ACC ~ Mark 1 v6 - 8

OVERVIEW:

The repentance called for by John was like a snake shedding its old skin by pushing through a narrow place; so do those preparing for baptism ready themselves by repentance (CYRIL OF JERUSALEM). John, clothed in contrition and simplicity of life, savored the sweet and spiritual food of the desert to prepare for the lowly ministry of the Lord (CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA). The prophets before John were given grace to foretell the coming of Christ, but to John it was given both to foretell him in his absence and to behold him in his presence (AUGUSTINE). John’s baptism offered repentance, while Christ’s baptism offered grace (BASIL, AMBROSE). A powerful model of ascetic discipline stems from John’s mission, according to the type of Elijah (JEROME). By relinquishing his ancestral right to the priesthood, John became the herald and precursor of God’s own priestly self-giving (BEDE). In John the law is beheld clothed in the penitent hair of the desert camel; the coming grace would be clothed in the tunic of the lamb (JEROME). The text, however, does not offer a comparison of the ministries of John and Jesus, for John himself says that they are not comparable (CHRYSOSTOM). Although the mystery of baptism eludes our human language, we cannot therefore cease to attempt to speak of it (BASIL).

1:6a | Clothed with Camel’s Hair

SPIRITUAL FOOD IN THE DESERT

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: The blessed John disdained hair obtained from flocks of sheep as smelling of luxury. Instead he chose camel’s hair, making his life’s pattern one of simplicity and frugality. For he also “ate locusts and wild honey,” [1] sweet and spiritual food, preparing for the humble and self-controlled ways of the Lord. How could John have possibly worn a purple robe? He was one who avoided all false pretenses of the city and lived a calm existence in the desert apart from all frivolous pursuits, from anything ignoble or mean. CHRIST THE EDUCATOR 2.11. [2]

[1] Mk 1:6; Mt 3:4.

[2] TLG 0555.002, 2.10—112.1-24; cf. ANF 2:266.

THE EFFECT OF JOHN’S PREACHING ON CHRISTIAN DISCIPLINE

JEROME: John the Baptist had a religious mother and his father was a priest. Yet neither his mother’s affection nor his father’s affluence could induce him to live in his parents’ house at the risk of the world’s temptations. So he lived in the desert. Seeking Christ with his eyes, he refused to look at anything else. His rough garb, his girdle made of skins, his diet of locusts and wild honey were all alike designed to encourage virtue and continence. Later the spiritual descendants of the prophets, who were the monks of the Old Testament, would build for themselves huts by the waters of Jordan and forsaking the crowded cities live in these on pottage and wild herbs. [1] As long as you are at home, make your cell your paradise, gather there the varied fruits of Scripture, let them be your favorite companions, and take its precepts to your heart. [2] LETTER 125, TO RUSTICUS 7. [3]

[1] Cf 2 Kings 4:38-39; 6:1-2.

[2] Cf. Ps 119:69.

[3] Cetedoc 0620, 125.56.7.125.4; NPNF 2 6:246*. Having seen Christ with his eyes, he refused to look at anything else.

PRECURSOR OF A HIGHER PRIESTHOOD

BEDE: He esteemed the high priestly garment woven of gold cloth of less value than a garment made of camel’s hair, girded with a leather belt. [1] Why? Was it not that he who, by reason of a more perfect justice, had received for himself authority to preach, that he might show, even by the neglect of his ancestral right to the high priesthood, how certainly he was the herald and precursor of a more excellent high priesthood? [2] HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 2.19. [3]

[1] The issue is why John refused the ancestral right to high priesthood.

[2] Cf. Heb 3:1; 4:14; 5:10; 6:20.

[3] Cetedoc 1367, 2.19.36; HOG 2:190**.

1:6b | A Leather Girdle Around His Waist

FOR HEAVY LABOR

CHRYSOSTOM: You may ask, why did he wear a leather girdle? … Elijah also was so clothed, and likewise many others among holy men, either because they were engaged in heavy labor, or were upon a journey, or in any other necessity that involved labor, and because they despised ornament, and followed an austere way of life. … Let us, putting away all excess, and drinking the healthy cup of moderation, live in a manner that is becoming and temperate. Let us give ourselves in earnest to prayer. And if we do not receive that for which we pray, let us persevere that we may receive it. And if we do receive it, then let us persevere all the more for what we have received. For it is not his will to withhold the gift we ask for, but in his wisdom, to encourage our perseverance by delaying it. THE GOSPEL OF ST. MATTHEW, HOMILY 10. [1]

[1] SSGF 1:87*; TLG 2062.152, 57.189.9-10, 14-20; 191.34-41.

ELIJAH AND JOHN

JEROME: John, too, wears a leather girdle about his loins; and there was nothing soft or effeminate in Elijah, but every bit of him was hard and virile. He, too, certainly was a shaggy man. [1] HOMILY 91, ON THE EXODUS. [2]

[1] 2 Kings 1:8.

