ACC ~ Matthew 3 v1 - 6
OVERVIEW:
Both the prophets and John made a way and prepared it beforehand. John did not bestow the gift that was yet to come—the remission of sins—but in a timely way he readied the souls of those who would receive the God of all (CHRYSOSTOM). So within each of us the way of chastity, faith and holiness must be paved by repentance (CHROMATIUS). John was a voice from the wilderness as distinguished from the Word promised to come (ANONYMOUS). He preached that sins against God’s law could be purged by repentance (CHROMATIUS). John’s garment of camel hair was chosen as a symbol of the rigorous work of evangelical repentance among not only Jews but Gentiles (PETER CHRYSOLOGUS, THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA), for whom he wore the skin of an unclean animal (MAXIMUS OF TURIN). He who had no use for worldly delights did not seek costly attire or succulent foods (CHROMATIUS). His food was locust—food for penance—mixed with tender mercy, honey (PETER CHRYSOLOGUS). Note that wild honey is not obtained by effort but as an undeserved, merciful gift (ORIGEN). A secure belt for the waist in every good work prepares one to be girded with the will of God for every service (HILARY). By his leather girdle John symbolically brought to repentance his generative organs (ORIGEN), so as to prepare the soul to walk in purity (JEROME). The appearance of a prophet after such a great interval of time increased Israel’s amazement (CHRYSOSTOM). Confession is morally deficient when one does not believe in future judgment (ANONYMOUS). The crowds ran to John as to a man sent from God (THEODORE OF HERACLEA).
3:1 | John the Baptist
IN THOSE DAYS
CHRYSOSTOM: How “in those days”? What days? He does not mean the days when Jesus was a child at Nazareth but thirty years later, when John came, as Luke also testifies. [1] Why then is it said “in those days”? It is common in Scripture to use this rhetorical device: In speaking of something that seems to come immediately after, it also refers to something that comes to pass many years later. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 10.1. [2]
[1] Lk 3:1-2.
[2] PG 57:183; NPNF 1 10:61*.
3:2 | John Preaches Repentance
THE KINGDOM IS WITHIN TO JUSTIFY AND SANCTIFY
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The kingdom of heaven? This refers to justification by faith and sanctification by the Spirit. This is why it says elsewhere, “the kingdom [of heaven] is within you.” [1] FRAGMENT 17. [2]
[1] Lk 17:21.
[2] MKGK 159.
3:3 | A Voice Crying in the Wilderness
THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING
ANONYMOUS: A voice or sound is an obscure utterance, manifesting no secret of the heart but signifying this only: that the one who calls out wants to say something. A word, however, is rational speech, opening the heart’s mystery. While a voice as such is common to both animals and men, a word is fitting only to humans. Thus John was called a voice and not a word, because, through John, God demonstrated neither his mercies nor his justice nor his counsels prepared before the foundation of the world but only this: that God was planning to do something great in human history. Later through his Son he revealed the full mystery of his will. The Son was therefore called the Word. To “make ready the way of the Lord” meant: Repent of your sins and produce fruit worthy of repentance. INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 3. [1]
[1] PG 56:647.
PREPARING SOULS FOR PURITY
JEROME: He prepared the souls of believers in whom the Lord would walk, so he might walk in purity along the purest of paths, saying, “I will live in them and move among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” [1] COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 1.3.3. [2]
[1] Lev 26:12; 2 Cor 6:16.
[2] CCL 77:16.
MAKING A PATH FOR THE COMING MESSIAH
CHRYSOSTOM: Both the prophet and the Baptist state the same idea even though with different words. The prophet said that one would come: “prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” [1] And when John came he himself said, “Bear fruit worthy of repentance,” [2] a statement that corresponds to “prepare the way of the Lord.” Both by the words of the prophets and by John’s own preaching, this one thing is clear: he had arrived, making a way and preparing it beforehand. John was not bestowing the gift, which was the remission of sins, but preparing beforehand the souls of those who would receive the God of all. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 10.3. [3]
[1] Is 40:3.
[2] Mt 3:8.
[3] PG 57:187; NPNF 1 10:63*. John did not bestow the gift of forgiveness but prepared the way for its bestowal.
REMOVE THE STONES FROM THE ROAD
CHROMATIUS: Hence John prepared these ways of mercy and truth, faith and justice. Concerning them, Jeremiah also declared, “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it.” [1] Because the heavenly kingdom is found along these ways, not without good reason John adds, “The kingdom of heaven is near.” [2] So do you want the kingdom of heaven to also be near for you? Prepare these ways in your heart, in your senses and in your soul. Pave within you the way of chastity, the way of faith and the way of holiness. Build roads of justice. Remove every scandal of offense from your heart. For it is written: “Remove the stones from the road.” [3] And then, indeed, through the thoughts of your heart and the very movements of your soul, Christ the King will enter along certain paths. TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 8.1. [4]
[1] Jer 6:16.
