Iohn Baptist by his Eremites life, by his preaching and baptisme, calleth al vnto penance, to prepare them to Christ. 10. He preacheth to the Pharisees and Sadducees, threatening to them (vnles they truly doe penance) reprobation here and damnation hereafter: and so saluation sendeth them to Christ and his baptisme. Which being far more excellent then Iohns, yet Christ him self among those penitents vouchsafeth to come vnto Iohns baptisme. where he hath testimonie from heauen also.
1And in those days cometh John the Baptist preaching in the desert of Judea.In questo tempo venne Giovanni il Batista a predicare nel deserto della Giudea;AND in those dayes cometh Iohn the Baptist preaching in the desert of Ievvrie,In diebus autem illis venit Joannes Baptista prædicans in deserto Judææ, 2And saying: Do penance: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.Dicendo: Fate penitenza: perché il regno de' cieli è vicino.& saying, Doe penance: for the Kingdom of heauen is at hand.et dicens: Pœnitentiam agite: appropinquavit enim regnum cælorum. 3For this is he that was spoken of by Isaias the prophet, saying: A voice of one crying in the desert, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.Imperocché questi è l'uomo, di cui parlò Isaia profeta, che disse: La voce di colui, che grida nel deserto: Preparate la via del Signore: addirizzate i suoi sentieri.For this is he that vvas spoken of by Esay the Prophet, saying, A voyce of one crying in the desert, prepare ye the way of our Lord, make straight his pathes.Hic est enim, qui dictus est per Isaiam prophetam dicentem: Vox clamantis in deserto: / Parate viam Domini; / rectas facite semitas ejus. 4And the same John had his garment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins: and his meat was locusts and wild honey.Or lo stesso Giovanni aveva una veste di peli di cammello, e una cintola di cuoio ai fianchi, e suo cibo erano locuste, e miele salvatico.And the sayd Iohn had his garment of camels heare, & a girdle of a skinne about his loynes: and his meate was locustes & vvilde honie.Ipse autem Joannes habebat vestimentum de pilis camelorum, et zonam pelliceam circa lumbos suos: esca autem ejus erat locustæ, et mel silvestre. 5Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea, and all the country about Jordan:Allora andava a lui Gerusalemme, e tutta la Giudea, e tutto il paese d'intorno al Giordano.Then vvent forth to him Hierusalem & al Ievvrie, and al the countrey about Iordan:Tunc exibat ad eum Jerosolyma, et omnis Judæa, et omnis regio circa Jordanem; 6And were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.Ed erano battezzati da lui nel Giordano, confessando i loro peccati.& vvere baptized of him in Iordan, confessing their sinnes.et baptizabantur ab eo in Jordane, confitentes peccata sua. 7And seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them: Ye brood of vipers, who hath shewed you to flee from the wrath to come?Ma avendo egli veduto molti Farisei, e Sadducei, che venivano al sua battesimo, disse loro: Razza di vipere, chi vi ha insegnato a fuggire dall'ira futura!And seeing many of the Pharisees & Sadducées coming to his baptisme, he sayd to them. Ye vipers brood, vvho hath shevved you to flee from the vvrath to come?Videns autem multos pharisæorum, et sadducæorum, venientes ad baptismum suum, dixit eis: Progenies viperarum, quis demonstravit vobis fugere a ventura ira ?
8Bring forth therefore fruit worthy of penance.Fate adunque frutti degni di penitenza.Yeld therfore fruite vvorthie of penance.Facite ergo fructum dignum pœnitentiæ. 9And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham for our father. For I tell you that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham.E non vogliate dire drento di voi: Abbiamo Abramo per padre: imperocché io vi dico, che può Dio da queste pietre suscitar de' figliuoli ad Abramo.And delite not to say vvithin your selues, vve haue Abraham to our father. for I tel you that God is able of these stones to raise vp children to Abraham.Et ne velitis dicere intra vos: Patrem habemus Abraham. Dico enim vobis quoniam potens est Deus de lapidibus istis suscitare filios Abrahæ. 10For now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that doth not yield good fruit, shall be cut down, and cast into the fire.Imperocché la scure sta già alla radice degli alberi. Qualunque albero adunque, che non fa buon frutto, sarà tagliato, e gettato nel fuoco.For novv the axe is put to the roote of the trees. Euery tree therefore that doth not yeld good fruite, shal be cut dovvne, & cast into the fyre.Jam enim securis ad radicem arborum posita est. Omnis ergo arbor, quæ non facit fructum bonum, excidetur, et in ignem mittetur. 11I indeed baptize you in water unto penance, but he that shall come after me, is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost and fire.Quanto a me io vi battezzo con acqua per la penitenza: ma quegli, che verrà dopo di me, è più potente di me; di cui non son io degno di portare i sandali: egli vi battezzerà collo Spirito santo, è col fuoco.I in deede baptize you in vvater vnto penance. but he that shal come after me, is stronger then I, vvhose shoes I am not vvorthie to beare, he shal baptize you in the Holy Ghost & fire.Ego quidem baptizo vos in aqua in pœnitentiam: qui autem post me venturus est, fortior me est, cujus non sum dignus calceamenta portare: ipse vos baptizabit in Spiritu Sancto, et igni. 12Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his floor and gather his wheat into the barn; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.Egli ha la sua pala nella sua mano: e purgherà all'atto la sua aia, e radunerà il suo frumento nel granaio; ma brugerà le paglie con fuoco inestinguibile.Whose fanne is in his hand, and he shal cleane purge his floore: and he vvil gather his vvheate into the barne, but the chaffe he vvil burne vvith vnquencheable fire.Cujus ventilabrum in manu sua: et permundabit aream suam: et congregabit triticum suum in horreum, paleas autem comburet igni inextinguibili.
13Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan, unto John, to be baptized by him.Allora arrivò Gesù dalla Galilea al Giordano da Giovanni per esser da lui battezzato.Then cometh IESVS from Galilee to Iordan, vnto Iohn, to be baptized of him.Tunc venit Jesus a Galilæa in Jordanem ad Joannem, ut baptizaretur ab eo. 14But John stayed him, saying: I ought to be baptized by thee, and comest thou to me?Ma Giovanni se gli opponeva, dicendo: Io ho bisogno d'esser battezzato da te; e tu vieni a me?But Iohn stayed him, saying, I ought to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?Joannes autem prohibebat eum, dicens: Ego a te debeo baptizari, et tu venis ad me ? 15And Jesus answering, said to him: Suffer it to be so now. For so it becometh us to fulfil all justice. Then he suffered him.Ma Gesù gli rispose dicendo: Lascia fare per ora: imperocché così conviene a noi di adempire tutta giustizia. Allora gli condiscese.And IESVS ansvvering, sayd to him, Suffer me for this time. for so it becommeth vs to fulfil al iustice. Then he suffered him.Respondens autem Jesus, dixit ei: Sine modo: sic enim decet nos implere omnem justitiam. Tunc dimisit eum. 16And Jesus being baptized, forthwith came out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened to him: and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him.Gesù battezzato usci tosto dell'acqua: ed ecco che si aprirono a lui i cieli e vide lo Spirito di Dio scendere quasi colomba, e venir sopra di se.And IESVS being baptized, forthvvith came out of the vvater: and loe the heauens vvere opened to him: and he savv the Spirit of God descending as a doue, & coming vpon him.Baptizatus autem Jesus, confestim ascendit de aqua, et ecce aperti sunt ei cæli: et vidit Spiritum Dei descendentem sicut columbam, et venientem super se. 17And behold a voice from heaven saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.Ed ecco una voce del cielo, che disse: Questi è il mio figlio il diletto, nel quale io mi sono compiaciuto.And behold a voyce from heauen saying, This is my beloued sonne, in vvhom I am vvel pleased.Et ecce vox de cælis dicens: Hic est Filius meus dilectus, in quo mihi complacui.
3:1
about the year A.D. 30.
Bible de Vence
"In those days," that is at the time of Jesus Christ, whose history this book contains. This expression does not always mean that what is going to be narrated, happened immediately after that which precedes. (Bible de Vence)
'Tis a way of speaking used by the Hebrews, even when there is no connection of time, as here are passed over 30 years of Christ's life. John the Baptist was so called from his baptizing the people in water. The Jews took this for some token of their Messias: for they said to him, (John 1:25,) why dost thou baptize if thou art not the Christ?
Witham
In the desert, not in the house of his Father Zacharias, as some pretend, but in a true wilderness, as appears by the circumstances of his food, apparel, etc. (Witham)
Haydock
The Baptist was about 30 years of age. He, as well as our Lord, in conformity with the Jewish law, did not enter upon his public ministry before that age. (Haydock)
3:2
Bristow
"Desert," in Greek eremos, hence hermit. St. John the Baptist is praised by St. John Chrysostom, as a perfect model, and the prince of an Eremitical life. (Hom. I. in Mar. and hom. 1:in J. Bap.) Several sectarists do not approve of what St. Chrysostom advances in favour of an ascetic life, and doing penance for past sins. (Bristow)
Do penance.[Ver. 2. Poenitentiam agite. metanoeite. There is no need of translating in Latin, recipiscite, though more according to the etymology of the word. The judicious Mr. Bois, prebend. of Ely, in his book entitled, Veteris Interpretis cum Beza, etc. Collatio. Londini. an. 1655, commended by Walton in his Polyglot, declares he would not have this common translation of poenitentiam agite changed: and brings these words of Melancthon, Let us not be ashamed of our mother tongue; the Church is our Mother, and so speaks the Church.] Beza would have it translated repent. We retain the ancient expression, consecrated in a manner by the use of the Church; especially since a true conversion comprehends not only a change of mind, and a new life, but also a sorrow for past offences, accompanied with self-denials, and some severities of a penitential life.
Witham
The kingdom of heaven, which many times signifies the present condition of Christ's Church. (Witham)
Tirinus
In this and other places of holy writ, instead of "do penance," Protestants give "repent ye;" but general use has rendered metanoia, by poenitentia, or penance; and in this text, not any kind of penance, or grief for sins committed, but that which is joined with a desire of appeasing Him who has been offended by sin; and this also by some external signs and works. For as many as heard this metanoeite, obeyed the voice, received from him the baptism of penance, confessed their sins, and it was said to them: Bring forth fruit worthy of repentance, ver. 8. Therefore, all this was contained in the penance preached by the baptist. And here we must not omit, that while sectarists preach faith alone, both the baptist and Jesus Christ begin their ministry with practising and preaching penance. (Tirinus)
Challoner
Poenitentiam agite, metanoeite. Which word, according to the use of the Scriptures and the holy fathers, does not only signify repentance and amendment of life, but also punishing past sins by fasting, and such like penitential exercises. (Challoner)
3:3
Bible de Vence
Isaias spoke these words of the deliverance of the Jews from Babylon; but this was a figure of the freedom of mankind through Jesus Christ. The Jews expected Elias would come in person to prepare the ways of the Messias; but John the Baptist was raised up by God in the spirit and power of Elias, to precede the first coming of Jesus Christ, as Elias in person was to precede the second coming of this divine Saviour. (Bible de Vence)
3:4
His garment of camels' hair,[Ver. 4. St. Hierom.[St. Jerome] lib. 2. con. Jovin. tom. 4. part. 2. p. 201. Orientales, et Libyae populos . . . locustis vesci, moris est. Theophylactus by akrides, understands buds of trees.] not wrought camlet as some would have it, but made of the skin of a camel, with the hair on it. Thus Elias (4 Kings, 1:8,) is called an hairy man, with a leathern girdle about him.
Witham
Locusts, not sea-crabs, as others again expound it; but a sort of flies, or grasshoppers, frequent in hot countries. They are numbered among eatables. (Leviticus 11:22) St. Jerome and others mention them as a food of the common people, when dried with smoke and salt. Theophylactus, by the Greek word, understands the tops of trees or buds. (Witham)
3:5
Haydock
So great was the celebrity of St. John's sanctity, so much did his mortified life, and powerful preaching, weigh upon the minds of the people, that all wished to receive baptism at his hands. (Haydock)
3:6
Baptized. The word baptism signifies a washing, particularly when it is done by immersion, or by dipping, or plunging a thing under water, which was formerly the ordinary way of administering the sacrament of baptism. But the Church, which cannot change the least article of the Christian faith, is not so tied up in matters of discipline and ceremonies. Not only the Catholic Church, but also the pretended reformed churches, have altered this primitive custom in giving the sacrament of baptism, and now allow of baptism by pouring or sprinkling water on the person baptized; nay may of their ministers do it now-a-days, by filliping a wet finger and thumb over the child's head, or by shaking a wet finger or two over the child, which it is hard enough to call a baptizing in any sense.
Witham
Confessing their sins.[Ver. 6. Confitentes peccata sua. exomologoumenoi tas amartias auton.] We bring not this as a proof for sacramental auricular confession; yet we may take notice, with Grotius, that it is a different thing for men to confess their sins, and to confess themselves sinners. And here is expressed a declaring of particular sins, (as also Acts 19:18,) such as is recommended in the Protestant Common Prayer Book, in the visitation of the sick. (Witham)
Haydock
As the baptism of John was an external profession of penance, to this it was meet to add an external or oral confession of sins; and the more so, because such as were baptized by John, sought of him also, as we read in St. Luke, instructions how they were to amend their lives; now it is naturally expected of whoever asks for similar advice, that he should expose the defects of his past life. It is thus patients act with their physicians. (Haydock)
3:7
Pharisees and Sadducees. These are the names of two sects at that time among the Jews. There are different conjectures about the name of the Sadducees. This at least we find by the Gospels, and by the Acts of the Apostles, that they were a profane sort of men, that made a jest of the resurrection, and of the existence of spirits, and of the immortality of souls. To these the Pharisees were declared adversaries, as being a more religious sect, who pretended to be exact observers of the law, and also of a great many traditions, which they had, or pretended to have, from their forefathers. St. Epiphanius (haer. 16, p. 34,) derives their name from the Hebrew word Pharas, signifying separated, divided, or distinguished from others by a more holy way of living. So the proud Pharisee (Luke xviii.) said of himself, I am not like the rest of men, etc.
Brood of vipers. St. John the Baptist, and also our Saviour himself, (Matthew 22:33,) made use of this sharp reprehension to such as come to them full of hypocrisy.
Witham
The wrath to come: meaning punishments for the wicked after death. Or as some expound it, the destruction that was shortly to fall on the city of Jerusalem, on the temple, and the whole nation of the Jews. (Witham)
3:8
See note for ver. 2.
3:9
Bible de Vence
Do not, therefore, wantonly imagine, that the fear of destroying the posterity of this patriarch, and of annulling the promises which God had made to him and to his seed, will hinder Him from punishing you. (Bible de Vence)
3:10
Bible de Vence
Without the least attention to its origin, or other advantages. Hence you must not rest your hopes of salvation on your birth alone, nor on the baptism alone you receive at my hands. (Bible de Vence)
3:11
Bible de Vence
My baptism is only calculated to lead you to a penitential life, and not to give you true justice; but he who comes after me, is stronger than I, and whose shoes I am not worthy to carry: (it was customary with the attendant slave to carry a change of shoes for his master) he will baptize you in the Holy Ghost, and in the fire of his divine charity, which he will infuse into your hearts, to purify you from all your sins. (Bible de Vence)
Tirinus
Here St. John tacitly insinuates the divinity of Jesus Christ. He acknowledges his unworthiness, and it is this his humility that makes him the more acceptable to God, "I ought to be baptized by thee, and comest thou to me?" (Tirinus)
Whose shoes I am not worthy to carry. In St. Mark, (chap. 1:7.) and in St. Luke 3:21., we read, the latchet of whose shoes . . . I am not worthy to untie. The sense is the same, and St. John might use both these expressions. His meaning is, that he was not worthy to do him the least, or the lowest service.
Witham
He shall baptize you in, or with the Holy Ghost, that is by his baptism, he will give you the remission of your sins, and the graces of the Holy Ghost, signified also by fire, which may allude to the coming of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost, in the shape of fiery tongues. (Witham)
3:12
Haydock
Address yourselves then to Him, and prevent, by a prompt and sincere conversion, that dreadful judgment which the just and severe Judge, whom I now announce to you, will most undoubtedly pass upon sinners, when he shall remove the chaff from the good grain, that is the bad from the good, calling the latter with him to his heavenly kingdom, and sending the former to burn in unquenchable fire. (Haydock)
3:16
He . . . went up, etc. Christ was in the river when he was baptized. As soon as he went out, and was praying, says St. Luke 3:21., the heavens were opened to him, or in favour of him; and he saw the Spirit of God descending: that is Christ himself saw the shape of the dove, which was also seen by the Baptist, as we find, John 1:33. And it was perhaps seen by all that were present.
Witham
As a dove, or like a dove in a bodily shape. The dove was an emblem of Christ's meekness and innocence. (Witham)
Tirinus
Calmet supposes that it was St. John that saw the Spirit of God descend thus upon Jesus Christ. The Greek text is favourable to this interpretation. But the Vulgate supposes it was Jesus Christ himself. St. John declares that he saw the Spirit; (John 1:32,) but this apparent disagreement is easily cleared, by supposing that both saw the shape of the dove, and also the surrounding crowd, and that they all heard the voice of the Father, as it was heard by the disciples in the transfiguration on Mount Thabor, (chap. 17.) and by the crowd in the temple. John 12. (Tirinus)
3:17
about the year A.D. 30.
Tirinus
This most solemn testimony of God the Father, relative to his own beloved Son, is repeated below in (chap. 17.) and is of such great moment, that the Holy Ghost would have it repeated not only by three evangelists, Matthew, Mark and Luke, but also by St. Peter, as a fourth evangelist, (2 Peter 1.) (Tirinus)
Haydock
In Greek, the emphatic article o uios mou o agapetos, strengthens the proof that Jesus Christ, upon whom the Spirit of God descended in the shape of a dove, was not the adoptive, but natural Son of God, born of Him before all ages, and should silence every blasphemous tongue and pen that can attempt to rob Jesus Christ of his divinity, and poor man of all hopes of salvation, through this God-man, Christ the Lord. But if it here be asked, why Jesus Christ, who was innocence itself, yes, and the very essence of sanctity, condescended so far as to be baptized with sinners, we answer, with the Holy Fathers, that it was, 1. to sanction the baptism and ministry of his precursor; 2. not to lose this opportunity of teaching humility, by placing himself among sinners, as if he had stood in need of the baptism of penance for the remission of sins; and lastly, with St. Ambrose, that it was to sanctify the waters, and to give to them the virtue of cleansing men from their sins by the laver of baptism. (Haydock)
3:2
Do penance.... Paenitentiam agite. Which word, according to the use of the scriptures and the holy fathers, does not only signify repentance and amendment of life, but also punishing past sins by fasting, and such like penitential exercises.
3:7
3:1
1. Desert.] Magdeb. Cent. 5. c. 6. pag. •11. Cent. 1. li. 1. c. 10. Of this word desert (in Greeke eremus) commeth the name Eremitages, and Eremites, that liue a religious and austere life in deserts and solitatie places, Eremites. by the example of S. Iohn Baptist, whom the holy Doctors therfore call the Prince and as it were the author of such profession. S. Chrys. ho. 1 in Marcum & ho. de Io. Baptista. Hiero. ad Eustoch. de e•stod. virg. Isid. li. 1. c. 15 de diu off. Bernardus de excel. Io. Baptista. Wherewith the Protestants are so offended that they say, S. Chrysostom spake rashly and vntruely. Cythraeus in 3. cap. Mat. Bucerus ibid. And no maruel, for whereas the Euangelist himself in this place maketh him a perfect paterne of penance and Eremitical life, for desert or wildernes, for his rough and rude apparel, for abstayning from al delicate meates (according to our Sauiours testimonie also of him Mt. 11, 8. Luc. 7, 33) they are not ashamed to peruert all with this strange commentarie, See Canis. de verb. Dei corruptelis Ii. 1. c. 2. 3. 4. that it was a desert full of townes and villages, his garment was chamlet, his meate such as the countrey gaue and the people there vsed: to make him thereby but a common man like to the rest, in his maner of life: cleane against Scriptures, fathers 〈◊〉 reason.
Concordanza Mr. 1, 4.
3:2
2. Doe penance.) Mt. 4, 17. So is the Latin, word for word, so readeth al antiquitie, namely S. Cyprian ep. 52 often, Penance. and S. Augustine li. 13 Confes. c. 12. and it is a very vsual speache in the New Testament, Lu. 13, 3. 5. specially in the preaching of S. Iohn Baptist, Lu. 24, 47. Christ him self, and the Apostles: to signifie perfect repentance, Act. 2, 38, 26, 20. which hath not onely confession and amendment, but contrition or sorow for the offense, and paineful satisfaction: such as S. Cyprian speaketh of in al the foresaid epistle. But the Aduersaries of purpose (as namely Beza protesteth) mislike that interpretation, Annot. in hunc locū. Serm. in fam. & siccit. because it fauoureth Satisfaction for sinne, which they cannot abide. Where if they pretend the ⸬ Greeke word, 〈Greek〉. we send them to these places Mat. 11, 21. Lu. 10, 13. 1 Cor. 7, 9. where it must needes signifie, sorowful, 〈Greek〉. payneful, and satisfactorie repentance. we tel them also that S. Basil a Greeke Doctor calleth the Niniuites repentance with fasting and hearecloth and ashes, by the same Greeke word 〈Greek〉. And more we wil tell them in other places.
Concordanza Luc. 3, 3.
Concordanza Es. 40, 3.
3:8
8. Confessing their sinnes.) Iohn did prepare the way to Christ and his Sacraments, not only by his baptisme, but by inducing the people to confession of their sinnes. Which is not to acknowledge them selues in general to be sinners, but also to vtter euery man his sinnes.
3:9
9. Fruite worthie.) He preacheth satisfaction by doing worthy fruites or workes of penance, which are (as S. Hierom saith in 2. Ioel) fasting, praying, almes and the like.
3:10
10. The axe.) Here preachers are taught to dehort from doing euil for feare of Hel, and to exhort to doe good in hope of heauen: which kind of preaching our Aduer, doe condemne.
It is not only damnable, to doe il: but also, not to doe good.
3:11
11. In water.) Iohns baptisme did not remitte sinnes, Iohns baptisme and Christs. nor was comparable to Christs Baptisme, as here it is playne and in manie other places. Hiero. adu. Lucifer. Aug. de Bapt. cont. Donat. li. 5. c. 9. 10. 11. Yet is it an article of our Adu. that thone is no better then the other. which they say not to extol Iohns, but to derogate from Christes baptisme, so far, that they make it of no more valure or efficacie for remission of sinnes, and grace, and iustification, then was Iohns: thereby to mainteine their manifold heresies, that Baptisme taketh not away sinnes, that a man is no cleaner nor iuster by the Sacrament of Baptisme then before, that it is not necessarie for children vnto saluation, but it is ynough to be borne of Christian parents, and such like erroneous positions wel knowen among the Caluinists.
Concordanza Mr. 1, 8.
Concordanza Lu. 3, 16.
Concordanza Io. 1, 26.
Concordanza Act. 11, 16. 19, 4.
Aug. Ser. 61 de temp.
3:12
12. Floore.) This floore is his Church militant here in earth, wherein are both good and bad (here signified by corne and chaffe) til the separation be made in the day of iudgement: contrarie to the doctrine of the Heretikes, that hold, the Church to consist onely of the good.
3:16
16. Opened.) To signifie that heauen was shut in the old law, til Christ by his Passion opened it, and so by his Ascension was the first that entered into it; contrarie to the doctrine of the Heretikes. See Hebr. 9, •. and 11, 40.
3:1
Taziano il Siro † 180 d.C. The Diatessaron 3
… and [38] Lysanias, one of the four rulers, in Abilene; in the chief-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the command of God went forth to John the son of Zacharias in the [39] desert. And he came into all the region which is about Jordan, proclaiming the [40] baptism of repentance unto the forgiveness of sins.
Tertulliano † 220 d.C. On Repentance 2
… John holds not his peace, saying, “Enter upon repentance, for now shall salvation approach the nations”
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 73
… So also when it is said, “In those days cometh John the Baptist,”
Tirannio Rufino † 411 d.C. A Commentary on the Apostles' Creed 34
… The Prophet Malachi says, “Behold the Lord Almighty shall come, and who shall abide the day of His coming, or who shall abide the sight of Him? For He doth come as the fire of a furnace and as fuller’s soap: and He shall sit, refining and purifying as it were gold and silver.”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. The Harmony of the Gospels 2.6
… For after the words which I have placed last in the order of his narrative thus far,—the words with which he introduces the testimony from the prophet, namely, He shall be called a Nazarene,—Matthew proceeds immediately to give us this recital: “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilder ness of Judæa,”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. The Harmony of the Gospels 2.12
… For this is He that is spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 21.19
… Whence the preaching of John the Baptist, who was sent as the forerunner of the Lord, also begins with it. For thus it is written, “In those days came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judæa, saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
3:2
Taziano il Siro † 180 d.C. The Diatessaron 3
… in the chief-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the command of God went forth to John the son of Zacharias in the [39] desert. And he came into all the region which is about Jordan, proclaiming the [40] baptism of repentance unto the forgiveness of sins. And he was preaching in the [41] wilderness of Judæa, and saying,
Origene † 254 d.C. Origen's Commentary on Matthew 10.14
… thought is attained, and grasped abstractly and proved by example and absolute demonstration, can one understand the kingdom of heaven, so that he who abounds in knowledge free from error is in the kingdom of the multitude of what are here represented as “heavens.” So, too, you will allegorise the word, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens is at hand,”
Origene † 254 d.C. Origen's Commentary on Matthew 12.14
… And perhaps, also, each virtue is a kingdom of heaven, and all together are a kingdom of the heavens; so that according to this he is already in the kingdom of the heavens who lives according to the virtues, so that according to this the saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,”
san Girolamo † 420 d.C. The Letters of St. Jerome 60.3
… And therefore at His rising again “many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and were seen in the heavenly Jerusalem.” Then was fulfilled the saying: “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” John the Baptist cries in the desert: “repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
san Girolamo † 420 d.C. The Letters of St. Jerome 122.3
… Wherefore also “there is joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner that repenteth.” What a blessed thought it is that heavenly beings rejoice in our salvation! For it is of us that the words are said: “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
san Girolamo † 420 d.C. Against the Pelagians 1.28
31. Your next point is that “the kingdom of heaven is promised even in the Old Testament,” and you adduce evidence from the Apocrypha, although it is clear that the kingdom of heaven was first preached under the Gospel by John the Baptist, and our Lord and Saviour, and the Apostles. Read the Gospels. John the Baptist cries in the desert,
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. The Confessions 13.12
… For Thou correctest man for iniquity, and “Thy judgments are a great deep.” But because Thy Spirit was “borne over the waters,” Thy mercy forsook not our misery, and Thou saidst, “Let there be light,” “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. City of God 18.49
… We acknowledge, indeed, that His word is now fulfilled who spake in the psalm, and said, “I have announced and spoken; they are multiplied above number.” This takes place now, since He has spoken, first by the mouth of his forerunner John, and afterward by His own mouth, saying, “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 21.20
… this impenitence, I say, against which both the herald and the Judge cried out, saying, “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand;”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 59.1
… Now this He said to the Jews; but His words reach even unto us. Now the Lord Jesus Christ Himself began the preaching of His Gospel in this way; “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” In like manner too John the Baptist and His forerunner began thus; “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 60.1
… For a ditch is low ground. The basket of dung understand in its good effects. It is filthy, but it produces fruit. The gardener’s filth is the sinner’s sorrows. They who repent, repent in filthy robes; if, that is, they understand aright, and repent in truth. To this tree then is it said, “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 60.4
4. “Thou hast moved the earth, and hast troubled it” ( ver. 2 ). How hath the earth been troubled? In the conscience of sinners. Whither go we? Whither flee we, when this sword hath been brandished, “Repent, for near hath drawn the kingdom of Heaven”?
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 67.8
… now the earth giveth her fruit. Would she give her fruit unless first she were rained on? Would she give her fruit, unless first the mercy of God had come from above? Let them read to me, thou sayest, how the earth being rained upon gave her fruit. Hear of the Lord raining upon her: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 102.2
… let Him be our Head, we His limbs, let there be two in one flesh. …For He hath deigned to hold even us as His limbs. The penitent also are among His limbs. For they are not shut out, nor separated from His Church: nor would He make the Church His spouse, unless by words like these: “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 138.4
… The name of the Lord was magnified over Israel. Then came the Virgin Mary. Then Christ our Lord, “dying for our sins, rising again for our justification,” filling the faithful with His Holy Spirit, sending forth men to proclaim throughout the Gentiles, “Repent ye,” etc.
3:3
Taziano il Siro † 180 d.C. The Diatessaron 3
… And he came into all the region which is about Jordan, proclaiming the [40] baptism of repentance unto the forgiveness of sins. And he was preaching in the [41] wilderness of Judæa, and saying, Repent ye; the kingdom of heaven is come near. [42]
sant'Ireneo di Lione † 202 d.C. Against Heresies 3.9.1
… Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough into smooth ways; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”
san Gregorio Taumaturgo † 270 d.C. Four Homilies 4
… I cannot keep silence while Thou art present, for I am a voice; yea, I am the voice, as it is said, of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord.
sant'Atanasio di Alessandria † 373 d.C. Life of Antony. (Vita Antoni.) 16
… And it is in a natural state when it remains as it came into existence. And when it came into existence it was fair and exceeding honest. For this cause Joshua, the son of Nun, in his exhortation said to the people, “Make straight your heart unto the Lord God of Israel ,” and John, “Make your paths straight
san Gregorio Nazianzeno † 389 d.C. Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 37
… the Sheep, because Thou art the Sacrifice; the High Priest, because Thou offerest the Body the Son, because Thou art of the Father. Again I stir men’s tongues; again some men rave against Christ, or rather against me, who have been deemed worthy to be a herald of the Word. I am like John, The Voice of one crying in the wilderness
san Gregorio Nazianzeno † 389 d.C. Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 38
… Christ commands it, let us not set ourselves against Him. O clap your hands together all ye people, because unto us a Child is born, and a Son given unto us, Whose Government is upon His shoulder (for with the Cross it is raised up), and His Name is called The Angel of the Great Counsel of the Father. Let John cry, Prepare ye the way of the Lord:
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. Homilies on Ephesians 24
But what is the “preparation of the Gospel”? Let us hearken to what John saith, “Make ye ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.” (
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. The Enchiridion 49
Now, those who were baptized in the baptism of John, by whom Christ was Himself baptized, were not regenerated; but they were prepared through the ministry of His forerunner, who cried, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord,”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. The Harmony of the Gospels 2.12
… far as he does not say, “and in fire,” but only, “in the Holy Spirit.” For as in Matthew, so also in Luke, the words are the same, and they are given in the same order, “He shall baptize you in the Spirit and in fire,”—with this single exception, that Luke has not added the adjective “Holy,” while Matthew has given it thus: “in the Holy Spirit and in fire.”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 85.13
… there make for Him a way, in confession of sins. Therefore John too, when he was baptizing in the water of repentance, and would have men come to him repenting of their former deeds, spoke thus: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.”
3:4
Taziano il Siro † 180 d.C. The Diatessaron 4
… And the publicans also came [22] to be baptized, and they said unto him, Teacher, what shall we do? He said unto [23] them, Seek not more than what ye are commanded to seek. And the servants of the guard asked him and said, And we also, what shall we do? He said unto them, Do not violence to any man, nor wrong him; and let your allowances satisfy you.
san Gregorio Nazianzeno † 389 d.C. Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 45
… But let that part of your being which is the seat of passion, and which neighs, as Holy Scripture calls it, when sweeping away this shameful passion, be restrained by a girdle of continence, so that you may eat the Passover purely, having mortified your members which are upon the earth, and copying the girdle
sant'Ambrogio † 397 d.C. Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.19
234. John feared to baptize the flesh of the Lord, John forbade Him, saying: “I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?”
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 10
4. “And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins.”
san Girolamo † 420 d.C. The Letters of St. Jerome 22.11
… So, also, when his thigh shrank after the Lord had wrestled with him, he ceased to beget children. The Israelites, again, are told to celebrate the passover with loins girded and mortified. God says to Job: “Gird up thy loins as a man.” John wears a leathern girdle.
san Girolamo † 420 d.C. The Letters of St. Jerome 38.3
… But, you will say, a sombre dress vexes the world. In that case, John the Baptist would vex it, too; and yet, among those that are born of women, there has not been a greater than he. He was called an angel; he baptized the Lord Himself, and yet he was clothed in raiment of camel’s hair, and girded with a leathern girdle.
san Girolamo † 420 d.C. The Letters of St. Jerome 107.3
… Samuel, as you know, was nurtured in the Temple, and John was trained in the wilderness. The first as a Nazarite wore his hair long, drank neither wine nor strong drink, and even in his childhood talked with God. The second shunned cities, wore a leathern girdle, and had for his meat locusts and wild honey.
Sulpicio Severo † 420 d.C. On the Life of St. Martin 10
… Rarely did any one of them go beyond the cell, unless when they assembled at the place of prayer. They all took their food together, after the hour of fasting was past. No one used wine, except when illness compelled them to do so. Most of them were clothed in garments of camels’ hair.
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. The Confessions 10.31
… deliver me out of all temptation. It is not the uncleanness of meat that I fear, but the uncleanness of lusting. I know that permission was granted unto Noah to eat every kind of flesh that was good for food; that Elias was fed with flesh; that John, endued with a wonderful abstinence, was not polluted by the living creatures (that is, the locusts
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 16.31
… The Son of man cometh eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a glutton and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners." We know what John ate and drank. For it is not said that he drank nothing, but that he drank no wine or strong drink; so he must have drunk water. He did not live without food, but his food was locusts and wild honey.
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. The Harmony of the Gospels 2.12
… I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but He that is to come after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire: whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
Giovanni Cassiano † 435 d.C. The Twelve Books on the Institutes of the Cœnobia, and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults 1.1
… Of John also, who came as a sort of sacred boundary between the Old and New Testament, being both a beginning and an ending, we know by the testimony of the Evangelist that “the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair and a girdle of skin about his loins.”
3:5
Taziano il Siro † 180 d.C. The Diatessaron 4
[12] Now John’s raiment was camel’s hair, and he was girded with skins, and his food [13] [Arabic, p. 15] was of locusts and honey of the wilderness.
san Cirillo di Gerusalemme † 386 d.C. The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 3.7
7. This man was baptizing in Jordan, and there went out unto him all Jerusalem
san Gregorio Nazianzeno † 389 d.C. Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 43.75
… He also lived in the wilderness, and wore in nightly watchings a ragged garb, during his shrinking retirement; he also loved a similar food, purifying himself for God by abstinence; he also was thought worthy to be a herald, if not a forerunner, of Christ, and there went out to him not only all the region round about,
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 10
5. “Then went out to him all Judea, and Jerusalem, and all the region round about Jordan, and were baptized of him, confessing their sins.”
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 29
… And this the Evangelist implies, when he says, “all Judæa and the country around about Jordan went out to him and were baptized.” (
3:6
Taziano il Siro † 180 d.C. The Diatessaron 4
[12] Now John’s raiment was camel’s hair, and he was girded with skins, and his food [13] [Arabic, p. 15] was of locusts and honey of the wilderness. Then went out unto him the people of Jerusalem, and all Judæa, and all the region which is about the [14, 15] Jordan;
Tertulliano † 220 d.C. On Baptism 20
They who are about to enter baptism ought to pray with repeated prayers, fasts, and bendings of the knee, and vigils all the night through, and with the confession of all bygone sins, that they may express the meaning even of the baptism of John: “They were baptized,” saith (the Scripture), “confessing their own sins.”
san Cirillo di Gerusalemme † 386 d.C. The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 3.7
7. This man was baptizing in Jordan, and there went out unto him all Jerusalem , to enjoy the first-fruits of baptisms: for in Jerusalem is the prerogative of all things good. But learn, O ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, how they that came out were baptized by him: confessing their sins , it is said
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 11
And to convince thee that the Pharisees came with one mind, and the people with another, hear how the evangelist hath declared this too; saying of the people, “that they came and were baptized of him, confessing their sins;”
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 30
… how can they be suspected in the parts which claim reverence? more especially since many signs and miracles are passed over by them, while the events of the cross, accounted to be reproaches, they utter with exact care and loudly; and the disciples’ pursuits too, and their faults, and those of their Master’s ancestry who were notorious for sins,
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. On Baptism, Against the Donatists 4.22
… Nor do I conceive that the function of baptizing was assigned to John, so that it should be called John’s baptism, for any other reason except that the Lord Himself, who had appointed it, in not disdaining to receive the baptism of His servant,
3:7
Taziano il Siro † 180 d.C. The Diatessaron 4
[12] Now John’s raiment was camel’s hair, and he was girded with skins, and his food [13] [Arabic, p. 15] was of locusts and honey of the wilderness. Then went out unto him the people of Jerusalem, and all Judæa, and all the region which is about the [14, 15] Jordan; and they were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
sant'Ireneo di Lione † 202 d.C. Against Heresies 3.9.1
… Bring forth therefore fruit meet for repentance. And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham [to our] father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.”
Tertulliano † 220 d.C. A Treatise on the Soul 21
… and nobody gathers figs of thorns, nor grapes of brambles.” If so, then “God will not be able any longer to raise up from the stones children unto Abraham; nor to make a generation of vipers bring forth fruits of repentance.”
Tertulliano † 220 d.C. Against Hermogenes 12
… Because, as is evident, if nature admits of change from evil to good in Matter, it can be changed from good to evil in God. Here some man will say, Then will “children not be raised up to Abraham from the stones?” Will “generations of vipers not bring forth the fruit of repentance?”
Tertulliano † 220 d.C. On Baptism 10
… for it conveyed nothing celestial, but it fore-ministered to things celestial; being, to wit, appointed over repentance , which is in man’s power. In fact, the doctors of the law and the Pharisees, who were unwilling to “believe,” did not “repent” either.
sant'Ippolito † 235 d.C. The Discourse on the Holy Theophany 3
3. But we, who know the economy, adore His mercy, because He hath come to save and not to judge the world. Wherefore John, the forerunner of the Lord, who before knew not this mystery, on learning that He is Lord in truth, cried out, and spake to those who came to be baptized of him, “O generation of vipers,”
Origene † 254 d.C. Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 6.13
… their envoys ask, Why baptizest thou, then, if thou art not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet? And if we were to stitch together into one statement what is written in the various Gospels, we should say that at this time they spoke as is here reported, but that at a later time, when they wished to received baptism, they heard the address of John:
Origene † 254 d.C. Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 6.14
… They it was who were greeted with the address, “Ye offspring of vipers,” etc.
Archelao † fl. 278 d.C. The Acts of the Disputation with the Heresiarch Manes 32
… “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.” And, in fine, when they are found to be actually doing his will, they are thus addressed: “O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance.”
sant'Atanasio di Alessandria † 373 d.C. The Historia Acephala 1
… God of those who are after Him: and in this He possesses invariable likeness with the Father, namely He sees all things because all things…because He is not changed in goodness; [but] not like in the quality of Godhead, nor in nature. But if we said that He was born of the quality of Godhead, we say that He resembles the offspring of serpents
sant'Atanasio di Alessandria † 373 d.C. Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 2
… But they are compared to their disgrace to beasts without understanding, and becoming like them in unlawful pleasures, they are spoken of as wanton horses ; also, for their craftiness, and errors, and sin laden with death, they are called a ‘generation of vipers,’ as John saith
san Cirillo di Gerusalemme † 386 d.C. The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 3.7
… First they shewed their wounds, then he applied the remedies, and to them that believed gave redemption from eternal fire. And if thou wilt be convinced of this very point, that the baptism of John is a redemption from the threat of the fire, hear how he says, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come
san Cirillo di Gerusalemme † 386 d.C. The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 6.20
… Heed not their fair speech, nor their supposed humility: for they are serpents, a generation of vipers
san Gregorio di Nissa † 395 d.C. Against Eunomius 3.4
… For if the appellation of “Son” does not merely signify “being from something,” but by its signification presents to us specially, as Eunomius himself says, relationship in point of nature, and wine is not called the “product” of an oak, and those “products” or “generation of vipers
san Gregorio di Nissa † 395 d.C. Against Eunomius 3.6
… He who contends on behalf of our adversaries will perhaps say that the name of “Son,” or “product of generation,” does not by any means establish the fact of kindred in nature. For in Scripture the term “child of wrath ” is used, and “son of perdition ,” and “product of a viper
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 24
Such an one was Elias too: wherefore also with the same freedom did he discourse to the people. For as the former said, “Ye generation of vipers;”
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 44
… And His forerunner too, in saying, “O generation of vipers, think not to say, We have Abraham to our father,”
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 17
… and did not turn him to look at flatterers, but when he saw all the dwellers in Palestine poured forth about him, and wondering, and astonished at him, he was not puffed up with such honor as this, but rose up against them, and discoursing to his great concourse as if to one youth, he thus rebuked them and said, “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers!” (
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. Homilies on Ephesians 23
… Was it not because it had scorpions in it, and adders? ( Deut. viii. 15 .) “A land,” it is said, “which none passed through.” ( Jer. ii. 6 .). Yet is not that wilderness, no, it is not so barren of fruits, as is this human nature. At this instant, how many scorpions, how many asps are in this wilderness, how many serpents, how many “offsprings of vipers” (
san Girolamo † 420 d.C. The Letters of St. Jerome 97.2
… Thus they seek to maintain his cause not by their own belief but by other people’s errors. So much I would say against heretics who in the fury of their unjust hostility to us betray the secret feelings of their minds and prove the incurable nature of the wound that rankles in their breasts.
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 22.86
… and in the same state she conceives, and becomes fruitful in holiness. Also the kid promised is sent to her as to a harlot. The kid represents rebuke for sin, and it is sent by the Adullamite already mentioned, who, as it were, uses the reproachful words, "O generation of vipers!"
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 3.29
… And for the proof of this point, out of which no question arises, he adduces the example of John, in that he was examined by those who asked him who he claimed to be, and that he also in turn examined those to whom he says, "O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 71.3
… If the Jewish children shall hold their peace, the elder and the younger Gentiles shall cry out. Who are the stones, but they of whom speaketh that very John, who came “to bear witness of the Light”? For when he saw these self-same Jews priding themselves on their birth from Abraham, he said to them, “O generation of vipers.”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 42.5
… Yet they had come to be changed, because at all events to be baptized; and he said to them, “O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance. And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father; for God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.”
3:8
Taziano il Siro † 180 d.C. The Diatessaron 4
… and they were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to be baptized, he said unto them, Ye children of vipers, who hath led you to flee from the wrath to come? [16, 17]
san Gregorio Taumaturgo † 270 d.C. Four Homilies 1
… To-day is fulfilled the word of David, “Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad. The fields shall be joyful, and all the trees of the wood before the Lord, because He cometh.” David thus made mention of the trees; and the Lord’s forerunner also spoke of them as trees “that should bring forth fruits meet for repentance,”
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 10
Since therefore this was the cause of their evils, John cometh, doing nothing else but bringing them to a sense of their own sins. This, among other things, his very garb declared, being that of repentance and confession. This was indicated also by what he preached, for nothing else did he say, but “bring forth fruits meet for repentance.”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. City of God 21.27
… And if it be most absurd and insane to make such an acknowledgment, and if we still ask what are those fitting alms of which even the forerunner of Christ said, “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance,”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. A Treatise on Rebuke and Grace 39
… But that the number of the elect is certain, and neither to be increased nor diminished,—although it is signified by John the Baptist when he says, “Bring forth, therefore, fruits meet for repentance: and think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham,”
3:9
sant'Ignazio di Antiochia † 108 d.C. Epistle to the Magnesians: Shorter and Longer Versions 10
… For where there is Christianity there cannot be Judaism. For Christ is one, in whom every nation that believes, and every tongue that confesses, is gathered unto God. And those that were of a stony heart have become the children of Abraham, the friend of God;
Taziano il Siro † 180 d.C. The Diatessaron 4
… and they were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to be baptized, he said unto them, Ye children of vipers, who hath led you to flee from the wrath to come? [16, 17] Do now the fruits which are worthy of repentance;
sant'Ireneo di Lione † 202 d.C. Against Heresies 4.7.2
… who also in the last times was made visible and passible, and spake with the human race, that He might from the stones raise up children unto Abraham, and fulfil the promise which God had given him, and that He might make his seed as the stars of heaven, as John the Baptist says: “For God is able from these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.”
sant'Ireneo di Lione † 202 d.C. Against Heresies 4.25.1
1. For thus it had behoved the sons of Abraham [to be], whom God has raised up to him from the stones,
sant'Ireneo di Lione † 202 d.C. Against Heresies 4.39.3
… For He commissioned [messengers] to call people to the marriage, but they who did not obey Him deprived themselves of the royal supper. The skill of God, therefore, is not defective, for He has power of the stones to raise up children to Abraham;
sant'Ireneo di Lione † 202 d.C. Against Heresies 5.34.1
… and they shall know that I am the Lord their God, and the God of their fathers.” Now I have shown a short time ago that the church is the seed of Abraham; and for this reason, that we may know that He who in the New Testament “raises up from the stones children unto Abraham,”
Tertulliano † 220 d.C. Against Hermogenes 12
… Because, as is evident, if nature admits of change from evil to good in Matter, it can be changed from good to evil in God. Here some man will say, Then will “children not be raised up to Abraham from the stones?”
Tertulliano † 220 d.C. Against Hermogenes 37
… Does that which is good never desire, never wish, never feel able to advance, so as to change its good for a better? And in like manner, if Matter had been by nature evil, why might it not have been changed by God as the more powerful Being, as able to convert the nature of stones into children of Abraham?
Tertulliano † 220 d.C. On Modesty 20
… “stains of red and green,” forthwith must the deadly and sanguinary passions “be extracted” and “cast away” out of doors—for the Apocalypse withal has set “death” upon a “green horse,” but a “warrior” upon a “red” —and in their stead must be under-strewn stones polished and apt for conjunction, and firm,—such as are made (by God) into (sons) of Abraham,
san Tascio Cecilio Cipriano † 258 d.C. The Epistles of Cyprian 62.4
… But the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles through faith, pronounced before to Abraham that all nations should be blessed in him; therefore they who are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.” Whence in the Gospel we find that “children of Abraham are raised from stones, that is, are gathered from the Gentiles.”
sant'Atanasio di Alessandria † 373 d.C. De Sententia Dionysii. (Defence of Dionysius.) 3
… the Lord had done so so many works, by which He shewed Himself to be the Christ the Son of the Living God, and being convicted by him, from thenceforth in all things thinking and speaking against the Scripture, and unable for a moment to face the proofs against themselves, betook themselves to the patriarch with the words, ‘We have Abraham to our father’ (
san Gregorio di Nissa † 395 d.C. Against Eunomius 3.6
… And the argument may be established equally from an opposite instance. For those who are called in a certain sense “children of light,” and “children of the day ,” are not the same with light and day in respect of the definition of their nature, and the stones are made Abraham’s children
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 9
… but now they desire another, a better country.” And again, “These all died in faith, not having obtained the promises, but having seen them afar off, and embraced them.” And John too said unto those that were coming to him, “Think not to say, We have Abraham to our father.”
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 11
“For God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham.”
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 26
… moreover, the introduction of Abraham would be a sharper sting to them. Wherefore John also spake nothing at first concerning hell, but, what was most apt to grieve them, He saith, “Think not to say, we are children of Abraham.”
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 19
… “And if some of the branches were broken off.” However, the greater part were broken off. Yet, as I said, he wishes to comfort them. And this is why it is not in his own person, but in theirs, that he brings in the words used, and even in this gives a secret stroke at them, and shows them to have fallen from being Abraham’s kinsmen. (
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 54
… For, saith one, we were never in bondage to any man.” Such are the boastings of the Jews. “We are the seed of Abraham,” “we are Israelites.” They never mention their own righteous deeds. Wherefore John cried out to them, saying, “Think not to say that we have Abraham to our father.” (
san Girolamo † 420 d.C. The Letters of St. Jerome 22.19
Some people may be eunuchs from necessity; I am one of free will. “There is a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. There is a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together.” Now that out of the hard stones of the Gentiles God has raised up children unto Abraham,
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 9.16
… for he was speaking to proud people. But whereof were they proud? Of their descent according to the flesh, not of the fruit of imitating their father Abraham. What said he to them? “Say not, We have Abraham for our father: for God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham.”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 20.9
… to whom the blindness in part of Israel hath happened, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and wishing to establish their own. “But we are risen, and stand upright.” But we, that the Gentile people might enter in, out of the stones raised up as children to Abraham,
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 89.31
… 34 ). Because his sons sin, I will not on this account be found false: I have promised; I will do. Suppose they choose to sin even as past hope, and so fall into sins as to offend their Father’s countenance, and deserve to be disinherited; is it not still God Himself, of whom it is said, “From these stones” He “will raise up sons to Abraham”?
