This week I was asked about Martin Luther and his anti-Semitic remarks. It is the ugliest history of our church and must be repented. Here is what happened.
Luther discovered the Gospel and was changed from an anxiety-filled slave of the law to a freeman in Christ. He believed that if people were given the Gospel that they too would be set free. He hoped that in his lifetime Jewish people would hear the Gospel and come to faith in Christ. By and large this didn’t happen. Luther was so disappointed and angry that he wrote terrible things against the Jews at the end of his life. He recommended destroying their synagogues and homes, burning their writings, forbidding their gatherings, and eliminating their safe travel. Awful.
It’s embarrassing for any Lutheran to read those words. We don’t believe that Luther was a prophet but we do believe that he was a good teacher. When it comes to his teachings on the Jews we can totally reject his words. In fact, in 1983, the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, did reject Luther’s anti-Semitism saying “That while, on the one hand, we are deeply indebted to Luther for his rediscovery and enunciation of the Gospel, on the other hand, we deplore and disassociate ourselves from Luther’s negative statements about the Jewish people.”
It seems like every great leader has their one huge fail. Moses’ was anger at God and disbelief that he could bring water from a rock. Joshua’s was the neglect of prayer in making a truce with the Gibeonites. Peter’s was discrimination against Gentiles. Paul’s was persecuting Christians. Anti-Semitism was Martin Luther’s. We can learn from Luther’s sin by repudiating it in his life and ours. Jewish people are created in the image of God. We should love them like our very own brothers and sisters. Christ loves them so much he died for them. We welcome them with open arms.
