Johann Tetzel lit within Luther the candle that sparked the Reformation. Upon Tetzel and the Catholic church's utter heresy (as we discussed last week), it was time for Luther to act. Desiring to promote a confrontation concerning a number of teachings he determined to be false, Luther posted a document on the Castle Church door in Wittenburg, Germany on October 31, 1517. This document contained "95 Theses" to be publicly debated. Luther posted this document with the intent of provoking debate, but it wound up provoking much more than he intended.
Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg, born in 1399 in Mainz, Germany, had recently invented a machine that would change the world. Gutenberg invented the printing press with movable type in the 1440's so that documents could be mass-produced rather than having to undergo the painstaking process of hand-writing each piece.
This new development was crucial to the breadth of the Reformation. Luther's 95 Theses, unbeknownst to him, was translated from Latin into German and was printed and distributed. Many common folk resonated with his words and copies of his work and the distribution of them grew throughout Germany in a relatively short period of time.
The archbishop, in Mainz, when he read what Luther had produced, sent copies of it off to Rome with the expression of his disapproval. This was in December of the same year. Luther's dissent of Catholic doctrine had moved beyond being known in a small region, to being known throughout Germany and even up to the highest of Catholic authorities.
This would be the beginning of years of back-and-forth between Luther and the "powers that be". Some of which we will explore in weeks to come.
Luther was not the only man involved in this pivotal moment in the history of the Church. God raised up many others, too. William Tyndale of England, Ulrich Zwingli of Switzerland, John Calvin of France and John Knox of Scotland to name a few. This was a significant moment in the promise of Jesus to build His church (Matthew 16:18). He was building it. He is building it. And He will build it.
Do you sometimes look around and doubt that Jesus is building His church? Do you sometimes feel as if you are the only one who is serving Him? If you do...join the club...then give I Kings 19:9-18 a read for a good dose of reality.
Pastor Jeremy