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 91.14
… These are the miracles of our Lord: but from their constant operation they are disregarded. What then, my brethren, was it impossible for the Lord to create bread out of stones? He made men even out of stones, in the words of John the Baptist himself, “God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 115.10
10. For the great ones, of the house of Aaron, have said, “May the Lord increase you more and more, you and your children” ( ver. 14 ). And thus it hath happened. For children that have been raised even from the stones have flocked unto Abraham:
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 135.15
15. But daily do men believe through the miracles of Christ our Lord; daily the eyes of the blind, the ears of the deaf are opened, the nostrils of the senseless are breathed into, the tongues of the dumb are loosed, the hands of the palsied are strengthened, the feet of the lame are guided; sons of Abraham are raised up of these stones,
3:10
Taziano il Siro † 180 d.C. The Diatessaron 4
… [16, 17] Do now the fruits which are worthy of repentance; and think and say not within yourselves, We have a father, even Abraham; for I say unto you, that God is able to [18] raise up of these stones children unto Abraham.
sant'Ireneo di Lione † 202 d.C. Against Heresies 4.8.3
… Because when in the temple they were not engaged in secular affairs, but in the service of the Lord, fulfilling the law, but not going beyond it, as that man did, who of his own accord carried dry wood into the camp of God, and was justly stoned to death. “For every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be hewn down, and cast into the fire;”
sant'Ireneo di Lione † 202 d.C. Against Heresies 4.36.4
… And it was He who rained fire and brimstone from heaven, in the days of Lot, upon Sodom and Gomorrah, “an example of the righteous judgment of God,” that all may know, “that every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down, and cast into the fire.”
sant'Ireneo di Lione † 202 d.C. Against Heresies 5.17.4
… For that the word of God is likened to an axe, John the Baptist declares [when he says] in reference to it, “But now also is the axe laid to the root of the trees.”
Tertulliano † 220 d.C. The Chaplet, or De Corona 13
… But your orders, and your magistracies, and your very place of meeting, the church, are Christ’s. You belong to Him, for you have been enrolled in the books of life. There the blood of the Lord serves for your purple robe, and your broad stripe is His own cross; there the axe is already laid to the trunk of the tree;
Tertulliano † 220 d.C. On Repentance 4
… Seize the opportunity of unexpected felicity: that you, who sometime were in God’s sight nothing but “a drop of a bucket,” and “dust of the threshing-floor,” and “a potter’s vessel,” may thenceforward become that “tree which is sown beside the waters, is perennial in leaves, bears fruit at its own time,” and shall not see “fire,” nor “axe.”
Tertulliano † 220 d.C. On Exhortation to Chastity 6
… Laxity is always allowed to the beginning (of things). The reason why any one plants a wood and lets it grow, is that at his own time he may cut it. The wood was the old order, which is being pruned down by the new Gospel, in which withal “the axe has been laid at the roots.”
sant'Ippolito † 235 d.C. The Refutation of All Heresies 5.3
And this same (one) is styled also by the Phrygians “unfruitful.” For he is unfruitful when he is carnal, and causes the desire of the flesh. This, he says, is what is spoken: “Every tree not producing good fruit, is cut down and cast into the fire.”
sant'Ippolito † 235 d.C. The Refutation of All Heresies 6.11
… If, however, a tree continues alone, not producing fruit fully formed, it is utterly destroyed. For somewhere near, he says, is the axe (which is laid) at the roots of the tree. Every tree, he says, which does not produce good fruit, is hewn down and cast into fire.
Origene † 254 d.C. Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 6.14
… But both classes see John point to the stones aforesaid and declare that even from these children can be raised up to Abraham, rising up out of unconsciousness and deadness. And observe how it is said to the Pharisees,
san Tascio Cecilio Cipriano † 258 d.C. Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.27
… “Know ye not, that they which run in a race run indeed all, although one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And those indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible.” In the Gospel according to Matthew: “Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down, and cast into the fire.”
san Basilio † 379 d.C. De Spiritu Sancto 8
… Then again, on account of the divers manners wherein grace is given to us, which, because of the riches of His goodness, according to his manifold wisdom, he bestows on them that need, Scripture designates Him by innumerable other titles, calling Him Shepherd, King, Physician, Bridegroom, Way, Door, Fountain, Bread, Axe,
san Cirillo di Gerusalemme † 386 d.C. The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 3.7
… having the hypocrisy of Simon Magus; one who has come hither not in order to receive of the grace, but to spy out what is given: let him also learn from John: And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees, Every tree therefore that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire
san Gregorio di Nissa † 395 d.C. Answer to Eunomius' Second Book 1
… And again, “With Thee is the Well of life .” Does he deny that our Lord is called a “Well”? And again, “The Stone which the builders rejected .” And John, too,—where, representing our Lord’s power to uproot evil under the name of an axe, he says, “And now also the Axe is laid to the root of the trees
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. Treatise Concerning the Christian Priesthood 3.17
… For in this case it is not a man who is rejected, but Christ Himself, nor is this barrenness the subject merely of reproach, but the evil ends in the destruction of the soul; “for every tree,” it is said, “which bringeth not forth good fruit, is hewn down and cast into the fire.”
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 11
For having said that “God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham,” he added, “And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees,”
san Girolamo † 420 d.C. The Letters of St. Jerome 14.8
… But, as I have before hinted, the case of monks is different from that of the clergy. The clergy feed Christ’s sheep; I as a monk am fed by them. They live of the altar: I, if I bring no gift to it, have the axe laid to my root as to that of a barren tree.
san Girolamo † 420 d.C. The Letters of St. Jerome 109.4
… But if you wish me to write against him at greater length, send me those wretched dronings of his and in my answer he shall hear an echo of John the Baptist’s words “Now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees; therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.”
san Girolamo † 420 d.C. The Letters of St. Jerome 123.13
… and let us only end our marrying with the close of our lives. And if both before and after the deluge the maxim held good: “be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth:” what has that to do with us upon whom the ends of the ages are come, unto whom it is said, “the time is short,” and “now the axe is laid unto the root of the trees;”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 12.35
… When they were cutting down wood with axes, the iron, flying off the wood, sank to the bottom of the river, and came up again when the wood was thrown in by Elisha. So, when Christ’s bodily presence was cutting down the unfruitful trees among the unbelieving Jews, according to the saying of John, "Behold, the axe is laid to the roots of the tree,"
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 22.3
3. Of this ax does John speak, saying, “Now is the ax laid unto the root of the trees; every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit shall be hewn down, and cast into the fire.”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 28.11
… the green will be eternity. To those, then, as withered trees, it shall be said, “Go into everlasting fire. For behold,” it saith, “the axe is laid to the root of the trees: every tree, therefore, that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down, and cast into the fire.”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 50.7
… lest He come and pluck up by the roots. For when He shall have plucked up, then the fire is to be looked for. Now, even if the branches have been broken, they can again be grafted in: then, “every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit, shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire.”
Pseudo-Cyprian On the Glory of Martyrdom 27
… For things passing away ought not to move us, seeing that they are always being pressed forward to their own overthrow, not only by the law proposed to them, but even by the very end of time. John exclaims, and says, “Now is the axe laid to the root of the tree;”
3:11
Teodoto † fl. 160 d.C. Excerpts of Theodotus 1
XXV. John says: “I indeed baptize you with water, but there cometh after me He that baptizeth with the Spirit and fire.”
san Giustino † 165 d.C. Dialogue with Trypho 49
… ‘I baptize you with water to repentance; but He that is stronger than I shall come, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and will gather the wheat into the barn; but the chaff He will burn up with unquenchable fire.’
sant'Ireneo di Lione † 202 d.C. Against Heresies 4.4.3
… and He will gather His fruit into the garner, but the chaff He will burn up with unquenchable fire.”
Tertulliano † 220 d.C. On Baptism 10
… That, then, was no celestial thing which furnished no celestial (endowments): whereas the very thing which was celestial in John—the Spirit of prophecy—so completely failed, after the transfer of the whole Spirit to the Lord, that he presently sent to inquire whether He whom he had himself preached,
sant'Ippolito † 235 d.C. The Discourse on the Holy Theophany 3
… I am worthless, and the least; but “after me there comes One who is before me” —after me, indeed, in time, but before me by reason of the inaccessible and unutterable light of divinity. “There comes One mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.”
Origene † 254 d.C. Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 6.16
It may not be out of place, as we are examining the text, “I baptize with water,” to compare the parallel utterances of the evangelists with this of John. Matthew reports that the Baptist, when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, after the words of rebuke which we have already studied, went on:
san Tascio Cecilio Cipriano † 258 d.C. Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 1.13
… the rock shall be cloven, and the water shall flow: and my people shall drink.” Moreover, in the Gospel according to Matthew, John says: “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.”
san Basilio † 379 d.C. De Spiritu Sancto 15
… in that John indeed baptized with water, but our Lord Jesus Christ by the Holy Ghost. “I indeed,” he says, “baptize you with water unto repentance; but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.”
san Cirillo di Gerusalemme † 386 d.C. The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 3.9
… For why should I speak any more of man? John was great, but what is he to the Lord? His was a loud-sounding voice, but what in comparison with the Word? Very noble was the herald, but what in comparison with the King? Noble was he that baptized with water, but what to Him that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost and with fire
san Cirillo di Gerusalemme † 386 d.C. The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 17.8
… not giving the Spirit himself, but preaching glad tidings of Him who gives the Spirit. For he says, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He that cometh after me , and the rest; He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire
san Gregorio Nazianzeno † 389 d.C. Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 45
… That the Light that is exceeding bright should follow the Candle—Forerunner, and the Word, the Voice, and the Bridegroom, the Bridegroom’s friend, that prepared for the Lord a peculiar people and cleansed them by the water
sant'Ambrogio † 397 d.C. On the Holy Spirit 1.3
… For John, though he did not baptize in the Spirit, nevertheless preached Christ and the Spirit. And then, when he was questioned whether he were perchance himself the Christ, he answered: “I baptize you with water, but a stronger than I shall come, Whose shoes I am not worthy to bear, He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”
sant'Ambrogio † 397 d.C. On the Holy Spirit 1.14
… For the bush was burning but was not consumed, because in that mystery the Lord was showing that He would come to illuminate the thorns of our body, and not to consume those who were in misery, but to alleviate their misery; Who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire, that He might give grace and destroy sin.
sant'Ambrogio † 397 d.C. Exposition of the Christian Faith 3.10
… “because He was before me,” because it was needful to teach the eternity of [Christ’s] Godhead; and this is the reason why St. John acknowledged Christ’s priority, that He, Who is His own Father’s eternal Power, may be presented as on that account duly preferred.
sant'Ambrogio † 397 d.C. Concerning Repentance 1.8
… And because He purposed to descend from heaven and to ascend thither again, He took up Elijah into heaven to restore him again to earth at the time which should please Him. And being baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire, He foreshadowed the Sacrament of Baptism at the hands of John.
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. Two Homilies on Eutropius 2.11
… He formed him. The devil came, and perverted him. Then the Lord came, took him again, and remoulded, and recast him in baptism, and He suffered not his body to be of clay, but made it of a harder ware. He subjected the soft clay to the fire of the Holy Spirit. “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:”
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies on the Statues to the People of Antioch 6.14
… while others are drinking their fill, and living sumptuously, and gormandizing; think those the better off, who endure sufferings. For not only is the flame of voluptuousness cut off by these misfortunes, but they also depart to the future Judgment, and that dread tribunal,
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 11
… He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:”
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 36
… didst thou not hear the voice? Didst thou not utterly forbid Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized of Thee?” Didst thou not say even to thy disciples, “He must increase, I must decrease?” Didst thou not teach all the people, that “He should baptize them with the Holy Ghost and with fire?”
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 37
“What then?” it may be said, “is it by comparison that He is greater than John?” Far from it. For neither when John saith, “He is mightier than I,”
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 4
… 28 .) “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.” ( v. 4 .) For, that the effect may not be to frighten only, therefore is it both “with the Holy Ghost, and with fire. And began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 6
… has said, that He is king, the point that touched them; has said, that it is He that gives the Spirit. ( Arist. Rhet. 1. 3.) (For, however much a person may say, if it does not issue in something advantageous, he speaks to no purpose.) Just as John: “The same,” says he, “shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.” (
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 40
… “John verily baptized,” etc. ( v. 4 .) From the baptism itself he (John) prophesies: and he leads them (to see) that this is the meaning of John’s baptism. ( a ) “That they should believe on Him that was to come:” on what kind (of Person)? “I indeed baptize you with water, but He that cometh after me, shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.” (
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 13
… For the expression, “This is He of whom I spake,” is the expression of one declaring this. As also Matthew says, that when all came to him, he said, “I indeed baptize you with water, but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose.”
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 16
… It was, that their wickedness might be manifest and plain to all men. Often did John testify of Christ to the Jews, and when he baptized them he continually made mention of Him to his company, and said, “I indeed baptize you with water, but there cometh One after me who is mightier than I; He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” (
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 32
[1.] Scripture calls the grace of the Spirit sometimes “Fire,” sometimes “Water,” showing that these names are not descriptive of its essence, but of its operation; for the Spirit, being Invisible and Simple, cannot be made up of different substances. Now the one John declares, speaking thus, “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with Fire” (
san Girolamo † 420 d.C. The Dialogue Against the Luciferians 1
… “He that is of the earth,” he said, “speaketh of the earth; he that cometh from heaven is above all.” And again,
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. The Enchiridion 49
Now, those who were baptized in the baptism of John, by whom Christ was Himself baptized, were not regenerated; but they were prepared through the ministry of His forerunner, who cried, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord,” for Him in whom only they could be regenerated. For His baptism is not with water only, as was that of John, but with the Holy Ghost also;
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. On Baptism, Against the Donatists 5.10
… resurrection which is expected at the last day is fulfilled in hope in us, as the apostle says, that "He hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus;" and again, "For we are saved by hope;" or as again John himself, while he says, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, for the remission of your sins,"
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.32
… John gave water without the name of the Trinity, as he declared himself, saying, ‘I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.’
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 21.19
… but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 1.3
… that as man He might be “the tree planted hard by the running streams of waters;” for in this sense can that too be taken which is said in another Psalm, “the river of God is full of water.” Or by the Holy Ghost, of whom it is said, “He shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost;”
papa san Leone I Magno † 461 d.C. Letters 16
… seeing that He Himself indeed baptized “in water unto repentance,” but He who with twofold power should both restore life and destroy sins, was about to “baptize in the Holy Ghost and fire
san Giovanni Damasceno † 749 d.C. An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 4.9
… The fourth was that of John , being preliminary and leading those who were baptized to repentance, that they might believe in Christ: I, indeed , he said, baptize you with water; but He that cometh after me, He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire .
Anonymous A Treatise on Re-Baptism by an Anonymous Writer 2
… He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire;”
3:12
Teodoto † fl. 160 d.C. Excerpts of Theodotus 1
… But some, as Heraclius says, marked with fire the ears of those who were sealed; understanding so the apostolic saying, “For His fan is in His hand, to purge His floor: and He will gather the wheat into the garner; but the chaff He will burn with fire unquenchable.”
sant'Ireneo di Lione † 202 d.C. Against Heresies 4.33.1
… but the second in which He will come on the clouds, bringing on the day which burns as a furnace, and smiting the earth with the word of His mouth, and slaying the impious with the breath of His lips, and having a fan in His hands, and cleansing His floor, and gathering the wheat indeed into His barn, but burning the chaff with unquenchable fire.
sant'Ireneo di Lione † 202 d.C. Against Heresies 4.33.11
… you, and to you that are troubled rest with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven, with His mighty angels, and in a flame of fire.” Others again, speaking of Him as a judge, and [referring], as if it were a burning furnace, [to] the day of the Lord, who “gathers the wheat into His barn, but will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire,”
Tertulliano † 220 d.C. The Prescription Against Heretics 3
… “the eyes of the Lord are lofty.” “Man looketh at the outward appearance, but God looketh at the heart.” “The Lord (beholdeth and) knoweth them that are His;” and “the plant which (my heavenly Father) hath not planted, He rooteth up;” and “the first shall,” as He shows, “be last;” and He carries “His fan in His hand to purge His threshing-floor.”
Tertulliano † 220 d.C. To His Wife i.6
… A hard and arduous thing enough, surely, is the continence for God’s sake of a holy woman after her husband’s decease, when Gentiles, in honour of their own Satan, endure sacerdotal offices which involve both virginity and widowhood! At Rome, for instance, they who have to do with the type of that “inextinguishable fire,”
Tertulliano † 220 d.C. De Fuga in Persecutione 1
… Persecution, by means of which one is declared either approved or rejected, is just the judgment of the Lord. But the judging properly belongs to God alone. This is that fan which even now cleanses the Lord’s threshing-floor—the Church, I mean—winnowing the mixed heap of believers, and separating the grain
sant'Ippolito † 235 d.C. The Refutation of All Heresies 6.4
… The fruit, however, of the tree, when it is fully grown, and has received its own form, is deposited in a granary, not (flung) into the fire. For, he says, the fruit has been produced for the purpose of being laid in the storehouse, whereas the chaff that it may be delivered over to the fire.
san Gregorio Nazianzeno † 389 d.C. Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 21.7
… Therefore, when we were cast down, a horn of salvation was raised up for us, and a chief corner stone, knitting us to itself and to one another, was laid in due season, or a fire to purify our base and evil matter, or a farmer’s fan
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 11
7. Then, as having uttered the gentler part of his message, and soothed and relaxed the hearer, he again binds him up, that he may not become remiss. For such was the nature of the Jewish nation; by all encouraging things they were easily puffed up, and corrupted. Wherefore he again adduces his terrors, saying, “Whose fan is in His hand.”
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 32
Then to signify how great the gift is, He saith, “Pray ye the Lord of the harvest;” and indirectly declares it to be His own prerogative. For after having said, “Pray ye the Lord of the harvest;” when they had not made any entreaty nor prayer, He Himself at once ordains them, reminding them also of the sayings of John,
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 46
What then, if the tares should remain until the end? “Then I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them.” He again reminds them of John’s words,
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 64
… For of Him John had said, “I am not worthy to loose the latchet of His shoe;” and, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world;” and, “This is the Son of God;” and, “He that cometh from above is above all;” and, “His fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor.”
san Girolamo † 420 d.C. The Letters of St. Jerome 122.3
… “What is the chaff to the wheat, saith the Lord?” Yet the chaff is reserved for future burning; as also are the tares which at present are mingled with the growing corn. For one shall come whose fan is in His hand, and shall purge His floor, and shall gather His wheat into the garner, and shall burn the chaff in the fire of hell.
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Letters of St. Augustin 93.33
… whose separation, however, as chaff from the wheat, is to be effected only in the final purging of the Lord’s threshing-floor.
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Letters of St. Augustin 93.50
50. Listen to the testimony which through me is addressed to you by those who are the Lord’s wheat, suffering meanwhile until the final winnowing,
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Letters of St. Augustin 208.4
4. In order, therefore, that we may remain in the unity of the faith, and not, stumbling at the offences occasioned by the chaff, desert the threshing-floor of the Lord, but rather remain as wheat till the final winnowing,
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.26
… Nay, even among the very tares themselves, which are commanded not to be gathered, but to be tolerated even to the end, and among the very chaff, which shall only be separated from the wheat by the winnowing at the last day,
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 3.2
… most firmly to what I urge on you with all my might, that every one is cursed who places his trust in man, so that none should make his boast of man, then you will in no wise desert the threshing-floor of the Lord on account of the chaff which either is now being dispersed beneath the blast of the wind of pride, or will be separated by the final winnowing;
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. The Correction of the Donatists 4
… How come you, by a deed of gross impiety, to separate yourselves from the unity of the Catholic Church, as from the threshing-floor of the Lord, which must needs contain, up to the time of the final winnowing, both corn which is to be stored in the garner, and chaff that is to be burned up with fire?
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 8.13
… 8 ), are to be taken in. What is then this distinction? Call to mind the “wine-presses,” holding husks and wine; and the threshing-floor, containing chaff and corn; and the nets, in which were enclosed good fish and bad; and the ark of Noah, in which were both unclean and clean animals:
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 48.10
… not vainly hath a voice gone forth from your mouth and heart, “Destroy not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men.” He shall winnow with such art, carrying in His hand a fan, that not one grain of wheat shall fall into the heap of chaff prepared to be burned, nor one beard of chaff pass to the heap to be laid up in the garner.
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 49.1.3
… Let these words then be heard by sinners and righteous, nations, and those who inhabit the world, “earthborn and sons of men, the rich and the poor together:” not divided, not separated. That is for the time of the harvest to do, the hand of the winnower will effect that.
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 52.2
… But there will come time of winnowing, when both are to be severed with greatest diligence, in order that no grain may pass over unto the heap of chaff that is to be burned, that not one single straw may pass over to the mass that is to be stored in the barn.
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 52.8
… for everlasting.” For if to grass, and to the bloom of grass, thou shalt have bound thyself, since the grass shall wither, and the bloom shall fall down, “God shall destroy thee at the end:” and if not now, certainly at the end He shall destroy, when that winnowing shall have come, and the heap of chaff from the solid grain shall have been separated.
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 55.18
18. Therefore, my Brethren, those that in the very congregation of these walls ye see to be rebellious men, proud, seeking their own, lifted up; not having a zeal for God that is chaste, sound, quiet, but ascribing to themselves much; ready for dissension, but not finding opportunity; are the very chaff of the Lord’s floor.
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 59.1.10
… there is no cause for thee to spare, extend further thy cords, and strong stakes set thou again and again on the right and on the left.” Upon the right keep good men, on the left keep evil men, until there come the fan:
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 68.39
… Whence he saith, “See ye Israel after the flesh.” “For not they that are sons of the flesh, are sons of God, but sons of promise are counted for a seed.” Therefore at that time when without any intermixture of evil men His people shall be, like a heap purged by the fan,
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 71.29
… For in two ways they shall be confounded, either when they shall believe in Christ, or when Christ shall have come. For so long as the Church is here, so long as grain groaneth amid chaff, so long as wheat groaneth amid tares,
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 74.1
… let us see whether perchance the voice in this Psalm be not of that same people. But of what sort of Jews and of what sort of people of Israel? For they are not of the chaff, but perchance of the grain;
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 89.31
… not for the chaff’s sake shall the wheat also perish:
Pseudo-Clement The Recognitions of Clement 3.38
… But as the rain given by God equally nourishes the corn and the tares, but at the time of harvest the crops are gathered into the barn, but the chaff or the tares are burnt in the fire,
3:13
Taziano il Siro † 180 d.C. The Diatessaron 4
… and it abode upon him. But I knew him not; but he that sent me to baptize with water, he said unto me, Upon whomsoever thou shalt behold the Spirit descending and lighting upon him, the same is he that [41] baptizeth with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God.
Tertulliano † 220 d.C. Appendix: Against All Heresies 5
… For they affirm that without those letters truth cannot be found; nay more, that in those letters the whole plenitude and perfection of truth is comprised; for this was why Christ said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega.” In fact, they say that Jesus Christ descended, that is, that the dove came down on Jesus;
Tertulliano † 220 d.C. On Baptism 9
… How mighty is the grace of water , in the sight of God and His Christ, for the confirmation of baptism! Never is Christ without water : if, that is, He is Himself baptized in water ;
sant'Ippolito † 235 d.C. The Discourse on the Holy Theophany 2
2. Nor is this the only thing that proves the dignity of the water. But there is also that which is more honourable than all—the fact that Christ, the Maker of all, came down as the rain, and was known as a spring, and diffused Himself as a river, and was baptized in the Jordan.
Origene † 254 d.C. Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 6.31
John the disciple does not tell us where the Saviour comes from to John the Baptist, but we learn this from Matthew, who writes:
san Gregorio Taumaturgo † 270 d.C. Four Homilies 4
… Come, let us view the image of our regeneration, as it is emblematically presented in these waters. “Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.”
san Gregorio Nazianzeno † 389 d.C. Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.24
… This is why the angels glorified first the heavenly, then the earthly, why the shepherds saw the glory over the Lamb and the Shepherd, why the star led the Magi to worship and offer gifts, in order that idolatry might be destroyed. This is why Jesus was baptized,
san Gregorio Nazianzeno † 389 d.C. Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 29
XX. He was baptized as Man—but He remitted sins as God
san Gregorio Nazianzeno † 389 d.C. Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 38
XVI. A little later on you will see Jesus submitting to be purified in the River Jordan for my Purification, or rather, sanctifying the waters by His Purification (for indeed He had no need of purification Who taketh away the sin of the world) and the heavens cleft asunder, and witness borne to him by the Spirit That is of one nature with Him;
san Gregorio Nazianzeno † 389 d.C. Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 39.0
… In the Eastern Church this Festival is regarded as more particularly the commemoration of our Lord’s Baptism, and is accordingly one of the great days for the solemn ministration of the Sacrament. It is generally called Theophania, and the Gospel in the Liturgy is S.
san Girolamo † 420 d.C. The Letters of St. Jerome 46.13
… Then shall we touch with our lips the wood of the cross, and rise in prayer and resolve upon the Mount of Olives with the ascending Lord. We shall see Lazarus come forth bound with grave clothes, we shall look upon the waters of Jordan purified for the washing of the Lord.
san Girolamo † 420 d.C. The Letters of St. Jerome 69.6
… The Lord’s forerunner at Salem (a name which means peace or perfection) makes ready the people for Christ with spring-water. The Saviour Himself does not preach the kingdom of heaven until by His baptismal immersion He has cleansed the Jordan.
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. The Enchiridion 49
Now, those who were baptized in the baptism of John, by whom Christ was Himself baptized,
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. On the Morals of the Catholic Church 34
… but the time for separating the tares will come. Or if, from their having at least the Christian name, they are to be placed among the chaff rather than among thistles, there will also come One to purge the floor and to separate the chaff from the wheat, and to assign to each part (according to its desert) the due reward.
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. On Baptism, Against the Donatists 5.9
… And as our Lord was presently to enter on this way with all humility, and to lead those who humbly followed Him to perfection, as He washed the feet of His servants, so was He willing to be baptized with the baptism of a servant.
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. The Harmony of the Gospels 2.13
… for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered Him.” The others also attest the fact that Jesus came to John. The three also mention that He was baptized. But they omit all mention of one circumstance recorded by Matthew, namely, that John addressed the Lord, or that the Lord made answer to John.
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 2.0
Of the words of St. Matthew’s Gospel, Chap. iii. 13 , “Then Jesus cometh from Galilee to the Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.” Concerning the Trinity.
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 2.1
… For the notice of the Trinity is here conveyed to us plainly and without leaving room for doubt or hesitation. For the Lord Christ Himself coming in the form of a servant to John, is doubtlessly the Son: for it cannot be said that it was the Father, or the Holy Spirit. “Jesus,” it is said, “cometh;”
3:14
Taziano il Siro † 180 d.C. The Diatessaron 4
… This is he concerning whom I said, There cometh after me a man who was before me, because he was [32] before me. And I knew him not; but that he should be made manifest to Israel, [33] for this cause came I to baptize with water.
sant'Ippolito † 235 d.C. The Discourse on the Holy Theophany 4
… but even like a mere man, and one involved in sin, He bent His head to be baptized by John. Wherefore John, on seeing so great a humbling of Himself, was struck with astonishment at the affair, and began to prevent Him, saying, as ye have just heard, “I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?”
san Gregorio Taumaturgo † 270 d.C. Four Homilies 4
… I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?
san Gregorio Nazianzeno † 389 d.C. Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 39.5
XV. But John baptizes, Jesus comes to Him
sant'Ambrogio † 397 d.C. Concerning Repentance 1.8
39. Then, too, the Lord Jesus when about to consecrate the forgiveness of our sins replied to John, who said: “I ought to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me? Suffer it now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.”
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 3
… On this wise again Paul saith, “I am not meet to be called an apostle;” because of this he became even first of all. So likewise John: “I am not meet to loose the latchet of His shoe;” because of this he was the “friend of the Bridegroom,” and the hand which he affirmed to be unworthy to touch His shoes, this did Christ draw unto His own head.
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 12
“I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me.”
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 36
… didst thou not hear the voice? Didst thou not utterly forbid Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized of Thee?”
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. Homilies on 2 Timothy 2
… The gifts which God bestows are not such as to be effects of the virtue of the Priest. All is of grace. His part is but to open his mouth, while God worketh all: the Priest only performs a symbol. Consider how wide was the distance between John and Jesus. Hear John saying, “I have need to be baptized of Thee” (
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 17
How then, if he knew Him not before the descent of the Spirit, and if he then for the first time recognized Him, did he forbid Him before baptism, saying, “I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?” (
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. On Baptism, Against the Donatists 5.13
… as John bears witness that he learned, in the case of the Lord Himself, through the appearance of the dove. For in what other respect he said, "And I knew Him not," I cannot clearly see. For if he had not known Him in any sense, he could not have said to Him when He came to his baptism, "I have need to be baptized of Thee."
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. The Harmony of the Gospels 2.15
… the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Spirit.” For if he came to know Him only at the time when he saw the dove descending upon Him, the inquiry is raised as to how he could have said to Him, as He came to be baptized, “I ought rather to be baptized of Thee.”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 2.1
… For when Jesus came and was baptized by John, the Lord by His servant (and this He did for an example of humility; for He showeth that in this same humility is righteousness fulfilled, when as John said to Him, “I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 4
14. But that you may know, my brethren, that not from a necessity of any chain of sin did the Lord come to this John, as the other evangelists say when the Lord came to him to be baptized, John himself said, “Comest Thou to me? I have need to be baptized of Thee.”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 5
2. Did John hear this that he might know Him whom he had not known, or that he might more fully know Him whom he had already known? For if he had been entirely ignorant of Him, he would not have said to Him when He came to the river to be baptized, “I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 6.7
… Before He came to the river, whilst many people were running together to John to be baptized, he says to them, “I indeed baptize you with water; but He that cometh after me is greater than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to loose; the same shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 13.1
… question was solved, namely, what was that something in the Lord which John did not know, and which he learned by means of the dove, whilst already John knew Him, since, as Jesus came to be baptized, he said to Him, “I ought to be baptized by Thee, and comest Thou to me?” when the Lord answered him, “Suffer it now, that all righteousness may be fulfilled.”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 91.14
… attend therefore. Our Lord, after He was baptized, fasted. Why was He baptized? That we might not scorn to be baptized. For when John said to our Lord, “Comest Thou to me to be baptized? I ought to be baptized by Thee;” and our Lord replied, “Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness;”
Giovanni Cassiano † 435 d.C. The Seven Books of John Cassian on the Incarnation of the Lord, Against Nestorius 7.11
… inasmuch as he had already once heard from John: “Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who taketh away the sin of the world.” And again from the same person: “I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?”
3:15
sant'Ignazio di Antiochia † 108 d.C. Epistle to the Smyrnæans: Shorter and Longer Versions 1
… that He was truly born of a virgin, was baptized by John, in order that all righteousness might be fulfilled
Taziano il Siro † 180 d.C. The Diatessaron 4
… This is he concerning whom I said, There cometh after me a man who was before me, because he was [32] before me. And I knew him not; but that he should be made manifest to Israel, [33] for this cause came I to baptize with water. And John was hindering him and [34] saying, I have need of being baptized by thee, and comest thou to me?
sant'Ippolito † 235 d.C. The Discourse on the Holy Theophany 5
5. And what saith the Lord to him? “Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.”
san Tascio Cecilio Cipriano † 258 d.C. The Epistles of Cyprian 71.1
… in divers tongues, still none the less the blessed Apostle Peter, mindful of the divine precept and the Gospel, commanded that those same men should be baptized who had already been filled with the Holy Spirit, that nothing might seem to be neglected to the observance by the apostolic instruction in all things of the law of the divine precept and Gospel.
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 10
To prove that this was to Him the last good work of those enjoined by the law, hear His own words: “For thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.”
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 12
… And this man again in like manner, when he had heard, “Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness,”
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 16
But the law He fulfilled, not in one way only, but in a second and third also. In one way, by transgressing none of the precepts of the law. For that He did fulfill it all, hear what He saith to John, “For thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.”
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 52
Thus as John, accounting it unworthy of Christ to be baptized by him, was persuaded of Christ to baptize Him, He saying, “Thus it becometh us,”
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. Homilies on First Corinthians 38
… but thou denying this, wilt be compelled to affirm the other. But if He was in sin, how saith He, “Which of you convinceth Me of sin?” and “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me?” ( John viii. 46; xiv. 30 .) and again, “Thus it becometh Us to fulfill all righteousness?” (
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 6
… Yet you ought not to be troubled nor confused, but amazed at such unspeakable goodness. Though if any still continue bewildered and confused, He will say to such an one what He said to John, “Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness” (
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 17
And wherefore, says one, does Jesus now come to him? why does he come not merely once, but this second time also? For Matthew says that His coming was necessary on account of Baptism: since Jesus adds, that “thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.” (
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 2.1
… For when Jesus came and was baptized by John, the Lord by His servant (and this He did for an example of humility; for He showeth that in this same humility is righteousness fulfilled, when as John said to Him, “I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?” He answered, “Suffer it to be so now, that all righteousness may be fulfilled”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 5
… Already I knew by whom I was sent; already I knew Him to whom I said, “Comest Thou to me to be baptized? I have need to be baptized of Thee.” So far, then, did I know the Lord, that I wished to be baptized by Him, not that He should be baptized by me; and then He said to me, “Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.”
Teodoreto di Cirro † 458 d.C. Counter-statements of Theodoret 1
… although this itself afterwards destroyed the power of death through union with the God who had assumed it; which walked through all righteousness and said to John, “Suffer it to be so now for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.”
Teodoreto di Cirro † 458 d.C. Dialogues. The “Eranistes” or “Polymorphus” of the Blessed Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus 1
“Having a full conviction with respect to our Lord as being truly descended from David according to the flesh, son of God according to Godhead and power, born really of a virgin, baptized by John that all righteousness might be fulfilled
san Giovanni Damasceno † 749 d.C. An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 3.24
… For just as He endured the passion, achieving for our sakes a triumph over it, so also He offered up prayer, guiding us, as I said, in the way that leads up to God, and “fulfilling all righteousness
Anonymous A Treatise on Re-Baptism by an Anonymous Writer 5
… And their hearts being purified, God bestowed upon them at the same time, in virtue of their faith, remission of sins; so that the subsequent baptism conferred upon them this benefit alone, that they received also the invocation of the name of Jesus Christ, that nothing might appear to be wanting to the integrity of their service and faith.
3:16
Taziano il Siro † 180 d.C. The Diatessaron 4
… And John was hindering him and [34] saying, I have need of being baptized by thee, and comest thou to me? Jesus answered him and said, Suffer this now: thus it is our duty to fulfill all righteousness. [35] Then he suffered him. And when all the people were baptized, Jesus also [36] was baptized.
sant'Ireneo di Lione † 202 d.C. Against Heresies 3.9.3
3. And then, [speaking of His] baptism, Matthew says, “The heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God, as a dove, coming upon Him: and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Tertulliano † 220 d.C. The Five Books Against Marcion 3.24
… “And Thou shalt bind them about Thee,” says he, “like the adornment of a bride.” Accordingly the Spirit, admiring such as soar up to the celestial realms by these ascensions, says, “They fly, as if they were kites; they fly as clouds, and as young doves, unto me” —that is, simply like a dove.
Tertulliano † 220 d.C. On the Flesh of Christ 3
… If you had not purposely rejected in some instances, and corrupted in others, the Scriptures which are opposed to your opinion, you would have been confuted in this matter by the Gospel of John, when it declares that the Spirit descended in the body of a dove, and sat upon the Lord.
Tertulliano † 220 d.C. On Baptism 8
… Then, over our cleansed and blessed bodies willingly descends from the Father that Holiest Spirit. Over the waters of baptism, recognising as it were His primeval seat, He reposes: (He who) glided down on the Lord “in the shape of a dove,”
sant'Ippolito † 235 d.C. The Discourse on the Holy Theophany 5
… “And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and the heavens were opened unto Him; and, lo, the Spirit of God descended like a dove, and rested upon Him. And a voice (came) from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
sant'Ippolito † 235 d.C. The Discourse on the Holy Theophany 9
9. This is the Spirit that at the beginning “moved upon the face of the waters;” by whom the world moves; by whom creation consists, and all things have life; who also wrought mightily in the prophets, and descended in flight upon Christ.
san Cirillo di Gerusalemme † 386 d.C. The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 17.9
… But see what saith the Gospel; the heavens were opened ; they were opened because of the dignity of Him who descended; for, lo , he says, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and lighting upon Him
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 12
3. “And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water; and lo! the heavens were opened unto Him.”
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 40
Where did He “bear witness of” Him? In Jordan: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (
san Girolamo † 420 d.C. The Letters of St. Jerome 31.2
… still our merriment must not forget the limit set by Scripture, and we must not stray too far from the boundary of our wrestling-ground. Your presents, indeed, remind me of the sacred volume, for in it Ezekiel decks Jerusalem with bracelets, Baruch receives letters from Jeremiah, and the Holy Spirit descends in the form of a dove at the baptism of Christ.
san Girolamo † 420 d.C. The Letters of St. Jerome 69.6
… When the world falls into sin nothing but a flood of waters can cleanse it again. But as soon as the foul bird of wickedness is driven away, the dove of the Holy Spirit comes to Noah as it came afterwards to Christ in the Jordan,
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. On the Holy Trinity 1.4
… Yet not that this Trinity was born of the Virgin Mary, and crucified under Pontius Pilate, and buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven, but only the Son. Nor, again, that this Trinity descended in the form of a dove upon Jesus when He was baptized;
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. On the Holy Trinity 2.5
… For in due time a certain outward appearance of the creature was wrought, wherein the Holy Spirit might be visibly shown; whether when He descended upon the Lord Himself in a bodily shape as a dove,
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. On the Holy Trinity 2.6
… Accordingly, although that dove is called the Spirit;
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. On the Holy Trinity 3.pref.3
… and the Holy Spirit also was therefore “sent,” because He too was seen as a dove in a corporeal form,
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. On the Holy Trinity 3.11
… which manner of showing also, Scripture teaches by many examples, that the prophets, too, did not omit. It remains, therefore, now for us to consider,—since both in the Lord as born of a virgin, and in the Holy Spirit descending in a corporeal form like a dove,
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. On the Holy Trinity 4.21
But with respect to the sensible showing of the Holy Spirit, whether by the shape of a dove,
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. On the Holy Trinity 15.26
… And Christ was certainly not then anointed with the Holy Spirit, when He, as a dove, descended upon Him at His baptism.
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. On Baptism, Against the Donatists 5.11
… Can it be that defrauders and extortioners belong to the members of that one dove, and that he does not belong to it to whom the full power of the Lord Jesus Christ was shown by the appearance of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove?
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. The Harmony of the Gospels 2.14
… but the object was to let the people who were present hear it, for whose sakes indeed the voice itself was given. But furthermore now, with regard to the circumstance that the first of them puts the saying thus, “In whom I am well pleased,” the second thus, “In Thee I am well pleased;” and the third thus, “In Thee it has pleased me;”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 1.33
… and hereby was consecrated the Baptism of Christ Himself, whereby Christians were to be baptized. The Father in the voice which came from heaven, the Son in the person of the Mediator Himself, the Holy Ghost in the dove.
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 2.1
… for it cannot be said that it was the Father, or the Holy Spirit. “Jesus,” it is said, “cometh;” that is, the Son of God. And who hath any doubt about the Dove? or who saith, “What is the Dove?” when the Gospel itself most plainly testifieth, “The Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove.”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 21.27
… So also we say that neither the Father, nor the Son, but the Holy Spirit only appeared both in the “form of a dove,”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 4
… What shall we say? That we do not know when the dove came? Lest perchance they take refuge in this, let the other evangelists be read, who have spoken of this matter more plainly, and we find most evidently that the dove then descended when the Lord came up out of the water. Upon Him baptized the heavens opened, and He saw the Spirit descending.
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 6.5
… and thereupon was manifested that holy and real Trinity, which to us is one God. For the Lord went up out of the water, as we read in the Gospel: “And, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit descending like a dove, and it abode upon Him: and immediately a voice followed, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 10.6
… and he thought the apostles to be just such traders as they whom the Lord cast out of the temple with a scourge. For such an one he was himself, and desired to buy what he might sell: he was of those who sell doves. Now it was in a dove that the Holy Ghost appeared.
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 99.2
2. For the fact that the Holy Spirit appeared in bodily form, as a dove,
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 7.11
… Love that which God made, love not that which the man himself made. When thou lovest that, thou takest away this: when thou esteemest that, thou amendest this. But even if thou be severe at any time, let it be because of love, for correction. For this cause was charity betokened by the Dove which descended upon the Lord.
Giovanni Cassiano † 435 d.C. The Seven Books of John Cassian on the Incarnation of the Lord, Against Nestorius 3.16
… What then does the Evangelist say of the Lord Jesus Christ? “When He was baptized,” he says, “straightway He went up out of the water. And lo, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit descending like a dove, and coming upon Him. And behold, a voice from heaven, saying: This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
3:17
san Giustino † 165 d.C. Dialogue with Trypho 103
… and ‘Nas’ is the word from which he is called by interpretation the serpent , i.e., according to the interpretation of the Hebrew term, from both of which there arises the single word Satanas . For this devil, when [Jesus] went up from the river Jordan, at the time when the voice spake to Him, ‘Thou art my Son: this day have I begotten Thee,’
Taziano il Siro † 180 d.C. The Diatessaron 4
… thus it is our duty to fulfill all righteousness. [35] Then he suffered him. And when all the people were baptized, Jesus also [36] was baptized. And immediately he went up out of the water, and heaven opened [37] [Arabic, p. 17] to him, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in the similitude of the [38] body of a dove;
Tertulliano † 220 d.C. A Treatise on the Soul 17
… We may not, I say, we may not call into question the truth of the (poor vilified) senses, lest we should even in Christ Himself, bring doubt upon the truth of their sensation; lest perchance it should be said that He did not really “behold Satan as lightning fall from heaven;” that He did not really hear the Father’s voice testifying of Himself;
Tertulliano † 220 d.C. Against Praxeas 19
… Accordingly He says, concerning the Son, immediately afterwards: “Who else is it that frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad, turning wise men backward, and making their knowledge foolish, and confirming the words of His Son?” —as, for instance, when He said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him.”
Origene † 254 d.C. Origen Against Celsus 2.72
… Accordingly, the voice from heaven which proclaimed Him to be the Son of God, in the words, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,”
Origene † 254 d.C. Origen's Commentary on Matthew 10.9
… and precious also is the glory in the face of Moses, and of the prophets also, I think, and a beautiful sight, by which we are introduced so as to be able to see the glory of Christ, to which the Father bears witness, saying, “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased.”
san Gregorio Taumaturgo † 270 d.C. Fragment from the Discourse 1
… No one, however, was sufficient to know these until the Son being made flesh manifested them, saying: “Father, I have manifested Thy name to men; glorify Thou me also, that they may know me as Thy Son.” And on the mount the Father spake, and said, “This is my beloved Son.”
san Gregorio Taumaturgo † 270 d.C. Twelve Topics on the Faith 3
… the perfect man, and refuses to acknowledge that, being begotten in the flesh of the Virgin, He became man and was born in Bethlehem, and was brought up in Nazareth, and advanced in age, and on completing the set number of years (appeared in public and) was baptized in the Jordan, and received this testimony from the Father, “This is my beloved Son,”
san Gregorio Taumaturgo † 270 d.C. Four Homilies 4
… And He Himself calls with clear voice out of heaven, and says: “This is my beloved Son,”
Archelao † fl. 278 d.C. The Acts of the Disputation with the Heresiarch Manes 49
… Who is this that was baptized by John? If He was perfect, if He was the Son, if He was the Power, the Spirit could not have entered into Him; just as a kingdom cannot enter within a kingdom. And whose, too, was that voice which was sent forth out of heaven, and which gave Him this testimony, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased?”
