“In January 1519 something shocking happened at the Great Minster in Zurich. Everyone in the city was talking about it. One man said he was so excited he felt as if someone had grabbed him by his hair and lifted him out of his pew.
What was the cause of all this commotion? Simply this: Ulrich Zwingli (1484–1531), the new pastor of the church, was preaching the Word of God. At the first service in January he opened his Bible to Matthew 1 and began to preach from the Scriptures. At the next service he picked up where he left off in the Gospel of Matthew and kept preaching. He did the same thing at the third service and thereafter, verse by verse, chapter by chapter, book by book, right through the New Testament.
Then Zwingli started preaching through the Old Testament. Amazing! Unheard of! Soon men, women, and children came from all over Zurich to hear the minister explain the Bible in words they could understand.
Zwingli’s systematic Bible exposition was the beginning of the Reformation in Switzerland. To this day there is an inscription over the portal of that church that reads, “The Reformation of Huldrych Zwingli began here on January 1, 1519.” Reformation begins with preaching God’s Word!”
Ryken, P. G. (2001). Jeremiah and Lamentations: From sorrow to hope. Preaching the Word (118–119). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.