ACC ~ Matthew 3 v4

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.

Mt