Archelao † fl. 278 d.C. The Acts of the Disputation with the Heresiarch Manes 50
… For just as no other had the capacity sufficient for sustaining the burden of the Paraclete except only the disciples and the blessed Paul, so also no other was able to bear the Spirit who descended from heaven, and through whom that voice of the Father gave its testimony in these terms, “This is my beloved Son,”
sant'Alessandro di Alessandria † 326 d.C. Epistles on the Arian Heresy and the Deposition of Arius 1.8
… Paul has declared, who thus speaks of God: “Who spared not His own Son, but for us,” who were not His natural sons, “delivered Him up.” For to distinguish Him from those who are not properly sons, He said that He was His own Son. And in the Gospel we read: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
sant'Ilario di Poitiers † 367 d.C. De Trinitate or On the Trinity 2.8
… the Power of Power, the Wisdom of Wisdom, the Glory of Glory, the Likeness of the invisible God, the Image of the Unbegotten Father. Yet in what sense can we conceive that the Only-begotten is the Offspring of the Unbegotten? Repeatedly the Father cries from heaven, This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased
sant'Ilario di Poitiers † 367 d.C. De Trinitate or On the Trinity 6.23
… Let us hear the Father, when the baptism of Jesus Christ was accomplished, speaking, as often, concerning His Only-begotten, in order to save us from being misled by His visible body into a failure to recognise Him as the Son. His words are:— This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased
sant'Ilario di Poitiers † 367 d.C. De Trinitate or On the Trinity 6.46
… They describe the Son of God as a creature who came into being out of nothing. If the Father has never asserted this, nor the Son confirmed it, nor the Apostles proclaimed it, then the dating which prompts their allegation is bred not of ignorance, but of hatred for Christ. When the Father says of His Son, This is
sant'Ilario di Poitiers † 367 d.C. De Trinitate or On the Trinity 9.20
… And ye have not His word abiding in you, for Whom He sent, Him ye believe not. How can the Father be truly said to have borne witness of the Son, when neither He Himself was seen, nor His voice heard? Yet I remember that a voice was heard from Heaven, which said, This is My beloved Son, in Whom I have been well pleased; hear ye Him
sant'Ilario di Poitiers † 367 d.C. De Trinitate or On the Trinity 11.18
… Jesus was anointed, therefore, that the mystery of the regeneration of flesh might be accomplished. Nor are we left in doubt how He was thus anointed with the Spirit of God and with power, when we listen to the Father’s voice, as it spoke when He came up out of the Jordan, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee
sant'Atanasio di Alessandria † 373 d.C. De Decretis. (Defence of the Nicene Definition.) 3
… for there is neither effluence of the Immaterial, nor influx from without, as among men; and being uncompounded in nature, He is Father of One Only Son. This is why He is Only-begotten, and alone in the Father’s bosom, and alone is acknowledged by the Father to be from Him, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased
sant'Atanasio di Alessandria † 373 d.C. De Sententia Dionysii. (Defence of Dionysius.) 2
… Nor, secondly, is any religious argument from human reason left them in their defence. For what man, Greek or barbarian, presumes to call one, whom he confesses to be God, a created thing, or to say that he was not before he was made? or what man, when he has heard Him whom he believes to be God alone say, ‘This is My beloved Son’ (
sant'Atanasio di Alessandria † 373 d.C. Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 1.3
… Not any one man can they specify who has supplied it. For who is there in all mankind, Greek or Barbarian, who ventures to rank among creatures One whom he confesses the while to be God and says, that He was not till He was made? or who is there, who to the God in whom he has put faith, refuses to give credit, when He says, ‘This is My beloved Son
sant'Atanasio di Alessandria † 373 d.C. Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 1.5
… and no longer will He be even second after the Father, since He has before Him this other; nor can He be called Son of the Father, but of that, as partaking which He has been called Son and God. And if this be unseemly and irreligious, when the Father says, ‘This is My Beloved Son
sant'Atanasio di Alessandria † 373 d.C. Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 2.16
… for instance, that it should say that He is greater than Archangels, and more honourable than the Thrones, and both brighter than sun and moon, and greater than the heavens. But he is not in fact thus referred to; but the Father shews Him to be His own proper and only Son, saying, ‘Thou art My Son,’ and ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
sant'Atanasio di Alessandria † 373 d.C. Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 2.21
… ‘We have seen His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father ;’ and ‘God sent His Only-begotten Son ;’ and ‘O Lord, Thy Word endureth for ever ;’ and ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God;’ and ‘Christ the Power of God and the Wisdom of God ;’ and ‘This is My beloved Son;’ and ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God
sant'Atanasio di Alessandria † 373 d.C. Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 3.30
… Son;’ and by David He said, ‘My heart uttered a good Word;’ and John He bade say, ‘In the beginning was the Word;’ and David says in the Psalm, ‘With Thee is the well of life, and in Thy light shall we see light;’ and the Apostle writes, ‘Who being the Radiance of Glory,’ and again, ‘Who being in the form of God,’ and, ‘Who is the Image of the invisible God
sant'Atanasio di Alessandria † 373 d.C. Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 4.15
… But if what is from the heart is eternal, then what is ‘From the womb’ is eternal. And if the ‘Only-begotten’ is ‘in the bosom,’ therefore the ‘Well-beloved’ is ‘in the bosom.’ For ‘Only-begotten’ and ‘Well-beloved’ are the same, as in the words ‘This is My Well-beloved Son
sant'Atanasio di Alessandria † 373 d.C. On the Symbols 'Of the Essence' And 'Coessential.' 1
… and if ye too have said, that the Son is from God, it follows that you have said that He is from the ‘essence’ of the Father. And since the Scriptures precede you which say, that the Lord is Son of the Father, and the Father Himself precedes them, who says, ‘This is My beloved Son’ (
sant'Atanasio di Alessandria † 373 d.C. Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 59
… being by nature and essence the Word of God, but after the flesh man of the seed of David, and made of the flesh of Mary, as Paul said . Him the Father pointed out both in Jordan and on the Mount, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased
san Basilio † 379 d.C. De Spiritu Sancto 16
… In the first place He was made an unction, and being inseparably present was with the very flesh of the Lord, according to that which is written, “Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on Him, the same is” “my beloved Son;”
san Cirillo di Gerusalemme † 386 d.C. The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 10.2
2. If, therefore, any one wishes to shew piety towards God, let him worship the Son, since otherwise the Father accepts not his service. The Father spake with a loud voice from heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased
san Cirillo di Gerusalemme † 386 d.C. The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 11.9
… which were begotten not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God . And we indeed are begotten of water and of the Spirit, but not thus was Christ begotten of the Father. For at the time of His Baptism addressing Him, and saying, This is My Son
san Gregorio Nazianzeno † 389 d.C. Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 39.5
XV. But John baptizes, Jesus comes to Him …perhaps to sanctify the Baptist himself, but certainly to bury the whole of the old Adam in the water; and before this and for the sake of this, to sanctify Jordan; for as He is Spirit and Flesh, so He consecrates us by Spirit and water. John will not receive Him; Jesus contends. “I have need to be baptized of Thee”
sant'Ambrogio † 397 d.C. On the Holy Spirit 2.6
57. And that you might know that he spoke of the coming down of Jesus, he added that He declared His Christ to men, for in His baptism He declared Him, saying: “Thou art My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.”
sant'Ambrogio † 397 d.C. Exposition of the Christian Faith 1.10
… These words are not to be understood, when we speak of God, as when we speak of bodies. The generation of the Son is incomprehensible, the Father begets impassibly, and yet of Himself and in ages inconceivably remote hath very God begotten very God. The Father loves the Son, and you anxiously examine His Person; the Father is well pleased in Him,
sant'Ambrogio † 397 d.C. Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.7
89. Can men indeed be loved by God as the Son is, in Whom the Father is well-pleased?
sant'Ambrogio † 397 d.C. On the Mysteries 5
26. Is there, then, here any room left for doubt, when the Father clearly calls from heaven in the Gospel narrative, and says: “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased”?
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. On the Holy Trinity 2.10
… and in that when the dove descended upon Him at His baptism;
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 12.1
… Or if you are changing your opinion about evidences, what more trustworthy witness could you have than God Himself testifying to His own Son when He sent Him on earth,—not by a prophet or an interpreter,—by a voice immediately from heaven: "This is my beloved Son, believe Him?"
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 23.5
… of the prophet, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which is being interpreted, God with us." Again, He who was called, even from the Virgin’s womb, God-with-us, is said to have heard, when He was baptized by John, a voice from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 2.1
… and then a Voice from on high followed, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 62.11
… Did not the Selfsame speak to Cain, to Noe, to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, to all the Prophets, and to Moses? One man Moses was, and how often to him spake God? Behold even to one man, not once but ofttimes God hath spoken. Secondly, He hath spoken to the Son when standing here, “Thou art My beloved Son.”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 72.11
… But in that which now He saith, “from the river,” He hath evidently expressed that He willed Christ to publish at length His power from that place from whence also He began to choose His disciples, to wit from the river Jordan, where upon the Lord, on His baptism, when the Holy Ghost descended, there sounded a voice from Heaven, “This is My beloved Son.”
Giovanni Cassiano † 435 d.C. The Seven Books of John Cassian on the Incarnation of the Lord, Against Nestorius 7.11
… “I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?” The dove also which came down from heaven and stopped over the Lord’s head had made itself a clear and open proof of a God who declared Himself. The voice too which was sent from God not in riddles or figures had moved him, when it said: “Thou art My beloved Son, in Thee I am well pleased.”
Teodoreto di Cirro † 458 d.C. The Ecclesiastical History of Theodoret 1.3
… It was to distinguish Him from those who are not ‘ His own, ’ that he called Him ‘ His own son. ’ It is also written in the Gospel, ‘ This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased
papa san Leone I Magno † 461 d.C. Letters 16
… when in later years He was to be declared more openly and sought out the baptism of His forerunner John, was there any doubt of His being God remaining when after the baptism of the Lord Jesus the Holy Spirit in form of a dove descended and rested upon Him, and the Father’s voice was heard from the skies, “Thou art My beloved Son: in Thee I am well pleased
papa san Leone I Magno † 461 d.C. Letters 124
… and without the reality of the flesh that Child would not have been ordered to be carried away into Egypt and withdrawn from Herod’s persecution. Without the power of the Word the Father’s voice uttered from the sky would not have said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased
Pseudo-Clement The Recognitions of Clement 1.48
“Then, however, a priest or a prophet, being anointed with the compounded ointment, putting fire to the altar of God, was held illustrious in all the world. But after Aaron, who was a priest, another is taken out of the waters. I do not speak of Moses, but of Him who, in the waters of baptism, was called by God His Son.
3:1
Pseudo-Crisostomo
The Sun as he approaches the horizon, and before he is yet visible, sends out his rays and makes the eastern sky to glow with light, that Aurora going before may herald the coming day. Thus the Lord at His birth in this earth, and before He shews Himself, enlightens John by the rays of His Spirit’s teaching, that he might go before and announce the Saviour that was to come. Therefore after having related the birth of Christ, before proceeding to His teaching and baptism, (wherein he received such testimony,) he first premises somewhat of the Baptist and forerunner of the Lord. In those days, &c.
Remigio † 908 d.C.
In these words (ver. 1.) we have not only time, place, and person, respecting St. John, but also his office and employment. First the time, generally; In those days.
sant'Agostino † 430 d.C. De Con. Evan. ii. 6.
Luke describes the time by the reigning sovereigns. (Luke 3:1.) But Matthew must be understood to speak of a wider space of time by the phrase ‘those days,’ than the fifteenth year of Tiberius. Having related Christ’s return from Egypt, which must be placed in early boyhood or even infancy, to make it agree with what Luke has told of His being in the temple at twelve years old, he adds directly, In those days, not intending thereby only the days of His childhood, but all the days from His birth to the preaching of John.
Remigio † 908 d.C.
The man is mentioned in the words came John, that is, shewed himself, having abode so long in obscurity.
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. non occ.
But why must John thus go before Christ with a witness of deeds preaching Him? First; that we might hence learn Christ’s dignity, that He also, as the Father has, has prophets, in the words of Zacharias, And thou, Child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest. (Luke 1:76.) Secondly; That the Jews might have no cause for offence; as He declared, John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a gluttonous man. (Luke 7:33.) It needeth moreover that the things concerning Christ should be told by some other first, and not by Himself; or what would the Jews have said, who after the witness of John made complaint, Thou bearest witness of thyself, thy witness is not true. (John 8:13.)
Remigio † 908 d.C. ap. Anselm.
His office; the Baptist; in this he prepared the way of the Lord, for had not men been used to be baptized, they would have shunned Christ’s baptism. His employment; Preaching;
Rabano Mauro † 856 d.C.
For because Christ was to preach, as soon as it seemed the fit time, that is, about thirty years of age, he began by his preaching to make ready the way for the Lord.
Remigio † 908 d.C.
The place; the desert of Judæa.
san Massimo † 662 d.C. Hom. in Joan. Bap. nat. 1.
Where neither a noisy mob would interrupt his preaching, and whither no unbelieving hearer would retire; but those only would hear, who sought to his preaching from motives of divine worship.
san Girolamo † 420 d.C. In. Is. 40:3.
Consider how the salvation of God, and the glory of the Lord, is preached not in Jerusalem, but in the solitude of the Church, in the wilderness to multitudes.
sant'Ilario † 367 d.C.
Or, he came to Judæa, desert by the absence of God, not of population, that the place of preaching might witness the few to whom the preaching was sent.
La Glossa ap. Anselm.
The desert typically means a life removed from the temptations of the world, such as befits the penitent.
sant'Agostino † 430 d.C. Serm.
Unless one repent him of his former life, he cannot begin a new life.
sant'Ilario † 367 d.C.
He therefore preaches repentance when the Kingdom of Heaven approaches; by which we return from error, we escape from sin, and after shame for our faults, we make profession of forsaking them.
Pseudo-Crisostomo
In the very commencement he shews himself the messenger of a merciful Prince; he comes not with threats to the offender, but with offers of mercy. It is a custom with kings to proclaim a general pardon on the birth of a son, but first they send throughout their kingdom officers to exact severe fines. But God willing at the birth of His Son to give pardon of sins, first sends His officer proclaiming, Repent ye. O exaction which leaves none poor, but makes many rich! For even when we pay our just debt of righteousness we do God no service, but only gain our own salvation. Repentance cleanses the heart, enlightens the sense, and prepares the human soul for the reception of Christ, as he immediately adds, For the Kingdom of Hearen is at hand.
san Girolamo † 420 d.C.
John Baptist is the first to preach the Kingdom of Heaven, that the forerunner of the Lord may have this honourable privilege.
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C.
And he preaches what the Jews had never heard, not even from the Prophets, Heaven, namely, and the Kingdom that is there, and of the kingdoms of the earth he says nothing. Thus by the novelty of those things of which he speaks, he gains their attention to Him whom he preaches.
Remigio † 908 d.C.
The Kingdom of Heaven has a fourfold meaning. It is said, of Christ, as The Kingdom of God is within you. (Luke 17:21.) Of Holy Scripture, as, The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. (Mat. 21:43.) Of the Holy Church, as, The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto ten virgins. (Mat. 25.) Of the abode above, as, Many shall come from the East and the West, and shall sit down in the Kingdom of Heaven. (Mat. 8:11.) And all these significations may be here understood.
La Glossa ord.
The Kingdom of Heaven shall come nigh you; for if it approached not, none would be able to gain it; for weak and blind they had not the way, which was Christ.
sant'Agostino † 430 d.C. De Cons. Ev. ii. 12.
The other Evangelists omit these words of John. What follows, This is He, &c. it is not clear whether the Evangelist speaks them in his own person, or whether they are part of John’s preaching, and the whole from Repent ye, to Esaias the prophet, is to be assigned to John. It is of no importance that he says, This is he, and not, I am he; for Matthew speaking of himself says, He found a man sitting at the toll-office; (Mat. 9:9.) not He found me. Though when asked what he said of himself, he answered, as is related by John the Evangelist, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness.
san Gregorio Magno † 604 d.C. Hom. in Ev. i. 7. 2.
It is well known that the Only-begotten Son is called the Word of the Father; as in John, In the beginning was the Word. (John 1:1.) But it is by our own speech that we are known; the voice sounds that the words may be heard. Thus John the forerunner of the Lord’s coming is called, The voice, because by his ministry the voice of the Father is heard by men.
Pseudo-Crisostomo
The voice is a confused sound, discovering no secret of the heart, only signifying that he who utters it desires to say somewhat; it is the word that is the speech that openeth the mystery of the heart. Voice is common to men and other animals, word peculiar to man. John then is called the voice and not the word, because God did not discover His counsels through him, but only signified that He was about to do something among men; but afterwards by His Son he fully opened the mystery of his will.
Rabano Mauro † 856 d.C.
He is rightly called, The voice of one crying, on account of the loud sound of his preaching. Three things cause a man to speak loud; when the person he speaks to is at a distance, or is deaf, or if the speaker be angry; and all these three were then found in the human race.
La Glossa ord.
John then is, as it were, the voice of the word crying. The word is heard by the voice, that is, Christ by John.
san Beda † 735 d.C. Gloss. ord. in cap. iv. 1.
In like manner has He cried from the beginning through the voice of all who have spoken aught by inspiration. And yet is John only called, The voice; because that Word which others shewed afar off, he declares as nigh.
san Gregorio Magno † 604 d.C. Hom. in Ev. i. 7. 2.
Crying in the desert, because he shews to deserted and forlorn Judæa the approaching consolation of her Redeemer.
Remigio † 908 d.C.
Though as far as historical fact is concerned, he chose the desert, to be removed from the crowds of people. What the purport of his cry was is insinuated, when he adds, Make ready the way of the Lord.
Pseudo-Crisostomo
As a great King going on a progress is preceded by couriers to cleanse what is foul, repair what is broken down; so John preceded the Lord to cleanse the human heart from the filth of sin, by the besom of repentance, and to gather by an ordinance of spiritual precepts those things which had been scattered abroad.
san Gregorio Magno † 604 d.C. Hom. in Ev. i. 20. 3.
Every one who preacheth right faith and good works, prepares the Lord’s way to the hearts of the hearers, and makes His paths straight, in cleansing the thoughts by the word of good preaching.
La Glossa interlin.
Or, faith is the way by which the word reaches the heart; when the life is amended the paths are made straight.
Il testo latino
Chrysostomus super Matth
Sol appropians, antequam appareat, mittit radios suos et facit albescere orientem, ut praecedens aurora adventum diei demonstret; sic dominus natus in mundo, antequam appareat, per doctrinam spiritus sui fulgore transmisso illuminavit Ioannem, ut praecedens ille adventum annuntiet salvatoris: et ideo post ortum Christi enarratum, doctrinam eius enarraturus Evangelista et Baptismum, in quo testimonium habuit, de praecursore et Baptista praemittit, dicens in diebus autem illis venit Ioannes Baptista praedicans in deserto
Remigio
His autem verbis, beati Ioannis non solum tempus et locum et personam, sed etiam officium et studium demonstrat. Tempus generale demonstrat cum dicit in diebus autem illis
Augustinus de Cons. Evang
Hoc autem tempus Lucas per terrenas potestates expressit cum dixit: anno quintodecimo. Sed intelligere debemus Matthaeum cum diceret in diebus illis, in multo longiori spatio accipi voluisse. Mox enim ut narravit regressum de Aegypto Christum, quod utique tempore pueritiae vel infantiae factum est, ut possit stare quod Lucas de illo cum duodecim esset annorum narravit, continuo intulit in diebus autem illis: non utique pueritiae tantum illius dies insinuans, sed omnes dies ab eius nativitate usque quo praedicare coepit Ioannes
Remigio
Personam ostendit cum dicit venit Ioannes; idest, manifestavit se, qui tamdiu prius latuerat
Chrysostomus
Sed quare necessarium fuit ut Ioannes Christum praeveniret operum testimonio Christum praedicante? Primo quidem ut hinc Christi dignitatem discas, quod sicut pater, ita et ipse prophetas habet, secundum illud Zachariae: et tu, puer, propheta altissimi vocaberis. Deinde ut nullam causam inverecundiae Iudaeis relinquat: quod et ipse demonstrat dicens: venit Ioannes neque manducans neque bibens, et dicunt: Daemonium habet. Venit filius hominis manducans et bibens, et dicunt: ecce homo edax. Sed et aliter necessarium erat ab alio prius dici quae de Christo erant, et non ab ipso; alias Iudaei quid dixissent, qui post testimonium Ioannis dixerunt: tu testimonium perhibes de teipso? Testimonium tuum non est verum
Remigio
Officium subiungit cum dicit Baptista: in quo domini viam praeparavit: nisi enim baptizari homines consuescerent, Baptismum Christi abhorrerent. Studium ostendit cum ait praedicans
Rabano Mauro
Quia etiam Christus praedicaturus erat: postquam enim visum fuit idoneum tempus, scilicet circa triginta annos, incipiens praedicationem suam, viam domini praeparavit
Remigio
Locum subiungit dicens in deserto Iudaeae
san Massimo
Ubi ad praedicationem eius nec insolens turba perstreperet nec infidelis auditor rediret, sed hi tantum audire possent qui praedicationem cura divini cultus expeterent
Hieronymus super Isaiam
Vel in hoc considerandum est quod salutare Dei et gloria domini non praedicatur in Ierusalem sed in solitudine Ecclesiae et in deserta gentium multitudine
Hilarius in Matth
Vel etiam ad Iudaeam venit desertam Dei frequentatione, non populi, ut praedicationis locus, eorum quibus praedicatio erat missa, solitudinem testaretur
Glossa
Vel typice desertum significat vitam a mundi illecebris segregatam, quae poenitentibus competit
Augustinus de utilitate poenitentiae
Nisi autem poeniteat aliquem vitae veteris, novam non potest inchoare
Hilarius
Et ideo poenitentiam, regno caelorum appropinquante, pronuntiat, per quam est reditus ab errore, recursus a crimine, et post vitiorum pudorem professio desinendi, dicens poenitentiam agite
Chrysostomus super Matth
Ubi manifestat in ipso principio, quia benigni regis est nuntius: non enim peccatoribus minus intendebat, sed indulgentiam promittebat. Solent reges nato sibi filio, indulgentiam in regno suo donare; sed ante transmittunt acerbissimos exactores. Deus autem nato sibi filio, volens donare indulgentiam peccatorum, praemisit quasi exactorem exigentem, et dicentem poenitentiam agite. O exactio quae non fecit pauperes, sed divites reddit. Nam cum quis debitum iustitiae suae reddiderit, Deo nihil praestat, sed sibi lucrum suae salutis acquirit. Poenitentia enim cor emundat, sensus illuminat et ad susceptionem Christi praeparat humana praecordia; unde subiungit appropinquabit enim regnum caelorum
Hieronymus
Primus Baptista Ioannes regnum caelorum praedicat, ut praecursor domini hoc honoretur privilegio
Chrysostomus in Matth
Ideoque quod nunquam Iudaei audierunt neque etiam a prophetis, caelos et regnum quod ibi est, praedicat, et nihil de cetero de terra dicit. Sic ergo ex novitate eorum quae dicuntur erigit eos ad quaerendum eum qui praedicatur
Remigio
Regnum autem caelorum quatuor modis dicitur: nempe Christus, secundum illud: regnum Dei intra vos est; sancta Scriptura, secundum illud: auferetur a vobis regnum Dei, et dabitur genti facienti fructum eius; sancta Ecclesia, secundum illud: simile est regnum caelorum decem virginibus; supernum solium, secundum illud: multi venient ab oriente et occidente, et recumbent in regno caelorum; et hoc totum hic potest intelligi
Glossa
Dicit autem appropinquabit regnum caelorum, quia nisi appropinquaret, nemo redire posset, quia infirmi et caeci via, quae est Christus, carebant
Augustinus de Cons. Evang
Haec autem verba Ioannis alii Evangelistae praetermiserunt. Iam vero quod sequitur hic est qui dictus est per Isaiam prophetam dicentem: vox clamantis in deserto: rectas facite semitas eius, ambigue positum est, nec elucet utrum ex persona sua Evangelista commemoraverit, an adhuc verba eiusdem Ioannis secutus adiunxerit, ut totum hoc Ioannes dixisse intelligatur: poenitentiam agite: appropinquabit enim regnum caelorum. Hic est enim de quo dictum est per Isaiam prophetam. Neque enim hoc movere debet quia non ait: ego sum, sed hic est; nam et Matthaeus dixit: invenit hominem sedentem in telonio, et non dixit: invenit me. Quod si ita est, non est mirum si et interrogatus quid diceret de seipso, sicut narrat Ioannes Evangelista, respondit: ego vox clamantis in deserto
Gregorius in Evang
Sicut autem, quia unigenitus filius verbum patris vocatur, secundum illud: in principio erat verbum. Ex ipsa autem nostra locutione cognoscimur, quia vox sonat ut verbum possit audiri. Adventum itaque domini Ioannes praecurrens vox dicitur, quia per eius ministerium patris verbum ab hominibus auditur
Chrysostomus super Matth
Vox etiam est sonus confusus, nullum secretum cordis ostendens, sed hoc tantummodo significans quia vult aliquid dicere ille qui clamat; verbum autem est sermo mysterium cordis aperiens. Ad haec, vox inter homines et animalia communis est; verbum autem est hominum tantum. Ideo ergo Ioannes dictus est vox, non verbum, quia per eum Deus sua consilia non demonstravit, sed hoc solum quod Deus aliquid facere in hominibus meditabatur; postea autem per filium suum plenissime mysterium suae voluntatis aperuit
Rabano Mauro
Qui recte vox clamantis ob fortitudinem praedicationis dicitur. Tribus autem modis clamor accidit: hoc est, si longe positus est cui loquatur, si surdus, si per indignationem; et haec humano generi acciderunt
Glossa
Est igitur Ioannes quasi vox verbi clamantis: verbum enim clamat in voce, idest Christus in Ioanne
Beda
Sicut etiam clamavit in omnibus qui a principio aliquid divinitus dixerunt; et tamen iste solus est vox: quia per eum praesens verbum ostenditur, quod alii longe nuntiaverunt
Gregorius in Evang
Ipse autem Ioannes est clamans in deserto, quia derelictae ac destitutae Iudaeae solatium redemptoris annuntiat
Remigio
Quantum autem ad historiam attinet, in deserto clamabat, quia remotus erat a turbis Iudaeorum. Quid autem clamet, insinuat cum subiungit parate viam domini
Chrysostomus super Matth
Sicut enim magno regi in expeditionem venturo praeparatores praecedunt qui sordida abluunt, dirupta componunt, sic et dominum nostrum praecessit Ioannes, qui ab humanis cordibus poenitentiae scopis peccatorum sordes eiiceret, et quae dissipata fuerant, spiritualium praeceptorum ordinatione componeret
Gregorius in Evang
Omnis autem qui fidem rectam et bona opera praedicat, domino ad corda audientium viam parat, rectas domino semitas facit, dum mundas animo cogitationes per sermonem bonae praedicationis format
Glossa
Vel fides est via qua verbum ad cor descendit: cum mores in melius mutantur, fiunt semitae rectae
3:4
Pseudo-Crisostomo
Having said that he is the voice of one crying in the desert, the Evangelist well adds, John had his clothing of camel’s hair; thus shewing what his life was; for he indeed testified of Christ, but his life testified of himself. No one is fit to be another’s witness till he has first been his own.
sant'Ilario † 367 d.C.
For the preaching of John no place more suitable, no clothing more useful, no food more fitted.
san Girolamo † 420 d.C.
His raiment of camel’s hair, not of wool—the one the mark of austerity in dress, the other of a delicate luxury.
Pseudo-Crisostomo
It becomes the servants of God to use a dress not for elegant appearance, or for cherishing of the body, but for a covering of the nakedness. Thus John wears a garment not soft and delicate, but hairy, heavy, rough, rather wounding the skin than cherishing it, that even the very clothing of his body told of the virtue of his mind. It was the custom of the Jews to wear girdles of wool; so he desiring something less indulgent wore one of skin.
san Girolamo † 420 d.C.
Food moreover suited to a dweller in the desert, no choice viands, but such as satisfied the necessities of the body.
Rabano Mauro † 856 d.C.
Content with poor fare; to wit, small insects and honey gathered from the trunks of trees. In the sayings of Arnulphusa, Bishop of Gaul, we find that there was a very small kind of locust in the deserts of Judæa, with bodies about the thickness of a finger and short; they are easily taken among the grass, and when cooked in oil form a poor kind of food. He also relates, that in the same desert there is a kind of tree, with a large round leaf, of the colour of milk and taste of honey, so friable as to rub to powder in the hand, and this is what is intended by wild honey.
Remigio † 908 d.C.
In this clothing and this poor food, he shews that he sorrows for the sins of the whole human race.
Rabano Mauro † 856 d.C.
His dress and diet express the quality of his inward conversation. His garment was of an austere quality, because he rebuked the sinner’s life.
san Girolamo † 420 d.C.
His girdle of skin, which Elias also bare, is the mark of mortification.
Rabano Mauro † 856 d.C.
He ate locusts and honey, because his preaching was sweet to the multitude, but was of short continuance; and honey has sweetness, locusts a swift flight but soon fall to the ground.
Remigio † 908 d.C.
In John (which name is interpreted ‘the grace of God,’) is figured Christ who brought grace into the world; in his clothing, the Gentile Church.
sant'Ilario † 367 d.C.
The preacher of Christ is clad in the skins of unclean beasts, to which the Gentiles are compared, and so by the Prophets’ dress is sanctified whatever in them was useless or unclean. The girdle is a thing of much efficacy to every good work, that we may be girt for every ministry of Christ. For his food are chosen locusts, which fly the face of man, and escape from every approach, signifying ourselves who were borne away from every word or speech of good by a spontaneous motion of the body, weak in will, barren in works, fretful in speech, foreign in abode, are now become the food of the Saints, chosen to fill the Prophets’ desire, furnishing our most sweet food not from the hives of the law, but from the trunks of wild trees.
Il testo latino
Chrysostomus super Matth
Postquam ostendit quia ipse est vox clamantis in deserto, prudenter Evangelista subiunxit ipse autem Ioannes habebat vestimentum de pilis camelorum, in quo ostenditur quae sit vita ipsius: nam ipse quidem testificabatur de Christo, vita autem eius de ipso. Nemo autem potest esse alterius testis idoneus, nisi prius fuerit suus
Hilarius in Matth
Fuerant enim praedicanti Ioanni et locus opportunior et vestitus utilior et cibus aptior
Hieronymus
De pilis enim camelorum habebat vestimentum, non de lana. Aliud austerae vestis indicium est, aliud luxuriae mollioris
Chrysostomus super Matth
Servis autem Dei non convenit habere vestimentum ad speciem visionis vel ad carnis delectamentum, sed tantum ad tegumentum nuditatis. Habebat enim Ioannes vestem non mollem neque delicatam, sed cilicinam, gravem et asperam, et conterentem corpus potius quam foventem, ut de virtute animae eius ipse habitus corporis loqueretur. Sequitur et zonam pelliceam circa lumbos suos. Consuetudo enim erat apud Iudaeos ut zonis laneis uterentur: ideo iste, quasi durius aliquid facere volens, zona pellicea cingebatur
Hieronymus
Porro quod sequitur, esca eius erat locustae et mel silvestre, habitatori solitudinis congruum est, ut non delicias ciborum, sed necessitates humanae carnis expleret
Rabano Mauro
Tenui victu contentus, et ex minutis volatilibus et melle invento in truncis arborum. In dictis autem Arnulphi Galliarum episcopi reperimus minimum genus locustarum fuisse in deserto Iudaeae, quae corpusculis in modum digiti manus exilibus et brevibus in herbis facile capiuntur, coctaeque in oleo pauperem praebent gustum. Similiter narrat, in eodem deserto esse arbores habentes lata folia et rotunda, lactei coloris, et melliti saporis, quae natura fragilia manibus fricantur et eduntur, et hoc est quod mel silvestre dicitur
Remigio
Sub hoc autem habitu vestimentorum et vilitate ciborum ostendit se peccata totius generis humani deflere
Rabano Mauro
Potest et habitus et gustus eius, qualitatem internae conversationis exprimere: nam austerioribus utebatur indumentis quia vitam peccantium increpavit
Hieronymus
Zona quidem pellicea, qua cinctus fuit et Elias, mortificationis est indicium
Rabano Mauro
Locustas et mel silvestre edebat quia dulcius sapiebat turbis praedicatio eius; sed citius finem sortita est: in melle enim dulcedo, in locustis est alacer volatus, sed cito deciduus
Remigio
Per Ioannem autem, qui Dei gratia interpretatur, significatur Christus, qui mundo gratiam attulit; per vestimentum illius designatur Ecclesia gentium
Hilarius in Matth
Cum exuviis immundarum pecudum, quibus gentiles pares existimantur, Christi praedicator induitur, fitque sanctificatum habitu prophetali quidquid in eis vel inutile fuerat vel sordidum. Zonae autem praecinctio, efficax in omne opus bonum est apparatus, ut ad omne ministerium Christi simus accincti. In esum etiam eliguntur locustae fugaces hominum, et ad omnem adventum nostri sensus evolantes: nos scilicet, qui ab omni sermone et congressu ipsis quibusdam corporis saltibus efferebamur voluntate vagi, in operibus inutiles, in verbis queruli, sede peregrini; nunc sumus sanctorum alimonia et satietas prophetarum electi, simul cum melle silvestri, dulcissimum ex nobis cibum non ex alveariis legis, sed ex truncis silvestrium arborum praebituri
3:5
Pseudo-Crisostomo
Having described the preaching of John, he goes on to say, There went out to him, for his severe life preached yet more loudly in the desert than the voice of his crying.
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C.
For it was wonderful to see such fortitude in a human body; this it was that chiefly attracted the Jews, seeing in him the great Elias. It also contributed to fill them with wonder that the grace of Prophecy had long failed among them, and now seemed to have at length revived. Also the manner of his preaching being other than that of the old prophets had much effect; for now they heard not such things as they were wont to hear, such as wars, and conquests of the king of Babylon, or of Persia; but of Heaven and the Kingdom there, and the punishment of hell.
La Glossa interlin.
This baptism was only a forerunning of that to come, and did not forgive sinsd.
Remigio † 908 d.C.
The baptism of John bare a figure of the catechumens. As children are only catechized that they may become meet for the sacrament of Baptism; so John baptized, that they who were thus baptized might afterwards by a holy life become worthy of coming to Christ’s baptism. He baptized in Jordan, that the door of the Kingdom of Heaven might be there opened, where an entrance had been given to the children of Israel into the earthly kingdom of promise.
Pseudo-Crisostomo
Compared with the holiness of John, who is there that can think himself righteous? As a white garment if placed near snow would seem foul by the contrast; so compared with John every man would seem impure; therefore they confessed their sins. Confession of sin is the testimony of a conscience fearing God. And perfect fear takes away all shame. But there is seen the shame of confession where there is no fear of the judgment to come. But as shame itself is a heavy punishment, God therefore bids us confess our sins that we may suffer this shame as punishment; for that itself is a part of the judgment.
Rabano Mauro † 856 d.C.
Rightly are they who are to be baptized said to go out to the Prophet; for unless one depart from sin, and renounce the pomp of the Devil, and the temptations of the world, he cannot receive a healing baptism. Rightly also in Jordan, which means their descent, because they descended from the pride of life to the humility of an honest confession. Thus early was an example given to them that are to be baptized of confessing their sins and professing amendment.
Il testo latino
Chrysostomus super Matth
Conversatione Ioannis exposita, convenienter subiungit tunc exibat ad eum; amplius enim resonabat conversatio vitae eius in eremo, quam vox clamoris ipsius
Chrysostomus in Matth
Erat enim mirabile in humano corpore tantam patientiam videre: quod denique et Iudaeos magis attrahebat, magnum Eliam in eo videntes. Conferebat autem ad stuporem quod dereliquerat eos gratia prophetarum, et post longum tempus reversa videbatur ad eos. Praedicationis etiam modus immutatus ad id proderat: nihil enim assuetorum apud alios prophetas audiebant, puta praelia et victorias Babylonicas et Persicas, sed caelos, et quidem illic regnum, et supplicium Gehennae. Dicit autem tunc exibat ad eum Ierosolyma et omnis Iudaea et omnis regio circa Iordanem, et baptizabantur ab eo in Iordane
Glossa
Baptismo praecurrente, non peccata dimittente
Remigio
Baptismus enim Ioannis figuram gerebat catechumenorum: nam sicut modo catechizantur pueri, ut digni fiant sacramento Baptismatis, ita Ioannes baptizabat, ut baptizati ab eo, postea devote vivendo digni fierent accedere ad Christi Baptismum. In Iordane autem baptizabat, ut ibi aperiretur ianua regni caelestis ubi datus est aditus filiis Israel terram promissionis intrandi. Sequitur confitentes peccata sua
Chrysostomus super Matth
Ad comparationem enim sanctitatis Ioannis quis poterat arbitrari se iustum? Sicut enim vestis candida si fuerit posita iuxta nivem, ad comparationem nivis sordida invenietur, sic ad comparationem Ioannis omnis homo videbatur immundus; et ideo peccata sua confitebantur. Confessio autem peccatorum testimonium est conscientiae timentis Deum. Perfectus enim timor solvit omnem pudorem. Illic autem turpitudo confessionis aspicitur ubi futuri iudicii poena non creditur. Et quia ipsum erubescere poena est gravis, ideo iubet nos Deus confiteri peccata nostra ut verecundiam patiamur pro poena: nam et hoc ipsum pars iudicii est
Rabano Mauro
Bene autem qui baptizandi erant, exire ad prophetam dicuntur, quia nisi quis ab infirmitate recedat, pompae Diaboli ac mundi illecebris abrenuntiet, Baptismum salubre consequi non poterit. Bene autem in Iordane, qui descensio eorum dicitur, baptizantur: quia de superbia vitae ad humilitatem verae confessionis descenderant. Exemplum autem iam tunc confitendi peccata ac meliorem vitam promittendi baptizandis dabatur
3:7
san Gregorio Magno † 604 d.C. De Cur. Past. iii. in prol.
The words of the teachers should be fitted to the quality of the hearers, that in each particular it should agree with itself and yet never depart from the fortress of general edification.
La Glossa non occ.
It was necessary that after the teaching which he used to the common people, the Evangelist should give an example of the doctrine he delivered to the more advanced; therefore he says, Seeing many of the Pharisees, &c.
sant'Isidoro † 636 d.C. Orig. viii. 4.
The Pharisees and Sadducees opposed to one another; Pharisee in the Hebrew signifies ‘divided;’ because choosing the justification of traditions and observances they were ‘divided’ or ‘separated’ from the people by this righteousness. Sadducee in the Hebrew means ‘just;’ for these laid claim to be what they were not, denied the resurrection of the body, and taught that the soul perished with the body; they only received the Pentateuch, and rejected the Prophets.
La Glossa non occ.
When John saw those who seemed to be of great consideration among the Jews come to his baptism, he said to them, O generation of vipers, &c.
Remigio † 908 d.C.
The manner of Scripture is to give names from the imitation of deeds, according to that of Ezekiel, Thy father was an Amorite; (Ezek. 16:3.) so these from following vipers are called generation of vipers.
Pseudo-Crisostomo
As a skilful physician from the colour of the skin infers the sick man’s disease, so John understood the evil thoughts of the Pharisees who came to him. They thought perhaps, We go, and confess our sins; he imposes no burden on us, we will be baptized, and get indulgence for sin. Fools! if ye have eaten of impurity, must ye not needs take physic? So after confession and baptism, a man needs much diligence to heal the wound of sin; therefore he says, Generation of vipers. It is the nature of the viper as soon as it has bit a man to fly to the water, which, if it cannot find, it straightway dies; so this progeny of vipers, after having committed deadly sin, ran to baptism, that, like vipers, they might escape death by means of water. Moreover it is the nature of vipers to burst the insides of their mothers, and so to be born. The Jews then are therefore called progeny of vipers, because by continual persecution of the prophets they had corrupted their mother the Synagogue. Also vipers have a beautiful and speckled outside, but are filled with poison within. So these men’s countenances wore a holy appearance.
Remigio † 908 d.C.
When then he asks, who will shew you to flee from the wrath to come,—‘except God’ must be understood.
Pseudo-Crisostomo
Or who hath shewed you? Was it Esaias? Surely no; had he taught you, you would not put your trust in water only, but also in good works; he thus speaks, Wash you, and be clean; put your wickedness away from your souls, learn to do well. (Is. 1:16.) Was it then David? who says, Thou shall wash me, and I shall he whiter than snow; (Ps. 51:7.) surely not, for he adds immediately, The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit. If then ye had been the disciples of David, ye would have come to baptism with mournings.
Remigio † 908 d.C.
But if we read, shall shew, in the future, this is the meaning, ‘What teacher, what preacher, shall be able to give you such counsel, as that ye may escape the wrath of everlasting damnation?’
sant'Agostino † 430 d.C. De Civ. Dei, ix. 5.
God is described in Scripture, from some likeness of effects, not from being subject to such weakness, as being angry, and yet is He never moved by any passion. The word ‘wrath’ is applied to the effects of his vengeance, not that God suffers any disturbing affection.
La Glossa
If then ye would escape this wrath, Bring forth fruits meet for repentance.
san Gregorio Magno † 604 d.C. Hom. in Ev. xx. 8.
Observe, he says not merely fruits of repentance, but fruits meet for repentance. For he who has never fallen into things unlawful, is of right allowed the use of all things lawful; but if any hath fallen into sin, he ought so far to put away from him even things lawful, as far as he is conscious of having used unlawful things. It is left then to such man’s conscience to seek so much the greater gains of good works by repentance, the greater loss he has brought on himself by sin. The Jews who gloried in their race, would not own themselves sinners because they were Abraham’s seed. Say not among yourselves we are Abraham’s seed.
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. Hom. xi.
He does not forbid them to say they are his, but to trust in that, neglecting virtues of the soul.
Pseudo-Crisostomo
What avails noble birth to him whose life is disgraceful? Or, on the other hand, what hurt is a low origin to him who has the lustre of virtue? It is fitter that the parents of such a son should rejoice over him, than he over his parents. So do not you pride yourselves on having Abraham for your father, rather blush that you inherit his blood, but not his holiness. He who has no resemblance to his father is possibly the offspring of adultery. These words then only exclude boasting on account of birth.
Rabano Mauro † 856 d.C.
Because as a preacher of truth he wished to stir them up, to bring forth fruit meet for repentance, he invites them to humility, without which no one can repent.
Remigio † 908 d.C.
There is a tradition, that John preached at that place of the Jordan, where the twelve stones taken from the bed of the river had been set up by command of God. He might then be pointing to these, when he said, Of these stones.
san Girolamo † 420 d.C.
He intimates God’s great power, who, as he made all things out of nothing, can make men out of the hardest stone.
La Glossa ord.
It is faith’s first lesson to believe that God is able to do whatever He will.
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C.
That men should be made out of stones, is like Isaac coming from Sarah’s womb; Look into the rock, says Isaiah, whence ye were hewn. Reminding them thus of this prophecy, he shews that it is possible that the like might even now happen.
Rabano Mauro † 856 d.C.
Otherwise; the Gentiles may be meant who worshipped stones.
Pseudo-Crisostomo
Stone is hard to work, but when wrought to some shape, it loses it not; so the Gentiles were hardly brought to the faith, but once brought they abide in it for ever.
san Girolamo † 420 d.C.
These stones signify the Gentiles because of their hardness of heart. See Ezekiel, I will take away from you the heart of stone, and give you the heart of flesh. Stone is emblematic of hardness, flesh of softness.
Rabano Mauro † 856 d.C.
Of stones there were sons raised up to Abraham; forasmuch as the Gentiles by believing in Christ, who is Abraham’s seed, became his sons to whose seed they were united.
Pseudo-Crisostomo
The axe is that most sharp fury of the consummation of all things, that is to hew down the whole world. But if it be already laid, how hath it not yet cut down? Because these trees have reason and free power to do good, or leave undone; so that when they see the axe laid to their root, they may fear and bring forth fruit. This denunciation of wrath then, which is meant by the laying of the axe to the root, though it have no effect on the bad, yet will sever the good from the bad.
san Girolamo † 420 d.C.
Or, the preaching of the Gospel is meant, as the Prophet Jeremiah also compares the Word of the Lord to an axe cleaving the rock. (Jer. 23:29.)
san Gregorio Magno † 604 d.C. Hom. in Ev. xx. 9.
Or, the axe signifies the Redeemer, who as an axe of haft and blade, so consisting of the Divine and human nature, is held by His human, but cuts by His Divine nature. And though this axe be laid at the root of the tree waiting in patience, it is yet seen what it will do; for each obstinate sinner who here neglects the fruit of good works, finds the fire of hell ready for him. Observe, the axe is laid to the root, not to the branches; for that when the children of wickedness are removed, the branches only of the unfruitful tree are cut away. But when the whole offspring with their parent is carried off, the unfruitful tree is cut down by the root, that there remain not whence the evil shoots should spring up again.
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C.
By saying Every, he cuts off all privilege of nobility: as much as to say, Though thou be the son of Abraham, if thou abide fruitless thou shalt suffer the punishment.
Rabano Mauro † 856 d.C.
There are four sorts of trees; the first totally withered, to which the Pagans may be likened; the second, green but unfruitful, as the hypocrites; the third, green and fruitful, but poisonous, such are heretics; the fourth, green and bringing forth good fruit, to which are like the good Catholics.
san Gregorio Magno † 604 d.C.
Therefore every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down, and cast into the fire, because he who here neglects to bring forth the fruit of good works finds a fire in hell prepared for him.
Il testo latino
Gregorius regula Pastor
Pro qualitate audientium formari debet sermo doctorum, ut ad sua singulis congruat, et tamen a communis aedificationis arce nunquam recedat
Glossa
Unde necesse fuit ut post doctrinam quam Ioannes turbis tradiderat, Evangelista etiam illius doctrinae faceret mentionem qua instruxit eos qui provectiores videbantur; et ideo dicit videns autem multos Pharisaeorum et Sadducaeorum venientes ad Baptismum suum
Isidorus in Lib. Etymol
Pharisaei et Sadducaei inter se contrarii sunt: nam Pharisaei ex Hebraeo in Latinum interpretantur divisi, eo quod traditionum et observationum iustitiam praeferunt: unde divisi vocantur a populo quasi per iustitiam. Sadducaei interpretantur iusti: vindicant enim sibi quod non sunt, corporum resurrectionem negant, et animam cum corpore interire praedicant. Hi tantum quinque libros legis recipiunt, prophetarum vaticinia respuunt
Glossa
Hos ergo qui inter Iudaeos maiores videbantur, videns Ioannes ad Baptismum suum venire, dixit eis: progenies viperarum, quis vobis demonstrabit fugere a ventura ira?
Remigio
Consuetudo Scripturarum est ab imitatione operum nomina imponere, secundum illud Ezech.: pater tuus Amorrhaeus; sic et isti ab imitatione viperarum, progenies viperarum dicuntur
Chrysostomus super Matth
Sicut enim artificiosus medicus si viderit aegrotantis colorem, intelligit speciem passionis, sic Ioannes venientium ad se Pharisaeorum pravas cogitationes intellexit; forsitan enim apud se cogitaverunt: imus, et confitemur peccata nostra; nullum laborem nobis imponit; baptizemur, et consequamur indulgentiam peccatorum. Insipientes, numquid facta digestione impuritatis, non est necessaria sumptio medicinae? Sic multa diligentia necessaria est homini post confessionem et Baptismum, ut vulnus peccatorum perfecte sanetur; ideo dicit progenies viperarum. Natura enim viperarum est, quod statim cum momorderit hominem, currit ad aquam, quam si non invenerit, moritur; ideo istos dicebat progeniem viperarum, quia peccata mortifera committentes currebant ad Baptismum, ut sicut viperae per aquam tantum pericula mortis evaderent. Item viperarum natura est rumpere viscera matrum suarum, et sic nasci. Quoniam ergo Iudaei assidue persequentes prophetas corruperunt matrem suam synagogam, ideo progenies viperarum nuncupantur. Item viperae a foris speciosae sunt et quasi pictae, intus autem veneno repletae; ita et isti pulchritudinem sanctitatis ostendebant in vultu
Remigio
Cum ergo dicitur quis demonstrabit vobis fugere a ventura ira? Subauditur: nisi Deus
Chrysostomus super Matth
Vel quis vobis demonstrabit? Num Isaias propheta? Absit: si enim ipse vos docuisset, non spem in aqua poneretis tantum, sed etiam in operibus bonis: ille enim dicit: lavamini et mundi estote; auferte nequitiam ab animabus vestris, discite bene facere. Numquid etiam David dicens: lavabis me, et super nivem dealbabor? Absit: ille enim sic dicit postea: sacrificium Deo spiritus contribulatus. Si ergo essetis discipuli David, cum gemitu ad Baptismum veniretis
Remigio
Si vero quis demonstrabit sub futuro legatur tempore, hic est sensus: quis doctor, quis praedicator dabit vobis consilium ut possitis evadere iram aeternae damnationis?