[2] HE BEGINNING OF THE GOSPEL | MARK 1:1-5

1:6c | He Ate Locusts and Wild Honey

FREEDOM FROM NEED

CHRYSOSTOM: It was necessary that the precursor of the One who was to undo the age-long burdens of men, such as toil, malediction, pain and sweat, should in his own person give some token of the gifts to come, so as to stand above these tribulations. And so it was that he neither tilled the earth, nor plowed the furrow, nor did he eat bread of his own sweat, for his table was easily prepared, and his clothing more easily than his table, and his dwelling more easily than his clothing. For he had need neither of roof, nor bed, nor table, nor any such thing. But even while still within this flesh of ours he lived an almost angelic life. His clothing was put together from the hair of camels, so that even from his garments he might teach us that we free ourselves of human needs, and need not be bound to this earth, but that we may return to the pristine dignity in which Adam first lived, before he had need of garments or of clothing. THE GOSPEL OF ST. MATTHEW, HOMILY 10. [1]

[1] TLG 2062.152, 57.188.26-42; SSGF 1:86*.

SHEDDING SKIN THROUGH A NARROW PASSAGE

CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: He fed on locusts to make his soul grow wings. Sated with honey, the words he spoke were sweeter than honey and of more profit. Clothed in a garment of camel’s hair, he exemplified in his own person the holy life. … For every snake puts off its signs of age by pushing through some narrow place, and gets rid of its old apparel by squeezing it off. From then on it is young again in body. So “enter in at the straight and narrow gate,” [1] squeeze yourself through by fasting, break yourself away from perishing, “put off the old nature with its deeds.” [2] THE CATECHETICAL LECTURES 3.6. [3]

[1] Mt 7:13-14; Lk 13:24.

[2] Eph 4:22; Col 3:9.

[3] TLG 2110.003, 36.18-21; 7.12-17; LCC 4:93-94. By his way of life he displayed the seriousness of his preaching.

1:7a | Mightier Than I

NONE GREATER THAN JOHN

CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: Even though Elijah the Tishbite was taken up to heaven, [1] he was not greater than John. Enoch too was translated [2] but was not greater than John. Moses was the greatest of lawgivers and all the prophets were admirable, but none greater than John. It is not I who would dare to compare prophet with prophet, but their Master and ours who himself declared “Among those born of women there is none greater than John.” [3] Not “born of virgins,” observe! but “born of women.” [4] THE CATECHETICAL LECTURES 3.6. [5]

[1] 2 Kings 2:11.

[2] Cf. Gen 5:24.

[3] Lk 7:28.

[4] Cyril defines the position of John in the history of salvation with precision: greater than Moses, less than Christ; culminating the law and prophets yet awaiting the anointed one to whom they point; greater than others born of women; lesser than the one born of the virgin.

[5] TLG 2110.003, 3.6.7-14; LCC 4:93**. That there is none greater born of woman than John does not imply that John’s greatness exceeds that of the Lord himself, who was born of a virgin.

THE BAPTISM OF JOHN AND CHRISTIAN BAPTISM

AMBROSE: Neither repentance avails without grace, nor grace without repentance; for repentance must first condemn sin, that grace may blot it out. So then John, who was a type of the law, came baptizing for repentance, while Christ came to offer grace. EPISTLE 84. [1]

[1] Cetedoc 0160, 9.68.7.82.2.172.69; FC 26:470*.

THE PROLOGUE TO BAPTISM

JEROME: As he himself bodily preceded Christ as his forerunner, so also his baptism was the prologue to the Lord’s baptism. THE DIALOGUE AGAINST THE LUCIFERIANS 7. [1]

[1] Cetedoc 0608, 7.170.40; NPNF 2 6:323**.

THE HAIR OF THE CAMEL AND THE TUNIC OF THE LAMB

JEROME: “One mightier than I is coming after me, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.” [1] The meaning of the words: “He must increase, I must decrease,” [2] is that the gospel must increase, but I, the law, must decrease. John, that is, the law in John, was clothed, therefore, in the hair of a camel, for he could not wear a tunic of the lamb of whom it is said: “Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world;” [3] and again: “He is led like a lamb to the slaughter.” [4] In the law, we cannot wear a tunic from that Lamb. HOMILY 75. [5]

[1] Mk 1:7.

[2] Jn 3:30.

[3] Jn 1:29.

[4] Is 53:7.

[5] Cetedoc 0594, 1.107; FC 57:125.

