “As you did it to one of the least, you did it to me” [Matt. 25:40]. When he speaks of the greatest commandment he says, “The second commandment is like [the first commandment], you shall love your neighbor as yourself” [Matt. 22:39]. There you hear that the command to love your neighbor is equal to the greatest commandment to love God, and that what you do or fail to do for your neighbor means doing the same to God. If you wish to serve Christ and to wait on him, very well, you have your sick neighbor close at hand. Go to them and serve them, and you will surely find Christ in them, not outwardly but in his word. If you do not wish or care to serve your neighbor, you can be sure that, if Christ lay there instead, you would not serve him either. You would let him just lie there. It is nothing but an illusion on your part that puffs you up with vain pride, namely, that you would really serve Christ if he were there in person. That is nothing but lies. Those who want to serve Christ in person would surely serve their neighbor as well. This is said as an admonition and encouragement against fear and a disgraceful flight, to which the devil would tempt us, so that we would disregard God’s command in our dealings with our neighbor and thus fall into sin on the left hand.27

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