Augustinus de Civ. Dei
Deus autem propter quamdam operum similitudinem, non propter affectionum infirmitatem, secundum Scripturas, irascitur, nec tamen ulla passione turbatur: hoc enim verbum vindictae usurpavit effectus, non ille turbulentus affectus. Si ergo vultis effugere, facite dignum fructum poenitentiae
Gregorius in Evang
In quibus verbis notandum est, quod non solum fructus poenitentiae, sed dignos poenitentiae admonet esse faciendos. Sciendum enim est, quia quisquis illicita nulla commisit, huic iure conceditur ut licitis utatur; at si quis in culpam lapsus est, tanto a se debet licita abscindere quanto se meminit et illicita perpetrasse. Uniuscuiusque ergo conscientia convenitur, ut tanto maiora quaerat bonorum operum lucra per poenitentiam, quanto graviora sibi intulerit damna per culpam. Sed Iudaei de generis nobilitate gloriantes, idcirco se agnoscere peccatores nolebant quia de Abrahae stirpe descenderant; et ideo recte dicitur et ne velitis dicere intra vos: patrem habemus Abraham
Chrysostomus in Matth
Haec autem dixit, non prohibens illos dicere ex illo se esse, sed prohibet in hoc confidere, virtuti animae non insistentes
Chrysostomus super Matth
Quid enim prodest ei quem sordidant mores, generatio clara? Aut quid nocet illi generatio vilis, quem mores adornant? Melius est enim alicui ut in eo glorientur parentes quia talem filium habent, quam ut ipse in parentibus glorietur. Sic et vos nolite gloriari dicentes quia patrem habemus Abraham; sed magis erubescite, quia filii estis eius, et sanctitatis eius non estis heredes. De adulterio enim natus videtur qui non assimilat patrem. Parentum igitur gloriam excludit dicens et ne velitis dicere
Rabano Mauro
Quia ergo praeco veritatis ad dignum poenitentiae fructum faciendum eos incitare volebat, ad humilitatem provocabat, sine qua nullus poenitere potest, subdens dico enim vobis quoniam potens est Deus de lapidibus istis suscitare filios Abrahae
Remigio
Fertur, quod in eo loco praedicavit Ioannes circa Iordanem, ubi iubente Deo duodecim lapides de medio alveo Iordanis sublati positi sunt. Potuit ergo fieri ut hos demonstrando diceret de lapidibus istis
Hieronymus
In quo Dei indicat potentiam, quod qui de nihilo cuncta fecerat, posset et de saxis durissimis populum procreare
Glossa
Prima enim sunt rudimenta fidei credere Deum posse quicquid voluerit
Chrysostomus
Ex lapidibus autem generari homines, simile est ei quod ex Sara processit Isaac; unde et propheta dicit: aspicite ad petram de qua excisi estis. Huius igitur prophetiae eos memores faciens, monstrat quod possibile est nunc etiam simile fieri
Rabano Mauro
Vel aliter. Lapidum nomine gentes significatae sunt, quae lapides coluerunt
Chrysostomus, super Matth
Item lapis durus est ad opus; sed cum factum fuerit opus ex eo, deficere nescit; sic et gentes cum difficultate crediderunt quidem, tamen credentes permanent in aeternum in fide
Hieronymus
Lege Ezechielem: auferam, inquit, a vobis cor lapideum, et dabo vobis cor carneum. In lapide duritia, in carne mollitudo monstratur
Rabano Mauro
De lapidibus ergo filii Abrahae suscitati sunt, quia dum gentiles in Abrahae semine, idest in Christo, crediderunt, eius filii facti sunt cuius semini sunt uniti. Sequitur iam enim securis ad radicem arboris posita est
Chrysostomus super Matth
Securis est acutissima ira consummationis, quae totum praecisura est mundum. Sed si posita est, quare non praecidit? Quia rationales sunt arbores et in potestate habent facere bonum aut non facere; ut videntes ad radices suas positam esse securim, timeant et faciant fructum. Ergo denuntiatio irae, quod est securis positio, etsi in malis nihil agat, tamen a malis segregat bonos
Hieronymus
Vel securis est praedicatio Evangelii, iuxta Ieremiam qui verbum domini comparat securi caedenti petram
Gregorius in Evang
Vel securis est redemptor noster, qui velut ex manubrio et ferro, ex divinitate constans et humanitate, tenetur ex humanitate, sed incidit ex divinitate; quae videlicet securis ad radicem arboris posita est, quia etsi per patientiam expectat, videtur tamen quid factura est. Omnis enim arbor quae non facit fructum bonum, excidetur, et in ignem mittetur: quia unusquisque perversus paratam citius Gehennae concremationem invenit qui hic fructum boni operis facere contemnit. Securim autem non iuxta ramos positam, sed ad radicem dicit: cum enim malorum filii tolluntur, rami infructuosae arboris abscinduntur; cum vero tota simul progenies cum parente tollitur, infructuosa arbor a radice abscissa est, ne remaneat unde prava iterum soboles succrescat
Chrysostomus in Matth
Cum autem dicit omnis, excludit primatum, quod est a nobilitate; quasi dicat: etsi nepos fueris Abrahae, sustinebis poenam sine fructu manens
Rabano Mauro
Quatuor autem sunt species arborum: quarum una tota est arida, cui assimilantur Pagani; altera viridis, sed sine fructu, cui assimilantur hypocritae; tertia viridis et fructuosa, sed venenosa, cui assimilantur haeretici; quarta viridis est, et fructum bonum gignit, cui assimilantur viri Catholici
Gregorius in Evang
Igitur omnis arbor non faciens fructum bonum, excidetur et in ignem mittetur: quia paratam Gehennae concremationem invenit qui hic boni operis fructum facere contemnit
3:11
La Glossa non occ.
As in the preceding words John had explained more at length what he had shortly preached in the words, Repent ye, so now follows a more full enlargement of the words, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
san Gregorio Magno † 604 d.C. Hom. in Ev. vii. 3.
John baptizes not with the Spirit but with water, because he had no power to forgive sins; he washes the body with water, but not at the same time the soul with pardon of sin.
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. Hom. x. 1.
For while as yet the sacrifice had not been offered, nor remission of sin sent, nor the Spirit had descended on the water, how could sin be forgiven? But since the Jews never perceived their own sin, and this was the cause of all their evils, John came to bring them to a sense of them by calling them to repentance.
san Gregorio Magno † 604 d.C. ubi sup.
Why then does he baptize who could not remit sin, but that he may preserve in all things the office of forerunner? As his birth had preceded Christ’s birth, so his baptism should precede the Lord’s baptism.
Pseudo-Crisostomo
Or, John was sent to baptize, that to such as came to his baptism he might announce the presence among them of the Lord in the flesh, as himself testifies in another place, That He might be manifested to Israel, therefore am I come to baptise with water. (John 1:31.)
sant'Agostino † 430 d.C. in Joann. Tract. v. 5.
Or, he baptizes, because it behoved Christ to be baptized. But if indeed John was sent only to baptize Christ, why was not He alone baptized by John? Because had the Lord alone been baptized by John, there would not have lacked who should insist that John’s baptism was greater than Christ’s, inasmuch as Christ alone had the merit to be baptized by it.
Rabano Mauro † 856 d.C.
Or, by this sign of baptism he separates the penitent from the impenitent, and directs them to the baptism of Christ.
Pseudo-Crisostomo
Because then he baptized on account of Christ, therefore to them who came to him for baptism he preached that Christ should come, signifying the eminence of His power in the words, He who cometh after me is mightier than I.
Remigio † 908 d.C.
There are five points in which Christ comes after John, His birth, preaching, baptism, death, and descent into hell. A beautiful expression is that, mightier than I, because he is mere man, the other is God and man.
Rabano Mauro † 856 d.C.
As though he had said, I indeed am mighty to invite to repentance, He to forgive sins; I to preach the kingdom of heaven, He to bestow it; I to baptize with water, He with the Spirit.
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C.
When you hear for He is mightier than I, do not suppose this to be said by way of comparison, for I am not worthy to be numbered among his servants, that I might undertake the lowest office.
sant'Ilario † 367 d.C.
Leaving to the Apostles the glory of bearing about the Gospel, to whose beautiful feet was due the carrying the tidings of God’s peace.
Pseudo-Crisostomo
Or, by the feet of Christ we may understand Christians, especially the Apostles, and other preachers, among whom was John Baptist; and the shoes are the infirmities with which he loads the preachers. These shoes all Christ’s preachers wear; and John also wore them; but declares himself unworthy, that he might shew the grace of Christ, and be greater than his deserts.
san Girolamo † 420 d.C.
In the other Gospels it is, whose shoe latchet I am not worthy to loose. Here his humility, there his ministry is intended; Christ is the Bridegroom, and John is not worthy to loose the Bridegroom’s shoe, that his house be not called according to the Law of Moses and the example of Ruth, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed. (Deut. 25:10.)
Pseudo-Crisostomo
But since no one can give a benefit more worthy than he himself is, nor to make another what himself is not, he adds, He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. John who is carnal cannot give spiritual baptism; he baptizes with water, which is matter; so that he baptizes matter with matter. Christ is Spirit, because He is God; the Holy Ghost is Spirit, the soul is spirit; so that Spirit with Spirit baptizes our spirit. The baptism of the Spirit profits as the Spirit enters and embraces the mind, and surrounds it as it were with an impregnable wall, not suffering fleshly lusts to prevail against it. It does not indeed prevail that the flesh should not lust, but holds the will that it should not consent with it. And as Christ is Judge, He baptizes in fire, i. e. temptation; mere man cannot baptize in fire. He alone is free to tempt, who is strong to reward. This baptism of tribulation burns up the flesh that it does not generate lust, for the flesh does not fear spiritual punishment, but only such as is carnal. The Lord therefore sends carnal tribulation on his servants, that the flesh fearing its own pains, may not lust after evil. See then how the Spirit drives away lust, and suffers it not to prevail, and the fire burns up its very roots.
san Girolamo † 420 d.C.
Either the Holy Ghost Himself is a fire, as we learn from the Acts, when there sat as it were fire on the tongues of the believers; and thus the word of the Lord was fulfilled who said, I am come to send fire on the earth, I will that it burn. (Luke 12:49.) Or, we are baptized now with the Spirit, hereafter with fire; as the Apostle speaks, Fire shall try every man’s work, of what sort it ise. (1 Cor. 3:13.)
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C.
He does not say, shall give you the Holy Ghost, but shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost, shewing in metaphor the abundance of the grace. fThis further shews, that even under the faith there is need of the will alone for justification, not of labours and toilings; and even as easy a thing as it is to be baptized, even so easy a thing it is to be changed and made better. By fire he signifies the strength of grace which cannot be overcome, and that it may be understood that He makes His own people at once like to the great and old prophets, most of the prophetic visions were by fire.
Pseudo-Crisostomo
It is plain then that the baptismg of Christ does not undo the baptism of John, but includes it in itself; he who is baptized in Christ’s name hath both baptisms, that of water and that of the Spirit. For Christ is Spirit, and hath taken to Him the body that He might give both bodily and spiritual baptism. John’s baptism does not include in it the baptism of Christ, because the less cannot include the greater. Thus the Apostle having found certain Ephesians baptized with John’s baptism, baptized them again in the name of Christ, because they had not been baptized in the Spirit: thus Christ baptized a second time those who had been baptized by John, as John himself declared he should, I baptize you with water; but He shall baptize you with the Spirit. And yet they were not baptized twice but once; for as the baptism of Christ was more than that of John, it was a new one given, not the same repeated.
sant'Ilario † 367 d.C.
He marks the time of our salvation and judgment in the Lord; those who are baptized in the Holy Ghost it remains that they be consummated by the fire of judgment.
Rabano Mauro † 856 d.C.
By the fan is signified the separation of a just trial; that it is in the Lord’s hand, means, ‘in His power,’ as it is written, The Father hath committed all judgment to the Son.
Pseudo-Crisostomo
The floor, is the Church, the barn, is the kingdom of heaven, the field, is the world. The Lord sends forth His Apostles and other teachers, as reapers to reap all nations of the earth, and gather them into the floor of the Church. Here we must be threshed and winnowed, for all men are delighted in carnal things as grain delights in the husk. But whoever is faithful and has the marrow of a good heart, as soon as he has a light tribulation, neglecting carnal things runs to the Lord; but if his faith be feeble, hardly with heavy sorrow; and he who is altogether void of faith, however he may be troubled, passes not over to God. The wheat when first thrashed lies in one heap with chaff and straw, and is after winnowed to separate it; so the faithful are mixed up in one Church with the unfaithful; but persecution comes as a wind, that, tossed by Christ’s fan, they whose hearts were separate before, may be also now separated in place. He shall not merely cleanse, but throughly cleanse; therefore the Church must needs be tried in many ways till this be accomplished. And first the Jews winnowed it, then the Gentiles, now the heretics, and after a time shall Antichrist throughly winnow it. For as when the blast is gentle, only the lighter chaff is carried off, but the heavier remains; so a slight wind of temptation carries off the worst characters only; but should a greater storm arise, even those who seem stedfast will depart. There is need then of heavier persecution that the Church should be cleansed.
Remigio † 908 d.C.
This His floor, to wit, the Church, the Lord cleanses in this life, both when by the sentence of the Priests the bad are put out of the Church, and when they are cut off by death.
Rabano Mauro † 856 d.C.
The cleansing of the floor will then be finally accomplished, when the Son of Man shall send His Angels, and shall gather all offences out of His kingdom.
san Gregorio Magno † 604 d.C. Mor. xxxiv. 5.
After the threshing is finished in this life, in which the grain now groans under the burden of the chaff, the fan of the last judgment shall so separate between them, that neither shall any chaff pass into the granary, nor shall the grain fall into the fire which consumes the chaff.
sant'Ilario † 367 d.C.
The wheat, i. e. the full and perfect fruit of the believer, he declares, shall be laid up in heavenly barns; by the chaff he means the emptiness of the unfruitful.
Rabano Mauro † 856 d.C.
There is this difference between the chaff and the tares, that the chaff is produced of the same seed as the wheat, but the tares from one of another kind. The chaff therefore are those who enjoy the sacraments of the faith, but are not solid; the tares are those who in profession as well as in works are separated from the lot of the good.
Remigio † 908 d.C.
The unquenchable fire is the punishment of eternal damnation; either because it never totally destroys or consumes those it has once seized on, but torments them eternally; or to distinguish it from purgatorial fire which is kindled for a time and again extinguished.
sant'Agostino † 430 d.C. de Cons. Ev. ii. 12.
If any asks which were the actual words spoken by John, whether those reported by Matthew, or by Luke, or by Mark, it may be shewn, that there is no difficulty here to him who rightly understands that the sense is essential to our knowledge of the truth, but the words indifferent. And it is clear we ought not to deem any testimony false, because the same fact is related by several persons who were present in different words and different ways. Whoever thinks that the Evangelists might have been so inspired by the Holy Ghost that they should have differed among themselves neither in the choice, nor the number, nor the order of their words, he does not see that by how much the authority of the Evangelists is preeminent, so much the more is to be by them established the veracity of other men in the same circumstances. But the discrepancy may seem to be in the thing, and not only in words, between, I am not worthy to bear His shoes, and, to loose His shoe-latchet. Which of these two expressions did John use? He who has reported the very words will seem to have spoken truth; he who has given other words, though he have not hid, or been forgetful, yet has he said one thing for another. But the Evangelists should be clear of every kind of falseness, not only that of lying, but also that of forgetfulness. If then this discrepancy be important, we may suppose John to have used both expressions, either at different times, or both at the same time. But if he only meant to express the Lord’s greatness and his own humility, whether he used one or the other the sense is preserved, though any one should in his own words repeat the same profession of humility using the figure of the shoes; their will and intention does not differ. This then is a useful rule and one to be remembered, that it is no lie, when one fairly represents his meaning whose speech one is recounting, though one uses other words; if only one shews our meaning to be the same with his. Thus understood it is a wholesome direction, that we are to enquire only after the meaning of the speaker.
Il testo latino
Glossa
Quia in praecedentibus verbis Ioannes explicaverat quod supra summarie de agenda poenitentia praedicavit, restabat ut etiam distinctius praedicaret quod de regni caelorum appropinquatione iam dixerat; ideo dixit ego quidem baptizo vos in aqua in poenitentiam
Gregorius in Evang
Ioannes non in spiritu, sed in aqua baptizat, quia peccata solvere non valebat: corpora quidem per aquam lavat, sed tamen animas per veniam non lavat
Chrysostomus in Matth
Cum enim nondum esset oblata hostia neque peccatum solutum esset nec spiritus descendisset in aquam, qualiter fieret remissio peccatorum? Sed quia Iudaei nequaquam propria sentiebant peccata, et hoc erat eis causa malorum, advenit Ioannes, in cognitionem eos ducens propriorum peccatorum, poenitentiam memorando
Gregorius in Evang
Cur ergo baptizat qui peccata non relaxat, nisi ut praecursionis suae ordinem servans, qui nasciturum nascendo praevenerat, baptizaturum quoque dominum baptizando praeveniret?
Chrysostomus super Matth
Vel missus erat Ioannes ad baptizandum, ut ad Baptismum venientibus praesentiam filii Dei in corpore praedicaret, sicut ipse testatur alibi dicens: ut manifestetur in Israel, ideo ego veni in aqua baptizare
Augustinus super Ioannem
Vel ideo baptizat quia oportebat baptizari Christum. Sed quare non solus ipse baptizatus est a Ioanne, si ad hoc missus erat Ioannes per quem baptizaretur Christus? Quia si solus dominus baptizatus esset Baptismate Ioannis, non deessent qui putarent Baptismum Ioannis maiorem esse quam Baptismum Christi, usque adeo ut solus Christus eo baptizari meruisset
Rabano Mauro
Vel ideo baptizat ut poenitentes hoc signaculo ab impoenitentibus secernendo, ad Baptismum dirigat Christi
Chrysostomus super Matth
Quia ergo propter Christum baptizabat, ideo ad ipsum venientibus Christum praedicat appariturum et eminentiam potestatis eius annuntiat, dicens qui autem post me venturus est, fortior me est
Remigio
Sciendum est autem, quod quinque modis venit Christus post Ioannem: nascendo, praedicando, baptizando, moriendo et ad Inferos descendendo. Et pulchre dominus dicitur fortior Ioanne, quia ille purus homo, hic vero Deus et homo
Rabano Mauro
Ac si Ioannes dicat: ego quidem fortis sum ad poenitentiam invitando, ille peccata remittendo; ego regnum caelorum praedicando, ille donando; ego in aqua baptizando, ille in spiritu
Chrysostomus in Matth
Cum autem audieris: quia fortior me est, ne aestimes secundum comparationem me hoc dicere; neque enim inter servos illius ordinari sum dignus, ut vilissimam ministerii susciperem particulam; unde subdit cuius non sum dignus calceamenta portare
Hilarius in Matth
Apostolis utique circumferendae praedicationis gloriam derelinquens, quibus speciosis pedibus pacem Dei erat debitum nuntiare
Chrysostomus super Matth
Vel per pedes Christi intelligere possumus Christianos, praecipue apostolos, ceterosque praedicatores, inter quos erat Ioannes Baptista; calceamenta autem sunt infirmitates quibus operit praedicatores. Haec ergo calceamenta Christi omnes praedicatores portant; et Ioannes etiam portabat; sed se dignum non esse portare pronuntiat, ut maiorem ostenderet gratiam Christi meritis suis
Hieronymus
In alio Evangelio ait: cuius non sum dignus solvere corrigiam calceamenti. Hic humilitas, ibi ministerium demonstratur, quia Christus cum sponsus sit, et Ioannes non mereatur sponsi corrigiam solvere, ne vocetur domus eius, iuxta legem Moysi, et exemplum Ruth, domus discalceati
Chrysostomus super Matth
Quia vero nemo potest dare dignius beneficium quam ipse est nec facere alterum quod ipse non est, recte subdit ille vos baptizabit in spiritu sancto et igni. Ioannes quidem cum sit corporalis, spiritualem Baptismum dare non potest, sed baptizat in aqua, quae corpus est; et ideo corpus cum corpore baptizat. Christus autem spiritus est, quia Deus est. Spiritus etiam sanctus, spiritus est; anima quoque spiritus est: ideo spiritus cum spiritu spiritum nostrum baptizat. Baptismus autem spiritus proficit, quia ingrediens spiritus circumplectitur animam, et quasi muro quodam inexpugnabili circuit eam, et non permittit ut carnales concupiscentiae praevaleant contra eam. Non quidem facit ut caro non concupiscat, sed tenet animam ut ei non consentiat. Et quoniam Christus iudex est, baptizat in igne, idest in tentationibus; in igne autem baptizare non potest homo purus. Ille enim tentandi habet licentiam qui remunerandi habet potestatem. Hic autem Baptismus tribulationis, idest ignis, comburit carnem ut non germinet concupiscentias: nam caro spirituales quidem poenas non timet, sed carnales. Ideo ergo dominus super servos suos carnales tribulationes mittit, ut timens angustias suas caro non concupiscat malum. Vides ergo quia spiritus repellit concupiscentias, et praevalere non sinit; ignis autem ipsas concupiscentiarum radices comburit
Hieronymus
Vel in spiritu sancto et igni: quia ignis est spiritus sanctus, quo descendente, sedit quasi ignis super linguas credentium. Et impletus est sermo domini dicens: ignem veni mittere in terram, sive quia, in praesenti, spiritu baptizamur, et in futuro, igni, secundum illud apostoli: uniuscuiusque opus quale sit, ignis probabit
Chrysostomus in Matth
Non autem dicit: dabit vobis spiritum sanctum, sed baptizabit vos in spiritu sancto, copiam gratiae metaphorice ostendens. Per hoc etiam monstratur quod sola voluntate etiam in fide indiget ad iustificandum, non laboribus et sudoribus; et sicut facile est baptizari, ita facile est per eum transmutari et fieri meliores. In igne vero vehementiam gratiae, quae vinci non possit, demonstrat; et ut intelligatur quod similes antiquis et magnis prophetis repente suos faciat: propter hoc enim ignis meminit, quia plures visionum prophetalium per ignem apparuerunt
Chrysostomus super Matth
Patet ergo quod Baptismus Christi non solvit Ioannis Baptismum, sed in se inclusit: qui enim baptizatur in nomine Christi, utrumque Baptismum habet, et aquae et spiritus: quia Christus et spiritus erat, et corpus suscepit, ut et corporale et spirituale Baptisma daret. Ioannis autem Baptismus non includit in se Baptismum Christi, quia quod minus est, maius in se includere non potest. Ideo apostolus cum invenisset quosdam Ephesios Ioannis Baptismate baptizatos, iterum baptizavit eos in nomine Christi, quia in spiritu non erant baptizati, quoniam et Christus iterum baptizavit eos qui a Ioanne fuerant baptizati, sicut sermo Ioannis demonstrat, dicens ego vos baptizo in aqua, ille vos baptizabit in spiritu. Nec videbatur iterum baptizare, sed semel: quia enim amplius erat Baptisma Christi quam Ioannis, novum dabatur, et non iteratum
Hilarius in Matth
Salutis igitur nostrae et iudicii tempus designat in domino, dicens baptizabit vos in spiritu sancto et igni, quia baptizatis in spiritu sancto reliquum sit consummari igne iudicii; unde subditur cuius ventilabrum in manu sua
Rabano Mauro
Per ventilabrum, idest palam, discretio iusti examinis designatur, quod habet dominus in manu, idest in potestate, quia pater omne iudicium dedit filio. Sequitur et permundabit aream suam
Chrysostomus super Matth
Area idest Ecclesia, horreum vero regnum caeleste, ager autem hic mundus. Mittens ergo dominus apostolos ceterosque doctores quasi messores, praecidit omnes gentes de mundo et in aream Ecclesiae congregavit. Hic ergo triturandi sumus, hic ventilandi: omnes enim homines in rebus carnalibus delectantur, sicut grana in palea. Sed qui fidelis est et boni cordis habet medullam, mox ut leviter tribulatus fuerit, negligens carnalia, currit ad dominum; si autem modicae fidei fuerit, vix cum grandi tribulatione; qui autem omnino infidelis est et vacuus, quantumcumque tribulatus fuerit, non transit ad Deum. Triticum autem cum primum trituratum fuerit, iacet cum paleis in uno loco confusum, postea autem ventilatur ut separetur; sic et in una Ecclesia fideles cum infidelibus habentur commixti; ideo movetur persecutio quasi ventus, ut ventilabro Christi iactati, qui iam disiuncti fuerant actibus, separentur et locis. Et vide quia non dixit: mundabit aream suam: sed permundabit: necesse est enim ut diversis modis tentetur Ecclesia donec permundetur. Et primum quidem ventilaverunt illam Iudaei, deinde gentiles, modo haeretici, postmodum perventilabit Antichristus. Sicut enim quando modica est aura, non permundatur tota tritici massa, sed leviores paleae iactantur, graviores autem remanent, sic et modo modico flatu tentationis sufflante pessimi homines recedunt. Si autem surrexerit maior tempestas, etiam illi qui videntur esse stabiles, sunt exituri. Ideo necessaria est tentatio maior, ut permundetur Ecclesia
Remigio
Hanc etiam aream, scilicet Ecclesiam, dominus mundat in hac vita, cum vel per iudicium sacerdotum mali de Ecclesia tolluntur, vel per mortem de hac vita abscinduntur
Rabano Mauro
Universaliter autem areae purgatio in fine perficietur, quando mittet Angelos suos filius hominis et colliget de regno suo omnia scandala
Gregorius Moralium
Nam post trituram vitae praesentis, in qua nunc triticum sub paleis gemit, ita illo extremi iudicii ventilabro triticum paleaque discernitur, ut nec in tritici horreum paleae transeant, nec in palearum ignem horrei grana dilabantur; et hoc est quod sequitur et congregabit triticum suum in horreum, paleas autem comburet igni inextinguibili
Hilarius in Matth
Triticum suum, perfectos scilicet credentium fructus, dicit caelestibus horreis recondendum; paleas vero infructuosorum hominum inanitatem
Rabano Mauro
Verum hoc inter paleas et zizania distat, quod paleae non alio quam triticorum semine prodeunt, zizania vero diverso. Paleae ergo sunt qui fidei sacramentis imbuuntur, sed solidi non sunt; zizania vero qui et opere et professione secernuntur a bonorum sorte
Remigio
Ignis autem inextinguibilis dicitur poena aeternae damnationis: sive quia quos semel suscepit, nunquam extinguit, sed semper cruciat; sive ad differentiam ignis Purgatorii, qui ad tempus accenditur et extinguitur
Augustinus de Cons. Evang
Si autem quaeritur quae verba potius Ioannes Baptista dixerit, utrum quae Matthaeus an quae Lucas an quae Marcus eum dixisse commemorat, nullo modo hic laborandum esse iudicat qui prudenter intelligit ipsas sententias esse necessarias cognoscendae veritati, quibuslibet verbis fuerint explicatae. Et in hoc apparet non debere nos arbitrari mentiri quemquam, si pluribus reminiscentibus rem quam audierunt vel viderunt, non eodem modo atque eisdem verbis eadem res fuerit indicata. Quisquis autem dicit Evangelistis per spiritus sancti potentiam hoc potuisse concedi ut nec in genere verborum nec in ordine nec in numero discreparent, non intelligit quanto amplius Evangelistarum excellit auctoritas, tanto magis per eos fuisse firmandam ceterorum hominum vera loquentium securitatem. Quod autem alius dixit cuius non sum dignus calceamenta portare, alius vero: calceamenti corrigiam solvere, non verbis tantum, sed et re ipsa videtur aliud esse. Merito ergo quaeri potest quid horum Ioannes dixerit. Verum enim videtur narrasse qui hoc potuit narrare quod ille dixit; qui autem aliud, etsi non est mentitus certe vel oblitus, aliquid pro alio dixisse putabitur. Omnem autem falsitatem abesse ab Evangelistis decet, non solum eam quae mentiendo promitur, sed etiam eam quae obliviscendo. Ita si ad rem pertinet aliquid aliud intelligere ex utroque dictorum, recte existimandum est Ioannem utrumque dixisse, sive aliud alio tempore, sive confestim. Si autem nihil intendit Ioannes cum de calceamentis domini diceret, nisi excellentiam eius et suam humilitatem, quodlibet dictorum dixerit, eamdem tamen sententiam tenuit, quisquis etiam verbis suis per calceamentorum commemorationem eamdem significationem humilitatis expressit; unde ab eadem voluntate non aberravit. Utilis ergo modus, et memoriae commendandus, non esse mendacium cum quis voluntatem eius explicat de quo aliquid narrat, etiam dicens aliquid aliud quod ille non dixit; voluntatem tamen suam explicavit eamdem quam et ille cuius verba commemorat. Ita enim salubriter dicimus nihil aliud esse quaerendum quam quid velit ille qui loquitur
3:13
La Glossa non occ.
Christ having been proclaimed to the world by the preaching of His forerunner, now after long obscurity will manifest Himself to men.
Remigio † 908 d.C.
In this verse is contained person, place, time, and office. Time, in the word Then.
Rabano Mauro † 856 d.C.
That is, when He was thirty years old, shewing that none should be ordained priest, or even to preach till He be of full age. Joseph at thirty years was made governor of Egypt; David began to reign, and Ezekiel his prophesying at the same age.
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. Hom. x. 1.
Because after His baptism Christ was to put an end to the Law, He therefore came to be baptized at this age, that having so kept the Law, it might not be said that He cancelled it, because He could not observe it.
Pseudo-Crisostomo
Then, that is when John preached, that He might confirm his preaching, and Himself receive his witness. But as when the morning-star has risen, the sun does not wait for that star to set, but rising as it goes forward, gradually obscures its brightness; so Christ waited not for John to finish his course, but appeared while he yet taught.
Remigio † 908 d.C.
The Persons are described in the words, came Jesus to John; that is, God to man, the Lord to His servant, the King to His soldier, the Light to the lamp. The Place, from Galilee to Jordan. Galilee means ‘transmigration.’ Whoso then will be baptized, must pass from vice to virtue, and humble himself in coming to baptism, for Jordan means ‘descent.’
sant'Ambrogio † 397 d.C. Ambrosiaster. Serm. x. 5.
Scripture tells of many wonders wrought at various times in this river; as that, among others, in the Psalms, Jordan, was driven backwards; (Ps. 114:3.) before the water was driven back, now sins are turned back in its current; as Elijah divided the waters of old, so Christ the Lord wrought in the same Jordan the separation of sin.
Remigio † 908 d.C.
The office to be performed; that He might be baptized of him; not baptism to the remission of sins, but to leave the water sanctified for those after to be baptized.
sant'Agostino † 430 d.C. non occ. cf. Ambrosiast. Serm. xii. 4.
The Saviour willed to be baptized not that He might Himself be cleansed, but to cleanse the water for ush. From the time that Himself was dipped in the water, from that time has He washed away all our sins in water. And let none wonder that water, itself corporeal substance, is said to be effectual to the purification of the soul; it is so effectual, reaching to and searching out the hidden recesses of the conscience. Subtle and penetrating in its own nature, made yet more so by Christ’s blessing, it touches the hidden springs of life, the secret places of the soul, by virtue of its all-pervading dew. The course of blessing is even yet more penetrating than the flow of waters. Thus the blessing which like a spiritual river flows on from the Saviour’s baptism, hath filled the basins of all pools, and the courses of all fountains.
Pseudo-Crisostomo
He comes to baptism, that He who has taken upon Him human nature, may be found to have fulfilled the whole mystery of that nature; not that He is Himself a sinner, but He has taken on Him a nature that is sinful. And therefore though He needed not baptism Himself, yet the carnal nature in others needed it.
sant'Ambrogio † 397 d.C. Ambrosiaster. Serm. xii. 1.
Also like a wise master inculcating His doctrines as much by His own practice, as by word of mouth, He did that which He commanded all His disciples to do.
sant'Agostino † 430 d.C. in Joann. Tract. v. 3.
He deigned to be baptized of John that the servants might see with what readiness they ought to run to the baptism of the Lord, when He did not refuse to be baptized of His servant.
san Girolamo † 420 d.C.
Also that by being Himself baptized, He might sanction the baptism of John.
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. Hom. xii.
But since John’s baptism was to repentance, and therefore shewed the presence of sin, that none might suppose Christ’s coming to the Jordan to have been on this account, John cried to Him, I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me? As if he had said,
Pseudo-Crisostomo
That Thou shouldest baptize me there is good cause, that I may be made righteous and worthy of heaven; but that I should baptize Thee, what cause is there? Every good gift comes down from heaven upon earth, not ascends from earth to heaven.
sant'Ilario † 367 d.C.
John rejects Him from baptism as God; He teaches him, that it ought to be performed on Him as man.
san Girolamo † 420 d.C.
Beautifully said is that now, to shew that as Christ was baptized with water by John, so John must be baptized by Christ with the Spirit. Or, suffer now that I who have taken the form of a servant should fulfil all that low estate; otherwise know that in the day of judgment thou must be baptized with my baptism. Or, the Lord says, ‘Suffer this now; I have also another baptism wherewithal I must be baptized; thou baptizest Me with water, that I may baptize thee for Me with thy own blood.’
Pseudo-Crisostomo
In this he shews that Christ after this baptized John; which is expressly told in some apocryphal booksi. Suffer now that I fulfil the righteousness of baptism in deed, and not only in word; first submitting to it, and then preaching it; for so it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Not that by being baptized He fulfils all righteousness, but so, in the same manner, that is, as He first fulfilled the righteousness of baptism by His deeds, and after preached it, so He might all other righteousness, according to that of the Acts, All things that Jesus began both to do and to teach. (Acts 1:1.) Or thus, all righteousness, according to the ordinance of human nature; as He had before fulfilled the righteousness of birth, growth, and the like.
sant'Ilario † 367 d.C.
For by Him must all righteousness have been fulfilled, by whom alone the Law could be fulfilled.
san Girolamo † 420 d.C.
Righteousness; but he adds neither ‘of the Law;’ nor ‘of nature,’ that we may understand it of both.
Remigio † 908 d.C.
Or thus; It becometh us to fulfil all righteousness, that is, to give an example of perfect justification in baptism, without which the gate of the kingdom of heaven is not opened. Hence let the proud take an example of humility, and not scorn to be baptized by My humble members when they see Me baptized by John My servant. That is true humility which obedience accompanies; as it continues, then he suffered Him, that is, at last consented to baptize Him.
Il testo latino
Glossa
Postquam praedicatione sui praecursoris Christus mundo praenuntiatus est, tandem qui diu latuerat, hominibus se manifestare voluit; unde dicitur tunc venit Iesus a Galilaea in Iordanem ad Ioannem, ut baptizaretur ab eo
Remigio
Est sciendum quod in his verbis describuntur personae, loca, tempus et officium. Tempus, cum dicit tunc
Rabano Mauro
Quando scilicet tricenarius erat: in quo ostendit nullum vel sacerdotem vel praedicatorem debere institui, nisi sit perfectae aetatis. Ioseph tricenarius regimen Aegypti suscepit; David ea aetate regnum inchoavit; Ezechiel sub eodem tempore prophetiam promeruit
Chrysostomus in Matth
Quia etiam post Baptismum hanc legem cessare oportebat, hac aetate ad Baptismum venit, qui potest omnia peccata suscipere, ut lege servata, nullus dicat quia ideo eam solvit quia implere non potuit
Chrysostomus super Matth
Tunc etiam, scilicet quando Ioannes praedicaverat: poenitentiam agite, ut confirmaret praedicationem ipsius et ut testimonium acciperet a Ioanne. Sicut autem cum processerit Lucifer, lux solis non expectat occasum Luciferi, sed eo procedente, egreditur, et suo lumine obscurat illius candorem, sic et Christus non expectavit ut cursum suum Ioannes impleret, sed adhuc eo docente apparuit
Remigio
Personae ponuntur cum dicit venit Iesus ad Ioannem, idest Deus ad hominem, dominus ad servum, rex ad militem, lux ad lucernam. Loca designantur cum dicit a Galilaea in Iordanem. Galilaea enim transmigratio interpretatur. Quicumque ergo vult baptizari, transmigret de vitiis ad virtutes, et veniendo ad Baptismum se humiliet: Iordanis enim interpretatur descensus
Augustinus in Serm. de Epiph
Multa autem mirabilia in hoc flumine saepius facta esse Scriptura sancta commemorat, inter cetera dicens: Iordanis conversus est retrorsum. Ante quidem retrorsum aquae conversae fuerant, modo retrorsum peccata conversa sunt; sicut etiam Elias in Iordane divisionem fecit aquarum, et Christus dominus in eodem Iordane separationem operatus est peccatorum
Remigio
Officium designatur cum sequitur ut baptizaretur ab eo
Chrysostomus super Matth
Non ut ipse remissionem peccatorum acciperet per Baptismum, sed ut sanctificatas aquas relinqueret postmodum baptizandis
Augustinus
Salvator enim ideo baptizari voluit, non ut sibi munditiam acquireret, sed ut nobis fluentia mundaret. Ex quo ipse in aquam demergitur, ex eo omnium peccata abluit aqua. Nec mirum quod aquam, hoc est substantiam corporalem, ad purificandam animam dicimus pervenire: pervenit plane, et penetrat conscientiae universa latibula. Quamvis enim ipsa sit subtilis et tenuis, benedictione tamen Christi facta subtilior, occultas vitae causas ac secreta mentis subtiliore rore pertransit. Subtilior enim est benedictionum cursus quam aquarum meatus. Unde quae de salvatoris Baptismate benedictio fluxit, tamquam fluvius spiritalis, omnium gurgitum tractus, universorum fontium venas implevit
Chrysostomus super Matth
Ad hoc autem ad Baptismum venit, ut qui humanam suscepit naturam, totum humanae naturae inveniatur implesse mysterium: nam quamvis ipse non erat peccator, tamen naturam suscepit peccatricem. Propterea etsi pro se Baptismate non egebat, tamen aliis carnalis natura opus habebat
Augustinus in Serm. de Epiph
Item ideo baptizari voluit, quia voluit facere quod faciendum omnibus imperabat; ut bonus magister doctrinam suam non tam verbis insinuaret, quam actibus exerceret
Augustinus super Ioannem
Hinc ergo dignatus est a Ioanne baptizari, ut cognoscerent servi quanta alacritate debeant currere ad Baptisma domini, quando ipse non dedignatus est accipere Baptisma servi
Hieronymus
Item baptizari voluit, ut Baptismate suo Ioannis Baptisma comprobaret
Chrysostomus in Matth
Quia vero Baptismus poenitentiae erat, et in demonstrationem delictorum inducebatur, ne aliquis aestimaret quod hac ratione Christus ad Iordanem venit, ideo venienti dixit ego a te debeo baptizari et tu venis ad me? Quasi dicat
Chrysostomus super Matth.
ut tu me baptizes, est idonea ratio, ut iustus efficiar, et dignus caelo; ut autem ego te baptizem, quae est ratio? Omne bonum de caelo descendit in terram, non de terra ascendit in caelum
Hilarius in Matth
Denique a Ioanne baptizari prohibetur ut Deus, et ita in se fieri oportere ut homo docet; unde sequitur respondens autem Iesus dixit ei: sine modo
Hieronymus
Pulchre dixit modo, ut ostenderet Christum in aqua a Ioanne, Ioannem a Christo in spiritu baptizandum. Sive aliter sine modo, ut qui formam servi assumpsi, expleam et humilitatem eius; alioquin scito te in die iudicii meo esse Baptismate baptizandum. Vel sine modo, ut dicat dominus: habeo et aliud Baptisma, quo et baptizandus sum. Tu me baptizas in aqua, ut ego te baptizem pro me in sanguine tuo
Chrysostomus super Matth
In quo etiam ostendit quia postea Christus baptizavit Ioannem, quamvis etiam in apocryphis libris hoc manifeste scriptum sit. Sed sine modo ut iustitiam Baptismatis non verbis sed factis adimpleam: prius suscipiam, postea praedicabo; unde sequitur sic enim decet nos omnem implere iustitiam; ubi non hoc significat, ut si fuerit baptizatus, adimpleat omnem iustitiam, sed sic: idest, quemadmodum Baptismatis iustitiam prius factis implevit, postea praedicavit, sic et omnem aliam iustitiam, secundum illud: coepit Iesus facere et docere. Aut ita: sic oportet nos implere omnem iustitiam Baptismi, idest secundum dispensationem humanae naturae; sic enim implevit iustitiam nascendi, crescendi et similium
Hilarius in Matth
Erat et per eum omnis implenda iustitia, per quem solum lex poterat impleri
Hieronymus
Non autem addit iustitiam legis, sive naturae, ut utrumque intelligamus
Remigio
Vel sic: decet nos implere omnem iustitiam, idest, ostendere exemplum omnis implendae iustitiae in Baptismo, sine quo non aperitur aditus regni caelestis. Vel etiam discant superbi exemplum humilitatis, ut non dedignentur baptizari ab humilibus membris meis, dum viderint me baptizatum a te Ioanne servo meo. Illa autem est vera humilitas quam comes obedientia sequitur; unde subditur tunc dimisit eum, idest, ad ultimum assensum praebuit ut baptizaret eum
3:16
sant'Ambrogio † 397 d.C. Ambrosiaster. Serm. xii. 4.
For, as we have said, when the Saviour was washed, then the water was cleansed for our baptism, that a laver might be ministered to the people who were to come. Moreover, it behoved that in Christ’s baptism should be signified those things which the faithful obtain by baptism.
Pseudo-Crisostomo
This action of Christ’s has a figurative meaning pertaining to all who were after Him to be baptized; and therefore he says, straightway He ascended, and not simply He ascended, for all who are worthily baptized in Christ, straightway ascend from the water; that is, make progress in virtues, and are carried on towards a heavenly dignity. They who had gone down to the water carnal and sinful sons of Adam, straightway ascend from the water spiritual sons of God. But if some by their own faults make no progress after baptism, what is that to the baptism?
Rabano Mauro † 856 d.C.
As by the immersion of His body He dedicated the laver of baptism, He has shewn that to us also after baptism received the entrance to heaven is open, and the Holy Spirit is given, as it follows, and the heavens were opened.
san Girolamo † 420 d.C.
Not by an actual cleaving of the visible element, but to the spiritual eye, as Ezekiel also in the beginning of his book relates that he saw them.
Pseudo-Crisostomo
For had the actual creation of the heavens been opened, he would not have said were opened to Him, for a physical opening would have been open to all. But some one will say, What, are the heavens then closed to the eye of the Son of God, who even when on earth is present in heaven? But it must be known, that as He was baptized according to the ordinance of humanity that He had taken on Him, so the heavens were opened to His sight as to His human nature, though as to His divine He was in heaven.
Remigio † 908 d.C.
But was this then the first time that the heavens were opened to Him according to His human nature? The faith of the Church both believes and holds that the heavens were no less open to Him before than after. It is therefore said here, that the heavens were opened, because to all them who are born again the door of the kingdom of heaven is opened.
Pseudo-Crisostomo
Perhaps there were before some unseen obstacles which hindered the souls of the dead from entering the skies. I suppose that since Adam’s sin no soul had mounted the skies, but the heavens were continually closed. When, lo! on Christ’s baptism they were again opened; after He had overcome by the Cross the great tyrant death, henceforward the heaven, never more to be closed, needed not gates, so that the Angels say not, ‘Open ye gates,’ for they were open, but take away the gates. (Ps. 24:7.) Or the heavens are opened to the baptized, and they see those things which are in heaven, not by seeing them with the bodily eye, but by believing with the spiritual eye of faith. Or thus; The heavens are the divine Scriptures, which all read but all do not understand, except they who have been so baptized as to receive the Holy Spirit. Thus the Scriptures of the Prophets were at the first sealed to the Apostles, but after they had received the Holy Spirit, all Scripture was opened to them. However, in whatever way we interpret, the heavens were opened to Him, that is to all, on His account; as if the Emperor were to say to any one preferring a petition for another, This boon I grant not to him but to you; that is, to him, for your sake.
La Glossa non occ.
Or, so bright a glory shone round about Christ, that the blue concave seemed to be actually cloven.
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C.
But though you see it not, be not therefore unbelieving, for in the beginnings of spiritual matters sensible visions are always offered, for their sakes who can form no idea of things that have no body; which if they occur not in later times, yet faith may be established by those wonders once wrought.
Remigio † 908 d.C.
As to all those who by baptism are born again, the door of the kingdom of heaven is opened, so all in baptism receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
sant'Agostino † 430 d.C. App. Serm. 135. 1.
Christ after He had been once born among men, is born a second time in the sacraments, that as we adore Him then born of a pure mother, so we may now receive Him immersed in pure water. His mother brought forth her Son, and is yet virgin; the wave washed Christ, and is holy. Lastly, that Holy Spirit which was present to Him in the womb, now shone round Him in the water, He who then made Mary pure, now sanctifies the waters.
Pseudo-Crisostomo
The Holy Ghost took the likeness of a dove, as being more than other animals susceptible of love. All other forms of righteousness which the servants of God have in truth and verity, the servants of the Devil have in spurious imitation; the love of the Holy Spirit alone an unclean spirit cannot imitate. And the Holy Ghost has therefore reserved to Himself this special manifestation of love, because by no testimony is it so clearly seen where He dwells as by the grace of love.
Rabano Mauro † 856 d.C. ap. Anselm.
Seven excellencies in the baptized are figured by the dove. The dove has her abode near the rivers, that when the hawk is seen, she may dive under water and escape; she chooses the better grains of corn; she feeds the young of other birds; she does not tear with her beak; she lacks a gall; she has her rest in the caverns of the rocks; for her song she has a plaint. Thus the saints dwell beside the streams of Divine Scripture, that they may escape the assaults of the Devil; they choose wholesome doctrine, and not heretical for their food; they nourish by teaching and example, men who have been the children of the Devil, i. e. the imitators; they do not pervert good doctrine by tearing it to pieces as the heretics do; they are without hate irreconcileable; they build their nest in the wounds of Christ’s death, which is to them a firm rock, that is their refuge and hope; as others delight in song, so do they in groaning for their sin.
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C.
It is moreover an allusion to ancient history; for in the deluge this creature appeared bearing an olive-branch, and tidings of rest to the world. All which things were a type of things to come. For now also a dove appears pointing out to us our liberator, and for an olive-branch bringing the adoption of the human race.
sant'Agostino † 430 d.C. de Trin. ii. 5.
It is easy to understand how the Holy Ghost should be said to be sent, when as it were a dove in visible shape descended on the Lord; that is, there was created a certain appearance for the time in which the Holy Spirit might be visibly shewn. And this operation thus made visible and offered to mortal view, is called the mission of the Holy Spirit, not that His invisible substance was seen, but that the hearts of men might be roused by the external appearance to contemplate the unseen eternity. Yet this creature in the shape of which the Spirit appeared, was not taken into unity of person, as was that human shape taken of the Virgin. For neither did the Spirit bless the dove, nor unite it with Himself for all eternity, in unity of person. Further, though that dove is called the Spirit, so far as to shew that in this dove was a manifestation of the Spirit, yet can we not say of the Holy Spirit that He is God and dove, as we say of the Son that He is God and man; and yet it is not as we say of the Son that He is the Lamb of God, as not only has John Baptist declared, but as John the Evangelist saw the vision of the Lamb slain in the Apocalypse. For this was a prophetic vision, not put before the bodily eyes in bodily shape, but seen in the Spirit in spiritual images. But concerning this dove none ever doubted that it was seen with the bodily eye; not that we say the Spirit is a dove as we say Christ is a Rock; (for that Rock was Christ.) (1 Cor. 10:4.) For that Rock already existed as a creature, and from the resemblance of its operation was called by the name of Christ, (whom it figured;) not so this dove, which was created at the moment for this single purpose. It seems to me to be more like the flame which appeared to Moses in the bush, or that which the people followed in the wilderness, or to the thunderings and lightnings which were when the Law was given from the mount. For all these were visible objects intended to signify something, and then to pass away. For that such forms have been from time to time seen, the Holy Spirit is said to have been sent; but these bodily forms appeared for the time to shew what was required, and then ceased to be.
san Girolamo † 420 d.C.
It sate on the head of Jesus, that none might suppose the voice of the Father spoken to John, and not to the Lord.
Il testo latino
Augustinus in Serm. de Epiph
Quia, ut dictum est, cum salvator noster abluitur, iam tunc in nostrum Baptismum tota aqua mundatur, ut secuturis postmodum populis lavacri gratia ministretur. Oportuit etiam Christi Baptismo ea designari quae per Baptismum consequuntur fideles; unde dicitur baptizatus autem Iesus, confestim ascendit de aqua
Chrysostomus super Matth
Factum Christi ad mysterium pertinet omnium qui postmodum fuerant baptizandi; et ideo dixit confestim, et non dixit simpliciter ascendit: quia omnes qui digne baptizantur in Christo, confestim de aqua ascendunt; idest, proficiunt ad virtutes et ad dignitatem sublevantur caelestem; qui enim in aquam ingressi fuerant carnales et filii Adae peccatores, confestim de aqua ascendunt spirituales filii Dei facti. Si autem quidam ex sua culpa nihil proficiunt baptizati, quid ad Baptismum?
