""Listen, Jew, are you aware that Jerusalem and your sovereignty, together with your temple and priesthood, have been destroyed for over 1,460 years?" For this year, which we Christians write as the year 1542 since the birth of Christ, is exactly 1,468 years, going on fifteen hundred years, since Vespasian and Titus destroyed Jerusalem and expelled the Jews from the city. Let the Jews bite on this nut and dispute this question as long as they wish."On the Jews and Their Lies by Martin Luther…In short, as has already been said, do not engage much in debate with Jews about the articles of our faith. From their youth they have been so nurtured with venom and rancor against our Lord that there is no hope until they reach the point where their misery finally makes them pliable and they are forced to confess that the Messiah has come, and that he is our Jesus. Until such a time it is much too early, yes, it is useless to argue with them about how God is triune, how he became man, and how Mary is the mother of God.
…Therefore, God has to endure that in their synagogues, their prayers, songs, doctrines, and their whole life, they come and stand before him and plague him grievously
… No one can take away from them their pride concerning their blood and their descent from Israel. In the Old Testament they lost many a battle in wars over this matter, though no Jew understands this.
… Even if the Jews were as holy as their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob themselves, yes, even if they were angels in heaven, on account of such a prayer they would have to be hurled into the abyss of hell. How much less will such prayers deliver them from their exile and return them to Jerusalem!
Now you can see what fine children of Abraham the Jews really are, how well they take after their father, yes, what a fine people of God they are. They boast before God of their physical birth and of the noble blood inherited from their fathers, despising all other people, although God regards them in all these respects as dust and ashes and damned by birth the same as all other heathen…
Ping!
Once you understand the background theology the meaning of that whole section becomes quite clear. It has to do with Martin Luther's dispute with the Vatican and the Church hierarchy over their claim to exclusive jurisdiction on matters of faith, morals, and church structure as a consequence of Apostolic Succession.
Remember, the Protestant Reformation was not just about religion, it was about POLITICS, and you had any number of princes around Europe who LIKED the politics, but who had not yet bought into the theology. Luther and others found it more than convenient to simply discuss the Pope, et al, as "Jews".
I'm fairly certain the ruse didn't work when it came to the RC Church ~ they knew very well what Luther was saying and about whom.
After all, Judaism at that time was hardly a threat of any sort to Christianity in Europe, nor was it the greatst threat to Luther's idea of religious independence.