When we were still under the papacy, they used to tell this story. Once upon a time the devil attended Mass in a church where it was customary in either the Lord’s Prayer or in the Creed to sing: Et homo factus est, that is, “God’s Son became a human being.” While they were singing this, the people just remained standing and did not kneel down. The devil was so incensed, that he slammed his fist into one man’s mouth, saying, You boorish bum, aren’t you ashamed to just stand there like a post and refuse to kneel for joy? If God had become OUR brother, as he did YOUR brother, our joy would be so great that we wouldn’t know what to do with ourselves.

– Martin Luther, Fourth Sermon for Holy Christmas Day-1534, in Complete Sermons of Martin Luther, vol. 5, Baker Publishing.  pg. 134.

Discuss Luther’s illustration below.