Rabano Mauro
Quia ergo nobis dominus sui corporis intinctu Baptismi lavacrum dedicavit, nobis quoque post acceptum Baptisma caeli aditum patere et spiritum sanctum dari demonstravit; unde sequitur et aperti sunt ei caeli
Hieronymus in Matth
Non reseratione elementorum, sed spiritualibus oculis, sicut et Ezechiel in principio voluminis sui apertos esse commemorat
Chrysostomus super Matth
Si enim ipsa creatura caelorum rupta fuisset, non dixisset aperti sunt ei, quia quod corporaliter aperitur, omnibus est apertum. Sed dicet aliquis: quid enim? Ante oculos filii Dei clausi fuerant caeli, qui etiam in terra constitutus erat in caelo? Sed sciendum quod sicut secundum dispensationem humanam baptizatus est, sic secundum humanam dispensationem aperti sunt ei caeli; secundum autem naturam divinam erat in caelis
Augustinus
Sed numquid tunc primo aperti ei caeli etiam secundum humanam naturam? Fides enim Ecclesiae et credit et tenet quod non minus aperti sunt ei caeli ante quam post. Ideo ergo dicitur quod aperti sunt ei caeli, quia omnibus renatis aperitur ianua regni caelestis
Chrysostomus super Matth
Forte enim erant invisibilia quaedam obstacula prius, quibus obsistentibus animae defunctorum non poterant introire caelos. Nullam enim animam ante Christum arbitror ascendisse in caelum ex quo peccavit Adam et clausi sunt caeli. Sed ecce baptizato Christo aperti sunt tantum; postquam vero tyrannum vicit per crucem, quia non erant necessariae portae caelo nunquam claudendo, non dicunt Angeli: aperite portas: iam enim erant apertae; sed: tollite portas. Vel baptizatis aperiuntur caeli, et vident ea quae sunt in caelo, non carnalibus oculis videndo, sed spiritualibus fidei credendo. Aut ita: caeli sunt Scripturae divinae, quas omnes legunt, non tamen omnes intelligunt, nisi qui fuerint sic baptizati ut accipiant spiritum sanctum. Unde et apostolis primitus erant clausae Scripturae prophetarum; sed accepto spiritu sancto, reseratae sunt eis omnes Scripturae. Tamen quocumque modo intelligatur, caeli aperti sunt ei, idest omnibus propter eum; sicut si imperator alicui pro alio petenti dicat: hoc beneficium non illi do, sed tibi: idest, propter te illi
Glossa
Vel tantus splendor circumfulsit Christum in Baptismo, ut Empyreum videretur caelum reseratum esse
Chrysostomus in Matth
Si autem tu non vides, non incredulus sis; etenim in principiis spiritualium rerum semper sensibiles apparent visiones, propter illos qui nullam intelligentiam incorporalis naturae suscipere possunt; ut si postea non fiat, ex his quae semel facta sunt, recipiant fidem
Remigio
Sicut autem omnibus per Baptismum renatis aperitur ianua regni caelestis, ita omnes in Baptismate accipiunt dona spiritus sancti; ideo subditur et vidit spiritum Dei descendentem sicut columbam, et venientem super se
Augustinus in Serm. 1 in Dom. infra Oct. Epiph
Christus enim postquam natus est hominibus renascitur sacramentis; ut quemadmodum tunc eum miramur incorrupta matre progenitum, ita et nunc suscipiamus illum pura unda submersum. Filium enim genuit mater, et casta est; Christum lavit unda, et sancta est. Denique spiritus sanctus, qui tunc illi in utero affuit, modo eum in gurgite circumfulsit; qui tunc Mariam castificavit, nunc fluenta sanctificat. Unde dicit et vidit spiritum Dei descendentem
Chrysostomus super Matth
Ideo autem spiritus sanctus speciem columbae suscepit, quoniam prae omnibus animalibus haec cultrix est caritatis. Omnes autem iustitiae species quas habent servi Dei in veritate, possunt habere servi Diaboli in simulatione; solam autem caritatem sancti spiritus non potest immundus spiritus imitari. Ideo ergo hanc privatam speciem caritatis tibi servavit spiritus sanctus, quia per nullius testimonium sic cognoscitur ubi est spiritus sanctus, sicut per gratiam caritatis
Rabano Mauro
Significantur etiam quatuor virtutes in baptizatis per columbam. Columba enim secus fluenta habitat, ut, viso accipitre, mergat se et evadat; meliora grana eligit, alienos pullos nutrit, non lacerat rostro, felle caret, in cavernis petrae nidificat, gemitum pro cantu habet; ita et sancti secus divinae Scripturae fluenta resident, ut incursum Diaboli evadant; sanas sententias quibus pascantur eligunt, non haereticas; homines qui Diaboli fuerunt pulli, idest imitatores, doctrina nutriunt et exemplo; bonas sententias lacerando non pervertunt haereticorum more; ira irreconciliabili carent; in plagis mortis Christi, qui petra firma est, nidum ponunt, idest suum refugium et spem; sicut etiam alii delectantur in cantu, ita ipsi in gemitu pro peccatis
Chrysostomus in Matth
Veteris etiam recordatur historiae: in diluvio enim apparuit hoc animal, ramum ferens olivae et communem orbis tranquillitatem annuntians; quae omnia typus erant futurorum. Etenim nunc columba apparet liberatorem nobis demonstrans, et pro ramo olivae adoptionem generi humano affert
Augustinus de Trin
Est autem in promptu intelligere cur spiritus sanctus missus dicatur, cum in ipsum dominum corporali specie velut columba descendit: facta est enim quaedam creaturae species ex tempore, in qua visibiliter ostenderetur spiritus sanctus. Haec autem operatio visibiliter expressa, et oculis oblata mortalibus missio spiritus sancti dicta est; non ut appareret invisibilis eius substantia, sed ut corda hominum exterioribus visis commota, ad occultam aeternitatem converterentur. Non autem sic assumpta est creatura, in qua spiritus sanctus apparuit, in unitatem scilicet personae, sicut assumpta est humana illa forma ex virgine. Neque enim columbam beatificavit spiritus aut sibi in personae suae unitatem in aeternum coniunxit. Proinde, quamquam illa columba spiritus dicta sit, ut ostenderetur per columbam spiritum demonstratum, non tamen ita possumus dicere spiritum sanctum et Deum et columbam, sicut dicimus filium et Deum et hominem; nec sicut dicimus filium agnum Dei, non solum Ioanne Baptista dicente, sed etiam Ioanne Evangelista vidente agnum occisum in Apocalypsi: illa quippe visio prophetica non est exhibita oculis corporeis per formas corporeas, sed in spiritu per spiritales imagines corporum. De illa vero columba nullus unquam dubitavit quin oculis visa sit; nec sicut dicimus filium petram (scriptum est enim 1 Cor. 10, 4: petra erat Christus), ita possumus dicere spiritum columbam. Illa enim petra iam erat in creatura, et per actionis modum nuncupata est nomine Christi quem significabat; non autem sic illa columba, quae ad haec tantummodo significanda repente extitit. Magis autem simile hoc mihi videtur flammae illi quae in rubo apparuit Moysi, et illi quam populus in eremo fiebant dum lex daretur in monte. Ad hoc sequebatur, et fulguribus ac tonitruis quae enim rerum illarum corporalis extitit species, ut aliquid significaret atque praeteriret. Propter has ergo corporales formas missus dicitur spiritus sanctus; illae vero species corporales ad demonstrandum quod opus fuit, ad tempus apparuerunt, et postea destiterunt
Hieronymus in Matth
Sedit autem super caput Iesu, ne quis putaret vocem patris ad Ioannem factam, non ad dominum; unde sequitur et venientem super se
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sant'Agostino † 430 d.C. non occ.
Not as before by Moses and the Prophets, neither in type or figure did the Father teach that the Son should come, but openly shewed Him to be already come, This is my Son.
sant'Ilario † 367 d.C.
Or, that from these things thus fulfilled upon Christ, we might learn that after the washing of water the Holy Spirit also descends on us from the heavenly gates, on us also is shed an unction of heavenly glory, and an adoption to be the sons of God, pronounced by the Father’s voice.
san Girolamo † 420 d.C.
The mystery of the Trinity is shewn in this baptism. The Lord is baptized; the Spirit descends in shape of a dove; the voice of the Father is heard giving testimony to the Son.
sant'Ambrogio † 397 d.C. Ambrosiaster. Serm. x. 1.
And no wonder that the mystery of the Trinity is not wanting to the Lord’s laver, when even our laver contains the sacrament of the Trinity. The Lord willed to shew in His own case what He was after to ordain for men.
Pseudo-Agostino Fulgent. de Fide ad Petrum. c. 9.
Though Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one nature, yet do thou hold most firmly that They be Three Persons; that it is the Father alone who said, This is my beloved Son; the Son alone over whom that voice of the Father was heard; and the Holy Ghost alone who in the likeness of a dove descended on Christ at His baptism.
sant'Agostino † 430 d.C. de Trin. iv. 21.
Here are deeds of the whole Trinity. In their own substance indeed Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are One without interval of either place or time; but in my mouth they are three separate words, and cannot be pronounced at the same time, and in written letters they fill each their several places. By this comparison may be understood how the Trinity in Itself indivisible may be manifested dividedly in the likeness of a visible creation. That the voice is that of the Father only is manifest from the words, This is my Son.
sant'Ilario † 367 d.C. de Trin. iii. 11.
He witnesses that He is His Son not in name merely, but in very kindred. Sons of God are we many of us; but not as He is a Son, a proper and true Son, in verity, not in estimation, by birth, not adoption.
sant'Agostino † 430 d.C. in Joann. tr. 14. 11.
The Father loves the Son, but as a father should, not as a master may love a servant; and that as an own Son, not an adopted; therefore He adds, in whom I am well-pleased.
Remigio † 908 d.C.
Or if it be referred to the human nature of Christ, the sense is, I am pleased in Him, whom alone I have found without sin. Or according to another reading, It hath pleased me to appoint Him, by whom to perform those things I would perform, i. e. the redemption of the human race.
sant'Agostino † 430 d.C. de Cons. Ev. ii. 14.
These words Mark and Luke give in the same way; in the words of the voice that came from Heaven, their expression varies though the sense is the same. For both the words as Matthew gives them, This is my beloved Son, and as the other two, Thou art my beloved Son, express the same sense in the speaker; (and the heavenly voice, no doubt, uttered one of these,) but one shews an intention of addressing the testimony thus borne to the Son to those who stood by; the other of addressing it to Himself, as if speaking to Christ He had said, This is my Son. Not that Christ was taught what He knew before, but they who stood by heard it, for whose sake the voice came. Again, when one says, in whom I am well-pleased; another, in thee it hath pleased me, if you ask which of these was actually pronounced by that voice; take which you will, only remembering that those who have not related the same words as were spoken have related the same sense. That God is well-pleased with His Son is signified in the first; that the Father is by the Son pleased with men is conveyed in the second form, in thee it hath well-pleased me. Or you may understand this to have been the one meaning of all the Evangelists, In Thee have I put My good pleasure, i. e. to fulfil all My purpose.
Il testo latino
Augustinus in Serm. de Epiph
Non enim ut ante per Moysen aut per prophetas, nec per typos aut figuras, venturum in carne pater filium docuit, sed palam venisse monstravit, dicens hic est filius meus
Hilarius in Matth
Vel ut ex his quae consummabantur in Christo, cognosceremus post aquae lavacrum et de caelestibus portis sanctum in nos spiritum involare et caelestis nos gloriae unctione perfundi et paternae vocis adoptione filios Dei fieri
Hieronymus in Matth
Mysterium autem Trinitatis in Baptismate demonstratur. Dominus baptizatur, spiritus descendit in habitu columbae, patris vox filio testimonium perhibentis auditur
Augustinus in Serm. de Epiph
Nec mirum si in dominico lavacro mysterium non defuit Trinitatis, cum nostrum lavacrum Trinitatis compleat sacramentum. Voluit enim dominus primo circa se exhibere quod erat postea humano generi praecepturus
Augustinus de fide ad Petrum
Quamvis autem pater et filius et spiritus sanctus sint una natura, firmissime tamen tene tres esse personas; patremque solum esse qui dixit hic est filius meus dilectus, et filium solum esse super quem illa vox patris insonuit, et spiritum sanctum solum esse qui in specie columbae super Christum baptizatum descendit
Augustinus de Trin
Haec autem opera sunt totius Trinitatis. In sua quippe substantia pater et filius et spiritus sanctus unum sunt, sine ullis intervallis temporum vel locorum; in meis autem vocibus separati sunt pater, filius et spiritus sanctus, nec simul dici poterunt; et in litteris visibilibus sua separatim locorum spatia tenuerunt: quia similitudine utcumque cognoscitur, inseparabilem in seipsa Trinitatem per visibilis creaturae speciem separabiliter demonstrari. Quod autem solius patris vox sit, ostenditur ex hoc quod dicit hic est filius meus
Hilarius in libro de Trin
Non solum nomine contestatus est eum esse filium, sed proprietate. Multi enim nos filii Dei sumus, sed non talis est hic filius; hic enim et proprius et verus est filius: origine, non adoptione; veritate, non nuncupatione; nativitate, non creatione
Augustinus super Ioannem
Pater autem diligit filium, sed quomodo pater filium, non quomodo dominus servum; sed quomodo unicum, non quomodo adoptatum. Et ideo subditur in quo mihi complacui
Remigio
Vel si ad humanitatem Christi referatur, si legatur in quo mihi complacui, quia istum solum reperi sine peccato. Si vero legatur in quo mihi complacuit, subauditur placitum meum constituere, ut per eum agerem quae agenda sunt, idest genus humanum redimerem
Augustinus de Cons. Evang
Haec autem verba et alii duo, Marcus et Lucas, similiter narrant; sed de verbis vocis quae de caelo facta est, variant locutionem, salva tamen sententia. Quod enim Matthaeus ait dictum hic est filius meus dilectus, et alii duo dicunt: tu es filius meus dilectus, ad eamdem sententiam explicandam valet; vox enim caelestis unum horum dixit; sed Evangelista ostendere voluit ad id valere quod dictum est hic est filius meus, ut illis potius qui audiebant indicaretur quod ipse esset filius Dei; atque ita dictum referre voluit: tu es filius meus, ac si illi diceretur hic est filius meus. Non enim Christo indicabatur quod sciebat; sed audiebant qui aderant, propter quos vox facta est. Iam vero quod alius dicit in quo mihi complacui, alius: in te complacuit mihi, si quaeris quid horum illa voce sonuerit, quodlibet accipe, dum intelligas eos qui non eamdem locutionem retulerunt, eamdem retulisse sententiam; quod enim Deus in filio sibi complacuit, admonetur aliquis ex eo quod dictum est: in te complacuit; quod autem in filio pater placuerit hominibus, admonetur ex eo quod dictum est: in te complacuit mihi, seu intelligatur hoc dictum esse ab omnibus Evangelistis, tamquam diceretur: in te complacitum meum constitui; hoc est, implere quod mihi placet
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1. IN DIEBUS AUTEM ILLIS VENIT JOANNES BAPTISTA PRAEDICANS IN DESERTO JUDAEAE. — q. d.: In tempore illo, scilicet quo Christus incarnatus et natus vitam egit inter homines. Nam haec contigerunt anno 15 Tiberii, ut ait Lucas, cap. III, 1, cum Joannes et Christus agerent annum aetatis trigesimum. Transit ergo Matthaeus a pueritia Christi ad virilem ejus aetatem, in qua coepit praedicationis et redemptionis munus, quod obeundum a Patre in carnem et mundum missus erat, exercere, ideoque praemisit Joannem Baptistam ut is illum esse Messiam Judaeis indicaret ne si ex abrupto, sine indice aut teste fide digno Christus in Judaea appareret, ab omnibus sperneretur. Porro Christus delituit (et artem fabrilem exercuit cum Joseph patre) per annos 19, ut insigne humilitatis orbi daret exemplum. Coepit ergo praedicare anno trigesimo, ut se Judaeorum moribus et legibus conformaret; apud Judaeos enim nemini munia doctoris aut sacerdotis obire licebat ante annum aetatis trigesimum, ut tradunt Hebraei, et colligitur I Paralip. xxiii, 3. Hinc et Joannes eodem anno trigesimo, sed paulo ante Christum, coepit praedicare. Tantas et tam longas humilitatis Christi latebras admirans S. Bernardus, serm. 1 de Epiphania, exclamat: «O humilitas, virtus Christi, quantum confundis superbiam nostrae vanitatis! Parum aliquid scio, vel magis scire mihi videor, et jam tacere non possum, impudenter me et imprudenter ingerens et ostentans; promptulus ad loquendum, velox ad docendum, tardus ad audiendum. Et Christus cum tanto tempore silebat, cum seipsum abscondebat, numquid inanem gloriam metuebat? Quid timeret ab inani gloria, qui est vera gloria Patris? Utique timebat, sed non sibi. Nobis timebat ob illa quibus noverat esse timendum: nobis cavebat, nos instruebat. Tacebat ore, sed instruebat opere; et quod postea docuit verbo, jam clamabat exemplo: Discite a me, quia mitis sum et humilis corde.» IN DESERTO — non culto et habitato, quasi Joannes in domo paterna, quae in montanis Judaeae erat, commode habitarit, uti volunt nostri delicati novantes et desertores. Nam Isaias, cap. xl, 3, vaticinans de Joannis deserto, illud proprie accipit pro eremo, ut patet ex circumstantiis. Idem convincit asper Joannis e pilis camelorum vestitus, et cilicium, ac esca sylvestris, scilicet locustae et mel sylvestre, ita passim Patres Graeci et Latini, quos fuse citat noster P. Canisius, lib. De Corrupt. Verbi Dei, cap. ii. Causa fuit ut Joannes, velut Moysis et Eliae aemulus, ac Christi praecursor, in deserto, ab hominum inquinamentis remotus, cum Deo et Angelis conversaretur, ab eisque magnae virtutis et Spiritus vim hauriret, ac sanctitatis nomen et famam sibi pareret, cui proinde Christum ostendenti omnes crederent, ac ejus praedicatione compuncti, poenitentiam agerent: unde Patres crebro S. Joannem vocant principem monachorum et anachoretarum, ut S. Hieronymus, epist. 22 ad Eustochium; S. Chrysostomus, Theophylactus, Euthymius hic; Cassianus, Collatione xviii, cap. vi. Hinc Joannes in deserto cum Angelis angelice vivens, aestimatus fuit Angelus, imo a Malachia, cap. iii, et a Christo, Matth. xi, 10, vocatur Angelus. «Hic est, inquit, de quo scriptum est: Ecce ego mitto Angelum meum ante faciem tuam, qui praeparabit viam tuam ante te.» Symbolice: S. Joannes praedicans in deserto, significabat Evangelium praecipue fore praedicandum, non in Jerusalem et Judaea, sed in solitudine et deserta Gentium multitudine. Ita S. Hieronymus in cap. xl Isaiae. Tropologice: S. Joannes suo exemplo docuit viros apostolicos et praedicatores futuros prius secedere ab hominum tumultu, et in secreto vacare orationi et meditationi, ut in ea magnam vim spiritus coelitus hauriant, quam deinde praedicando in auditores effundant. Vide quae de laudibus deserti dixi, Osee ii, 18, ad illa: «Ducam eam in solitudinem, et loquar ad cor ejus.» Huc facit illud S. Augustini epist. 76: «Non erit bonus clericus, qui non fuit bonus monachus.» Quocirca SS. Augustinus, Martinus, Chrysostomus, Nazianzenus, Basilius, Gregorius aliique plurimi ex monasteriis in Clerum assumpti, et licet inviti, ad Episcopatus evecti sunt. Porro hoc desertum Judaeae fuit juxta Jordanem prope Aenon et Salim, ut patet, Joan. iii, 23, eratque celeberrimum, tum copia aquarum ad baptizandum, tum habitatione et miraculis prophetarum ac virorum religiosorum qui in libris Regum filii Prophetarum, id est discipuli Eliae, Elisaei et similium vocantur. Denique Nicephorus, lib. I, cap. xiv, testatur Joannem sesquiannum agentem a matre ductum in desertum, Herodianam forte iram fugiente. Addit Cedrenus in Compendio Histor. eum dilituisse in spelunca quadam, ibique matrem obiisse, Angelum autem Joannis pueri curam suscepisse. Haec spelunca postea ab eremitis culta fuit, ut patet ex Joanne Moscho in Prato Spirit., cap. 1, ubi narrat hanc speluncam sitam esse juxta Jordanem, ad eamque casu divertisse Joannem Abbatem aegrotum, ibique a Joanne Baptista sanatum, cum pacto ut speluncam eamdem incoleret. Apparens enim Baptista, ait illi: «Ego sum Joannes Baptista, et ideo tibi jubeo ut nunquam hinc recedas; nam spelunca ista brevis major est monte Sina, quippe in hanc saepius Dominus noster Jesus, cum me visitaret, ingressus est. Pollicere ergo mihi quod hic habitabis, et ego mox sanitatem tibi restituo.» Quod senex audiens, libenter spopondit se in eadem spelunca permansurum. Et continuo sanus effectus, perseveravit ibidem toto vitae suae tempore. Speluncam vero illam fecit ecclesiam, congregavitque ibi fratres. Appellatur autem locus ipse Sapsas.
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2. ET DICENS: POENITENTIAM AGITE; APPROPINQUAVIT ENIM REGNUM COELORUM. — Ideo Joannes ivit in desertum, ut ibi paenitentiam et vitam austeram agens, congruus fieret praeco paenitentiae, utpote qui illam prius doceret exemplo, quam verbo. S. Joannem imitatus S. Gregorius Nazianzenus, orat. in sancta luminaria Epiphan., post medium: «Officium, ait, Magni Joannis, imo potius famulatum subire contendo vel gestio, et licet non sim praecursor, de eremo tamen venio.» Ipse enim cum S. Basilio secessit in solitudinem Ponti, ibique asperam egit vitam, atque inde hausto coelitus Spiritu, quasi novus Baptista paenitentiae praeco prodiit. Hoc fuit thema, haec summa praedicationis Baptistae: «Paenitentiam agite;» quia tunc pene omnes erant peccatores vivebantque in suis vitiis et cupiditatibus; peccatori autem necessaria est poenitentia, ut gratiam et justitiam a Christo percipiat. Porro poenitentia non tantum est morum emendatio et novae vitae inchoatio, ut volunt haeretici; sed et veteris vitiosae per dolorem detestatio, castigatio et destructio; nec enim nova vita inchoari potest, nisi vetus destruatur: unde Glossa interl. sic exponit, q. d.: «Puniat quisque mala prioris vitae, quia appropinquabit salus quam perdidimus, et facultas redeundi unde cecidimus.» S. Augustinus, lib. De Paenit.: «Novam vitam, inquit, inchoare non potest, quem veteris non paenitet.» Glossa: «Hoc, ait, praeco nuntiat, quod postea veritas. Est autem poenitere, anteacta deflere, et deflenda non committere. Quem vere poenitet, punit in se praeteritos errores erigitque animum ad coelestia; concipitur autem haec virtus timore, et dicitur poenitentia a puniendo quod illicite commissum est.» Poenitentia ergo dicitur quasi poenae tenentia. Idem significat Graecum metanoia. Unde Ausonius: Sum Dea quae facti, non factique exigo poenas, Ut te poeniteat. Sic Metanoea vocor. Hinc S. Gregorius, homil. 34 in Evang.: «Poenitentia, inquit, est praeterita mala plangere, et plangenda iterum non committere.» Idem significabat Hebr. hinnachem, scilicet poenitere et dolere de malo admisso. Unde Deus videns homines a se creatos in scelera ruentes: «paenituit eum, quod hominem fecisset in terra, et tactus dolore cordis intrinsecus: Delebo, inquit, hominem quem creavi a facie terrae» (Genes. vi, 6). Quare minus plene Evangelium Hebraicum S. Matthaeo a Munstero attributum, pro hinnachem et nechumim, id est poenitere et poenitudines, nude ponit tescuba, id est conversio, vel seubu, id est convertimini ad Dominum; poenitentia enim non est nuda conversio ad Deum, sed et aversio a peccatis, sive dolor, compunctio et satisfactio, uti docet Apostolus, II Corinth. vii, 10 et 11, et Joel ii, 12: «Convertimini, ait, ad me in toto corde, in jejunio, et in fletu, et in planctu.» Unde liquet poenitentiam tria munia complecti, scilicet dolorem, novam vitam et castigationem peccatorum, ut Deum placet. APPROPINQUAVIT ENIM REGNUM COELORUM — quo scilicet Deus regnat in fidelibus in hac vita per gratiam, et in futura per gloriam, ipsosque facit reges et regni sui aeterni participes. «Regnum coelorum primus Joannes praedicavit,» ait Glossa, «quod nunquam Judaei audierant,» ait S. Chrysostomus. Et S. Hieronymus hic: «Primus, ait, Baptista Joannes regnum coelorum praedicat, ut praecursor Domini hoc privilegio honoretur.» Nota: Judaei expectabant regnum suum sub rege Messia in terra opulentum et splendidum, quale fuit sub Salomone; hujus enim filius et successor fuit Messias sive Christus, et tale etiamnum Judaei expectant a suo Messia. S. Joannes ergo, et post eum Christus et Apostoli ordiuntur praedicationem a regno Messiae, sed coelesti, non terrestri, q. d.: Jam adest tempus reserati coeli, hoc enim brevi Christus vobis sua morte pandet. Agite ergo poenitentiam de peccatis praeteritis, et in futurum mores corrigite, et in melius mutate, ut ab eo in regnum hoc introduci mereamini: «Ecce nunc tempus acceptabile (praedictum ab Isaia, cap. xlix), ecce nunc dies salutis,» quo coelum quatuor annorum millibus clausum aperiatur, ac qui volent, in illud ingrediantur, si videlicet semitam a Christo proponendam, scilicet fidem, spem, charitatem et vitam coelestem ineant, atque regnum coeleste sive spirituale in Ecclesia militante inchoent, quod in triumphante laetissime consummabunt. Ita Theophylactus, Jansenius, Maldonatus et Franciscus Lucas: «Regnum coelorum, ait, vocatur dominatus Christi, ut in Angelos sanctos, ita et in societatem hominum eorum quorum recte composita vita in terris regentem e coelis Deum sequatur, in coelis totam ipsam possidente Deo aeternum fruitur.»
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3. HIC ENIM EST DE QUO DICTUM EST PER ISAIAM PROPHETAM (cap. xl, 3) DICENTEM: VOX CLAMANTIS IN DESERTO: PARATE VIAM DOMINI; RECTAS FACITE SEMITAS EJUS. — Haec fuse explicui, Isai. xl, 3; quare ibi dicta hic non repetam. S. Joannes enim fuit vox Dei: primo Christum venturum praenuntians; secundo eum jam natum demonstrans, et ad paenitentiam invitans, et ad Christi gratiam praeparans. Per «vox clamantis, fortitudo praedicationis indicatur,» ait Rabanus; clamatur enim longe positis et surdis, idque per indignationem. Apte Beda: «Clamavit quidem per alios Deus, sed et iste solus vox, quia Verbum praesens ostendit. Parate ergo viam Domini,» idem est, quod «paenitentiam agite,» uti praecessit. q. d.: Agite, o Judaei, o mundi incolae, quotquot estis, Christo jamjam venturo, et quasi Messiae Regi vestro inaugurando, vias (uti regibus fieri solet) complanate, hoc est omnia amovete quae eum offendere vel dedecere possent, scilicet errores et peccata tollite per poenitentiam, atque efficite ut Christus ab omnibus et singulis expedite et cupide recipiatur, ut scilicet singuli corda mentesque suas ad Christi fidem et gratiam, omnemque sanctimoniam poenitendo studiose se praeparent.
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4. IPSE AUTEM JOANNES HABEBAT VESTIMENTUM DE PILIS CAMELORUM, — non undulatum, quod vulgo camelot vocant, ut vult Chytraeus et delicati novantes, qui in pulpitis splendide ornantur quasi sponsi Penelopes. Christus enim Joannem commendat ab asperitate vestitus, Matth. xi, 8: «Quid, ait, existis in desertum videre? hominem mollibus vestitum?» Quasi dicat, minime; nam «ecce qui mollibus vestiuntur in domibus regum sunt.» Joannes autem domos Herodis fugit et secessit in desertum, ac caulam praetulit aulae: fuit ergo haec ejus vestis vilis, aspera, hirsuta, horrida, eremitica, cilicina, idque ut habitu ipso praeferret et concionaretur humilitatem, mundi contemptum ac poenitentiam: nimirum «de virtute animae habitus corporis loquebatur,» ait S. Chrysostomus, sic et caeteri Patres et Interpretes, ac nominatim S. Anselmus et Eusebius Emissenus, homil. 1 de Joanne Baptista, qui aiunt vestem S. Joannis fuisse cilicium camelinum; in Syria enim copia est camelorum. Hoc enim domabat carnem in juventute, sanguine et calore bullientem, ne in luxuriam deflueret, sicut faciebat S. Paulus, dicens: «Castigo corpus meum, et in servitutem redigo, ne forte cum aliis praedicavero, ipse reprobus efficiar» (I Corinth. ix). Cilicium enim suis pilis et setis aculeatis, quasi totidem aciculis carnem pungens, valde eam mortificat, ejusque lasciviam et libidines refranat, uti norunt experti. Hinc S. Aegidius, unus e primis S. Francisci sociis, rogatus cur S. Joannes, qui nil peccaverat, tam austeram egisset vitam et paenitentiam? respondit: «Sicut carnes condiuntur sale, ne putrescant, ita corpus Baptistae conditum fuit paenitentia.» Ita referunt Annales Franciscanorum. «Poenitentia enim, ut ait S. Cyprianus, serm. de Ratione circumcisionis, est corrosorium sal, desiccans recrudescentes carnis putredines.» Hinc SS. Hilarius, Antonius, Paulus, Pachomius, Barlaam caeterique anachoritae, teste SS. Hieronymo, Athanasio, Palladio, Cassiano et aliis, vestiebantur cilicio vel sacco cilicino, uti hodie vestiuntur Capucini, atque olim vestiebatur Elias, Elisaeus caeterique Prophetae, uti ostendi prooemio in Minores Prophetas; imo Deus Adae fecit tunicas non byssinas, laneas aut lineas, sed pelliceas et duras, ut iis quasi ciliciis carnem domaret et peccati sui poenitentiam ageret, ut dixi, Genes. iii, 21. Celebris est gnome Augusti Caesaris apud Suetonium: «Vestitus insignis ac mollis, superbiae vexillum est indeque luxuriae.» Vis exempla? Accipe: S. Ephrem vitam S. Abrahae eremitae ita concludit: «In omnibus quinquaginta abstinentiae suae annis, vestem cilicinam qua indutus fuerat non mutavit.» S. Clara per viginti octo annos, licet infirma, cilicium e setis porcinis gestavit. S. Josaphat Rex, regnum cum eremio commutans, asperum sibi a Barlaam datum cilicium sub veste ad nudam carnem portabat, teste Damasceno in Histor., cap. xxxvii. Theodoretus in Histor. relig., cap. xxxvii, de S. Abrahamo eremita ita scribit: «Hunc quoque desideravit videre imperator, et ad se accersivit et veniens salutavit et excepit; et agreste illud cilicium sua purpura existimavit praestantius.» S. Guilielmus, dux Aquitaniae, conversus a S. Bernardo, lorica ferrea carnem suam domabat et contra tentationes armabat. Idem fecit S. Dominicus, qui ideo Loricati cognomen accepit: durum sane et ferreum cilicium. S. Martini, teste Sulpitio, sententia fuit: «Decet Christianum in cinere mori;» unde ipse recubans in cinere et cilicio mortuus est, aeque ac S. Anselmus, S. Carolus Borromaeus pluresque alii. Quin et Josaphat patrem suum Abenner regem in cilicio sepelivit, teste Damasc. in Histor. i, 35. ET ZONAM PELLICEAM CIRCA LUMBOS SUOS. — Prophetae, imo omnes Judaei et Syri longa utebantur veste: unde ne illa difflueret et gressum impediret zona eam succingebant, ut essent expediti ad iter et robusti ad opus. Hinc monet Christus ut lumbis simus succincti (Luc. xii, 35; Ephes. vi, 14). Vide ibi dicta. Joannes vero insuper lumbos succingebat zona pellicea, ut illa magis vestem cilicinam corpori apprimeret, itaque magis carnem pungeret et mortificaret ac spiritui subjectam redderet; in lumbis enim est origo seminis et libidinis; qua in re imitatus est Eliam, cujus hoc est elogium: «Vir pilosus, et zona pellicea accinctus renibus» (IV Reg. i, 8). Tritum est illud: «Accincta vestis, accincta mens; discincta vestis, discincta mens.» Nam, ut ait Ecclesiasticus, cap. xix, 27: «Amictus corporis, et risus dentium, et ingressus hominis enuntiant de illo.» Unde Sylla Pompeium et Romanos Senatores monebat ut male praecinctum puerum caverent, in eo enim multos inesse Marios. Erat is Julius Caesar qui tum puer, sed postea vir, Pompeium, senatum et nobilitatem Romanam oppressit. Ita Macrobius, lib. II Saturnal., c. ix. Vide S. Chrysostomum hic et Cassianum, lib. I De Habitu monachi, cap. 1, qui ita inchoat: «Itaque monachum ut militem Christi, in procinctu semper belli positum, accinctis lumbis jugiter opus est incedere,» idque probat exemplo Eliae, Joannis Baptistae, Petri et Pauli. Esca Autem Ejus Erat Locustae, et Mel Sylvestre. Pro locusta Graece est akrides, per quod: primo perperam Beza accipit pyra sylvestria; haec enim non vocantur akrides, sed achrades. Achras enim est pyrus sylvestris, spinae genus, item pyrum agreste. Unde Columella, lib. x: Palmitibusque feris laetatur et aspera silvis Achrados. Hoc est pyraster, sive pyrus sylvestris. Secundo, perperam quoque nonnulli apud Epiphanium, haeres. 30, quae est Ebionaeorum, per akrides, accipiunt enkrides, id est bellaria ex melle et oleo confecta. Tertio, alii Novantes per akrides accipiunt cancros marinos. Verum hi non vocantur akrides, sed akarides, vel karides apud Athenaeum; apud alios vero karabis. Et unde, quaeso, cancros marinos habuisset Joannes in deserto? Adde cancros, utpote reptantes super terram, lege fuisse Judaeis vetitos, Levit. xi, 41. Denique cancri hi deliciae sunt divitum, a quibus abhorrebat Baptista. Quarto, alii akrides vertunt herbas, vel arborum frondiumque summitates. Unde Aethiopicus vertit: «Esca ejus erant attenda, id est extremitates herbarum cum melle sylvestri,» in mel intinctae. Verum dico akrides sunt locustae, uti vertit Noster, Syrus et Arabicus (Aegyptius vertit cicadae, sed per eas intelligunt locustas; sunt enim locustae quae canunt ut cicadae), ita dictae, quod ta akra, id est summitates aristarum et plantarum advolantes depascantur. Ita Theocritus et alii passim in Lexicis. Unde Origenes, Hilarius, Ambrosius, Chrysostomus, Augustinus apud Canisium, lib. I De corruptela Verbi Dei, cap. iv, per akrides accipiunt insecti genus saltando volitans, uti sunt locustae, quas comedi solitas ab Aethiopibus, Libyis, Parthis aliisque Orientalibus docet Plinius, lib. xi, cap. xxxv, et lib. vi, cap. xxx. Unde hi a Diodoro Siculo, lib. III, c. iii, vocantur akridophagoi, id est locustivori, et S. Hieronymus, lib. II Contra Jovinianum: «Orientales, ait, et Libyae populos, quia per desertum et calidam eremi vastitatem locustarum nubes reperiuntur, locustis vesci moris est. Hoc verum esse Joannes quoque Baptista probat.» Hinc et locusta, quia salit quasi mundum animal, inter escas Judaeis a Deo permissas ponitur, Levit. xi, 22. Nec id mirum, cum in historiis legamus Germanos milites olim bombyces frixos comedisse, Italos mustelas, Hispanos testudines domiportas: multi quoque hodie edunt ostrea et conchylia etiam cruda, quae ex putredine procreari scimus. Porro locustas prisci manducabant vel elixas, vel tostas et in pollinem redactas; imo sole, vel sale et fumo duratas in totum annum servabant. Denique locusta vilis est cibus, temperantiae, paupertatis et paenitentiae index. Hieronymus Mercurialis, lib. II Variar. Lect., cap. xx, docet locustas cibum esse siccum et vitam abbreviare ac pediculos morbosque generare; sed Dei beneficio aliter factum in Joanne Baptista, qui locustis vescens sanus vegetusque vixit, ac validus Dei praeco, acer gulae, luxuriae omniumque scelerum castigator, et coelestis regni praedicator exemplo magis quam verbo evasit. De potu Joannis hic tacetur, quia constat eum nonnisi aquam bibisse; in deserto enim nil aliud reperiebat. Unde Angelus de eo: «Vinum, ait, et siceram non bibet» (Luc. i, 15). «Et mel sylvestre.» — Quaeres quodnam et quale hoc mel? Primo, Rabanus censet esse arborum folia candida et tenera, quae manibus confricata et trita, odorem et saporem quasi mellitum exhibent. Secundo, Jacobus Faber Stapulensis putat mel hoc esse illud quod Plinius, lib. xi, c. xvi, inter genera mellis facit tertium, et ericaeum vocat ab erica, qui frutex est autumni tempore florens, cum reliquae herbae et virgulta deflorent; estque id mel insuave. Tertio, alii putant mel hoc esse humorem ex arborum foliis collectum. Quarto, Suidas aestimat esse rorem, qui ex fruticibus et arboribus decerptus, manna dicitur. Quinto et genuine, S. Chrysostomus, Theophylactus, Euthymius hic et Isidorus Pelusiota, lib. I, epist. 3 et epist. 132, censent hoc mel esse agreste ab agrestibus apibus, quae in arboribus aut lapidum scissuris mellificant, confectum, quod amari et ingrati saporis esse docent Euthymius et Isidorus Pelusiota. Porro Aethiopicus habet sedena, quae vox significat mel quoddam particulare communi suavius et sanius, quod conficit certum genus apum, ab Aethiopibus vocatum tasma, minus caeteris instar muscae.
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5. TUNC EXIBAT AD EUM HIEROSOLYMA, ET OMNIS JUDAEA, ET OMNIS REGIO CIRCA JORDANEM. — Tunc, cum scilicet fama vitae eremiticae, austerae et sanctae S. Joannis, aeque ac praedicationis ejus tam seriae et ardentis, ubique vulgaretur: hac enim fama Joannis, Hierosolymitae et Judaei exciti et spiritu Dei impulsi, ad eum accurrebant, ut hominem novum quasi coelo lapsum viderent et audirent. Tanti apud omnes est sanctitas et sanctitatis opinio: quare ea excellant, qui populum ad vitae mutationem traducere satagunt, oportet. Porro, Jordanis Hebr. dicitur quasi iored min dan, id est descendens ex Dan civitate, quae postea a Philippo tetrarcha aedificiis aucta et illustrata, in gratiam Tiberii Caesaris dicta est Caesarea Philippi. Dan Hebr. significat judicium. Unde mystice notat eos qui timent Dei judicium accurrere ad sanctos praedicatores, qualis erat Joannes, ut ab eis viam salutis ediscant, itaque in die judicii a Christo judice coelo adjudicentur.
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6. ET BAPTIZABANTUR AB EO IN JORDANE CONFITENTES PECCATA SUA. — Inepte Calvinus «baptizabantur» interpretatur, docebantur baptismum poenitentiae; nolens enim fuit Joannis verus baptismus, sed tantum catechesis et institutio ad baptismum Christi: baptismus enim Joannis non erat Sacramentum nec dabat gratiam, sed tantum erat quaedam praeparatio et dispositio ad Christum Christique baptismum. Baptizare enim non est docere, sed corpus aqua abluere, ut patet ex versu 13. Baptismus Joannis diversus fuit a baptismo Christi, ut docui contra haereticos, Act. xix, 2. Baptismus enim Christi ex opere operato delet omnia peccata et confert gratiam et justificationem; baptismus Joannis nihil horum faciebat, sed tantum erat signum poenitentiae et ad eam stimulus, quo profitebantur se velle animam a peccatis ablui, sicut corpus aqua abluebant. Baptismus ergo Joannis tantum erat professio poenitentiae ac praeparatio ad baptismum Christi, ut per eum justificarentur. Unde venientes confitebantur peccata sua. Poenitentia enim, id est dolor de peccatis, facit ut ea quis confiteatur eorumque remedium et veniam quaerat. Sic Judaei in certis casibus peccata sua sacerdoti confiteri tenebantur, ut ostendi Levit. v, 5, et cap. vi, 6 et 7, et Num. v, 7. Haec tamen confessio non erat sacramentum nec peccata condonabat, ut fit in confessione a Christo instituta; in ea enim, tamquam in sacramento, sacerdos virtute a Christo in ordinatione sibi collata absolvit confitentem a peccatis. Illa ergo Judaeorum confessio tantum erat indicium poenitentiae et compunctionis, id est contritionis internae, quae, si perfecta erat, puta ex amore Dei super omnia proficiscens, peccata delebat et justificabat. «Charitas enim cooperit multitudinem peccatorum» (Jac. v). At si haec contritio erat imperfecta, ita ut esset tantum attritio ex metu suppliciorum nata, peccatum non tollebat nec conferebat gratiam justificantem, sed disponebat ad contritionem et attritum ad justificandum per eam excitabat.
