Chapter 3

Chapter 3. — John First Proclaimed the Kingdom of Heaven

¹ Now in those days. Not when the Lord was a child and dwelt in Nazareth, but he speaks simply, meaning, in that time, the time before the new generation.

² John the Baptist comes. For this purpose was John sent by God, that, reproving the Jews, he might persuade them to come to a sense of their own evils, and so to receive Christ. For unless one perceives his sins, he does not come to repentance. John, therefore, was sent.

³ Preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying: Repent. The Jews were arrogant; for this reason he presses them on to repentance.

⁴ For the kingdom of heaven is at hand. By the kingdom of heaven he means the first and second coming of Christ, and the virtuous life. For whenever, living on earth, we conduct ourselves as in heaven, not living passionately, we possess the kingdom of heaven.

⁵ For this is he who was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying: The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. The way means the Gospel; and the paths, the commandments of the law, as being worn down and old. He says, then, that: Be ready for the evangelical way of life, and make the commandments of the law straight—that is, make them spiritual. For the spirit is straight. Whenever, then, you see a Jew understanding the things of the law carnally, say that this man has not made the paths straight—that is, he does not understand the law spiritually.

⁶ And John himself had his garment of camel’s hair. He summoned them to repentance even by his dress; for he had a mournful robe. And they say that the camel is between clean and unclean. For inasmuch as it chews the cud, it is clean; but inasmuch as it is not cloven-hoofed in its nails, it is not clean. Since, then, John too brought to God both the people that seemed clean, the Jewish, and the unclean, the gentile, and was a mediator of the old covenant and the new, for this reason he wore the camel’s hair.

⁷ And a leathern girdle about his loins. All the saints are introduced in Scripture as girded, as being always at work; for the negligent and luxurious are not girded, as now the Saracens; or [it is] because they have mortified the passions of desire; for leather is part of a dead animal.

⁸ And his food was locusts and wild honey. [This is said] to those who hold that the locusts are herbs, which they also call melagra; while some [say they are] tree-fruits, that is, wild fruits of the season. And understand the “wild” honey to be that worked by wild bees, found in trees and rocks.

⁹ Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about the Jordan. And they were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. Even though they were baptized, yet the baptism of John did not have remission of sins. But John preached only repentance, and led toward remission of sins—that is, he guided [them] to the baptism of Christ, from whom comes the remission of sins.

¹⁰ And seeing many of the Pharisees. “Pharisee” is interpreted “set apart.” For they seemed in life and in knowledge to be set apart, and to surpass the others.

¹¹ And of the Sadducees. These believed neither in resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit. And they are interpreted “righteous.” For Sedek is righteousness; for they named themselves righteous. Or they are named from the heresiarch Sadok.

¹² Coming to his baptism, he said to them. They did not come with a right mind, like the rest. For this reason he also lays hold of them.

¹³ Brood of vipers, who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? He speaks to them bitterly, knowing their hardness; yet he also praises them, saying: Who has warned you? For he marvels how this came to pass, that their wicked generation should repent. And he calls them a brood of vipers, because, just as these come forth devouring the wombs [that bore them], so these too murdered their fathers, that is, their teachers, the prophets; and by “the wrath to come” he means that of Gehenna.

¹⁴ Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance. You see what he says, that one must not only flee from wickedness, but also bring forth the fruits of virtue.

¹⁵ For, he says, turn away from evil, and do good.

¹⁶ And think not to say within yourselves: We have Abraham as our father. This was to their destruction, that they took confidence in their noble lineage.

¹⁷ For I say to you that God is able even from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. By stones are understood also the gentiles, from whom many believed. Yet John says this also quite plainly, that even from stones [God] is able to make children for Abraham. For indeed Sarah was a stone and a rock, because of her barrenness, but she bore a child; and the Lord raised up children to Abraham from the stones—when? When, at his crucifixion, many, seeing the rocks rent asunder, believed.

¹⁸ And now also the axe is laid to the root of the trees. By the axe he means the judgment of Christ; and the trees [are] each one of us. He, then, who has not believed is from now on cut off root and all, and is cast into Gehenna.

¹⁹ Every tree, therefore. Even if it be descended from Abraham.

²⁰ Which brings not forth good fruit. He did not say, “Which has not brought forth,” but, “Which brings not forth.” For one must ever bear fruit. For if yesterday you showed mercy, but today you are grasping, you do not please [God].