[2] Mt 3:2.
[3] Is 40:4.
[4] CCL 9a:228-29.
3:4 | The Symbolism of John’s Food and Clothing
THE GARB OF REPENTANCE
CHRYSOSTOM: It was fitting that the forerunner of the One who was to put away all the ancient ills, the labor, the curse, the sorrow and the sweat display symbols of the situation prior to the fall of Adam. This is why he neither tilled the land nor ploughed furrows nor ate bread by the sweat of his brow. Rather, his table was hastily supplied, and his clothing more easily furnished than his table, and his lodging even less troublesome than his clothing. For he needed neither roof, nor bed, nor table nor any other earthly comfort. He lived a kind of angel’s life in this our flesh. For this reason John’s clothing was of hair, that by his very dress he might instruct persons to separate themselves from all things human, to have nothing in common with the earth but to hasten back to their undefiled nobility, the condition in which Adam lived before he required garments or robe. Thus John’s clothing itself was symbolic of nothing less than the coming kingdom and of repentance. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 10.4. [1]
[1] PG 57:188; NPNF 1 10:64**. John’s way of life itself foreshadowed humanity’s recovery of the human condition before its fall.
NO COSTLY ATTIRE
CHROMATIUS: First, the heavenly life and glorious humility of John are demonstrated in his way of living. He who held the world in low regard did not seek costly attire. He who had no use for worldly delights did not have any desire for succulent foods. What need was there of fancy worldly clothing for one who was dressed with the cloak of justice? What dainty food of the earth could he desire who fed on divine discourses and whose true food was the law of Christ? Such a precursor ought to be the prophet of the Lord and the apostle of Christ who gave himself completely to his heavenly God and had contempt for the things of the world. TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 9.1. [1]
[1] CCL 9a:231.
SHABBINESS SANCTIFIED
HILARY: A garment woven with camel’s hair designates the peculiar clothing of this prophetic preacher. He is covered with the skins of an unclean animal. Whatever had been useless or shabby in us becomes sanctified by the prophet’s clothes. ON MATTHEW 2.2. [1]
[1] SC 254:104.
GIRDED WITH SKINS OF AN UNCLEAN ANIMAL
MAXIMUS OF TURIN: Indeed, when Christ’s forerunner wore a coarse camel-hair garment, what else does it signify but that the coming Christ would be vested in the garb of a human body, thick with the coarseness of sinners, and that, girded with the skins of a most unclean animal, the Gentile people, he bore their very own deformity? SERMONS 88.3. [1]
[1] CCL 23:360.
A GARMENT INTENDED FOR THE HARD WORK OF REPENTANCE
PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: He could have made use of goat’s hair, but there was no need for it. Rather, he wore a garment of camel’s hair with nothing refined about it, nothing graceful, nothing comely. By nature it was intended for hard work and heavy burdens and consigned to utter subjection. The teacher of repentance ought to be vested with such a garment, so that those who had turned away from virtue in their education and given themselves shamelessly over to sin might be subdued by the great burden of penance, might be consigned to the rigors of reparation and experience the heavy sighs of contrition. Thus refashioned and reshaped into the form of a needle, they might obtain ample remission through the narrow opening of penance. And the Lord’s words would then be fulfilled concerning a camel passing through the eye of a needle. SERMONS 167.8. [1]
[1] CCL 24b:1028-29.
WHY CAMEL’S HAIR?
THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: Camel’s hair is mentioned not merely circumstantially but in a mystery and as a type. The camel is counted neither as strictly one of the unclean beasts nor as strictly one of the clean, but it occupies a middle position and partakes of the characteristics of both. For to chew the cud, that is, to bring up again the food after it has been swallowed and direct it forward to be ground by the teeth, is proper to the clean animals. [1] This pertains to the camel. But not to part the hoof is a feature of the unclean beasts. The camel’s foot is not divided, given that its nails meet together. Therefore, on this account, John was clothed with the hairs of this animal, demonstrating the call of the gospel. He showed that the kingdom of God, which John declared was at hand, was going to accept both those who were from Israel, the clean people, and those from the unclean Gentiles. To both of these he preached repentance without any distinction. FRAGMENT 12. [2]
[1] Lev 11:1-4.
[2] MKGK 100.