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7. VIDENS AUTEM MULTOS PHARISAEORUM ET SADDUCAEORUM VENIENTES AD BAPTISMUM SUUM, DIXIT EIS: PROGENIES VIPERARUM, QUIS DEMONSTRAVIT VOBIS FUGERE A VENTURA IRA? — Dicti sunt Sadducaei, id est justi, quia justitiae nomen sibi arrogabant, vel potius a Sadoc, eorum auctore: dicti sunt Pharisaei, id est expositores et explanatores legis, aut separati (radix enim pharas significat separare indeque exponere, quia dum partes rei convolutae singulae a singulis separantur, tunc res tota distincta ob oculos posita explicatur, aperitur et exponitur) a vulgo, ob doctrinam et sanctitatem, quorum magistri et principes fuere R. Hillel et Sammai, paulo ante Christum, ait S. Hieronymus in cap. VIII Isaiae. Utrique semper virtuti et veritati fuere adversi. Unde a S. Joanne hic gravissime increpantur, tum quia erant superbi, vana scientiae et sanctitatis opinione inflati; tum quia erant hypocritae et fictae quasi sanctitatis studiosi, baptismum cum aliis expetebant a sanctissimo viro Joanne, ut et ipsi sancti a populo haberentur. Ita Origenes tomo VI in Joannem. Adde hac ratione volebant devincire sibi Joannem eique os claudere, ne in illorum vitia detonaret. Idem nunc faciunt Politici. Hinc Christus, Matth. XXI, 26, et toto cap. XXIII, acriter eorum ambitionem, avaritiam, praeprosteram et perversam legis explicationem aliaque scelera redarguit, eisque vae aeternae damnationis intentat, atque ideo ipsi necem Christo machinati sunt et reipsa intulerunt, ac post eum sanctum Stephanum et primos Christianos ad necem persecuti sunt, ut patet, Actor. IV; tum quia verum est vetus dictum: «Figulus figulo invidet, faber fabro, doctor doctori;» tum quia Christiana sapientia contraria erat, et redarguebat Pharisaeorum judaismum, insipientes eorum legis interpretationes ac multo magis mores impuros et impios. Soli Esseni ob fidei morumque pietatem Christo et Christianis faverunt, imo Christiani effecti primi monasticen exercuerunt, sub sancto Marco, ut dixi, Actor. V, 2. Primitus, tempore Jonathae, qui fuit frater Judae Machabaei, erant tres sectae Judaeorum, scilicet Pharisaei, Esseni, Sadducaei, de quibus ita scribit Josephus, lib. XIII Antiquit., cap. IX: «Hoc tempore (Jonathae) tres Judaeorum sectae erant, quae de rebus humanis inter se dissentiebant: una Pharisaeorum dicta, altera Sadducaeorum, tertia Essenorum. Horum Pharisaei quaedam, at non omnia fato tribuunt, quaedam vero in sua potestate, aiunt, ut vel fiant, vel non fiant. Esseni vero omnia in fati potestate esse affirmant, nec quidquam hominibus praeter fati decretum accidere. At Sadducaei fatum omnino negant et e rebus tollunt, dicentes nihil fataliter evenire hominibus, et omnia in nostra ipsorum potestate esse, ut tam felicitatis nobis ipsi auctores simus, quam infortunii, si deteriora consilia secuti fuerimus.» Fusius hasce tres sectas eorumque dogmata et mores idem prosequitur, lib. II Belli, cap. VII, ubi docet Pharisaeos certiorem legalium rituum notitiam fuisse professos; Sadducaeos negasse numen sive providentiam, et animarum post mortem praemia vel supplicia, quod unicum est fraenum ad cohibendum se a peccato sancteque vivendum: quo amoto, homines quasi effraenes equi ruunt in omnes voluptates. Unde S. Lucas, Actor. XXIII, 8: «Sadducaei, inquit, dicunt non esse resurrectionem, neque angelum, neque spiritum; Pharisaei autem utraque confitentur.» Sadducaei enim Graecorum (quibus tum suberat Judaea) sophistarum et atheorum fabulas secuti, ridebant campos beatorum Elysios, Orcum, Cerberum, gehennam, etc.: hos impugnabant Pharisaei, priscorum patrum Abrahae, Moysis et Prophetarum fidem spemque sectantes, eosque secutus est populus; Sadducaeos vero optimates, et, ut videtur, Herodes, qui quasi atheus vixit, effusus in omnem libertatem et saevitiam. Utrique, veniente Christo, contra eum quasi communem Judaeorum hostem conspirarunt. Contra Sadducaeos scriptus est liber Sapientiae, et liber secundus Machabaeorum. Vide dicta in argumento Sapientiae. DIXIT EIS: PROGENIES VIPERARUM. — Est Hebraismus, q. d. Vos estis viperae a viperis geniti, hoc est pessimorum parentum filii pessimi, noxii plane, callidi et venenati, qui vestros virulentos, quos a parentibus virulentis hausistis et haereditastis, mores et errores in discipulos velut in filios propagatis, quibus eorum animas necatis et perditis. Ita S. Hieronymus in cap. XXX Isaiae, et Gregorius, homil. 20 in Evang. Vipera enim morsus adeo noxius et exitialis est, ut mortem in septem horis afferat, aut, ut longissime, tertia die. Ita Gesnerus, lib. De Serpente, in Vipera. Sic haec Joannis verba explicat Christus, Matt. XXIII, 31, dicens: «Itaque testimonio estis vobismetipsis, quia filii estis eorum qui Prophetas occiderunt. Et vos implete mensuram patrum vestrorum. Serpentes et genimina viperarum, quomodo fugietis a judicio gehennae?» Addit secundo Plinius, lib. X, cap. LXII, foetus viperarum nascendi avidos uterum corrodere, itaque matrem occidendo, in lucem prodire. Audi Plinium: «Viperae mas caput inserit in os, quod illa abrodit voluptatis dulcedine. Terrestrium eadem sola intra se parit ova, unius coloris et mollia, ut pisces. Tertia die intra uterum catulos excludit, deinde singulos diebus singulis parit viginti fere numero.» Idem tradit Nicander, Herodotus, Plutarchus, Galenus, Aelianus, ac S. Hieronymus et S. Basilius, homil. 9 Hexam., quos citat Gesnerus in Vipera. Unde Lucanus: «Viperei coeunt abrupto corpore nati.» Et Caelius Rhodiginus, lib. III Variat. Lection., cap. XXXVII, ait hac de causa quibusdam videri parricidas olim insutos culeo cum vipera praefocatos fuisse, quia vipera matricida est: inde etiam dictam viperam, quod vi pariat, aut vi pereat. Graece vero vipera dicitur echidna, para to echein en heautei gonen mechri thanatou, id est, quod contineat in se foetus usque ad mortem et interitum, aiunt Lexicographi. Sic sensus magis appositus et profundior erit, q. d. Vos, o Pharisaei et Sadducaei, estis quasi viperae, quia sicut vipera maris ventrem erodit et occidit, ut in vitam prodeat; sic vos matrem vestram Synagogam ac patres spirituales, scilicet veros Dei Prophetas et Doctores lancinatis et occiditis, ut in vestra cupiditate et ambitione gloriose vivatis. Ita S. Chrysostomus hic, homil. 11; Euthymius; S. Hieronymus, epistol. ad Praesidium; Isidorus Pelusiota, lib. I, epistol. 105; S. Gregorius, lib. XV Moral., cap. IX; S. Augustinus, serm. 83 De Tempore. Verum hanc de vipera traditionem, quod nascens ventrem matris erodat, Gesnerus loco citato, et Matthiolus in lib. II Dioscoridis, cap. XVI, ac Albertus Magnus, lib. XXV Histor. animal., refellunt multorum experientia, qui viperas in capsa aut vitro parere viderunt more aliorum animalium, sine matris parientis erosione vel interitu. Idem mihi asseruit Romae noster Collegii Romani pharmacopaeus, qui crebro viperas alit et parientes observat, ex eisque theriacam singularem efficit, quae a Romanis, Italis et Transalpinis avide expetitur. Quare viperam dici censet Gesnerus, non quod vi pereat, sed quasi viviparam, eo quod sola inter serpentes non ova, sed vivum animal pariat, teste Theophrasto, lib. VII, cap. XIV, et Aristotele, lib. V Histor. animal., cap. XXXIV, qui ait: «Vipera e serpentibus una animal edit, cum intra se primum ova peperit.» Addit Aristoteles foetus viperae rumpere secundinas, non uterum matris, sicut pulli gallinae rumpunt ovi corticem cui includuntur, ut in lucem prodeant. Audi Aristotelem: «Parit catulos obvolutos membranis, quae tertia die rumpuntur: evenit interdum, ut qui in utero adhuc sunt, abrosis membranis, prorumpant: singulos diebus singulis parit plures quam viginti.» Haec ex Aristotele transcripsisse more suo videtur Plinius, sed male itaque per membranas accipit latera matris, cum secundinas intelligat Aristoteles, quibus involuta vipera nascitur, et cum nata est, extra uterum matris eas rumpit, ut lucem aspiciat. Simili modo olim multa credita sunt, quae posteritas falsa esse deprehendit, ut quod salamandra vivat in igne; consumitur enim igne, esto non ita cito, ut alii serpentes, quia frigida est: quod phoenix una sit in mundo quae seipsam resuscitet: quod chamaeleon vivat ex aere, vivit enim ex rore et muscis in aere volantibus. Sic pariter fabula est viperas ore coire, feminam maris caput demordere, foetus matris uterum erodere eamque occidendo nasci. Doctores ergo et Patres, praesertim Epiphanius, haeresi 26, in fine, qui haec asserunt, secuti sunt vulgatam opinionem, ut ex ea aptam tropologiam contexerent. Tertio, viperae amant vinum, adeoque vino capiuntur, ait Aristoteles, lib. VIII Histor. animal., cap. IV. Insuper in libidinem sunt effusae, ideoque tot catulos generant. Apte ergo S. Joannes per viperas taxavit Pharisaeorum intemperantiam, gulam scilicet et luxuriam. Quarto, viperae vorant scorpios, quorum venenum summe est exitiale, ideoque viperarum morsus magis sunt venenati, teste Aristotele, lib. VIII Histor. animal., cap. XXIX; ita Pharisaei et Sadducaei e venenatis Rabbinorum suorum dogmatibus, virus suorum errorum augebant. Rursum viperae notant detractiones et calumnias quas Judaei interserunt in Joannem et Christum. Detractionis enim symbolum est dens serpentinus et viperinus, juxta illud, Deuter. XXXII, in sensu mystico: «Dentes bestiarum immittam in eos, cum furore trahentium super terram atque serpentium.» Fingunt poetae «Cadmum Agenoris Phoenicum regis filium, serpentinos dentes seminasse et ex eis illico armatos milites natos esse, qui ad invicem contra seipsos insurgentes, caede mutua corruere omnes.» Haec dentium fictio repraesentat detractiones, quia dentes a demendo dicuntur, ait Cassiodorus in Psal.; quare non improprie detractorum linguae dentes vocantur, quia sicut dentes partes ciborum demunt, ita hominum famam et honorem jugiter corrodunt detractores. Ex his ergo dentibus a diabolo in mundo seminatis, id est mediantibus detractoribus, lites, bella et contentiones oriuntur. Quinto, S. Ambrosius in Luc., cap. III, 7, censet in viperis notari prudentiam Pharisaeorum, juxta illud, Matth. X: «Estote ergo prudentes sicut serpentes;» «serpens enim per prudentiam praevidet futura, venenum tamen non deserit: sic isti provida quadam devotione profutura et sponte deposcunt, nempe Joannis baptismum, adhuc tamen non relinquunt noxia et peccata.» Sexto, viperae, exempto veneno, anginae, caligini oculorum, elephantiae multisque aliis morbis medentur, teste lib. I Dioscoridis, cap. XVI. Unde Aegyptii viperas comedebant, teste Galeno, lib. III Aliment. facul., aeque ac Indi, teste Plinio, lib. VII; quin et ex viperis fit theriaca, praesentissimum contra venena, pestem caeterosque morbos remedium. Sic Pharisaei, demptis erroribus, populum docebant veram fidem, legem et pietatem. Unde Christus: «Super cathedram Moysi, ait, sederunt Scribae et Pharisaei. Omnia ergo quaecumque dixerint vobis, servate et facite; secundum opera vero eorum nolite facere: dicunt enim et non faciunt» (Matth. XXIII, 1 et 2). QUIS DEMONSTRAVIT VOBIS FUGERE A VENTURA IRA? — Fugere, id est effugere: Hebraei enim per verbum simplex significant omnia composita, utpote quibus carent. Rursum fugere hic denotat actum non inchoatum sed perfectum, idemque est quod fugiendo evadere Dei iram et gehennam, juxta Canonem 12. Pro demonstravit, Graece est hypedeixen, quod primo vertas, praemonstravit; secundo, suggessit, submonuit; tertio, demonstravit per rationes et exempla; unde hypodeixis, est demonstratio. VENTURA IRA. — Est non tam excidium Judaeae per Titum, quam ira judicis Christi, quam ostendet impiis reprobandis in die judicii, ac ultio et sententia damnationis quam in eos proferet, ipsaque aeterna damnatio et gehenna, ut exponit Christus, Matth. XXIII, 33. Hanc enim Christi iram iratumque vultum ita expavescent impii, ut dicant «montibus: Cadite super nos, et abscondite nos a facie sedentis super thronum et ab ira Agni: quoniam dies magnus irae ipsorum, et quis poterit stare?» (Apocal. VI, 16). S. Joannes enim uti praeco fuit regni coelorum, illud paenitentibus promittens, sic et praeco fuit Dei et gehennae, illam impoenitentibus, quales erant Pharisaei et Sadducaei, intentans. Idem faciat praedicator, uti fecit Isaias, cap. II, 19, et Osee, cap. X, 8, et Christus, Luc. XXIII, 30. Sensus ergo planus et germanus est, q. d. «Quis demonstravit vobis fugere,» quod effugietis, vel modum effugiendi venturam iram, id est Christi irati judicium, vindictam et damnationem aeternam? Sic enim Joannem explicat Christus, cum eisdem Scribis et Pharisaeis comminatur gehennam, Matth. XXIII, 33, dicens: «Serpentes, genimina viperarum, quomodo fugietis a judicio gehennae?» q. d. Minime fugietis aut fugere poteritis judicium gehennae, sed in illud certo certius incidetis, quia estis genimina viperarum, id est innatam et longo usu confirmatam habetis hypocrisim et malignitatem, a qua avelli non potestis, quia non vultis: ficti enim ad me acceditis quasi poenitentes, cum vel non credatis Dei providentiam, iram et vindictam, uti non credebant Sadducaei; vel si eam creditis, uti credebant Pharisaei, eam non timetis, quia superbe putatis vos esse justos. Hos ergo Joannes graviter increpat. q. d. Quis vobis promisit quod evadetis gehennam? falsissima enim est vestra persuasio, o Sadducaei, quod non sit gehenna. Vanissima quoque est vestra praesumptio et securitas, o Pharisaei, quod non timeatis gehennam, eo quod superbe aestimetis vos esse justos. Emphasis est in verbo demonstravit, q. d. Ita secure vivitis et vestris cupiditatibus indormitis, ac si nulla post hanc vitam sit Dei vindicta et scelerum castigatio, aut certe vobis illa non sit metuenda. Unde vobis ista securitas, unde ista demonstratio? Quis vobis id certa et evidenti ratione demonstravit? certe nemo, nisi vestra superba stultaque persuasio. Aliter Jansenius et Franciscus Lucas, qui censent haec verba esse Joannis increpantis hypocrisin Pharisaeorum et Sadducaeorum. q. d. Non credo vos sincere ad baptismum meum accedere, sed ficte et hypocritice; quis enim vobis demonstrare potuisset fugiendam esse per meum poenitentiae baptismum venturam Dei iram, cum eam vel non credatis, uti Sadducaei, vel non timeatis, uti Pharisaei? incredulis enim et arrogantibus nihil demonstrari vel persuaderi potest, quod eorum opinioni et arrogantiae sit contrarium: quare vos poenitentiam ex animo non facitis, sed simulatis et fingitis vos iram Dei fugere. Aliter quoque Maldonatus, qui censet haec verba esse Joannis admirantis tantam tamque subitam Sadducaeorum et Pharisaeorum conversionem, q. d. Quis demonstravit vobis ut Dei judicium et gehennam timeatis, quam antea non credebatis, vel non timebatis? «Unde tanta in vobis mutatio? utique non a vobis, sed a potenti Dei gratia et inoperatione, ait S. Chrysostomus, ac a mala vestra conscientia, quae vos quasi reos accusat cogitque Dei judicium formidare.» Tropologice: S. Bernardus in Declamat. docet venturam, vel ut Graece est mellousan, id est futuram iram fugiendam esse per praesentem iram, id est paenitentiam quam quis sibi irrogat, vel irrogatam a Deo acceptat: «Quis enim, miseri, inquit, demonstravit fugere a ventura ira? Quid praesentem tantopere fugitis iram (qua futuram effugitis), flagellum timetis, declinatis virgam? et quidem in hac die vestra, quae ad pacem vobis; sed si cognovissetis et vos: mutatis, sed non effugitis poenitentiam. Nam malum impunitum esse non potest. Non punitur hic propria voluntate, punietur alibi sine fine. Misera sane et extreme plena dementiae commutatio, humanum declinare laborem, et paratum diabolo stridorem eligere sempiternum.» Peccator enim fugiens virgam Patris castigantis incidit in gehennam Dei judicis damnantis.
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8. FACITE ERGO FRUCTUS DIGNOS (Graece karpon axion, id est fructum dignum in singulari) POENITENTIAE. — id est dignos poenitentia. Graecizat Interpres; Graecum enim axios, id est dignus, Graeca syntaxi poscit genitivum. Adde genitivum poenitentiae regi tam a fructus, quam a dignos. Docet Baptista modum et medium evadendi futuram iram esse praesentem paenitentiam, sed dignam, id est veram, seriam et condignam, q. d. Quia vos, o Sadducaei, Dei providentiam et iram in impios, scilicet vindictam et gehennam non creditis: vos vero, o Pharisaei, praefisi vestris operibus, quasi justi illam non timetis; hinc utrique certo in eam incidetis: ut ergo eam evitetis, poenitentiam agite, ac errores moresque commutate, ut vos, o Sadducaei, perfidiam atheismi in fidem numinis; vos, o Pharisaei, superbiam in humilitatem, utrique gulam in abstinentiam, luxuriam in castitatem, avaritiam in eleemosynam; externam et Pharisaicam justitiam ejusque ostentationem in Christianam et internam sanctitatem transferatis. «Facite ergo fructus poenitentiae,» non simulatos et fictos, non externos, non tales quales, sed veros, internos et dignos, qui scilicet vere paenitentem decent, ac seriam paenitentiam indicant, atque ex animo vere poenitenti proficiscuntur, uti sunt lacrymae, detestatio et punitio peccatorum, ac vitae morumque seria conversio. Vide S. Gregorium, homil. 20 in Evang. Adde dignam paenitentiam esse, cum mensura doloris et paenae respondet mensurae voluptatis et culpae, ut crescente culpa crescat et paena, ac gravitas hujus illius quantitati respondeat. Longe enim graviorem paenitentiam agere debet adulter quam fur, et homicida quam adulter, et parricida quam homicida. Unde singulis peccatis paenae ex aequo decretae et admensae sunt in Canonibus paenitentialibus. Ex aequo, intellige respectu criminum et hominum, non respectu Dei. Unum enim peccatum mortale, cum sit offensa Dei eique, quantum est ex se, rationem summi boni et ultimi finis (hunc enim peccator implicite ponit in creatura quam amat, ita ut eam Deo praeponat) ac consequenter deitatem quasi adimat, ideoque peccatum sit quasi Christicidium et Deicidium, hinc infinitam quamdam malitiam in se continet, quia est offensa, injuria et violatio Dei qui est immensus et infinitus: quamobrem nulla creaturae cujuslibet paena vel paenitentia, illi ex aequo et condigne satisfieri potest; imo etiamsi omnes homines et omnes angeli sponte sua omnia tormenta gehennae per totam aeternitatem paterentur, nunquam pro uno peccato mortali dignam poenitentiam et satisfactionem Deo offerrent, sed solus Christus id facere potuit, utpote Dei Filius verusque Deus, cujus proinde poenitentia et satisfactio ratione personae, quae infinitae est dignitatis, pariter est infinita et aequalis ac condigna offensae et injuriae infinitae in Deum infinitum admissae. Tanta est peccati malitia, quam si plene perspicerent homines, utique non peccarent. Denique dignos poenitentiae fructus facit, qui conversus tanto studio servit veritati, quanto antea servivit vanitati et diabolo; ac tam ferventer amat Deum, quam antea amavit carnem et mundum, juxta illud Apostoli: «Sicut exhibuistis membra vestra servire immunditiae et iniquitati ad iniquitatem, ita nunc exhibete membra vestra servire justitiae in sanctificationem» (Rom. VI, 19). Sic fecit S. Magdalena, S. Petrus, S. Paulus, S. Maria Aegyptiaca, S. Pelagia aliique poenitentes. Lege eorum vitas, illosque imitare. Ita fiet illud sancti Gregorii: «Plerumque gratior est Deo fervens post culpam vita, quam securitate torpens innocentia.» Vide S. Chrysostomum, Tertullianum, Patianum, tract. De Paenitentia; Climacum, gradu V, qui est de accurata poenitentia, ubi eam ita describit: «Poenitentia est corporeae consolationis perpetua et jugis repudiatio. Poenitentia est voluntaria earum rerum omnium quae affligunt, toleratio. Paenitentia est cruciatuum sibi semper opifex. Paenitentia est valida ventris afflictio animaeque in sensu firmissimo jugis reprehensio.» Lege sequentia, et vivam digne poenitentium effigiem inspicies.
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9. ET NE VELITIS DICERE INTRA VOS: PATREM HABEMUS ABRAHAM. DICO ENIM VOBIS, QUONIAM POTENS EST DEUS DE LAPIDIBUS ISTIS SUSCITARE FILIOS ABRAHAE. — Pro ne velitis Graece est me doxete, id est ne videamini, ne opinemini, ne reputetis, ne gloriemini dicere intra vos, in animo cogitare, vobisque blandiri, ut in hac cogitatione innixi secure conquiescatis et in utramque aurem dormiatis: «Patrem habemus Abraham.» Solebant enim Judaei confidere et gloriari in hoc, quod essent filii Abrahae; unde illud Christo objecerunt: «Semen Abrahae sumus» (Joan. VIII, 33). Haec erat eorum superba reputatio, haec vana confidentia, haec stulta gloriatio, quam hic eis extundit S. Joannes. Sensus ergo est, q. d. Abraham fuit Patriarcha sanctissimus Deique amicus, cui Deus promisit benedictionem et salutem transfundendam in ejus filios, Gen. XII, 2, et cap. XXII, 17; nos autem sumus filii Abrahae: ergo haeredes sumus benedictionis et salutis Abrahae et semini ejus promissae. Esto ergo libere vivamus, nec paenitentiam condignam agamus, tamen ex hoc quod sumus filii Abrahae salvabimur; tum quia Deus fidelis est in promissis, ut quod promisit, certo praestet; tum quia alioqui Abraham tantus Patriarcha fraudaretur filiis, et filiorum suorum salute sibi a Deo promissa, ac stirps Abrahae deficeret. Respondet Joannes, aeque ac S. Paulus, Rom. IX, filios Abrahae, haeredes benedictionis et salutis ipsi promissae, non censeri carnali origine, sed spirituali fide et virtute, nimirum filios Abrahae aestimari, non qui ex Abraham geniti sunt, sed qui fidem et sanctitatem Abrahae imitantur: quare etiamsi Sadducaei et Pharisaei caeterique Judaei ob suam impietatem excidant a justitia et salute, Deum tamen suffecturum in eorum locum alios, puta Gentiles, eosque Abrahae daturum quasi filios, qui in ejus benedictionem, id est gratiam et gloriam succedant, q. d. Licet vos, o Judaei, pereatis, non ideo peribit benedictio et salus semini Abrahae promissa, sed a vobis indignis ad alios dignos transferetur; quare nolite gloriari et objectare: «Patrem habemus Abraham,» imo magis erubescite, quia patrem non imitamini, ait S. Chrysostomus. «Non enim successio carnis quaeritur, inquit S. Hilarius, sed fidei haereditas dignitasque originis in operum consistit exemplis, et prosapiae gloria fidei imitatione retinetur.» QUONIAM POTENS EST DEUS DE LAPIDIBUS ISTIS SUSCITARE FILIOS ABRAHAE. — Graece est to Abraam. Vox ergo Abrahae est dativi casus, non genitivi, q. d. Vobis, o Judaei, pereuntibus, non fraudabitur Abraham sua sobole et stirpe benedicta, quia Deus, qui fidelis est in promissis, si opus sit, de lapidibus quos hic in ripa Jordanis acervatim jacere videtis, potest efficere filios Abrahae. Porro Joannes baptizabat et praedicabat in Bethabara, id est in domo trajectus, ubi scilicet filii Israel, duce Josue, transierunt sicco pede Jordanem, miraculose a Deo divisum et siccatum; unde in memoriam tanti miraculi Josue eodem loco erexit duodecim lapides in medio Jordanis alveo, atque illos lapides designasse hic et demonstrasse Joannem censent Remigius, S. Anselmus ac ex iis Pineda, in cap. I Job., 1, n. 38. Hi enim lapides erant typus et figura Gentium errorum et ignorantiae fluctibus obrutarum, sed tandem per Christum et Apostolos de imo idololatriae alveo ad Ecclesiam et filiorum Dei gloriam per baptismum suscitandarum. Quaeres, quomodo hoc sit verum? quomodo enim filii lapidum possunt esse filii Abrahae jam defuncti; et si ex lapidibus excitati ac animati sint a Deo, quomodo ab Abraham sunt geniti? Multi ad allegoriam confugiunt, sed dico proprie, ut verba sonant, id verum esse. Primo, quia potest Deus ex lapidibus homines efficere, quos ipse sua intentione et voluntate Abrahae in filios arroget, aut Abraham sibi adoptet, non minus quam potuit Adamum plasmare ex terra, et Evam ex costa Adae, ac ex sterili Sara Isaacum Abrahae producere (Gen. XVIII, 11 et seq.). Alludit ad cap. LI Isaiae, 1: «Attendite, inquit, ad petram (ecce lapides) unde excisi estis, et ad cavernam laci de qua praecisi estis,» hoc est, ut explicans subdit: «Attendite ad Abraham patrem vestrum, et ad Saram quae peperit vos,» q. d. Abraham est quasi petra, et Sara quasi caverna laci, de qua vos, o Judaei, quasi lapides vivi, praecisi et prognati estis. Secundo physice et praecise, q. d. Sicut Deus uxorem Lot in statuam salis convertit, ita vicissim potest saxa immediate in homines et filios Abrahae, qui ex Abraham prognati sunt, convertere; imo potest Deus per absolutam potentiam quamvis substantiam creatam transmutare in aliam totaliter, puta tam quoad materiam, quam quoad formam. Sufficit enim ad veram conversionem, ut sola accidentia eadem remaneant, ut patet in transsubstantiatione, qua tota substantia panis convertitur in corpus Christi in Eucharistia, solis accidentibus panis remanentibus. Ita S. Thomas, III part., Q. LXXV, art. 4. Quocirca potest Deus ex lapidibus suscitare filios Abrahae, etiam jam vita functos et mortuos, quia potest convertere lapides in corpora mortuorum, illaque animare et a morte suscitare. Comparat S. Joannes Sadducaeos et Pharisaeos lapidibus, tum ut eorum duritiem et obstinationem in malo denotet, tum ut superbos humiliet, q. d. O tumidi Pharisaei, lapidibus non estis meliores, quantum est ex vobis; sed quod lapidibus praecellatis, hoc habetis a Deo; Deus enim vos fecit Abrahae filios, et si superbiatis, vos ex Abrahae familia expunget aliosque in vestrum locum ex lapidibus quoque, si velit, suscitabit. Sic fecisse Pyrrham cum Deucalione marito narrant vel potius fabulantur poetae, scilicet illos jecisse post tergum lapides qui in homines conversi sint, itaque genus humanum diluvio perditum reparasse; nam lapides quos Deucalion jaciebat, in viros vertebantur, quos Pyrrha, in feminas; unde Ovidius de iis ita canit, lib. I Metamorph.: Et jussos lapides sua post vestigia mittunt, etc. Inque, brevi spatio, Superorum numine, saxa Missa viri manibus faciem traxere virorum, Et de femineo reparata est femina jactu. Inde genus durum sumus experiensque laborum, Et documenta damus qua simus origine nati. Hinc Graeci nomen laos, id est populus, derivant a laas, id est lapis, quod lapides conversi sint in homines, atque ex lapidibus robur ad laborandum et duritiem ad patiendum traxerint. Porro Joannes in lapidibus hic sigillat duritiem paenitendi in Sadducaeis et Pharisaeis, q. d. Deus potest saxa durissima mollire et convertere in carnem, ac reipsa uno verbo, dicendo: Fiat, molliet et convertet quoties volet; et vos, o Pharisaei, omnibus hisce meis, imo Dei per me loquentis sermonibus non mollimini, non convertimini; saxis ergo duriores sitis oportet, quia corda habetis adamantina. Tale cor habent obdurati, ut habuit Pharao, de quo plura dixi, Exod. VII, 3. Denique tertio Deus potest lapides quoslibet convertere in homines eisque indere fidem et pietatem Abrahae, itaque eos spirituales Abrahae filios efficere. Nam, ut ait Apostolus, Rom. IX, 7: «Non qui filii carnis, hi filii Dei, sed qui filii sunt promissionis aestimantur in semine,» id est aestimantur esse semen et filii Abrahae. Unde mystice: Deus suscitavit ex lapidibus filios Abrahae, cum Gentiles qui rudes et impoliti erant ut lapides et saxa pro diis colebant, ideoque a Davide saxis assimilantur, Psal. CXIII, 16, praesertim quia in cupiditatibus et vitiis obdurati erant quasi saxa: cum Gentiles, inquam, per fidei, obedientiae et pietatis imitationem fecit filios Abrahae; ipse enim est pater credentium et justorum. Ita S. Hieronymus, S. Hilarius, S. Augustinus, S. Ambrosius, S. Gregorius, hom. 20, et omnes veteres. Addit Euthymius id impletum in passione Christi, in qua multi obdurati videntes petras scindi aliaque prodigia, compuncti poenituerunt et crediderunt in Christum.
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10. JAM ENIM SECURIS AD RADICEM ARBORUM POSITA EST. OMNIS ERGO ARBOR QUAE NON FACIT FRUCTUM BONUM, EXCIDETUR ET IN IGNEM MITTETUR. — ut homines quasi arbores non ferentes dignos poenitentiae fructus succidat et in ignem mittat. Pro jam enim, Graece est ede de kai, id est jam vero etiam. Est enim hic alius stimulus quo Joannes Pharisaeos pungit ad agendum poenitentiam, idque cito, nimirum instans periculum succisionis et combustionis in gehenna. Ita S. Chrysostomus, Euthymius et alii, e quibus Euthymius securim ait morti, arborem homini, radicem vitae comparari. Unde Graece pro excidetur est ekkoptetai, id est exciditur, in praesenti; et pro mittetur, est balletai, id est mittitur, q. d. Jam jam excidetur et in ignem mittetur. Res ergo vestra, o Pharisaei, versatur in acie novaculae. Imminet extremum periculum, instat vobis excidium, mors et gehenna: illico ergo agite dignos poenitentiae fructus, ut illa evadatis. Sensus ergo est, q. d. Securis, id est Dei judicium et vindicta ad radices arborum, id est ad vitam singulorum hominum posita est, ut si sint infrugiferi, nec proferant dignos paenitentiae fructus, uti hucusque fecistis vos, o Sadducaei et Pharisaei, eos propediem per mortem a vita hac succidat et in ignem aeternum mittat. Si vero sint frugiferi, ac poenitentiae et bonorum operum feraces, uti sunt paenitentes et justi, eos brevi per mortem non tam succidet, quam transferet et transplantabit in coelestem paradisum, ad perennes aeternae felicitatis, gloriae et laudis divinae fructus producendos. Dices, hoc etiam verum fuit ante Christum, quomodo ergo post adventum Christi Joannes ait: «Jam enim securis, etc., posita est?» Respondetur, quia id verius et clarius est post Christum, quam fuerit ante Christum; Christus enim ad hoc in mundum venit, ut quasi Judex, Rex et Dominus omnium credentes sibique obedientes in coelum transferat, incredulos vero et rebelles morte praesenti et aeterna puniat. Ideoque primus Christus per se, per Joannem et Apostolos clare praedicavit promisitque piis regnum coelorum, impiis vero minatus est gehennam, ut scirent in sua manu esse eorum salutem et damnationem, ac ad eum conversi gehennam vitarent, et ab eo coelo adscriberentur, idque ipsum statim facere posse, ac mox facturum, cum nulla infirmitatis vel ignorantiae in hominibus jam sit excusatio uti erat in Judaeis rudibus ante Christum, quibus praemia et supplicia praesentia et temporalia, non futura et aeterna a Mose et Prophetis promittuntur vel intentantur. Secundo et aptius: securis est Christi Regis et Judicis judicium et vindicta, qua arbores non tantum noxias, sed et infrugiferas, hoc est Judaeos incredulos illico exscindet ex horto Ecclesiae, ac a stirpe, salute et benedictione Abrahae ejusque filiis promissa, illosque in ignem aeternum mittet; atque pro iis Gentes in se credentes, quasi arbores frugiferas inseret paradiso Ecclesiae suae, quae est quasi praedium et haereditas Abrahae, qui est pater credentium et justorum, ideoque easdem benedictionis et salutis Abrahae promissae faciet participes et haeredes. Minatur ergo Joannes Pharisaeis reprobationem Judaeorum ac vocationem et subrogationem Gentium, quae paulo post facta est a Christo. Christus enim Pharisaeos et Judaeos ob incredulitatem rejecit a familia Abrahae, id est ab Ecclesia fidelium ac consequenter a regno Dei, eosque addixit morti et gehennae; Gentes vero ob fidem Ecclesiae suae inseruit coeloque destinavit. Porro Toletus, in cap. IX Luc., vers. 9, carpit S. Chrysostomum dicentem securim nec radici pepercisse: dicitur enim, inquit ipse, securis posita ad radicem, nempe inter radicem et truncum, alias non esset abscindere, sed evellere. Sensum ergo esse vult, q. d. Baptista: adest jam tempus, quando incisio arborum infrugiferarum et insitio frugiferarum facienda est; prope est Christus, qui quasi securis praedicet incredulos Judaeos a radice Abrahae eosque in ignem mittet; radici vero eidem inseret et inoculabit Gentes in se credentes, juxta illud Pauli, Rom. XI: «Si aliqui ex ramis fracti sunt, tu autem cum oleaster esses, insertus es in illis, et socius radicis et pinguedinis factus es: noli gloriari adversus ramos; quod si gloriaris, non tu radicem portas, sed radix te. Dices ergo: fracti sunt rami, ut ego inserar; bene, propter incredulitatem fracti sunt.» Merito autem Gentes infideles per lapides, Judaei vero antequam praeciderentur, arbori collati sunt; arbor enim vivit et fructificat, dum radici unitur: sic Judaeus per fidem futuri vivebat spiritu, antequam per infidelitatem, quia in advenientem credere noluit, abscissus est. Haec Toletus. Verum Baptista hic tantum incisionem vel potius excisionem Judaeorum, non vero insitionem vel inoculationem Gentium in eadem radice Abrahae, puta in eadem fide et Ecclesia, perurget; inoculatio enim arborum non fit in radice, sed in ramis. Unde Paulus ait: «Fracti sunt rami, ut ego inserar.» Hic autem Baptista ait: «Jam enim securis ad radicem arborum posita est: omnis ergo arbor non faciens fructum bonum excidetur.» Ergo loquitur non de insitione vel inoculatione, sed de excisione qua arbor infrugifera radicitus ex horto exciditur et ejus loco alia frugifera in eodem plantatur. Sic enim Judaei excisi sunt ex horto Ecclesiae, qui est quasi praedium Abrahae, et Gentes in eodem a Christo et Apostolis plantatae sunt, juxta illud quod de eisdem Judaeis eorumque Synagoga, per metaphoram ficus infrugiferae ait Christus, Luc. XIII, 7: «Succide illam, ut quid etiam terram occupat?» Judaei ergo radicitus excisi sunt ex horto Abrahae, id est ex Ecclesia, quia fidem quae est quasi radix per quam horto Ecclesiae infixi erant, perdiderunt.
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11. EGO QUIDEM BAPTIZO VOS IN AQUA IN POENITENTIAM: QUI AUTEM POST ME VENTURUS EST, FORTIOR ME EST, CUJUS NON SUM DIGNUS CALCEAMENTA PORTARE; IPSE VOS BAPTIZABIT IN SPIRITU SANCTO ET IGNI. — Haec verba non sunt connectenda praecedentibus, nec immediate post ea dicta sunt a Joanne, sed interpolate per occasionem, quam supplet et explicat Lucas, dicens, c. III, 16: «Existimante autem populo, et cogitantibus omnibus in cordibus suis de Joanne, ne forte ipse esset Christus, respondit Joannes omnibus, dicens: Ego quidem aqua baptizo vos; veniet autem fortior me, cujus non sum dignus solvere corrigiam calceamentorum: ipse vos baptizabit in Spiritu sancto et igni.» Populus ergo ex sanctitate vitae et fervore praedicationis, atque ex baptismo, suspicabatur Joannem esse Messiam, sive Christum. Nullus enim caeterorum Prophetarum usus est baptismo, nisi Joannes; et Ezechielis, cap. XXXVI, baptismum Christo proprium fore praedixerat: «Effundam,» ait, «super vos aquam mundam et mundabimini ab omnibus inquinamentis vestris.» Joannes ergo hanc suspicionem eis eximit negatque se esse Christum, sed Christi anteambulonem et indicem se esse profitetur, suumque baptismum Christi baptismo praeludere, ad eumque praeparare significat. Ait ergo: EGO QUIDEM BAPTIZO VOS IN AQUA, — id est aqua sola. Est Hebraismus. Hebraei enim instrumentum denotant per praepositionem seu litteram beth, id est in, quam Latini subticent; unde dicunt bammajim, id est in aqua, hoc est aqua; in poenitentiam, ut scilicet excitem vos ad agendam poenitentiam vosque abluendo corpore praeparem ad ablutionem animae recipiendam in baptismo Christi. Baptismus ergo Joannis erat professio poenitentiae. Unde baptizandi in eo confitebantur sua peccata, non autem erat condonatio culpae; hanc enim expectare debebant a Christo per ejus baptismum, aut per veram animi contritionem. QUI AUTEM POST ME VENTURUS EST. — Graece ho erchomenos, id est qui venit in praesenti, qui adventat, qui jam imminet nobisque vicinus est. FORTIOR. — Graece Ischyroteros, id est robustior, potentior, validior, praestantior est, majoribus viribus et dotibus longe me praecellit; pollet enim coelesti divinaque vi et efficacia, qua non tantum corpus, uti ego, sed et animam spiritu gratiae suae pervadit illamque ab omni scelere expurgat et emaculat. Unde Isaias, cap. IX, inter alia epitheta Christo dat elogium fortis: «Vocabitur,» ait, «nomen ejus admirabilis, consiliarius, Deus fortis.» «Vere autem fortis fuit, qui admiranda opera divinitatis suae operatus est, qui diabolum superavit, praedam de ejus manu abstulit, regnum ejus evertit et in se transtulit, coeli portas aperuit, mortem absorbuit in victoria, peccata delevit, gratiam et gloriam comparavit,» inquit Toletus in cap. III Luc., 19. Rursum, Christus Joanne erat fortior in miraculis, quia solo nutu mortuos suscitabat, daemones pellebat, aegros sanabat, elementa mutabat, cum Joannes poenitentiis carnem domaret, ut eam spiritui subjiceret. Haec erat virtus Christi et infirmitas Joannis. CUJUS NON SUM DIGNUS CALCEAMENTA PORTARE. — S. Lucas, cap. III, 16: «Cujus non sum dignus corrigiam calceamentorum solvere;» Marcus, cap. I, 7, addit procumbens. Utrumque est verum, utrumque est vile ministerium servorum, qui herum suum, praesertim principem, procumbendo ad ejus pedes calceant et excalceant, ac ejus calceos portant, cum ipse ocreas aut crepidas induit. Joannes ergo fatetur hic se esse Christi servum et mancipium, Christum vero esse suum Dominum, imo Deum. Mystice: calceus notat humanitatem Christi, cui ut serviat, ut eamque humeris bajulet, vel manibus sustineat, Baptista se indignum profitetur; haec enim humanitas ex unione cum Verbo summae et quasi immensae erat dignitatis et majestatis. Unde S. Bernardus: «Calceo, inquit, humanitatis nostrae calceata fuit Verbi majestas;» quia enim calceamenta in extrema corporis parte sunt, et ex mortuis fiunt animalibus, idcirco, juxta S. Gregorium et S. Hieronymum in cap. I Marc., 7, recte significant incarnationem Christi, quam se explicare non posse, nec ad hoc dignum esse hic confitetur S. Joannes. Theophylactus per calceamenta accipit Christi descensum in terram, et post mortem in limbum Patrum. Tropologice: Joannes humilians se infra pedes et calceos Christi, per hanc humilitatem meruit exaltari super caput Christi illudque abluere et baptizare. IPSE VOS BAPTIZABIT IN SPIRITU SANCTO. — Id est Spiritu sancto, q. d. Christus Spiritum sanctum cum omnibus suis donis in vos effundet ita copiose, ut eo vos a peccatis omnibus abluat, ac gratia et charitate, caeterisque charismatibus suis impleat et quasi obruat. Fecit hoc Christus visibiliter in Pentecoste. Unde ipse ascensurus in coelum, ad haec verba Joannis alludens idipsumque promittens Apostolis, ait: «Joannes quidem baptizavit aqua, vos autem baptizabimini Spiritu sancto, non post multos hos dies» (Act. I, 5). Invisibiliter vero id facit in sacramento baptismi et confirmationis, quae baptismi quasi est perfectio et consummatio. Antithesis ergo Joannis et Christi est, quod Joannes solum baptizavit aqua, Christus vero aqua et Spiritu sancto; quodque Joannes corpus, Christus animam abluat: quantum ergo Spiritus sanctus aquam, ac anima corpus antecellit, tantum praestat baptismus Christi baptismo Joannis, qui tantum fuit rudimentarius. Ita Concilium Tridentinum, Sess. VII, can. 1, et passim Patres, quos citat Bellarminus, tract. De Baptismo, cap. XXI. Hinc Doctores triplicem assignant baptismum: fluminis, flaminis et sanguinis. Fluminis est, cum quis aqua baptizatur; flaminis sive spiritus est, cum quis catechumenus in carcere vel eremo, ubi non est aqua, de peccatis vere conteritur optatque baptizari: talis enim justificatur per contritionem quae includit votum baptismi; sanguinis est, cum quis necdum baptizatus, pro fide martyr occumbit: hic enim in suo sanguine baptizatur et ab omnibus peccatis abluitur. SPIRITU SANCTO ET IGNI. — Ita constanter habent Graecus, Latinus, Syrus, Arabicus, Persicus, Aegyptius, Aethiopicus. Sensus est, q. d. Baptista: meus baptismus est aqueus, Christi vero est igneus; quantum ergo ignis efficacior est aqua, tantum baptismus Christi potentior est meo. Hinc haeretici dicti Hermiani et Seleuciani baptizabant suos non aqua, sed igne, teste S. Augustino, haeres. 59. Dignus sane haeresi et haereticis fuit igneus hic baptismus, digna talibus tortoribus carnificina: jam non est quod ipsi quaerantur haereticos a Catholicis igne comburi, cum ipsimet suos igne baptizent. Quaeres, quis hic ignis? Primo, Origenes, homil. 23 in Lucam, accipit ignem purgatorii, q. d. Christus suos fideles cum peccatis venialibus decedentes expiabit igne purgatorii, juxta illud: «Uniuscujusque opus ignis probabit.» Et: «Salvus erit, sic tamen quasi per ignem» (I Cor. III). Secundo, S. Hilarius per ignem accipit judicium Christi, quod acre, clarum et horridum erit instar ignis. Tertio, S. Basilius, in cap. IV Isaiae; Damascenus, lib. IV De Fide, cap. X, et Toletus, in cap. III Luc., vers. 16, accipiunt ignem gehennae, quo reprobos Christus punit in inferno; unde explicans subdit: «Paleas autem comburet igni inextinguibili.» Quarto, Auctor Imperfecti per ignem intelligit tribulationes quibus quasi igne fideles suos affligit et a peccatis abluit Christus. Quinto et genuine, «Spiritu sancto et igni,» hoc est Spiritu sancto igneo et igniente; Spiritu sancto qui est ignis, id est qui est similis igni et quasi ignis urit et ignit. Est hendiadys. Spiritus sanctus enim quasi ignis fideles a peccatis expurgat, illuminat, accendit, sursum ad coelum rapit ac roborat, ut omnia adversa superent. Denique eos intime sibi unit et quasi ignis in se transformat. Hae enim sunt dotes ignis: purgare, tenebras expellere, lucere, inflammare, sursum rapere, roborare, in se transformare. Hinc in Pentecoste in Apostolos illapsus est Spiritus sanctus per speciem ignis et linguarum ignearum. Unde S. Chrysostomus: «Ignis, ait, commemoratione adjuncta Spiritus sancti efficacitatem signavit, gratiae ipsius robur vehemens et invictum.» Sic et Euthymius ac interpretes Aethiopici per ignem accipiunt Spiritum sanctum. Hinc in primitiva Ecclesia saepe Spiritus sanctus visibili specie ignis descendebat in baptizatos et confirmatos, ut significaretur plena purgatio peccatorum; item ignea charitas igneique sermones quos eis inspirabat Spiritus sanctus, juxta illud, Deuteronom. IV, 24: «Deus tuus ignis consumens est.» Et illud, Jerem. XXIII, 29: «Numquid non verba mea sunt sicut ignis, dicit Dominus, et quasi malleus conterens petram?» Denique duodecim baptismatum genera sive species, Scriptura colligit ex Damasceno, S. Athanasio et aliis. Toletus, in cap. III Lucae, annot. 31.
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12. CUJUS VENTILABRUM IN MANU SUA, ET PERMUNDABIT AREAM SUAM, ET CONGREGABIT TRITICUM SUUM IN HORREUM: PALEAS AUTEM COMBURET IGNI INEXTINGUIBILI. — Ventilabrum est vannus (vel ut Romae cribrum) quo agricolae segetes trituratas ex spicis excussas evannant, ventilant et in ventum jactant, ut paleis a vento abreptis, sola frumenti grana pura et a paleis separata remaneant. Graece dicitur ptyon, quod paleas quasi expuat: ptyo enim est expuo. Ventilabrum repraesentat Christi judicium et potestatem judiciariam; sicut enim ventilabro triticum a palea secernitur, sic Christus in judicio bonos a malis separabit: bonos enim a dextris statuet, malos a sinistris; bonos coelo, malos tartaro adjudicabit. Area non tam locum quam frumenta, puta segetes in area collectas significat; hae enim mundantur, ut palea a tritico separetur. Est metonymia; ponitur enim continens pro contento. Area ergo notat Ecclesiam sive coetum fidelium. Igitur ventilator est Christus Judex, ventilabrum est ejus judicium, quo singulorum cogitata, dicta factaque ventilabit et examinabit, ac bona bonosque a malis secernet. Area est Ecclesia; paleae sunt impii, quos Christus comburet igne gehennae; triticum sunt justi et sancti, quos Christus colliget in suum horreum, id est in regnum coelorum, ut iis quasi tritico pascat et oblectet S. Trinitatem, omnes Angelos totamque Ecclesiam triumphantem. Assurgit Joannes a primo gratiae adventu Christi ad secundum judicii; tum enim omnino permundabit aream, id est Ecclesiam suam, idque ut Sadducaeos et Pharisaeos hoc judicii et gehennae terrore concutiat et ad poenitentiam adigat. Porro instare et vicinum esse hoc judicium significat, cum ait hoc ventilabrum esse in manu Christi, ut scilicet illico eo segetes eventilet et paleas a tritico, id est malos a bonis sequestret: ita S. Ambrosius, in cap. III Luc., 17; licet enim usque ad diem judicii multi supersint centeni anni, tamen hi omnes, si cum aeternitate comparentur, modicum et quasi nihil sunt. Adde, Christus Dominus et Judex in manu sua habet cujusque spiritum, animam et vitam, ut eam illico tollat, si velit, judicet, beet, damnet et in coelum vel gehennam mittat. PALEAS (quanto magis zizania) AUTEM COMBURET IGNI INEXTINGUIBILI. — Impii et damnandi vocantur paleae, quia ut paleae sunt levissimi, vilissimi, inutilissimi et ad nihil fere utiles, nisi ad ignem, ut scilicet sint folles et fomenta gehennae. Pro inextinguibili, Graece est asbesto, id est inexstincto, hoc est aeterno. Hinc asbestus lapis dicitur, qui semper ardet et non extinguitur: est miosis; parum enim dicitur, et plus significatur. Ignis enim gehennae dicitur asbestos, id est inextinguibilis, non tantum quod extingui nequeat, sed et quod homines impios urendo non extinguat, imo eos perpetuo viventes jugiter cruciet et urere pergat. Damnatur ergo hic error Origenis, qui putavit poenas inferni non fore perpetuas, sed post magnum Platonis annum (quo omnia renovabuntur) finiendas. Rursum asbesto, id est inexstincto, hoc est inextinguibili, notat ignem gehennae non consumere vel incinerare corpora damnatorum, nec fomenta carbonum vel lignorum illi suggeri; quae enim posset esse materia tanta, ut sufficeret ad alendum eum per totam aeternitatem? sed ignem illum eumdem omnino numero in eodem sulphure et iisdem corporibus a Deo conservari, ut ea praesertim urat et nunquam comburat. Alludit ad cap. LXVI Isaiae, 24: «Vermis eorum non morietur, et ignis non extinguetur.» Et cap. XXXIII, 14: «Quis poterit habitare de vobis cum igne devorante? quis habitabit ex vobis cum ardoribus sempiternis?» Vide ibi dicta. Exempla dat S. Chrysostomus: «Nonne, ait, cernis solem istum semper ardentem et nunquam prorsus extinctum? (multi enim censent solem esse ignem) non legisti (Exodi III) incensum rubum, nec tamen ipso incendio concrematum?» Et S. Augustinus, lib. Contra Donatistas, post collationem, cap. IX: «Jam satis, ait, superius disputavi posse animalia (quae inde pyraustae nominantur) etiam in ignibus vivere, in ustione sine consumptione, in dolore sine morte per miraculum omnipotentissimi Creatoris, cui hoc possibile esse qui negat, a quo fit quidquid in naturis omnibus miratur, ignorat.» Cogita et horresce hunc ignem gehennae, quem nullae aquae, nullae lacrymae, imo omnia flumina, omnes abyssi, omnia maria in unum collecta, omnes daemones, omnes creaturae totis viribus suis non possunt extinguere, imo nec vel tantillum minuere: «Quia flatus Domini sicut torrens sulphuris succendens eam» (Isaiae, c. XXX, 33).
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13. TUNC VENIT JESUS A GALILAEA IN JORDANEM AD JOANNEM, UT BAPTIZARETUR AB EO. — Tunc, opportune scilicet, cum Joannes Christum praedicaret sibique praeferret, dicens se non esse dignum ejus calceamenta portare, cumque omnes excitaret ad poenitentiam et baptizando praepararet ad gratiam a Christo accipiendam, tunc, inquam, supervenit Christus, ut quem absentem commendaret, praesentem indicaret et digito ostenderet: sicut lucifer prait et ostendit solem orientem. A GALILAEA — scilicet a Nazareth, ait Marcus, cap. I, 9, patria sua, ubi cum matre hucusque privatus vixerat et cum patre Josepho artem fabrilem exercuerat usque ad annum aetatis trigesimum. Unde illo jam expleto adiit Joannem, ut ab eo declararetur Messias, hoc est orbis doctor et redemptor, utque publicum hoc docendi et legem Evangelicam instituendi officium, ad quod a Patre missus erat, habito a Joanne testimonio, inchoaret. In Jordanem, hoc est ad Jordanem, puta in Judaeam, ad eum Jordanis locum ubi Joannes baptizabat. Decreverat enim Deus, ut Christus Judaeis promissus in Judaea praedicationem inchoaret: nam alioqui per Galilaeam quoque fluit Jordanis. UT BAPTIZARETUR AB EO. — Quaeres, quae fuere causae praedicationis et baptismi Joannis, et quare Christus a Joanne baptizari voluit? «Triplicem ob causam, ait S. Hieronymus, Salvator a Joanne accepit baptismum: Primo, ut quia homo natus erat, omnem justitiam et humilitatem legis impleret; secundo, ut baptismate suo Joannis baptisma comprobaret; tertio, ut Jordanis aquas sanctificans per descensionem columbae, Spiritus sancti in lavacro credentium monstraret adventum.» Quarta causa est, ut Christus Joanni auctoritatem adderet ejusque baptismum, cui nonnulli detrahebant, probaret, ait Beda: itaque vicissim majoris auctoritatis testimonium ab eo acciperet, ut scilicet Joannes eum verum esse Messiam omnibus ad se confluentibus ostenderet, juxta id quod ipse ait: «Ut manifestetur in Israel, propterea veni ego in aqua baptizans» (Joan. I, 31), utque homines ad poenitentiam invitando per baptismum suum praepararet et assuefaceret ad baptismum Christi, ut innuit hic, vers. 11. Quinta est, ut in baptismo Spiritus sanctus specie columbae in Christum descendens, et Pater de coelo intonans: «Hic est Filius meus dilectus, in quo mihi complacui,» ipsi irrefragabile testimonium perhiberet. Ita S. Hieronymus. Sexta est, ut Christus, baptismum a Joanne suscipiens, suo exemplo omnes ad suum baptismum alliceret et fructum ejus ostenderet, scilicet Spiritus sancti donationem et illapsum. Septima, Christus in se peccata nostra susceperat, ergo quasi reus et poenitens Joanni se sistit, ut ab eo baptizatus, in se quasi luat et abluat peccata nostra. Unde Nazianzenus, orat. in sancta Luminaria: «Joannes, ait, baptizat, et accedit Jesus sanctificans quidem et ipsum qui baptizat, praecipue tamen ut et veterem Adam sepeliat in aquis.» Et mox: «Ascendit Jesus de aqua, secum quodammodo demersum educens et elevans mundum.» Hic humiliando se coram Joanne meruit Christus, ut nos doceret, ei qui animarum lucro studet, viam prius sternendam esse per multiplicem humiliationem. Octava, ut Christus, qui novam Christianorum rempublicam condere decreverat, in quam non nisi baptizati adscriberentur, esset et ipse princeps baptizatus, ut sic per omnia fratribus assimilaretur absque peccato. Celebre est illud Catonis: «Patere legem, quam ipse tuleris.» Nona, ut sicut Abraham olim veteris Synagogae jussu Dei symbolum instituit circumcisionem: sic Christus novae Ecclesiae novam tesseram daret sanciretque baptismum. Quocirca S. Thomas, III part., Quaestione LXVI, articul. 2, censet Christum, dum baptizaretur, non verbis, sed facto instituisse baptismi sacramentum, ut esset omnium peccatorum lavacrum; nam tum apparuit tota S. Trinitas, quam in forma baptismi profitemur, dicendo: «Ego te baptizo in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus sancti.» Pater enim apparuit in voce, Filius in Jordane, Spiritus sanctus in forma columbae. Verius tamen est Christum, dum baptizaretur, designasse tantum suum baptismum ejusque materiam, scilicet aquam; eum vero paulo post, dum coepit praedicare publice, instituisse, ut docet Suarez et alii plures: quare non videtur eum instituisse, dum Nicodemo secreto et nocte ad se venienti dixit: «Nisi quis renatus fuerit ex aqua et Spiritu sancto, non potest intrare in regnum Dei» (Joan. III, 5). Haec enim secreta fuit ad unum Nicodemum Christi vox; publicum autem baptismi sacramentum publice fuit instituendum et promulgandum. Indicatus ergo duntaxat a Christo fuit hic baptismus, mox a se conceptis verbis in publica populi concione et coetu instituendus. Ex hoc est quod dicere volunt S. Chrysostomus hic; S. Augustinus, sermone 36 et 37 De Tempore; S. Gregorius Nazianzenus, orat. in S. Nativitatem, et alii, dum aiunt Christum suo baptismo aquas sanctificasse et contactu corporis vim regenerativam eis indidisse, non quasi aquis indideret qualitatem physicam, sed moralem, quia scilicet tunc ipso facto ex intentione Christi deputatae et designatae sunt aquae ad sanctificandum homines eis abluendos in baptismi sacramento mox a Christo instituendo. Tropologice: Christus suo baptismo hic nos docere voluit viam sanctam et perfectam inchoandam a baptismo, id est a poenitentia, lacrymis et purificatione affectuum, idque maxime facere debere eos qui alios baptizare, id est purificare, convertere et sanctificare destinant, uti sunt doctores et praedicatores.