²¹ Is hewn down, and cast into the fire. The fire of Gehenna.

²² I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but he that comes after me is mightier than I. He had said to them: Bring forth fruit. He shows, then, what the fruit is: that it is to believe in him who comes after him. And Christ came after him; inasmuch as he was later than [John] in birth, by six months only, but also in manifestation. For the Forerunner was made manifest first, then Christ, attested by him.

²³ Whose sandals I am not worthy to bear. I am not, he says, even his lowest servant, so as to bear these. And you may understand the sandals [as] his two descents, that from heaven to earth, and that from earth to Hades. And the sandals are the fleshly skin and the mortification; these two descents the Forerunner cannot bear, being unable to comprehend how they came to pass.

²⁴ He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit. That is, He shall flood you abundantly with the gifts of the Spirit. For my baptism, he says, does not furnish spiritual grace, nor even the remission of sins; but he will both forgive you, and give the Holy Spirit.

²⁵ Whose winnowing-fan is in his hand. Think not that if you are baptized by him, then, when you sin, he will pardon you. But he also has a winnowing-fan, that is, judgment and scrutiny.

²⁶ And he will thoroughly purge his threshing-floor. That is, the Church, which has many baptized, just as on the threshing-floor [there is] every kind of crop; but among these, some are chaff, as many as are light and moved by the spirits of wickedness; and others [are] wheat, as many as both benefit others, and nourish [them] through teaching and practice.

²⁷ And he will gather his wheat into his barn; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. Unquenchable is that fire; so that Origen talks nonsense, saying that there will be an end of punishment.

²⁸ Then Jesus comes from Galilee to the Jordan, to John, to be baptized by him; but John forbade him, saying. Being pure, he is baptized, that he might wash us clean; and that he might show us that the one upon whom we are about to be baptized must first be purified, lest we defile baptism, being thereafter easily soiled through evil habit. And John forbids him, lest the beholders should suppose him also to be one of the many baptized unto repentance.

²⁹ I have need to be baptized by you. For the Forerunner had need to be cleansed by the Lord. For, being descended from Adam, he too dragged along the defilement that came from the disobedience; but Christ, being made flesh, cleansed all.

³⁰ And do you come to me? He did not dare to say, “And are you baptized by me?” but,

³¹ And do you come? so reverent was he.

³² But Jesus answering said to him: Suffer it now. Now, he says, give way; but there will be a time when we shall have the glory that is due, even if now we do not appear [in it].

³³ For thus it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness. By righteousness he means the law. Accursed, he says, was human nature, because it could not bring the law to fulfillment. I, then, have accomplished the other things of the law also; but this remains to me, to be baptized. Having accomplished this, then, I shall deliver nature from the curse; for this becomes me.

³⁴ Then he suffers him; and Jesus, having been baptized. At thirty years of age he is baptized, since this age receives all the sins. For in the first age there is much thoughtlessness; in the second, that of the younger men, [there is] much flame of desire and of anger; in this, that of full-grown men, [there is] much love of money. He waited, then, for this age, that through all the ages he might fulfill the law, and sanctify us.

³⁵ Immediately he went up from the water. The Manichaeans say that his body was laid aside in the Jordan, and that according to appearance he showed another body. But they are silenced from this. For Jesus, he says, went up; not another went up, but the very one who had gone down into the water.

³⁶ And lo, the heavens were opened to him. Adam closed them; but through Christ they are opened; that you might learn that you also, when you are baptized, open them.

³⁷ And he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and coming upon him; and lo, a voice from the heavens, saying. The Spirit descends, to bear witness that the one baptized is greater than the one baptizing. For the Jews held John to be great, but for Christ they did not so much care. And all saw the Spirit coming upon Jesus, lest they should suppose that the voice which said,

³⁸ This is my beloved Son, came on account of John; but, seeing the Spirit, they might believe that the voice is on account of Jesus. And “like a dove” [signifies] the guileless and the gentle; and because the dove is most pure, and where there is a stench it does not remain; so too the Holy Spirit. But also in the days of Noah the dove announced the abating of the flood, bearing an olive branch; so too here the Holy Spirit declares the loosing of sins. There [it was] a twig; but here [it is] the mercy of God.

³⁹ This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; that is, In whom I have taken delight, in whom I am pleased.