What, exactly, did Martin Luther look like? We’re not sure. He died on February 18, 1546 in the town of Eisleben. The next day the artist Lukas Furtenagel painted a portrait of Luther in his wooden coffin. Furtenagel’s work became the basis for other representations of Luther, probably the ones with which we are most familiar, and possibly even my souvenir photograph of his chalky-white death mask, the totenmaske.
It doesn’t really matter that we don’t have an accurate photographic image of Luther. It doesn’t matter that some of what we call “Luther sites” in Germany today are actually rebuilds or replicas of the original structures which burned to the ground years ago. As we observe the anniversary of the Reformation, what matters to us is the lasting legacy Luther left. That legacy? Here are three important aspects:
1) the clear truth of the Gospel (“Christ gave his body and shed his blood for us for the forgiveness of sin.”) *
2) the confessional theological organization (Sola Scriptura, Sola Gratia, Sola Fide– Scripture alone, Grace alone, Faith alone)
3) the staunch commitment to the authority of God’s Word (“Here I stand.”)
When we sing, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” we reflect a portion of Scripture Luther found precious, one which sustained his spirit as he led the difficult reformation of the Church: The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress (Psalm 46).
*Written in 1521 “to his fellow Augustinians at Wittenberg about the abuse of the Mass,” according to Ewald M. Plass in WHAT LUTHER SAYS.
The ELS is a member of the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference, along with 33 other church bodies of our world-wide fellowship including the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church (ELFK, Germany). Learn more at www.celc.info.
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Steve Petersen