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14. JOANNES AUTEM PROHIBEBAT EUM. — Agnovit Joannes Christum ex privato Dei instinctu et revelatione, per quam Christum videns, facie tenus agnovit, quem ante triginta annos infantem latentem in utero matris, latens et ipse in ventre suae genitricis per mentem et spiritum agnoverat, salutarat et exultarat (Luc. I, 41). Dices, quomodo ergo, Joan. I, 33, Baptistae a Deo datur signum quo Christum agnoscat, scilicet descensio et mansio Spiritus sancti super eum? Respondetur hoc signum Baptistae dari, non ut primo Christum cognoscat, sed ut illo plenius se in hac cognitione fideque confirmet, utque eodem quasi certo Dei testimonio Christum populo ostendat et commendet. DICENS: EGO A TE DEBEO BAPTIZARI, ET TU VENIS AD ME? — Pro debeo, Graece est chreian echo, id est opus habeo, indigeo a te baptizari, id est spiritualiter ablui a levibus peccatis tuoque spiritu et gratia perfici: non ergo significat debitum praecepti, quasi Baptista obligatus fuerit suscipere baptismum Christi. Hoc enim praeceptum baptismi Christi editum et promulgatum fuit a S. Petro post mortem Baptistae et Christi in Pentecoste. Hinc tamen nonnulli colligunt Baptistam paulo post a Christo fuisse baptizatum, sicut ab eodem baptizata fuit B. Virgo, S. Petrus, Jacobus, Joannes caeterique Apostoli, uti testatur S. Evodius, qui S. Petro in cathedra Antiochena successit, epistola quae inscribitur To Phos, id est Lumen; Christum vero non decuit suo baptismo baptizari, quia ipse quasi hierarcha baptismum instituit quasi peccati remedium, ac sui suaeque Ecclesiae notam et characterem. Ita D. Thomas, Suarez et alii passim, tract. De Baptismo. Favent huic sententiae Nazianzenus, orat. 39, versus finem: «Sciebat Christus, ait, paulo post futurum, ut ipse Baptistam baptizaret,» item et S. Chrysostomus, qui dicunt Joannem baptizasse Christum aqua, Christum vero baptizasse Joannem spiritu. Unde Auctor Imperfecti hic, homil. 4: «Dum, ait, Joanni dicenti: Ego a te debeo baptizari, respondit: Modo interim sine, ostendit, quia postea Christus baptizavit Joannem, quamvis in secretioribus libris manifeste hoc scriptum esset: Joannes quidem baptizavit illum aqua, ille autem Joannem in spiritu.» Dici posset tamen Christum baptizasse Joannem spiritu, non in sacramento baptismi, sed spiritu, id est spiritualiter, quia majorem spiritus copiam ei infudit fecitque ut in gratia et charitate valde proficeret. Unde Abulensis hic, in c. III Matth., Q. LXXVIII, censet Joannem non fuisse baptizatum a Christo, idque probat ex admiratione discipulorum Joannis, qui paulo post nuntiarunt Joanni Christum, cui Joannes testimonium perhibuerat, baptizare, et omnes ad eum venire (Joan. III, 26). Hoc enim frustra illi nuntiassent, si Joannes jam a Christo baptizatus erat, idque sane eis Joannes respondisset: nisi dicas, post haec discipulorum nuntium, Joannem a Christo petiisse baptismum, ut pariter discipulos suos ad Christum ejusque baptismum adduceret. Itaque res manet dubia, adeoque problema est, an Joannes baptizatus fuerit a Christo, an non?
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15. RESPONDENS AUTEM JESUS, DIXIT EI: SINE MODO (permitte me nunc baptizari a te), SIC ENIM DECET NOS IMPLERE OMNEM JUSTITIAM. — Nos, scilicet me suscipiendo, te dando baptismum. Alii, q. d. nos, id est quotquot aliorum magistri sumus, decet eos praeire exemplo. Nihil quantumvis leviculum est praetereundum: Instituere volo baptismum; praecipientis est quod praecipit prae aliis adimplere. Unde de Christo ait Lucas: «Coepit Jesus facere et deinde docere» (Act. I, 1). «Haec est justitia,» ait S. Ambrosius, lib. II in cap. III Lucae, cap. ultimo, «ut quod alterum facere velis, prior ipse incipias, et tuo alios horteris exemplo.» Unde S. Gregorius, lib. XXXI Moral., cap. I: «Ex humilitate, inquit, vera secura semper auctoritas nascitur.» Porro, non solus Christus recipiens, sed et Joannes conferens ei baptismum, implebat omnem justitiam, tum quia contendens de humilitate et humili baptismi susceptione cum Christo, sinebat se ab eo vinci, uti par erat: unde victus a Christo humilitate, vincebat quasi Christum obedientia, cedendo et obediendo ei; sicut S. Dominicus volens dare dexteram S. Francisco, cum ille plane obsisteret et occuparet sinistram, ei dixit: «Tu me vincis humilitate, ego te vinco obedientia,» quia tibi cedo et obedio: tum quia Joannes rem valde sanctam, puta baptismum poenitentiae exercebat, ut homines praepararet ad gratiam Christi; tum quia cooperabatur summae humiliationi Christi, dando ei baptismum quem ipse poscebat, et a nullo alio, quam a Joanne accipere poterat; tum quia causa fuit, ut Christus a S. Trinitate declararetur esse Filius Dei; hoc enim factum est in baptismo. Verisimile quoque est Joannem in ipso baptismo Christum populo demonstrasse; cum enim forma baptismi Joannis fuerit haec, aut similis: «Baptizo te in nomine ejus qui venturus est.» Vel: «Crede in Messiam jamjam venturum,» ut colligitur cap. XIX, 4, videtur quod Christo veniente et baptismum recipiente, dixerit: «Hic est Messias quem venturum dixi;» quae omnia erant sanctissima, ut merito Joannes quoque dicatur hic implesse omnem justitiam. Rursum S. Hieronymus inquit: «Pulchre dixit: Sine modo, ut ostenderet Christum in aqua Joannem a Christo in Spiritu baptizandum.» Et mox: «Tu me baptizas in aqua, ut ego te baptizem pro me in sanguine tuo,» q. d. Tu me baptizas baptismo fluminis, ego te baptizo baptismo flaminis et sanguinis. SIC ENIM DECET NOS IMPLERE (Arabicus, perficere) OMNEM JUSTITIAM. — Primo: omnem justitiam, Syrus: omnem rectitudinem, hoc est quidquid justum est, rectum, sanctum et Deo gratum; nec quidquam tale recusare, etiamsi humile sit et abjectum, nec una lege cautum, sed consilium duntaxat sit, non praeceptum, quale hic est, ut ego Christus baptizer a te, o Joannes, qui es servus et creatura mea: omnis ergo justitia est quaelibet virtus, sanctitas et perfectio. Rursum omnem justitiam, id est quidquid praecepit Deus Pater, ait Vatablus. Justum enim est quod Deus sancit et praecipit. Videtur enim Deus Pater Christo, uti moriendi, sic et baptismum a Joanne suscipiendi praeceptum dedisse. Hinc secundo Glossa: Omnis justitia, inquit, est humilitas, quae se omnibus, id est superioribus et aequalibus, aeque ac inferioribus subjicit. Ex adverso omnis injustitia est superbia, qua quis non modo inferioribus et paribus, sed et superioribus se praeponit. Jus enim et subjectionem eis debitam adimit. Sicut enim in omni actu justitiae, id est virtutis intervenit humilitas, qua quis rationi et virtuti se submittit; sic in omni actu peccati miscet se superbia, qua quis rationi, legi et voluntati Dei se suamque voluntatem et cupiditatem anteponit. Humilitas ergo implet omnem justitiam, quia solvit, imo superat omne jus et debitum, quod homo debet Deo, proximo et sibi. Deo enim se subjicit per religionem, proximo per charitatem, corpus animae, animam legi Dei. Quocirca humilis cum omnibus pacem habet, superbus cum omnibus dissidium et bellum. Quot hodie sunt dissidia et lites, etiam inter clericos et Praelatos, de loco, de titulis, de praecedentia, quam utraque pars sibi deberi pertinaciter contendit cum scandalo laicorum, et nullo vel exiguo victoriae lucro? Quid enim lucraris, si litem vincas, nisi exiguum et inane honoris punctum? et interim longe majorem famae, pacis et saepe conscientiae jacturam facis. Disce, o Christiane, a Christo hic, cedere, imo et ambire locum imum, sic cum Christo exaltaberis et mereberis summum. Christus enim subdens se Joanni, ab eo, imo a tota S. Trinitate declaratus est esse major Joanne, imo Filius Dei. Dic ergo cum Christo: «Sic nos decet implere omnem justitiam,» quam imitatus S. Ignatius, fundator Societatis nostrae, aureum hoc axioma dedit: Nulli vel minimo quavis ratione repugnes, Cedere te potius, quam superare juvet. Decus enim, honor et gloria Christiani est humilitas, puta cedere, sinere se vinci, primas alteri dare: quare major est, qui est humilior, qui cedit, qui alterum sibi praefert. Nam, ut ait S. Gregorius, lib. III Moral., cap. XIII: «Malorum locus est superbia, bonorum locus est humilitas.» Docet ergo hic nos Christus sequi vitam communem, non quaerere exemptiones a communi lege et more, haberi ut unus de vulgo, juxta illud: «Si sis egregius, esto quasi unus e grege;» imo ad ima descendere, et omnibus se supponere, juxta illud, Eccles., cap. III, 20: «Quanto magnus es, humilia te in omnibus, et coram Deo invenies gratiam; quoniam magna potentia Dei solius et ab hominibus (humilibus) honoratur.» Vide ibi dicta. Tertio: omnem justitiam, id est summam justitiam. Sic, Exod. XXXIII, 19, ait Deus Mosi: Ostendam omne, id est summum bonum, scilicet meipsum, tibi: ima enim justitia est, subdere se suo superiori; media, subdere se aequali; summa, subdere se inferiori, uti Christus subdidit se Joanni: Christus, inquam, qui est Sanctus Sanctorum, inclinavit caput Joanni ad baptismum, quasi petens ab eo purificationem et sanctificationem velut peccator et poenitens, sicut erant caeteri qui poscebant baptismum a Joanne. Praeclare S. Gregorius, III part. Pastor., admonit. XVIII: «Audiant, inquit, humiles, quia Filius hominis non venit ministrari, sed ministrare; audiant elati, quia initium omnis peccati superbia est. Audiant humiles, quia redemptor noster humiliavit semetipsum, factus obediens usque ad mortem; audiant elati, quod de eorum capite scriptum est: Ipse est Rex super universos filios superbiae. Occasio igitur perditionis nostrae facta est superbia diaboli, et argumentum redemptionis nostrae inventa est humilitas Dei.» Et paulo post: «Dicatur ergo humilibus, quia dum se dejiciunt, ad Dei similitudinem ascendunt; dicatur elatis, quia dum se erigunt, in apostatae Angeli imitationem cadunt. Quid igitur elatione dejectius, quae dum supra se tenditur, ab altitudine verae celsitudinis elongatur? Et quid humilitate sublimius, quae dum se in ima deprimit, auctori suo manenti super summa conjungit?» Idem alibi: Haec, ait, est summa justitia et sanctitas, si virtutis merito summi, humilitate simus infimi. S. Thomas Aquinas (ut in ejus Vita inter ejus axiomata refertur) rogatus quo indicio vere sanctus et perfectus dignosci posset? respondit humilitate, contemptu sui, contemptu honoris et laudis, tolerantia ignominiae et vituperii. «Si enim, ait, videris aliquem, dum negligitur, contemnitur, postponitur, dare sensum doloris vel indignationis, dejicere vultum, nasum contrahere, rugare frontem, scito hunc non esse sanctum, non esse magnum, etiamsi is miracula faceret. Ostendit enim in sui neglectu suam superbiam, tristitiam, iram, impatientiam, ac proinde vilem se facit et contemptibilem. Ex adverso humilis, qui gaudet suo contemptu, dignus est qui ab omnibus laudetur et glorificetur.» Quarto: omnem justitiam, id est omne incrementum justitiae, id est virtutis et sanctitatis: Christus enim, licet interius in gratia crescere non posset, erat enim ea plenus a primo instanti suae conceptionis et unionis cum Verbo, tamen exterius quotidie majora virtutum signa edebat, ac magis magisque se humiliabat. Christus enim e coelo descendit in uterum Virginis, ex utero in praesepium, e praesepio in Jordanem, e Jordane in crucem, ut nos doceret illud, Psalm. LXXXIII, 8: «Ibunt de virtute in virtutem, videbitur Deus deorum in Sion.» Sic B. Theresia faciebat omnem justitiam, quia in qualibet re faciebat id quod justius, sanctius, perfectius et Deo gratius erat, imo ad hoc voto se abstrinxit. Quocirca S. Augustinus, epist. 56 ad Dioscorum: «Huic (Christo et Christianae disciplinae), inquit, te, mi Dioscore, ut tota pietate subdas velim, nec aliam tibi ad capessendam et obtinendam veritatem viam munias, quam quae munita est ab illo qui gressuum nostrorum tanquam Deus vidit infirmitatem. Ea est autem prima humilitas, secunda humilitas, tertia humilitas, et quoties interrogares, hoc dicerem.» Et post nonnulla: «Itaque sicut rhetor nobilissimus (Demosthenes), cum interrogatus esset quid ei primum videretur in eloquentiae praeceptis observari oportere, pronuntiationem dicitur respondisse; cum quaereretur quid secundo, eamdem pronuntiationem; quid tertio, nihil aliud quam pronuntiationem dixisse: si interrogares, et quoties interrogares de praeceptis Christianae religionis, nihil me aliud respondere nisi humilitatem liberet, etsi forte alia dicere necessitas cogeret. Huic humilitati saluberrimae, quam Dominus noster Jesus Christus ut doceret, humiliatus est; huic, inquam, maxime adversatur quaedam, ut ita dicam, imperitissima scientia.» Denique quinto implet omnem justitiam, qui honore omnes praevenit, qui aliorum mores difficiles, molestos sibique injurios tolerat, juxta illud Pauli: «Alter alterius onera portate, et sic adimplebitis legem Christi» (Galat. VI). Item qui amat odientes se, benedicit maledicentibus, benefacit malefacientibus sibi, qui laudat detrahentes sibi, qui honorat spernentes se, qui charitatis ardore vincit inimicos eosque facit amicos, qui injurias ulciscitur beneficiis, qui cum Paulo optat esse anathema pro hostibus suis (Rom. IX), ac omnibus omnia fit, ut omnes Christo lucrifaciat (I Cor. IX, 22). Haec omnia docuit et prius fecit Christus. TUNC DIMISIT EUM, — id est, hoc audito, cessit Joannes Christo petenti baptismum eumque baptizavit: «Ut si Deus ab homine accepit baptisma, nullus a conservo dedignetur accipere,» ait S. Hieronymus. Et S. Ambrosius, lib. II in Lucam, cap. ult.: «Nemo refugiat lavacrum gratiae, quando Christus lavacrum poenitentiae non refugit.» Pulchre S. Bernardus, serm. 1 De Epiph.: «Acquievit, ait, Joannes, et obedivit; baptizavit Agnum Dei, et aquas lavit: nos abluti sumus, non ille, quia nobis lavandis aquae cognoscuntur ablutae.» Porro diem qua Christus baptizatus est, fuisse Dominicum tradit S. Augustinus, serm. 454 De Tempore, licet Joannes Lucidus, lib. VII, cap. 11, censeat Christum baptizatum feria sexta. Certum quasi est ex traditione Christum baptizatum esse die sexta januarii, eadem scilicet qua ante triginta annos adoratus fuerat a Magis. Unde Ecclesia eadem die memoriam baptismi Christi recolit. Quocirca Aethiopes die 6 januarii, in memoriam baptismi Christi, aquis se non tantum aspergunt, sed et penitus immergunt. Fideles quoque in Graecia circa mediam noctem, quae in diem sextam antecedit, aquas ex obvio fonte vel fluvio hauriebant, quae Dei dono multis annis incorruptae manebant, uti expresse testatur S. Chrysostomus, homil. De Baptismo Christi, tom. V operum Graecorum. Addit S. Epiphanius, haeres. 31, illa die Nilum in vinum verti: «Circa ipsam undecimam (mensis Tybi, qui est sextus nostri januarii) post annos triginta factum est primum signum in Cana Galilaeae, quando aqua facta est vinum. Quapropter etiam in multis locis usque in hanc diem hoc fit, quod tunc factum est, divinum signum in testimonium incredulis, velut testantur in multis locis fontes ac fluvii in vinum conversi: ut Cibyres quidem urbis Cariae fons, qua hora hauserunt ministri, et ipse dixit: Date architriclino; testatur et in Gerasa Arabiae fons similiter. Nos bibimus de Cibyres fonte: fratres vere nostri de eo qui est in Gerasa, in Martyrum templo. Sed et multi de Nilo hoc testantur.» Tres ergo aquas nominat, quae dicto festo in vinum vertantur: primam, fontem Cibyres; secundam, fontem in Gerasa; tertiam, Nilum. Cum igitur tres isti fontes vinoso sapore nunquam fluxerint nisi hac die, manifestum fit hoc miraculum non esse patratum, nisi ad recolendam memoriam vini ex aqua a Christo in Cana Galilaeae producti, ait noster Gretserus in Curenalaten, pag. 236 et seq., qui cum S. Epiphanio opinatur Christum in Cana aquam in vinum vertisse die sexta januarii; alii enim alia die id factum putant, ut dixi in Chronotaxi Monotessari. Quin et Jordanis aquam a Christi in ea baptismo donum incorruptionis accepisse, docet ibidem Gretserus: «Addamus et hoc, inquit, aquam Jordanis, postquam eam Christus contactu et baptismo suo consecravit, incorruptionis munere donatam esse.» Id asserit illustrissimus princeps Nicolaus Christophorus Radzivilus in suo Hodaporico Hierosolymitano: «Aquam, ait, valde turbidam Jordanis habet, sed salubrem, qua in vase asservata nunquam corrumpitur, prout in ea quam attuli mecum, indubitanter sum expertus.» Rursum videtur Christus a Joanne non solum baptizatus et ablutus in capite, sed et in reliquo toto corpore, tum quia hic erat ritus Judaeorum, et etiamnum est; tum quia totum corpus aquis purificare debebant, ut singula membra quae peccarent, abluerent; utque totius animae omniumque ejus peccatorum purificationem repraesentarent. Spoliabant ergo se vestibus, et nudi baptizabantur; Jesus ergo dignatus est se nudare coram Joanne, et hanc verecundiam quam casti erubescunt, pro nobis subire — ut Adae nostramque nuditatem verecundiamque peccato inductam, sua gratia velaret et vestiret. Unde et ecclesia eodem loco ubi vestes Christi repositae fuere cum baptizaretur, erecta est a fidelibus, teste Beda, De Locis sanctis, cap. XIII, qui et addit quod ille locus apud Jordanem, in quo baptizatus est Christus, nobili monasterio et ecclesia in honorem Joannis Baptistae dedicata, illustratus sit. De eodem ita scribit Gregorius Turonensis, lib. De Gloria Martyrum, cap. XVII: «In Jordane habetur locus in quo Dominus baptizatus est. In uno etenim reflexu aqua ipsa revolvitur, in qua nunc leprosi mundantur. Cum enim advenerint, saepius lavantur in flumine donec ab infirmitate purgentur; de publico tamen, dum ibi commorati fuerint, victum accipiunt; sanati autem ad propria discedunt. Ipse quoque Jordanis ab eo loco in quinto milliario mari commixtus Mortuo, nomen amittit.» In eodem loco Christum post baptismum saepius visitasse S. Joannem ibidem baptizantem, tradit Joannes Moschus in Prato spiritus, cap. I. Porro Christus in Jordane baptizatus est a Joanne in Ennon juxta Salim (Joan. III, 23): non longe a Sarthan et Jericho, ubi filii Israel, duce Josue, sicco pede transierunt Jordanem a Deo miraculose divisum (Josue III, 16 et 17), ut significaretur eumdem Christum, qui olim Hebraeos per Jordanem deduxerat in Terram promissam, fideles suos et Christianos per baptismum pari modo deducturum in coelum. Unde «sicut duce Josue, aquae Jordanis retrorsum conversae sunt; sic Christo duce baptizato, retrorsum peccata conversa sunt,» ait S. Augustinus. Rursum Elias divisit aquas Jordanis, quando erat in curru igneo rapiendus in coelum (IV Reg. II), ut significaretur quod transeuntibus per aquam baptismi Christi, per ignem Spiritus sancti pateret aditus ad coelum, ait D. Thomas, III part., Q. XXXIX, art. 4.
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16. BAPTIZATUS AUTEM JESUS, CONFESTIM ASCENDIT DE AQUA, ET ECCE APERTI SUNT EI COELI, ET VIDIT SPIRITUM DEI DESCENDENTEM SICUT COLUMBAM, ET VENIENTEM SUPER SE. — Lucas, cap. III, 21, addit: «Jesu baptizato et orante apertum est coelum, et descendit Spiritus sanctus corporali specie sicut columba super ipsum.» Unde patet non vi baptismi Joannis, sed merito humilitatis et orationis Christi apertum esse coelum, et descendisse Spiritum sanctum super eum; orationi enim et orantibus insinuat se Spiritus sanctus. Confestim. — Refer hanc vocem magis ad sequentia, utpote «aperti sunt ei coeli,» etc., quam ad «ascendit de aqua.» Nam Christo egresso ex aquis, statim aperti sunt coeli; unde Marcus, cap. I, 9, ait: «Et statim ascendens de aqua, vidit coelos apertos.» ET ECCE APERTI SUNT EI COELI. — Marcus: «Vidit coelos apertos.» Vidit, scilicet ipse Jesus: non dubium quin et Joannes idipsum viderit ac caeteri qui aderant, utpote propter quos haec fiebant. Unde Matthaeus ait: «Aperti sunt ei,» id est propter eum; coeli, puta in ejus gratiam et honorem visi sunt aperiri, idque ad hoc: primo, ut vox Patris e coelo labens: «Hic est Filius meus dilectus,» Christi dignitatem Joannis dignitate majorem significaret; secundo, ut indicaret Deus per Christum coelum omnibus aperiri, ita S. Chrysostomus; tertio, ut vis coelestis baptismi innueretur, scilicet per eum homines carnales fieri spirituales et coelestes, ac per eum ad coelum vocari et quasi manu duci. Ita S. Thomas, III part., Q. XXXIX, art. 5. Quaeres, quomodo Christo aperti sunt coeli? Respondetur coelorum soliditatem non fuisse realiter apertam et discissam (hoc enim naturaliter est impossibile, supernaturaliter est superfluum: non etiam coeli aperti fuere per solam visionem imaginariam, uti aperti sunt Ezechieli, cap. I, 1); sed quod in suprema aeris regione sensibiliter visus fuerit quidam hiatus, seu species aperturae sensibilis, ex quo columba aeque ac vox Patris «de coelo» in Christum labi videretur, ita scilicet ut partes aeris extremae densiores viderentur, eo modo ut ad illas terminari posset visus; aer autem interjectus maneret rarus, nec videretur, sed appareret quasi hiatus lucidus, sive vacuum quoddam, et apertura radios vibrans in Christum, ex qua columba cum voce descendit in Christum. Hac enim arte pictores solent pingere et repraesentare hiatum. Omnia enim hic sensibilia fuerunt. Ita Euthymius, Jansenius et Suarez, III part., Q. XXXIX, art. 5. Tales hiatus saepe apparent in aere, de quibus Aristoteles in Meteoris. Addit noster Hieronymus Prado, in cap. V Ezech., ad illa: «Aperti sunt coeli,» per fulgura et coruscationes visum fuisse quasi aetherem dividi et aperiri, indeque vocem Patris quasi tonitruum erupisse. Semper enim tonitru miscetur cum fulgure, imo fulguris est causa, etsi post fulgur audiatur, quia auditus tonitrui tardior est visu fulguris, eo quod objectum visus citius producat speciem sui, quam sonus; visus enim omnium sensuum est subtilissimus et celerrimus, idque factum esse ad hoc, ut populus fulminis fulgore et tonitrui terrore excitaretur ad audiendam vocem Patris de coelo: «Hic est Filius meus dilectus, in quo mihi complacui.» Favet illud Psalm. XXVIII, 3 et 6, in sensu allegorico. Et Psalm. LXXVI: «Illuxerunt coruscationes tuae orbi terrae.» Sic apud poetas aethera vel coelum aperiri, dividi, scindi, rumpi, idem est quod fulgurare. Ita Ovidius, II Fastor.: Hinc tonat, hinc missis abrumpitur ignibus aether. Silius Italicus, lib. I: — ruptoque polo micat ignibus aether. Statius, lib. I Thebaid.: — Abrupta tremiscunt Fulgura et attritus subita face rumpitur aer. Manilius, lib. I: — Et coelum fulmine ruptum. Simili modo vidit S. Stephanus, dum lapidaretur, coelos apertos (Actor. VII, 55). Vide ibi dicta. ET VIDIT (Syrus, suspexit) SPIRITUM DEI DESCENDENTEM SICUT COLUMBAM. — Aegyptius: «Et vidit Spiritum Dei descendentem in forma columbae.» Quaeres primo, an vera et realis fuerit haec columba, an tantum species et similitudo columbae? Veram fuisse columbam censent S. Hieronymus, S. Anselmus et ex iis D. Thomas, III p., Q. XXXIX, art. 7; Salmeron et alii, idque est probabile; aeque tamen probabile, imo probabilius est non fuisse veram columbam, sed tantum speciem sive formam columbae ab Angelo formatam, agitatam et motam ut in Christum descenderet. Ratio est, quia id indicant omnes Evangelistae; nam Matthaeus ait: «Sicut columbam,» Marcus: «Tanquam columbam,» Joannes, cap. I, 32: «Quasi columbam,» Lucas, cap. III: «Corporali specie sicut columba.» Erat ergo species et similitudo duntaxat, non veritas columbae; nec enim vera columba opus hic erat, sed similitudine ad symbolicam significationem, ut scilicet per speciem et symbolum columbae designarentur dotes Christi, quas mox recensebo. Simili modo «coeli aperti sunt,» non realiter, sed per apparentiam et spectrum duntaxat, uti paulo ante explicui. Ita censent S. Augustinus, ep. 102; S. Ambrosius, lib. I De Sacram., cap. V; S. Chrysostomus, Theophylactus, Euthymius, Lyranus, Cajetanus, Jansenius hic; Abulensis, Quaest. LXXXIV, LXXXV; Suarez, III p., Q. XXXIX, art. 7. Instabis: Fuitne ergo hoc phantasma et phantastica columba? Respondetur: Minime; fuit enim verum solidumque corpus, habens formam columbae, ut docet S. Augustinus, De Doctrina Christiana, cap. XXII, non assumptum hypostatice a Spiritu sancto, sicut humanitas Christi assumpta est a Verbo, uti videtur sensisse Tertullianus, lib. De Carne Christi, cap. III, sed tantum Spiritus sancti index et symbolum, quia columba est avis mansuetissima, simplicissima, innocentissima, fecundissima, summe amabilis et zelotypa: talis pariter est Spiritus sanctus, qui hanc suam mansuetudinem, simplicitatem, innocentiam, fecunditatem, charitatem et zelum animae Christi a primo conceptionis ejus instanti perfectissime indiderat, idque nunc externo hoc signo jam a se factum esse duntaxat significabat, et publice toti populo declarabat. Quaeres secundo, cur Spiritus sanctus in Christum descenderit specie columbae, in Apostolos vero specie ignis et linguarum ignearum? (Act. II). Respondet primo S. Chrysostomus, quia Christus venit in carnem et mundum mansuetus ut columba, ad remittendum peccata et solvendum peccatores. In die vero judicii veniet ut severus judex, puniturus impios per ignem. Rursum et magis ad litteram: Apostolis datus est Spiritus sanctus specie ignis, quia eis indebat fervorem et ardorem praedicandi, ait S. Augustinus, tractat. VI in Joannem. Secundo, quia columba optime repraesentat Spiritum sanctum septuplicem, sive septem ejus dona, quae Christo infudit, uti praedixit Isaias, cap. XI, 2, dicens: «Et requiescet super eum spiritus Domini, spiritus sapientiae et intellectus, spiritus consilii et fortitudinis, spiritus scientiae et pietatis, et replebit eum spiritus timoris Domini.» Haec enim omnia apposite notantur per columbam. Nam, ut explicat S. Thomas, III part., Q. XXXIX, art. 6, ad 4: primo, columba secus fluenta aquarum moratur, in iisque quasi in speculo aspicit accipitrem, eoque viso fugit, per quae significatur donum sapientiae; secundo, columba meliora grana in cumulo seligit; ecce donum scientiae; tertio, columba alienos pullos nutrit; ecce donum consilii; quarto, columba non lacerat rostro; ecce donum intellectus; quinto, columba caret felle et bile; ecce donum pietatis; sexto, columba nidificat in petris; ecce donum fortitudinis; septimo, columba pro cantu edit gemitum; ecce donum timoris quo Christus et Sancti gemunt pro peccatis, vel suis, vel alienis. Tertio, columba symbolum est reconciliationis et reparationis mundi quam Spiritus sanctus fecit per Christum: unde ejus symbolum fuit columba afferens ramum virentis olivae ad Noe, per hoc significans cessasse diluvium iramque Dei, ac siccitatem terrae redditam, et pacem hominibus (Genes. IX, 12). Ita S. Chrysostomus. Quarto, columba, quia est avis amicabilis et gregalis, notat unionem et societatem fidelium in Ecclesia, quam efficit Spiritus sanctus per baptismum Christi. Ita D. Thomas loco jam citato. Denique columba candida est, suavi odore pascitur ac mire pullos amat. Sic Christus candidissimus est, virtutum odore pascitur ac filios suos amat intime. Hac de causa Spiritus sanctus uti hic in Christum, ita in Christianos insignes, saepe specie columbae descendit, ac praesertim Doctores, Episcopos et Pontifices Ecclesiae auctoravit et quasi consecravit. S. Eleucadius, sancti Apollinaris, Ravennatium apostoli, discipulus, columba in caput ejus advolante, Episcopus Ravennatium ordinatus est, qui sanctitate illustris migravit in coelum anno Domini 115. Ita Philippus Ferrariensis in Catalogo Sanctorum Italiae. Sic et columba in caput sancti Aderiti coram clero devolans, eum designavit sancti Apollinaris successorem, et secundum Ravennae Episcopum. S. Marcellinus pariter columbae indicio, ejusdem urbis Episcopus designatus est anno Domini 230. Ita Hieronymus Rabeus in Histor. Ravennae, et Philippus Ferrariensis in Catalogo Sanctorum Italiae. S. Fabianus, per columbam capiti incumbentem, in Romanum Pontificem electus est. S. Gregorio libros scribenti visus est Spiritus sanctus specie columbae in aurem suggerere ea quae scriberet. S. Basilius, qui in eodem Jordane, in quo Christus baptizari voluit, missam celebrans, coelesti circumdatus luce, jussit confici columbam ex auro puro, in eamque partem hostiae consecratae reposuit suspenditque eam super altare, idque in specie columbae illius quae apparuit in Jordane Christo baptizato, ait Amphilochius. Additque S. Ephrem vidisse Spiritum sanctum in specie columbae ignis incumbere S. Basilio, ideoque exclamavisse: «Vere columba ignis Basilius, vere Spiritus sanctus loquitur per os ejus.» Flavianus Patriarcha, jussu Angeli ordinans S. Joannem Chrysostomum eumque sacerdotem consecrans, vidit albam columbam in caput sancti Joannis devolare, uti refert Leo Augustus in ejus Vita, et ex eo Baronius, anno Christi 456, num. 7. Hac de causa Mahometa impostor columbam condocefecit et assuefecit, ut advolaret ad aurem suam, ponendo in aure granum tritici vel aliud granum quod comederet columba, ut hac ratione populo persuaderet sibi familiarem esse Spiritum sanctum, eumque sibi suggerere suam legem, et dictare Alcoranum, imo secretissima Dei consilia revelare. Idem effecit, ut columba schedam ad se afferret, in qua aureis litteris scriptum erat: «Quicumque taurum domuerit, rex esto.» Ipse autem taurum quem antea nutriverat, facile edomuit, ideoque a stulta plebe rex est salutatus. Ita habent auctores Vitae Mahometis. ET VENIENTEM SUPER SE. — Graece est ep' auton, id est super eum, q. d. Joannes vidit Spiritum sanctum specie columbae descendentem super caput Jesu illique insidentem. Noster auton accepit pro heauton; Hebraei enim idem habent pronomen absolutum et reciprocum; hinc alau, tam super se, quam super eum significat. Utrumque verum, utrumque appositum. Unde Joannes postea aliis et aliis turbis ad ejus baptismum affluentibus Christum demonstrans, dixit: «Quia vidi Spiritum descendentem quasi columbam de coelo, et mansit super eum» (Joan. I, 32). Insedit ergo columba haec sacro Christi vertici, eumque esse Messiam, Ecclesiae Doctorem et Salvatorem toti orbi declaravit et quasi promulgavit. Hinc Christus et Ecclesia, animaque sancta, sunt quasi columbus et columba, juxta illud Cantici VI: «Una est columba mea, perfecta mea.» Vide ibi dicta. Apposite pieque S. Bernardus, serm. 1 De Epiphan.: «Ne incongrue, ait, ad indicandum agnum Dei venit columba, quia nihil melius agno convenit, quam columba. Quod agnus in animalibus, hoc columba in avibus est. Summa utriusque innocentia, summa mansuetudo, summa simplicitas. Quid enim sic alienum ab omni malitia, sicut agnus et columba? Nocere cuiquam nesciunt, laedere non noverunt.»
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17. ET ECCE VOX DE COELIS DICENS: HIC EST FILIUS MEUS DILECTUS, IN QUO MIHI COMPLACUI. — Ex coelis apertis et coruscis lucida columba dilapsa est in caput Christi, dumque in eo considet, ex iisdem dilapsa est vox: «Hic est Filius meus.» Vox haec symbolum columbae explicabat; columba vero ad Christum, cui ipsa insidebat, vocem ferri et terminari significabat, non ad Joannem vel quem alium: utroque ergo signo opus fuit ad declarandum orbi Christum. Vox haec «in persona Patris Angelorum ministerio efformata fuit,» ait Victor Antiochenus, in cap. I S. Marc. Hic primum orbi revelatur mysterium S. Trinitatis, quod Judaeis obscure fuerat insinuatum, dum Pater se ostendit in voce, Filius in carne, Spiritus sanctus in specie columbae, ut significaretur fides S. Trinitatis jam explicanda, adeoque ejus nomine conferendus Christi baptismus: licet enim haec omnia, puta coelorum apertio, formatio vocis, descensus columbae, utpote opera ad extra, uti loquuntur Theologi, fuerint toti S. Trinitati communia, uti docet S. Augustinus, serm. De Temp., tamen speciatim singulae personae symbolis jam dictis repraesentabantur. HIC EST FILIUS. — Graece ho huios; id est ille Filius Dei Patris, scilicet per eminentiam, puta Filius per naturam, non adoptionem, uti sunt Angeli et homines sancti, ideoque non est creatura, sed creator, Deo Patri aequalis et consubstantialis, uti definitum est in Concilio Nicaeno caeterisque sequentibus. Marcus et Lucas habent aliis verbis, sed eodem sensu: «Tu es Filius meus.» Et verisimile est ita dictum fuisse, tum quia duo Evangelistae in eo consentiunt, tum quia consonum erat ut, Jesu in coelum aspiciente Patremque orante, ac Spiritu sancto in eum descendente, vox Patris quoque ad eum dirigeretur, eumque quasi Filium complecteretur et compellaret. Itaque toti orbi venerandum, amandum, audiendum proponeret. Ita Jansenius, Maldonatus, Franciscus Lucas et alii. DILECTUS. — Graece ho agapetos; id est ille dilectus, id est unice et summe dilectus, per quem caeteri diliguntur, nec ullus a Deo diligitur, nisi quem ille dilexerit suaque gratia donarit; unde Syrus vertit, dilectissimus. IN QUO MIHI COMPLACUI. — Ita scilicet, ut tu solus, o Christe, perfecte per omnia, summe et infinite mihi placeas, ac nemo mihi placeat nisi per te, imo ut per te placatus sim toti generi humano, cui antea ob peccatum Adae et posterorum offensus fui. Hebr. enim ratsa, et placere et placari, sive reconciliari significat. «Tu ergo ES FILIUS MEUS DILECTUS IN QUO MIHI COMPLACUI» — ut habent Marcus et Lucas — quia tu solus cum sis «splendor gloriae et figura substantiae meae» (Hebr. I, 3), singulariter et immense ita mihi places, ut nihil in te displiceat, sed omnia summe placeant: tu es ille in quo ego acquiesco, in quo me pasco et oblecto: propter te omnes tui discipuli et asseclae, puta omnes Christiani et Sancti mihi placent. Alludit ad Noe, qui solus suo aevo placuit Deo, juxta illud: «Noe vir justus atque perfectus fuit in generationibus suis, cum Deo ambulavit» (Gen. VI, 9); et cap. VIII, 20, cessante diluvio, «Noe obtulit holocausta super altare, odoratusque est Dominus odorem suavitatis, et ait: Nequaquam ultra maledicam terrae propter homines.» Sicut enim Noe adeo placuit Deo, praesertim dum illi hostiam obtulit, quae ita eum placavit, ut promiserit se non amplius orbem diluvio perditurum; sic multo magis Christus seipsum Deo offerens in hostiam piacularem, Deum toti generi humano placavit et conciliavit. Hac voce Christus a Deo constitutus est publicus orbis doctor et legislator. Unde cum haec vox repetita est a Patre in Christi transfiguratione, Matth. XVII, 5, addit: «Ipsum audite,» q. d. Audite Christum, qui mihi est unigenitus; non Platonem, non Apollonium, non Socratem. Christum, inquam, audite, in ipsum credite, ipsi obedite. Ipse e sinu meo vobis enarrabit mea arcana, abscondita a constitutione mundi; ipse vobis pandet viam pacis, viam ad coelum, viam ad felicitatem; ipse vobis evangelizabit regnum coelorum et bona coelestia, imo divina, quae nec oculus vidit, nec auris audivit, nec in cor hominis ascenderunt. Hinc Magdalena sedens ad pedes Jesu, eumque assidue et intente audiens, ab eo audivit: «Maria optimam partem elegit, quae non auferetur ab ea» (Luc. X, 42). Praeclare S. Leo, serm. De Transfiguratione: «Hic est, ait, Filius meus, cui ex me et mecum esse, sine tempore est. Hic est Filius meus quem a me non separat deitas, non dividit potestas, non discernit aeternitas. Hic est Filius meus, non adoptivus, sed proprius; non aliunde creatus, sed ex me genitus. Hic est Filius meus, per quem omnia facta sunt.» Et mox: «Hic est Filius meus, qui eam quam mecum habet aequalitatem, non rapina appetiit, nec usurpatione praesumpsit, sed manens in forma gloriae meae, ut ad reparandum genus humanum exequeretur commune consilium, usque ad formam servilem inclinavit incommutabilem deitatem.» Unde concludit: «Hunc ergo, in quo mihi per omnia bene complaceo et cujus praedicatione manifestor, cujus humilitate clarificor, incunctanter audite, quia ipse est veritas et vita, ipse virtus mea atque sapientia; ipsum audite, quem Prophetarum ora cecinerunt; ipsum audite, qui sanguine suo mundum redemit, qui viam aperit ad coelum et per crucis supplicium gradus vobis ascensionis parat ad regnum.» Denique valde probabile est Christum, hoc loco et tempore cum baptizaretur in Jordane, hoc ipso suo baptismo instituisse sacramentum baptismi eique dedisse efficaciam justificandi; necessitatem tamen ejus suscipiendi indixisse post mortem suam in Pentecoste. Ita diserte docet primo S. Thomas, III p., Quaest. XXVI, art. 2; Cajetanus et caeteri ejus sectatores, ac idipsum fuse ibidem probat noster Gabriel Vasquez. Idem insinuat S. Augustinus, serm. 37 De Tempore: «Baptizatur novus homo, inquit, ut novi baptismatis constituat sacramentum.» Patres etiam communiter docent Christum suo baptismo aquas sanctificasse et eas contactu corporis ejus vim regenerativam accepisse: S. Ambrosius, lib. II in Luc., cap. XXXI, et serm. 15 et 20; S. Hieronymus, Dialog. contra Luciferian.; S. Chrysostomus, homil. 2 in Matth.; Nazianzenus, orat. in Nativitatem, et passim Interpretes in hoc cap. III Matth., quod ita intelligendum est, non quod aquae acceperint aliquam physicam qualitatem, sed quia tunc illo facto ex intentione Christi sunt deputatae ad sanctificandum; sicut enim aliquid instituitur verbis, ita etiam solo facto aliquid institui potest; atqui etiam tunc formam baptismi institutam et designatam fuisse credibile est, per hoc quod tota Trinitas tunc apparuit: ergo totum sacramentum tunc fuit institutum. Confirmatur, quia si Christus verbis tunc dixisset: «Volo ut homines baptizentur in aqua in nomine Trinitatis,» omnes faterentur ipsum tunc instituisse baptismum; atqui hoc ipsum dixit facto, nam hoc voluit suo facto significare. Accedit S. Chrysostomus, homil. jam citata, asserens quod sicut Christus in eadem mensa approbavit umbram, et addidit veritatem, quando in eadem coena comedit agnum et instituit Eucharistiam, ita in eodem flumine conjunxit umbram et veritatem, scilicet baptismum Joannis cum baptismo suo. Probatur secundo, quia statim initio praedicationis suae Christus per discipulos baptizabat, ut patet, Joan. III et IV. Ergo jam baptismus ejus erat institutus. Atqui non apparet ubi commodius potuerit esse institutus, quam cum Christus contactu sanctissimae carnis suae aquam consecravit et Trinitatis manifestatione formam designavit. Tertio, quia festum Luminum apud Graecos ita celebratur, quasi tunc nostrum baptisma fuerit institutum. Vide Nazianzenum, oratione in SS. Luminaria. Unde in hymno illius diei canit Ecclesia: «Hodie in Jordane lavit Christus nostra crimina.» Porro hanc baptismi institutionem ipso facto a se factam Christus verbo explicavit et promulgavit, cum coepit praedicare et baptizare. Unde Suarez hic suum baptismum tunc institutum fuisse opinatur. Denique baptismus Christi, licet jam institutus, non tamen obligavit homines ad eum suscipiendum usque ad adventum Spiritus sancti in Pentecoste: nam usque ad illud tempus fuit in consilio, deinceps vero fuit in praecepto. Ratio est, quia in Pentecoste facta est promulgatio legis novae, cujus initium est baptismus. Usque ad Pentecosten ergo obligavit lex vetus et circumcisio quae tunc obligare desiit, cum successit ei lex nova promulgata in Pentecoste (Actor. II), uti docet S. Augustinus, epistol. 19; S. Thomas et passim Theologi. In Pentecoste enim omnia mysteria Christi et Christianismi adimpleta fuere; unde tunc lex nova obligare coepit, lex vetus vero obligare desiit, utpote quae novae tantum erat typus et figura, sicut umbra desinit praesente veritate et lumine.