RESTRAINED BY VIRTUE
MAXIMUS OF TURIN: As for the leather belt, what else does it demonstrate but this fragile flesh of ours, trapped in the grip of vice before the coming of Christ and which, after his coming, was restrained by virtue? Before his coming this flesh was fat through dissipation. Now by abstention it is firmly held in place. SERMONS 88.3. [1]
[1] CCL 23:360.
LOCUSTS AND WILD HONEY
ORIGEN: John ate locusts, suggesting that the people of God were being nourished by a word that traveled high aloft in the air and had not yet passed over the earth. In the second place John ate honey, which is not obtained by people through their own efforts. The honey produced under the law and the prophets was not accessible to those who were inquiring only superficially about the meaning of the Scriptures and not searching their deeper intention. FRAGMENT 41. [1]
[1] GCS 41.1:32.
FOOD FOR PENANCE
PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: Locusts intended for sinners worthy of chastisement are rightly considered to be food for repentance, so that bounding from the place of sin to the place of repentance the sinner may fly to heaven on the wings of forgiveness. The prophet was aware of this when he said, “I am gone, like a shadow at evening. I am shaken off like a locust. My knees are weak through fasting; my body has become gaunt … Save me according to your steadfast law.” [1] You have heard how John was shaken off like a locust from sin to repentance. He bent his knees that he might bear the burden of repentance. His food was mixed with honey, so that tender mercy might temper the bitterness of repentance. SERMONS 167.9. [2]
[1] Ps 109:23-26 (108:23-26 LXX).
[2] CCL 24b:1029.
3:5 | People from the Area Go to Hear John’s Preaching
THE TONE OF JOHN’S PROPHETIC SPEECH
CHRYSOSTOM: See how great was the power of the coming of the prophet! He stirred up the people. He called them to consider the meaning of their own sins. It was indeed worthy of wonder to behold his remarkable human form, his great freedom of speech, the strength of his reproof of all as if they were children and the abundant grace beaming out from his countenance. The appearance of a prophet after such a great interval of time increased their amazement. The prophetic gift that had been absent for a long time was now returning. The very tone of his prophetic speech was strange and unusual. For they had heard none of those things of which the prophets were accustomed to speak: of wars and battles and victories below, of famine and pestilence, of the Babylonians and Persians, and the taking of the city, and the other things with which they were familiar; of heaven and its kingdom, of punishment in hell. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 10.5. [1]
[1] PG 57:189; NPNF 1 10:65**. John renewed the tone and voice of prophetic preaching.
A MAN SENT FROM GOD
THEODORE OF HERACLEA: When the crowds heard of his manner of life, far surpassing normal human life, they longed to see him. For this reason, when they heard that John was nearby, they all simultaneously ran to him, as to “a man sent from God.” [1] They confessed their sins in his presence so that, like a priest, he might offer up sacrifices on their behalf. FRAGMENT 13. [2]
[1] Jn 1:6.
[2] MKGK 60.
3:6 | Confessing and Being Baptized
CLEANSING BY REPENTANCE
CHROMATIUS: Therefore John exhorted those coming to him. He preached that the sins they had committed by transgressing the precepts of divine law could be cleansed by repentance. Thus by satisfying God with worthy repentance they might receive forgiveness from him who said through the prophet: “I have no pleasure in the death of anyone … so turn and live.” [1] And again: “Turn to me, says the Lord of Hosts, and I will turn to you.” [2] And again: “I am the Lord who does not remember wickedness, provided one turn from his evil ways and all his iniquities so that he may live.” [3] TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 10.1. [4]
[1] Ezek 18:32.
[2] Cf. Is 45:22; Jer 15:19.
[3] Ez 18:21-22
[4] CCL 9a:235.
CONFESSING THEIR SINS
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The baptism of John did not provide forgiveness of sins, but it taught people to run to the baptism [1] that is for the sake of sins. FRAGMENT 18. [2]
[1] This second baptism is the Christian baptism, of which John’s baptism was merely a symbolic prefigurement.
[2] MKGK 159.
CONFESSION AND SHAME
ANONYMOUS: Confession of sins is the testimony of a conscience that fears God. Whoever fears God’s judgment will not be ashamed to confess his sins, for he who is ashamed has no fear. Indeed, perfect fear of God releases one from all feeling of shame. One’s confession is morally valueless when one does not believe in the punishment of future judgment. For do we not know that the confession of sins involves shame and that this very shamefulness is itself a severe punishment? But all the more does God order us to confess our sins so we may experience shame by way of punishment. For this very thing is a part of judgment. O mercy of God, which we have so often incited to wrath! Sufficient for it is the punishment that accompanies our shame. INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 3. [1]
[1] PG 56:650.