“…there is help in the fact that the Man Jesus Christ has come and borne our sin
and death, which we had justly deserved, and that He now steps forth in our behalf,
confronts the Law, sin, and death, and says: “I am of the same flesh and blood;
these are my brothers and sisters. What they did I did; and I paid for it. Law, if
you want to condemn them, condemn Me. Sin, if you want to bite and kill them, bite
Me. Death, if you want to consume and devour, devour Me.” But thereby they failed to
accomplish what they intended to do. For through the very event by which they
expected to exterminate Him and to win the victory, He emerged again and said to the
Law, sin, and death: “Do you not know that I am your Lord and God? What right do you
have to accuse and to slay your Lord? Therefore you shall do this no more; but,
rather, I will accuse and condemn you and dispatch you so thoroughly that you will
henceforth have no claim on anyone who believes in Me. For what I did, I did for
their sake.” Martin Luther
