Luther, in a sermon on John 16:33:
It is as though Christ wanted to say: "My dear friend, write the word
'I' with a very large capital letter, in order that you may see it well
and take it into your heart. . . . It does not matter that you are small
and weak; I am all the larger and stronger. . . ."
Christ
declares: I have already overcome the world. Thus the great and
the small, the rich and the poor, will join hands and be a match for the
great monster behemoth. If he tries to swallow and devour you as if you
were a little gnat, I will become a big camel in his throat and tear My
way through his belly until he bursts and has to return you in one
piece, whether he wants to or not. I am the One who says this to you.
But
you must turn your eyes from yourselves and be sure to consider
who I am, in order that you may be able to say: "Listen, death, devil,
pope, emperor, and world, you are really putting on airs. You are
showing your long, sharp teeth and are opening your jaws wide. Compared
with you I am a poor little worm. This is true. But what do you think
about Him who says: 'I am the One' and 'I have overcome the world'--says
this to me and tells me to rely confidently on it?"
--Martin Luther,
Luther's Works, Vol. 24: Sermons on the Gospel of St. John Chapter 14-16, p. 415-17