MORE THAN A PROPHET

AUGUSTINE: John therefore was a foreteller of Christ, nearer to him in time than all who went before him. And because all the righteous ones and prophets of former times desired to see the fulfillment of what, through the revelation of the Spirit, they foresaw should come to pass—so also the Lord himself says that “many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which you see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which you hear, and have not heard them.” [1] Therefore it was said of John that he was more than a prophet, and that among all that were born of women there was none greater than he, [2] because to the righteous who went before him it was only granted to foretell the coming of Christ, but to John it was given both to foretell him in his absence and to behold him in his presence, so that it should be found that to him was made manifest what the others had desired. ANSWER TO THE LETTERS OF PETILIAN, THE DONATIST 2.37. [3]

[1] Mt 13:17.

[2] Mt 11:9, 11; Lk 7:28.

[3] Cetedoc 0333, 2.37.87.71.15; NPNF 1 4:552-53*.

1:7b | The Thong of Whose Sandals I Am Not Worthy to Stoop Down and Untie

THEIR INCOMPARABILITY

CHRYSOSTOM: John was setting forth the anticipatory and ancillary value of his own baptism, showing that it had no other purpose than to lead to repentance. He did not say he baptized with water of forgiveness, but of repentance. He pointed toward Christ’s baptism, full of inexpressible gifts. John seems to be saying: “On being told that he comes after me, you must not think lightly of him because he comes later. When you understand the power of Christ’s gift, you will see that I said nothing lofty or noble when I said ‘I am unworthy to untie the thong of his sandal.’ When you hear, ‘He is mightier than I,’ do not imagine that I said this by way of comparison. For I am not worthy to be ranked so much as among Christ’s servants, no, not even the lowest of his servants, nor to receive the least honored portion of his ministry.” Therefore John did not simply say, “his sandals,” he said “the thong of his sandals,” the part counted the least of all. [1] THE GOSPEL OF ST. MATTHEW, HOMILY 11.5. [2]

[1] Cf. Lk 3:16; Jn 1:27; 3:28-30.

[2] TLG 2062.152, 57.196.46-62; NPNF 1 10:71; cf. 110:19.

1:8a | Baptized with Water

WHETHER JESUS BAPTIZED

ORIGEN: The Messiah therefore does not baptize in water, but his disciples do. He reserves for himself the baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 6.23. [1]

[1] TLG 2042.005, 6.23.125.11-12. Jesus did not himself baptize, but sent the Holy Spirit to baptize.

BAPTISM UNDER MOSAIC LAW COMPARED WITH JOHN’S BAPTISM

BASIL: The baptism which was handed down through Moses recognized, first, a distinction among sins, for the grace of pardon was not accorded all transgressions. It also required various sacrifices, laid down precise rules for purification, and segregated for a time those who were in a state of impurity and defilement. It appointed the observance of days and seasons, and only then baptism was received as the seal of purification. The baptism of John was far more excellent: It recognized no distinction of sins, nor did it require a variety of sacrifices, nor did it appoint strict rules for purification or any observance of days or seasons. Indeed, with no delay at all, anyone who had confessed his sins, however numerous or grave, had access at once to the grace of God and his Christ. CONCERNING BAPTISM 31.2. [1]

[1] TLG 2040.052, 31.1533.11-26; FC 9:355*. The penitent with sins great and small were offered immediate access to the grace of repentance in the coming of Christ.

1:8b | With the Holy Spirit

STAMMERING BEFORE THE MYSTERY OF BAPTISM

BASIL: The baptism of the Lord, however, surpasses all human powers of comprehension. It contains a glory beyond all that humanity hopes or prays for, a preeminence of grace and power which exceeds the others [1] more than the sun outshines the stars. More than this, if the words of the righteous are recalled to mind, they prove even more conclusively its incomparable superiority. Yet, we must not therefore refrain from speaking of it, but, using the very utterances of our Lord Jesus Christ as our guides,we grope along the way, as with a mirror, or through the maze of an enigma. We must speak, not so as to diminish the greatness of the subject, by an exposition made in weakness of body and with the aid of a form of reasoning that is set at naught. We must speak to magnify the greatness and the long-suffering benevolence of the good God in tolerating our stammering attempts to speak about the prodigies of his love and grace in Christ Jesus. CONCERNING BAPTISM 31.2. [2]

[1] Baptism under Mosaic law and under John’s preaching.

[2] FC 9:356*; TLG 2042.052, 31.1533

THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN WATER AND SPIRIT

JEROME: He is drawing a comparison, therefore, between the law and the gospel. Farther, he says: “I have baptized you with water,” that is, the law; “but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit,” [1] that is the gospel. HOMILY 76. [2]

[1] Mk 1:8.

[2] Cetedoc 0594, 2.45; FC 57:133. The baptism of repentance with water is the last act under the dispensation of the law, and the baptism of the Spirit is the first act under the dispensation of the gospel.

THE PERFECTION OF BAPTISM

JEROME: No baptism can be called perfect except that which depends on the cross and resurrection of Christ. THE DIALOGUE AGAINST THE LUCIFERIANS 7. [1]

[1] Cetedoc 0608, 7.171.6; NPNF 2 6:323**.