Note: This text was also dealt with earlier in the exposition of the first reading for Proper 24.
In the years immediately prior to 1517, Martin Luther was slowly but surely killing himself physically, emotionally, and spiritually. As penance for his sins he would flog himself and sleep naked in his cell. His confession sessions sometimes lasted hours as he tried to ensure that every sin, no matter how minor, had been confessed. Luther believed what scripture and the church said about the seriousness of sin and the righteousness of God. Therefore, he was at an impasse, caught between the righteous nature of God and the sinful nature of his humanity. How was a relationship between the two possible? The demands of this righteous God were so great and impossible for sinful humanity to fulf…