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Supra egit Evangelista de ingressu Christi in mundum; nunc autem agit de eius processu, qui quidem est attendendus secundum processum suae doctrinae: ad hoc enim venit, Io. XVIII, 37. Circa doctrinam autem duo considerantur. Primo enim ponitur praeparatio ad doctrinam; secundo ponitur ipsa doctrina cap. V. Ad doctorem autem evangelicae doctrinae duo requiruntur. Primo ut sit velatus sacris mysteriis; secundo ut probatus sit virtutibus: et sic duo praemittuntur ante doctrinam, scilicet Baptismus eius, et tentatio cap. IV. Circa primum duo facit. Primo introducitur Ioannis Baptismus, ibi exibat ad eum Ierosolyma; secundo instructio baptizatorum, ibi videns autem multos. Invitantur autem dupliciter a Ioanne, scilicet verbo et exemplo. Secundum ibi ipse autem Ioannes habebat vestimentum de pilis camelorum et cetera. Circa doctrinam Ioannis tria facit, sive tanguntur. Primo persona doctoris introducitur; secundo ponitur doctrina; tertio confirmatio. Secundum ibi poenitentiam agite; tertium ibi hic est enim de quo dictum est. Circa personam quinque ponuntur, scilicet tempus, persona, officium, studium, et locus. Primum ibi in diebus illis et cetera. Et notandum quod tempus praedicationis Lucas describit per principes reipublicae et Iudaeorum. Illud ergo quod dicit Lucas, exprimitur hic, cum dicit in diebus illis. Nec debet hoc referri ad dies, de quibus facta est mentio, scilicet ad tempus infantiae Christi; non enim est intelligendum hoc fuisse in diebus illis, in quibus Christus reversus est de Aegypto. Sed hoc sic ponitur, quia Christus habitavit continue in Nazareth; Luc. II, 40: puer autem crescebat, et confortabatur plenus sapientia, et gratia Dei erat in illo. Secundo ponitur persona, ibi venit Ioannes; venit, idest apparuit, qui primo occultus erat. Hic est de quo Io. I, 7: hic venit in testimonium, ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine. Sed quare Christus voluit eius testimonium, cum haberet testimonium operum? Dicendum quod propter tria. Primo propter nos qui ducimur in cognitionem spiritualium per ea quae sunt similia nobis; Io. I, 7: hic venit ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine. Et quare? Ut omnes crederent per illum. Secundo propter malitiam Iudaeorum, quia non solum Christus sibi testimonium perhibet, secundum quod ipsi dicebant, Io. VIII, 13: tu de teipso testimonium perhibes, sed etiam alius; Io. V, 33: vos misistis ad Ioannem, et testimonium perhibuit veritati. Tertio ad ostendendum aequalitatem Christi ad patrem, quia sicut pater praenuntios habuit, scilicet prophetas, ita Christus; Luc. I, 76: tu, puer, propheta altissimi vocaberis: praeibis enim ante faciem domini parare vias eius. Tertio ponitur officium baptizandi. Hoc fuit speciale eius officium, quia primus baptizavit, et fuit eius Baptismus praeparatorius ad Baptismum Christi: quia si Christus novum ritum adiunxisset, statim potuissent homines scandalizari. Et ideo praevenit Ioannes ut praepararet homines ad Baptismum; Io. I, 31: ut manifestetur in Israel. Quarto ponitur studium, quia venit, ut diligenter praedicaret. Et hoc est praedicans Baptismum. Christus quidem baptizaturus ista adiunxit, Matth. ult., 19: ite, docete omnes gentes, baptizantes eos in nomine patris, et filii, et spiritus sancti. Ioannes autem in utroque praeparavit viam. Et notandum quod Ioannes in trigesimo anno hoc fecit, in qua aetate David etiam factus est rex, et Ioseph gubernacula regni Aegypti suscepit, Gen. XLI, 46. Per quod datur intelligi, quod ad nullum officium debet aliquis assumi ante perfectam aetatem. Quinto ponitur locus in deserto. Praedicavit autem in deserto propter quatuor. Primo ut quietius audirent: in civitate enim multi curiosi impedientes convenissent, sed in deserto non nisi studiosi ibant; Eccle. XII, 11: verba sapientium sicut stimuli, et quasi clavi in altum defixi, quae per magistrorum consilium data sunt a pastore uno. Secundo quia congruebat suae praedicationi; quia ipse poenitentiam praedicabat. Talis autem debet esse locus poenitentiae, vel corporaliter, vel mentaliter; Ps. LIV, 8: ecce elongavi fugiens, et mansi in solitudine. Tertio ad designandam conditionem Ecclesiae, quae per desertum significatur: datur enim intelligi, quod non est in synagoga praedicatio salutis, sed in Ecclesia; Is. LIV, 1: laetare, sterilis, quae non paris; decanta laudem, et, hinni, quae non pariebas, quoniam multi filii desertae, magis quam eius quae habebat virum, dicit dominus. Quarto ad designandam conditionem Iudaeae, quae iam derelinquebatur a Deo; inf. XXIII, 38: ecce relinquetur vobis domus vestra deserta. Sequitur poenitentiam agite et cetera. Ioannes annuntiat quamdam novam vitam, sicut dicit Augustinus in libro de poenitentia: nullus qui suae voluntatis arbiter constituitur, potest novam vitam inchoare, nisi poeniteat veteris vitae. Quaere in Glossa. Et ideo primo monet ad poenitentiam; secundo annuntiat salutem, ibi appropinquabit enim regnum caelorum. Item poenitentiam agite, per quam est remissio peccatorum. Chrysostomus: nato filio Dei, Deus misit praeconem in mundum. Et notandum quod aliud est poenitentiam agere et poenitere. Ille poenitet qui peccata deflet, et flenda non committit. Et sciendum, quod totum refertur ad propositum mentis, ut scilicet dicatur et flenda non committit, idest, proponit non committere: hoc enim requirit poenitentia. Poenitentiam autem agere est satisfacere pro peccatis; Luc. III, 8: facite fructus dignos poenitentiae. Et fit hic quaestio. Cum omnia peccata dimittantur in Baptismo, quare Ioannes praenuntians Baptismum Christi, incepit a poenitentia? Et respondetur in Glossa, quod triplex est poenitentia, scilicet ante Baptismum, quia oportet ut doleat de peccatis quando accedit; secunda post Baptismum, de mortalibus; tertia, de venialibus. Hic agitur de poenitentia quae est post Baptismum; unde Petrus dixit Act. II, 38: poenitentiam agite, scilicet ut sitis parati ad salutem consequendam. Appropinquabit. Et nota quod numquam in Scriptura veteris testamenti invenitur promissum regnum caelorum; sed primo Ioannes nuntiat, quod pertinet ad dignitatem eius. Regnum autem caelorum in Scriptura quatuor modis accipitur. Quandoque enim dicitur ipse Christus habitans in nobis per gratiam; Luc. XVII, 21: regnum Dei intra vos est. Et dicitur regnum caelorum, quia per inhabitantem gratiam inchoatur nobis via caelestis regni. Secundo, sacra Scriptura; infra XXI, 43: auferetur a vobis regnum Dei, idest sacra Scriptura. Et dicitur regnum, quia lex eius ducit ad regnum. Tertio, dicitur praesens Ecclesia militans; infra XIII, 47: simile est regnum caelorum sagenae missae in mare, et ex omni genere piscium congreganti et cetera. Et dicitur regnum caelorum, quia ad modum caelestis Ecclesiae est institutum. Quarto dicitur regnum caelorum caelestis curia; infra VIII, 11: venient ab oriente, et occidente, et recumbent cum Abraham, et Isaac, et Iacob in regno caelorum. Ante tempus autem Ioannis non fiebat mentio, nisi de regno Iebusaeorum, Ex. III, 8, sed modo promittitur regnum caelorum suae Ecclesiae. Consequenter ponitur confirmatio huius praedicationis hic est de quo dictum est per Isaiam prophetam et cetera. Et, sicut dicit Augustinus, istud potest dupliciter exponi. Primo quod hoc, scilicet hic est de quo scriptum est, sint verba Evangelistae; et tunc sensus est planior. Secundo, illud introducitur a Matthaeo, velut sint verba Ioannis poenitentiam agentis. Unde hic est, idest ego sum; et loquitur de se sicut de alio, sicut Ioan. I loquitur de alio sicut de se. Sed non est vis cuius sint verba, quia sensum eumdem habent. Hic est ergo de quo scriptum est, Is. XL, 3: vox clamantis in deserto: parate viam domini, rectas facite in solitudine semitas Dei nostri. Tria ponuntur, per quae confirmantur tria praedicta. Primo praenuntiatur locus praedicationis Ioannis, quia vox clamantis in deserto; secundo adventus regni caelorum; unde parate viam. Tertio poenitentiam, ibi rectas facite semitas eius.
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Dicit ergo vox clamantis in deserto. Et dicit vox propter tria. Primo quia, sicut dicit Gregorius, vox verbum praecedit; et Ioannes Christum. Luc. I, 17: ipse praecedet ante illum in spiritu et virtute Eliae. Secundo, quia per vocem verbum cognoscitur; vox enim verbum deducit in cognitionem, ita Ioannes Christum; Io. I, 31: ut manifestetur in Israel, propterea veni ego in aqua baptizans. Tertio, quia vox sine verbo non facit animi certitudinem; I Cor. XIV, 8: si incertam vocem det tuba, quis parabit se ad bellum? Et revelatio divinorum mysteriorum non facta est per Ioannem, nisi inquantum annuntiavit Christum, sed per Christum verbum; Io. I, 18: unigenitus qui est in sinu patris ipse enarravit. Igitur vox clamantis; et potest intelligi dupliciter. Primo Christi clamantis, qui in Ioanne loquebatur; II ad Cor. XIII, 3: an experimentum quaeritis eius qui in me loquitur Christus? Ita etiam clamavit in omnibus prophetis. Unde semper dicitur: factum est verbum domini ad Ieremiam, vel Isaiam et cetera. Et tamen nullus est dictus vox, quia non immediate praecesserunt Christum; Mal. III, 1: ecce ego mitto Angelum meum qui praeparabit viam ante faciem meam. Et statim veniet ad templum sanctum suum dominator quem vos quaeritis, et Angelus testamenti quem vos vultis. Vel vox clamantis, idest Ioannes clamans. Sciendum quod clamor fit ad surdos, et tales erant Iudaei; Is. XLII, 18: surdi, audite, et caeci, intuemini ad videndum. Quis caecus, nisi servus meus, et quis surdus, nisi ad quem nuntios meos misi? Secundo ex indignatione; Ps. CV, 40: iratus est furore dominus in populum suum, et abominatus est haereditatem suam. Tertio ad distantes: et isti elongati a Deo. Parate viam domini. Et videtur magis fuisse consonum quod dixisset parate viam vestram ad suscipiendum dominum. Et sciendum quod nos adeo eramus infirmi, quod non poteramus accedere ad dominum, nisi ipse veniret ad nos. Et ideo supra dixit Ioannes appropinquabit enim regnum caelorum: et hoc est parate. Sed quae est ista via? Fides quae est per auditum; Eph. III, 17: habitare Christum per fidem in cordibus vestris. Gregorius: via fidei devotus auditus est; Amos IV, 12: praepara te in occursum Dei tui, Israel. Rectas facite. Fides est communis, est una; sed dirigit in diversis operibus. Et ideo rectas facite. Tunc autem sunt rectae istae viae operum, quando non discordant a lege divina, quae est regula actuum humanorum, sicut secundum voluntatem figuli est regula bonitatis in vasis fictilibus, ut haberi potest Ier. XVIII, 4. Vel hoc, scilicet parate, pertinet ad caritatem, quae est de necessitate salutis; Is. c. XXX, 21: haec est via, ambulate in ea, et non declinetis neque ad dexteram, neque ad sinistram. Ergo via intelligitur totum illud quod pertinet ad communem salutem; I Cor. c. XII, 31: adhuc excellentiorem vobis viam demonstro. Semitae vero sunt observationes consiliorum: quae semitae dicuntur esse rectae, quia non propter inanem gloriam debent fieri; infra VI, 1: non faciatis iustitiam coram hominibus, ut videamini ab eis; et Prov. III, 17: viae eius, viae pulchrae, et omnes semitae eius pacificae. Consequenter ostenditur, quomodo Ioannes testimonium perhibuit Christo in vita, ibi ipse autem Ioannes. Sed quis perhibuit testimonium de Ioanne, qui perhibebat testimonium Christo? Et dicendum quod vita sua: quia, sicut dicit Chrysostomus, nullus idoneus testis alterius est, nisi sit testis suus, et hoc bona vita; Eccli. c. XIX, 27: amictus corporis, et risus dentium, et ingressus hominis enuntiant de illo. Unde hic describitur austeritas eius in vita, et cibo: et hoc est ipse autem erat indutus pilis camelorum et cetera. Alii de lana, Ioannes de pilis: reputabat enim vestimentum de lana mollitiem, quae non convenit praedicatori. Item zona pellicea. Illud dupliciter exponitur. Hieronymus dicit, quod tunc temporis Iudaei habebant cingulum de lana, sed Ioannes reputans ad mollitiem, accipit de pellibus imitans Eliam, sicut dicitur IV Reg. I, 8. Rabanus exponit sic, et dicit quod Ioannes accipiebat pelles crudas, non paratas, et utebatur eis, ut refraenaret libidinem: et hoc est et zonam. Sed sive sic, sive sic exponatur, in utroque tamen austeritas vitae intelligitur.
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Cibus autem eius locustae et mel silvestre. Hic cibus non paratus, sed quem natura ministrabat; et sunt locustae animalia quaedam apta ad comedendum. Et mel silvestre. Hoc dupliciter potest intelligi. Proprie enim mel silvestre dicitur illud, quod non reconditur in alveis artificiose factis, sed invenitur in silvis in aliquibus arboribus. Alii dicunt quod est canna mellis, et quoddam quod invenitur intus in cannis valde dulce; tamen in omnibus his nihil aliud habetur, nisi quod simplicibus erat contentus; I Tim. VI, 8: habentes alimenta, et quibus tegamur, his contenti sumus. Consequenter agitur de Baptismo: unde dicitur tunc exibant: et tangit tria. Primo quomodo visitabatur a turbis; secundo quomodo turbae baptizabantur; et tertio quomodo confitebantur peccata sua. Et quantum ad primum sciendum, quod tria sunt quae invitabant homines ad exeundum ad Ioannem. Primo nova praedicatio. Numquam audiverant fieri mentionem de regno caelorum, et ideo mirabantur; Iob c. XXXVIII, 33: numquid nosti ordinem caeli, et pones rationem eius in terra? Ioannes primo docuit quod ratio regni caelorum non esset ponenda in terra. Secundo propter vitam. Unde dicit tunc exibant, videntes scilicet vitam ipsius; Iac. II, 18: ostende mihi fidem tuam sine operibus, et ego ostendam tibi ex operibus fidem meam et cetera. Tertio, quia Iudaea privata erat instructione prophetarum. Ps. LXXIII, 9: signa nostra non vidimus, iam non est propheta. Et ideo exibant a Iudaea ad videndum; et hoc est tunc exibant (...) et baptizabantur ab eo in Iordane. Sed quare in Iordane? Quia in Iordane primo fuit praefiguratus Baptismus. IV Reg. c. II, 8-11, ubi dicitur de Eliseo quod transivit per Iordanem, et Elias raptus est in caelum. Item ibi fuit mundatus Naaman leprosus, qui significat mundatum a peccatis in Baptismo. Item quia ipsa interpretatio convenit Baptismo; interpretatur enim descensus; et significat humilitatem, quam homo debet habere in Baptismo; I Petr. II, 2: quasi modo geniti infantes, rationabile, et sine dolo, lac concupiscite. Tertium ponitur ibi confitentes peccata sua. Causa quare confessio est inducta, supra est ostensa, quia de necessitate salutis; Iac. V, 16: confitemini alterutrum peccata vestra. Et dicit Glossa, quod ideo inducta est, ut homo habeat erubescentiam. Sed sciendum quod erubescentia est causa concomitans, sed principalis est propter virtutem clavium: nullus enim posset ligare, vel solvere, nisi sciret quid ligandum, vel solvendum esset. Unde sicut nullus potest amovere necessitatem clavium, ita nullus posset amovere confessionem vocalem. Sed quaeritur, an accedens ad Baptismum confiteri teneatur. Videtur quod non indigeat virtute clavium, cum omnia dimittantur peccata in Baptismo. Sed dicendum, quod tenetur saltem in generali; et hoc facit quando abrenuntiat Satanae, et omnibus pompis eius: in hoc enim profitetur se esse Satanae obligatum. Videns autem multos. Ostenso quod multi a Ioanne baptizabantur, hic agit de instructione eorum. Et circa hoc duo facit: primo ponuntur qui sunt qui instruantur; secundo ponitur eorum instructio, ibi quis demonstravit vobis fugere a ventura ira? Dicit ergo videns autem multos Pharisaeorum et Sadducaeorum. Sciendum quod apud Iudaeos sunt aliquae sectae, inter quas istae duae erant praecipuae. Pharisaei enim dicebantur quasi a communi vita divisi, propter suas observantias. Isti in multis bene dicebant, tamen deficiebant, quia, ut dicitur, omnia provenire ex necessitate ponebant. Alii, scilicet Sadducaei, dicebantur iusti propter quasdam speciales observantias legis; qui non recipiebant prophetas, nec dicebant animas post corruptionem corporis resuscitari, nec spiritum esse. Utrique autem ex ipso nomine notabantur, quia Phares divisionem significat, quae opponitur caritati. Et hi omnino erant divisi ab aliis, quasi haberent superabundantem spiritum sanctum: hoc enim bonum esset. Alii etiam, scilicet Sadducaei, sibi iustitiam usurpabant; contra quos Rom. X, 3: ignorantes enim iustitiam Dei, et suam quaerentes statuere, iustitiae Dei non sunt subiecti. Et tamen quamvis magis iusti apparerent, tamquam ad magistrum, ad Ioannem veniebant; Is. XLIX, 7: reges videbunt, et consurgent principes, et adorabunt propter dominum, quia fidelis est, et sanctum Israel, qui elegit te. Isti ergo hic convenienter instruuntur. Unde quis demonstravit vobis fugere a ventura ira? Et notandum quod instructio debet variari secundum conditiones auditorum. Simplicibus enim sufficit ea quae ad salutem pertinent breviter loqui; sed sapientibus debent singula explicari; quod innuit apostolus I Cor. III, v. 1: non potui vobis loqui tamquam spiritualibus sed quasi carnalibus. Ita fecit Ioannes: breviter turbas admonuit de poenitentia, et annuntiavit regnum caelorum. Ista duo hic explicat per singula Pharisaeis. Unde primo exhortatur ad poenitentiam; secundo nuntiat de appropinquatione regni caelorum, ibi ego quidem baptizo vos et cetera. Circa primum duo facit: primo ponit inductivum ad poenitentiam; secundo removet ea quae possent a poenitentia retrahere, ibi et ne velitis dicere intra vos: patrem habemus Abraham. Circa primum duo facit: primo ponit inductionem ad poenitentiam; secundo ponit perfectae poenitentiae modum, ibi facite ergo fructum dignum poenitentiae. Duo autem sunt quae inducunt ad poenitentiam: recognitio proprii peccati; Is. LVIII, v. 1: annuntia populo meo scelera eorum: secundo timor divini iudicii. Ista duo annuntiat Ioannes. Unde dicit progenies viperarum. Et notandum, quod in sacra Scriptura dicitur filius alicuius ad imitationem; Ez. XVI, v. 45: pater vester Amorrhaeus; Io. VIII, 44: vos ex patre Diabolo estis, et desideria patris vestri vultis facere. Isti similes erant viperis; et ideo dicit progenies viperarum. Et sunt similes in tribus, secundum Chrysostomum. Natura enim illius est, quando mordet aliquem, recurrere ad aquam; et si invenit non moritur, alias moritur. Unde Ioannes perpendens intentionem eorum, quare veniebant ad aquam Baptismi, dixit progenies viperarum. Sed quomodo venenati veniebant ad Baptismum?
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Quia Ioannes promittebat remissionem peccatorum, unde faciebat intrare aquam deponentem pravam intentionem, ideo dicit agite poenitentiam (...) et baptizabantur ab eo. Secunda proprietas est quod nascendo occidit parentes; unde dicitur quasi vi pariens, et isti similiter. Infra XXIII, 31: quem prophetarum non occidistis? Tertia ratio est, quia est pulchra exterius, interius habens venenum: isti etiam pulchri sunt exterius quadam simulata iustitia, interius habentes peccata; infra XXIII, 27: vae vobis quia similes estis sepulcris dealbatis, quae foris apparent hominibus speciosa, intus vero plena sunt ossibus mortuorum et omni spurcitia; et secundum hoc progenies viperarum sonat in malum. Ambrosius exponit aliter, et dicit, quod prudentia serpentibus adscribitur; inf. X, 16: estote prudentes sicut serpentes. Unde Ioannes, commendans eos de prudentia, quia veniebant ad Baptismum, dicit progenies viperarum. Primum ergo quod inducit ad poenitentiam est recognitio proprii peccati; secundum est timor divini iudicii; Prov. XV, 27: per timorem domini declinat omnis a malo; Iob XIX, 29: scitote esse iudicium.
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Et hoc est, quod dicit quis demonstravit vobis fugere a ventura ira? Et sciendum quod Ambrosius et Chrysostomus exponunt de praeteritis, Rabanus de futuris; unde dicit quis demonstrabit? Et secundum Ambrosium sic: progenies etc., quasi diceret: quis demonstravit, ut recederetis a malo? Quasi dicat: nullus, nisi Deus. Ps. LXXXIV, 8: ostende nobis, domine, misericordiam tuam, et salutare tuum da nobis. Secundum Chrysostomum, sic: progenies viperarum, quia retinent voluntatem peccati, quis demonstravit vobis fugere, sicut vos vultis? Non, quia dixit Isaias I, 16: lavamini, et mundi estote, auferte malum cogitationum vestrarum ab oculis meis. Non, quia dixit David, Ps. l, 4: amplius lava me, domine, ab iniquitate mea, et a peccato meo munda me; et post: sacrificium Deo spiritus contribulatus, cor contritum et humiliatum, Deus, non despicies. Rabanus de futuro sic, quasi diceret: bonum est quod agatis poenitentiam, quia aliter quis demonstrabit? Ps. CXXXVIII, 7: quo ibo a spiritu tuo, et quo a facie tua fugiam? Ira de Deo non accipitur pro affectu mentis, sed pro effectu: unde eius ira est ultio.
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Praemissis his duobus ducentibus ad poenitentiam, consequenter concludit Evangelista facite ergo fructum dignum poenitentiae. In arbore fructus sunt post flores, et si flores non sequantur fructus, arbor illa nihil valet. Flos enim quidam poenitentiae apparet in contritione, sed fructus est in executione. Eccli. XXIV, 23: flores mei fructus honoris et honestatis. Et notandum quod alius est fructus iustitiae, et alius poenitentiae: plus enim requiritur a poenitente, quam ab eo, qui non peccat. Est autem triplex fructus dignus poenitentiae. Primus est ut puniat in se, quod commisit, et hoc iudicio sacerdotis. Ier. XXXI, v. 19: postquam convertisti me, egi poenitentiam, et postquam ostendisti mihi, percussi femur meum: idest carnem meam afflixi. Secundus est ut fugiat peccata, et occasiones peccati, unde dicitur, quod satisfacere est causas peccatorum excidere. Eccli. XXI, 1: fili, peccasti? Ne adiicias iterum: sed et de pristinis deprecare, ut tibi dimittantur et cetera. Quasi a facie colubri fuge peccatum, Eccli. c. XXI, 2. Tertius est, ut tantum studeat ad bene agendum, quantum studuit ad peccandum. Rom. VI, 19: humanum dico propter infirmitatem carnis nostrae. Sicut enim exhibuistis membra vestra servire immunditiae et iniquitati ad iniquitatem, ita nunc exhibete membra vestra servire iustitiae in sanctificationem.
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Consequenter excludit impedimentum poenitentiae, cum dicit et ne velitis dicere intra vos: patrem habemus Abraham. Duplex impedimentum est poenitentiae. Praesumptuositas de se, et desperatio de divino iudicio. Primo removet primum; secundo secundum, ibi iam enim securis ad radicem arborum posita est. Circa primum duo facit: primo excludit impedimentum; secundo assignat rationem, ibi dico enim vobis. Dicit ergo et ne velitis dicere intra vos: patrem habemus Abraham. Isti secundum carnem erant de genere Abrahae: unde poterant credere, quod quantumcumque peccarent, Deus misereretur eis propter Abraham; Ex. XXXII, 11: cur, domine, irascitur furor tuus? Et post: recordare Abraham, Isaac, et Iacob servorum tuorum et cetera. Et ideo excludit hoc Ioannes: et ne velitis dicere. Et est modus loquendi; quasi diceret, non dicatis hoc, quia non valebit vobis. Rom. IX, 8: non qui filii sunt carnis, hi filii Dei; sed qui filii sunt promissionis, aestimantur in semine et cetera. Isti enim multum gloriabantur de Abraham, sed dominus dicit Io. VIII, 39: si filii Abrahae estis, opera Abrahae facite. Contra tales dicit Chrysostomus: quid prodest ei quem mores deturpant, generatio clara? Et est etiam hoc in spiritualibus. Consequenter assignat rationem dico enim vobis, magis est enim magnum imitari patrem, quam nasci ex eo, potens est Deus de lapidibus istis suscitare filios Abrahae. Legitur Iosue IV quod quando populus Israel transivit Iordanem siccis pedibus, in memoriam miraculi, mandavit Iosue, quod extraherentur duodecim lapides ex fundo fluminis, et ponerentur extra, et duodecim de lapidibus exterioribus ponerentur intus. Ioannes autem in illo loco baptizans, eos ostendit. Potest autem intelligi dupliciter. Ad litteram primo: hoc enim est primum fidei fundamentum, credere omnipotentiam Dei; Iob c. XLII, 2: scio quia potes, et nulla te latet cogitatio. Vel possumus intelligere per lapides gentiles, qui dicuntur lapides propter duo: primum quia lapides adorant; secundo propter duritiem. Et licet lapides sint duri, tamen diu conservant impressionem: et licet etiam aedificium ex eis factum tarde fiat, tamen forte est, et durabile. Unde gentiles quamvis fuerint duri ad recipiendum fidem Christi, tamen tenuerunt fortiter. Hoc significatur Ez. XI, 19: auferam a vobis cor lapideum de carne vestra, et dabo vobis cor carneum, et spiritum meum ponam in medio vestri. Secundum autem Hieronymum in verbis istis videtur reducere ad memoriam prophetiam Is. LI, 2: attendite ad Abraham patrem vestrum, et ad Saram quae peperit vos et cetera. Nominat enim petram Abraham propter impotentiam generandi, et Saram propter sterilitatem; quasi dicat: Deus, qui fecit potentem Abraham, et foecundam Saram potens est de lapidibus istis suscitare filios Abrahae. Iam enim securis ad radicem arborum posita est. Possent enim dicere: nec credimus quod aliqua ira superveniat nobis; et ideo hoc removet dicens iam enim. Unde primo ponit iudicium; secundo ponit sententiam iudicii. Dicit ergo iam enim et cetera. Dupliciter enim aliqui poenitere nolunt: ex desperatione iudicii, quia non credunt iudicium esse; Eccli. V, 1: ne dixeris: est mihi sufficiens vita; Iob XIX, 29: fugite a facie gladii, quoniam ultor iniquitatum gladius est, et scitote esse iudicium. Aliqui autem ex mora; II Petr. III, 9: non tardat Deus promissionem suam, sicut quidam aestimant, sed patienter agit propter nos, nolens aliquos perire, sed omnes ad poenitentiam reverti. Sed utramque Ioannes excludit. Primo primam, cum dicit iam enim securis; secundo secundam, cum dicit posita est; quasi dicat, non tardabit. Et tripliciter intelligitur hoc. Chrysostomus dicit, quod per securim intelligitur districtio divini iudicii, quae quandoque per securim, quandoque per arcum, et gladium designatur; Ps. VII, 13: nisi conversi fueritis, gladium suum vibrabit, arcum suum tetendit, et paravit illum. Hieronymus: per securim praedicatio Evangelii intelligitur, quia sicut per doctrinam Evangelii aliqui ducti sunt ad vitam, ita contemptores ad mortem. Ier. XXIII, 29: nonne verba mea sicut ignis, et quasi malleus conterens petram? Lc. II, 34: ecce positus est hic in ruinam, et resurrectionem multorum in Israel, et in signum cui contradicetur et cetera. Iam enim securis ad radicem arborum posita est; quasi dicat: in promptu est, ut veniat. Secundum Gregorium per securim redemptor noster intelligitur, qui velut ex manubrio et ferro, ex humanitate et divinitate constat; cuius humanitas, quia patienter expectat, quasi tenetur: divinitas, quasi ferrum incidit. Securis ergo ad radicem ponitur, quia iudicium fit per Deum et hominem. Et dicit ad radicem propter duo, quia in radice fit praecisio universalis, eius etiam quod est in ramis. Item quia quod a radice exciditur, non germinat: quasi diceret: universalis erit extirpatio malorum. Sequitur ergo, et ponit primo universalitatem dicens omnis arbor; quasi dicat: tam Iudaeus quam gentilis; Rom. II, 11: non est acceptatio personarum apud Deum. Item culpam, quia non facit fructum, propter solam enim omissionem fit punitio; infra XXV, v. 42: esurivi, et non dedistis mihi manducare. Tertio ponit duplicem poenam: scilicet temporalem, excidetur, scilicet ex hac vita; Lc. XIII, 7: ecce tres anni sunt, ex quo venio quaerens fructum in ficulnea hac, et non invenio: succide ergo illam, et post: ut quid terram occupat? Et hoc est excidetur, cum prosperitate terrena.
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Item ponit poenam aeternam, unde dicitur in ignem mittetur; Is. ult., 24: vermis eorum non morietur, et ignis eorum non extinguetur. Et inf. XXV, 41: ite, maledicti, in ignem aeternum. Ego quidem baptizo. Supra Ioannes exhortatus fuit ad poenitentiam explendam, modo intendit facere quod frequenter dixerat, scilicet annuntiare regnum caelorum: et circa hoc duo facit. Primo ponitur praeparatio ad regnum; secundo agitur de praenuntiatione regni, ibi qui autem post me venturus est. Regnum illud Christus est, de quo Lc. XVII, 21: regnum Dei intra vos est. Praeparatio quidem est Baptismus; unde ego quidem, quod mirabile est vobis, baptizo, in aqua sola, scilicet quia sum purus homo. Unde non poterat nisi corpus lavare, nec poterat dare spiritum sanctum, cum nondum esset solutum pretium pro peccato; Hebr. IX, v. 22: non enim fit remissio sine sanguine. Item spiritus sanctus nondum descenderat, nec Christus tactu suae carnis aquam sanctificaverat. Quare ergo baptizabat? Propter tria. Primo, ut praeveniret Christum, baptizando; Lc. I, 76: praeibis ante faciem domini parare vias eius. Secundo, ut congregatis hominibus haberet opportunitatem praedicandi de Christo; Io. I, 31: ut manifestaretur in Israel, propterea veni ego in aqua baptizans. Tertio, ut ad Baptismum Christi praepararet. Unde consuetudo est in Ecclesia, ut prius catechumeni fiant qui baptizari debent, scilicet ut fiat quaedam praeparatio, et accipiant quoddam signaculum, per quod idonei reputantur: et hoc est quod dicit, ego baptizo, ut scilicet sciatis vos aptos esse, qui a Christo baptizari intenditis. Nota, quod Magister in IV Sent. dicit, quod baptizati a Ioanne non baptizabantur a Christo, nisi illi qui ponebant spem suam in Ioanne. Sed hoc falsum est; unde dicit ipse vos baptizabit. Item nota, quod Augustinus movet quaestionem. Si post Baptismum Ioannis rebaptizabantur, quare non rebaptizabantur post Baptismum haereticorum? Dicendum, quod Ioannes baptizabat in persona sua; haeretici in persona Christi; unde Baptismus Christi iudicandus est. Consequenter agitur de regno. Et primo ostendit dignitatem ipsius; secundo officium eius, ibi ipse vos baptizabit. Dicit ergo qui post me venit, nascendo, baptizando, praedicando, moriendo, ad Inferos descendendo. Sed hic de duobus tantum loquitur, videlicet de praedicatione et Baptismo; unde dicit qui post me venit, ad baptizandum et docendum; Lc. I, 17: ipse praecedet ante illum in spiritu et virtute Eliae. Fortior me est, et fortior eius Baptismus; I Reg. II, 2: non est sanctus ut est Deus; Iob IX, 19: si fortitudo quaeritur, robustissimus est. Et ne sic credatur quod sit comparatio inter eos, dicit cuius non sum dignus calceamenta portare; quasi dicat: incomparabiliter me dignior est, ut exponit Chrysostomus, ita ut ei officium non debeam exhibere. Sed sciendum quod in aliis tribus Evangeliis non est sic: quia illic dicitur solvere, hic portare. Unde dicit Augustinus quod Ioannes voluit tantum suam humilitatem, et Christi excellentiam ostendere, et tunc idem significatur in omnibus. Unde dicit, quod hoc fuit per spiritus sancti inspirationem, quod in talibus Evangelistae dissonent in verbis, ut documentum accipiamus, quod non mentimur, si eumdem sensum cum aliis loquimur, quamvis non eadem verba dicamus. Si vero mysticum aliquid significare voluit, tunc differentia est in verbis Matthaei et aliorum: et possunt in corrigia calceamenti duo significari, quia per calceamentum humanitatem; Ps. LIX, 10: in Idumaeam extendam calceamentum meum. Corrigia est unio, qua humanitas ligata est divinitati. Et quia non reputabat se sufficientem ad explicandum mysterium unionis, ideo dicit cuius non sum dignus calceamenta portare. Vel mos erat apud Iudaeos, Deut. XXV, 9, quod si quis nollet accipere uxorem fratris sui, deberet solvere corrigiam ab illo, qui uxorem accipiebat. Sponsa Christi Ecclesia est. Tunc ergo Ioannes reputabat se indignum esse accipere sponsam Christi. Vel aliter secundum Hilarium. Calceamentum portant quippe nuntiatores humanitatis Christi per mundum; quod fuit reservatum apostolis; Is. LII, 7: quam pulchri super montes pedes annuntiantis et praedicantis pacem, annuntiantis bonum, praedicantis salutem. Ergo Ioannes dicit se non esse dignum portare calceamentum quod apostolis erat reservatum: maius enim officium est evangelizare, quam baptizare; I Cor. I, 17: non misit me Christus baptizare, sed evangelizare. Numquid ergo maiores apostoli Ioanne? Non merito, sed officio novi testamenti. Et secundum hunc sensum dicitur infra XI, 11: qui minor est in regno caelorum, maior est illo. Vel aliter secundum Chrysostomum. Pedes sunt apostoli, et alii eius famuli, inter quos Ioannes erat. Calceamentum est infirmitas eorum: quia sicut decor pedum non cognoscitur quamdiu teguntur calceamento, ita decor apostolorum; II Cor. XII, 9: libenter gloriabor in infirmitatibus meis, ut inhabitet in me virtus Christi. Cuius non sum dignus calceamenta portare: quia nec ipse, nec apostoli se dignos reputant, ut sint ministri Evangelii Christi; II Cor. III, 4: fiduciam talem habemus per Christum ad Deum: non quod sufficientes simus cogitare aliquid a nobis quasi ex nobis, sed sufficientia nostra ex Deo est. Si ergo diversa significat secundum mysterium, quid horum dixit Ioannes? Dicendum, secundum Augustinum, quod si verba Ioannis ad diversa referuntur, sic utrumque dixit. Vel quod Ioannes turbis praedicans quandoque dixit illud, quandoque aliud. Consequenter agit de officio Christi. Et primo de officio baptizandi; secundo de officio iudicandi, ibi cuius ventilabrum in manu sua.
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Dicit ergo ipse vos baptizabit in spiritu sancto et igni. Multi libri habent et ignis. Sed loquuntur more Graecorum, qui carent ablativo. Et dicit spiritu sancto et igni: in quo datur intelligi quod Baptismus Christi habet amplius quam Baptismus Ioannis, quia addit super illud, quia Christus in aqua et spiritu; Io. III, 5: nisi quis renatus fuerit ex aqua et spiritu sancto, non potest introire in regnum Dei. Sed nota quod, cum dicit baptizabit vos in spiritu sancto, insinuat habendam esse affluentiam spiritus sancti, quam habentes totaliter abluuntur; Act. I, 5: vos autem baptizabimini spiritu sancto. Insinuat etiam facilem immutationem. Et igni. Istud multipliciter exponitur. Hieronymus dicit, quod idem designatur per spiritum sanctum et ignem; Lc. XII, v. 49: ignem veni mittere in terram, et quid volo nisi ut accendatur? Idest spiritum sanctum. Et ideo etiam in igne apparuit; Act. II, v. 3: et apparuerunt illis dispartitae linguae tamquam ignis. Secundum Chrysostomum per ignem significatur praesens tribulatio, quae purgat peccata; Eccli. XXVII, 6: vasa figuli probat fornax, et homines iustos tentatio tribulationis. Sed sciendum, quod dicit, istud Baptisma esse necessarium, quia Baptismus spiritus sancti continet mentem, ne vincatur a tentationibus, sed non totaliter tollit germina carnis: et ideo necessaria est tribulatio, quia caro tunc attrita non germinabit concupiscentiam. Necessarius ergo est ignis qui reficiat carnem. Vel per ignem intelligitur purgatio futura in Purgatorio; I Cor. III, 13: quale sit opus, ignis probabit. Hilarius autem exponit de igne Inferni, et dicit quod duo intendit in hoc quod dicit, ipse vos baptizabit spiritu sancto et igni, salutem scilicet quam efficit in praesenti et in futuro.
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In futuro purgabit per ignem Inferni, inquantum attrahet malos; et hoc consonat ei quod sequitur, paleas autem comburet igni inextinguibili. Consequenter agitur de iudiciaria potestate cuius ventilabrum in manu eius. Et primo tangitur iudiciaria potestas; secundo iudicii effectus; tertio iudicii modus. Dicit ergo cuius ventilabrum, et utitur similitudine. Area dicitur Ecclesia; fruges, fideles, qui congregabuntur per Angelos; Lc. c. X, 2: rogate dominum messis, ut mittat operarios in messem suam; Io. IV, 34 qui misit me ut perficiam opus eius. Ventilabrum, iudiciaria potestas Christi, quae discernet triticum a paleis; Io. V, 22: pater omne iudicium dedit filio; Act. X, 42: ipse est qui constitutus est a Deo iudex vivorum et mortuorum. Permundabit, idest perfecte mundabit. Primo per tribulationes quae sunt quasi quidam ventus, qui si non est, paleae sunt cum tritico: ita etiam quamdiu sunt in Ecclesia, non discernuntur boni a malis; et sicut per minorem ventum paleae tenues expelluntur, et per fortem grossae, ita in Ecclesia, si crescat tribulatio, etiam qui firmi videntur, cadunt; Lc. VIII, 13: ad tempus credunt, et in tempore tentationis recedunt. Secundo per sententias praelatorum, quando scilicet excommunicantur; I ad Cor. V, 13: auferte malum ex vobisipsis. Tertio in die iudicii, quando segregabuntur boni a malis; infra XXV, 32. Congregabit in horreum suum, scilicet Paradisi, triticum, idest electos; Ps. CV, 47: salvos nos fac, domine Deus noster, et congrega nos de nationibus. Paleas autem comburet. Et nota quod differentia est inter paleas et zizania: aliud enim est semen palearum et zizaniorum, quia palearum est idem semen cum tritico. Unde per zizania possumus intelligere schismaticos, qui non communicant nobiscum in sacramentis; per paleas, fideles, licet malos. Sed utrique igni comburentur. Igni inextinguibili; Is. ultim., 24: ignis eorum non extinguetur. Et dicit inextinguibili, ad differentiam ignis Purgatorii. De hoc igne infra XXV, 41: ite, maledicti, in ignem aeternum et cetera.
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Supra introduxit Evangelista Ioannem baptizantem, nunc introducit Christum ad Baptismum Ioannis venientem: et circa hoc duo facit. Primo ponit ea quae praecesserunt Baptismum; secundo consequentia ad Baptismum, ibi baptizatus autem Iesus. Circa primum ponuntur quatuor. Primo mira Christi humilitas; secundo humilitatis admiratio; tertio Christi satisfactio admirationi; quarto Ioannes satisfactioni consentit. Secundum ibi Ioannes autem prohibebat eum; tertium ibi respondens autem Iesus; quartum ibi tunc dimisit eum. Circa primum quatuor ponuntur: tempus, personae, loca et officium. Tempus, cum dicit tunc, scilicet Ioanne lumen suum habente. Sicut enim sol oritur adhuc apparente Lucifero, ita Christus Ioanne praedicante et baptizante, Lc. III, 21. Iob XXXVIII, 32: numquid producis Luciferum in tempore suo, et vesperum super fines terrae consurgere facis? Vel tunc quando Christus fuit in trigesimo anno, Lc. III, 23, ut daret intelligi quod officium praedicationis, et praelationis non debet aliquis sumere ante perfectam aetatem. Vel tunc quando secundum cursum aliorum multa peccata poterat perpetrasse. Unde noluit statim baptizari, sed multo tempore legem servavit, quasi constitutus sub lege, et ut Iudaei non haberent causam scandali, quia non venit solvere legem, infra V, 17. Sed posset alicui videri, quod ideo Christus terminasset legem, quia non potuisset legem implere; et ideo voluit diu observare; et ideo non ita cito baptizatus est. Ponuntur personae, cum dicitur venit Iesus ad Ioannem, dominus ad servum, creator ad creaturam; infra XI, 29: discite a me, quia mitis sum et humilis corde. Loca a Galilaea. Ista mystice conveniunt baptizatis, quia Galilaea significat transmigrationem: oportet enim baptizatos transmigrare de vitiis ad virtutes; I Petr. II, v. 1: deponentes omnem malitiam, et omnem dolum, et simulationes, et invidias, et omnes detractiones. Item, in Iordanem. Iordanis interpretatur descensus, et significat humilitatem, quae debet esse in baptizando ad gratiam percipiendam; Iacob. IV, 6: humilibus autem dat gratiam. Ponitur officium ut baptizaretur. Deus voluit baptizari a Ioanne quatuor rationibus. Primo ut Baptismum Ioannis conservaretur, quia illi aliqui detrahebant, infra XXI, v. 24. Secundo, ut suo tactu totam consecraret aquam; et ideo Baptismus dicitur fieri de fontibus salvatoris; Is. XII, 3: haurietis aquas in gaudio de fontibus salvatoris. Tertio, ut demonstraret in se veram conditionem hominis, quia sicut fuit in similitudinem carnis peccati, Rom. VIII, 3, ita voluit mundari quasi peccator. Quarto, ut aliis imponeret necessitatem baptizandi: prius enim voluit servare quae imposuit; Act. I, 1: coepit Iesus facere et docere, contra illos de quibus infra XXIII, 4: alligant onera gravia et importabilia, et imponunt in humeros hominum: digito autem suo nolunt ea tangere. Consequenter ponitur admiratio. Et nota tria. Primo enim Ioannes recusat honorem sibi oblatum; secundo confitetur suam humilitatem; tertio suam infirmitatem. Secundum ibi Ioannes autem prohibebat eum; Eccli. VII, 4: noli quaerere ab homine ducatum, neque a rege cathedram honoris.
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Tertium ibi ego a te debeo baptizari. Cognoscebat enim quod interius baptizaret; et ideo dicit baptizari idest ab originali peccato mundari: ita dicit Glossa. Sed contra, quia erat sanctificatus in utero. Sed dicendum quod ante adventum Christi aliqui quodammodo mundati sunt quantum ad infectionem personae per circumcisionem, et huiusmodi; sed quantum ad culpam et infectionem totius naturae nullus mundatus fuit ante passionem Christi. Et tu venis ad me? Ps. CXXXVIII, 6: mirabilis facta est scientia tua ex me, confortata est, et non potero ad eam. Consequenter ponitur Christi satisfactio. Nota quod Ioannes unum fecerat, quia prohibebat; et duo dixerat: ego a te debeo baptizari, et tu venis ad me? Et tamen Christus ad unum non respondit, ad hoc scilicet ego a te; sed respondit ad hoc quod prohibebat: unde sine modo. Et dicit modo, quia, secundum Chrysostomum, Ioannes postmodum baptizatus est a Christo, non solum Baptismo flaminis, sed etiam aquae. Vel sine modo, hoc dicit, quia postmodum baptizatus est Ioannes Baptismo spiritus sancti. Vel sine modo, ut baptizer Baptismo aquae, quia alio Baptismo habeo baptizari, scilicet Baptismo passionis; Lc. XII, v. 50: Baptismo habeo baptizari, et quomodo coarctor usque dum perficiatur? Et isto etiam Ioannes baptizatus est a Christo, inquantum mortuus est pro iustitia, quod idem est quod mori pro Christo. Vel sine modo, quando gero formam servilem, implere me humilitatis officium: quia quando apparebo gloriosus, tunc baptizabo te Baptismo gloriae.
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Consequenter respondet Christus admirationi, et dicit sic enim decet nos implere omnem iustitiam. Quod exponitur tripliciter. Primo sic decet nos implere omnem iustitiam, scilicet per Baptismum: futurum enim erat, quod Christus impleret omnem iustitiam, et legis, et naturae; sed voluit per istam viam implere, quia sine Baptismo non impletur; Io. III, 3: nisi quis natus fuerit denuo, non potest videre regnum Dei et cetera. Remigius sic exponit: sic enim decet nos implere omnem iustitiam. Decet me dare exemplum huius sacramenti, in quo datur plenitudo omnis iustitiae, quia datur plenitudo gratiae et aliarum virtutum; Ps. LXIV, 10: flumen Dei repletum est aquis, scilicet gratiarum. Vel sic: sic enim decet etc., idest, decet me habere perfectam humilitatem. Primus gradus est non praeferre se pari, et subiicere se maiori, quod quidem est necessitatis. Secundum cum subiicit se aequali. Perfecta autem, quando praelatus se subiicit inferiori: et hoc est sic enim decet etc., idest perfectam humilitatem implere. Sed cum esset inter eos talis altercatio, Christus vicit. Unde tunc dimisit eum etc., hoc est permisit ut ab eo baptizaretur. Glossa: vera est humilitas quam non deserit obedientia: pertinaciter enim resistere, superbiae est. I Reg. XV, 23: quasi scelus idololatriae nolle acquiescere: sic enim laudantur Ieremias et Moyses qui finaliter consenserunt.
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Consequenter cum dicit baptizatus autem Iesus confestim ascendit de aqua, ponuntur quatuor consequentia ad Baptismum. Et sciendum, quod sicut Christus in suo Baptismo dedit exemplum baptizandi aliis, ita in consequentibus Baptismum dedit intelligere quae nos consequamur. Sunt autem quatuor consequentia, scilicet ascensus Christi, aperitio caeli, apparitio spiritus sancti, et protestatio patris. Primum ibi baptizatus autem Iesus confestim ascendit de aqua. Et ad litteram hoc dicit, quia fluvius habebat alveos altos. In hoc tamen significatur, quod illi qui baptizantur ascendunt per bona opera. Et dicit statim, quia immediate baptizati in Christo induunt Christum; Gal. III, 27: quicumque enim in Christo baptizati estis, Christum induistis. Item adipiscuntur haereditatem caelestem; I Petr. I, 3: regeneravit nos in spem vivam per resurrectionem in haereditatem incorruptibilem: et hoc est et aperti sunt caeli. Hoc non est intelligendum corporaliter, sed imaginaria visione. Et aperti sunt ei caeli. Et significat hoc quod humano generi clausum erat caelum per peccatum; Gen. III, 24: et collocavit ante Paradisum voluptatis Cherubim, et flammeum gladium atque versatilem ad custodiendam viam ligni vitae. Dicitur quod posuit Seraphim, sed apertum est per Christum. Sed quaeritur, quare aperti sunt ei caeli, cum semper fuerint ei aperti? Et dicendum, secundum Chrysostomum, quod Evangelista loquitur secundum communem modum locutionis, quia merito Baptismi eius aperti sunt nobis: sicut rex amico suo petenti pro alio gratiam, dicit: concedo hoc vobis. Et sciendum quod tria sunt hominum genera, qui statim ad caelum evolant post mortem: baptizati, ut hic; martyres, unde Act. c. VII, 56: ecce video caelos apertos, et filium hominis stantem a dextris virtutis Dei, et qui peregerunt poenitentiam, Act. X, 19 dicitur quod Petro oranti apertum est caelum. Consequenter ponitur apparitio spiritus sancti; unde et vidit spiritum Dei descendentem sicut columbam, et venientem super se. Hoc est quod competit baptizatis, qui accipiunt spiritum sanctum in se; Io. III, v. 6: quod natum est ex spiritu, spiritus est, idest spiritualis est. Et vidit, non imaginaria visione, alias ipse solus vidisset, spiritum Dei, idest columbam. Et sciendum, quod nihil corporale dicitur de Deo secundum substantiam suam, sed vel per imaginariam visionem, Is. VI, 1: vidi dominum sedentem super solium excelsum et elevatum etc., vel per significationem, I cor c. X, 4: petra autem erat Christus, vel per assumptionem in unitatem personae, Io. I, 14: verbum caro factum est. Nullo autem istorum modorum spiritus sanctus dicitur columba. Quod non per imaginariam visionem, patet, quia communiter ab omnibus visa est. Non per significationem, quia non primo extiterat. Non per assumptionem in unitatem personae. Et ideo est quartus modus, qui est quando de novo formatur aliqua species ad repraesentationem divinorum effectuum, sicut in Ex. III, 2 apparuit dominus in igne et rubo; et in legislatione, in fulgure et in tonitruo, Ex. XIX, 16. Unde columba fuit ad repraesentandam influentiam spiritus sancti: et hoc est et vidit spiritum Dei descendentem. Apparuit autem in specie columbae propter quatuor. Primo propter caritatem; columba enim est animal amorosum. Chrysostomus: alia dona habet etiam servus Diaboli in simulatione, quae habet servus Dei in veritate: solam caritatem sancti spiritus non potest immundus spiritus imitari. Cant. V, 2: aperi mihi, soror mea, amica mea, columba mea, immaculata mea. Secundo propter innocentiam et simplicitatem; infra X, 16: estote prudentes sicut serpentes, et simplices sicut columbae. Tertio quia habet gemitum pro cantu; et homo sanctificatus per spiritum sanctum debet gemere pro peccatis; Nahum II, 7: et ancillae eius minabantur, gementes ut columbae. Quarto propter foecunditatem. Unde etiam praecipiebatur in lege, ut offerrent columbam: et hoc convenit baptizatis, quia, sicut dicit Io. III, 6: quod natum est ex spiritu, spiritus est. Descendentem sicut columbam. Semper emanatio donorum divinorum a Deo in quacumque creatura est per descensum, quia creatura non potest recipere nisi per descensum in illam; Iac. I, 17: omne datum optimum, et omne donum perfectum desursum est, descendens a patre luminum. Et venientem super se. Nota. Missio visibilis semper est signum missionis invisibilis: et significat aut gratiam de novo acceptam, aut augmentum gratiae: sicut in apostolis, quando in linguis apparuit spiritus sanctus, significavit augmentum gratiae. Item missio talis vel significat gratiam tunc factam, aut prius factam. In Christo autem non significavit novum effectum, quia ab instanti conceptionis suae fuit plenus gratia et veritate; sed gratia quae fuit ante super se, fuit inquantum homo, non inquantum Deus.
3:17
Consequenter cum dicit et ecce vox de caelo dicens, ponitur protestatio patris hic est filius meus. Nota quod Baptismus non solum facit spirituales, sed etiam filios Dei; Io. I, 12: dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri. Et sciendum quod ista vox quasi exprimit illud, quod columba significavit. Dilectus, non sicut aliae creaturae, Sap. II, 13, sed tamquam filius naturalis; Io. V, 20: pater diligit filium, et omnia demonstrat ei quae ipse facit, et maiora his demonstrabit ei opera, ut vos miremini. Hoc etiam significat Ps. II, 7: dominus dixit ad me: filius meus es tu, ego hodie genui te. Sed quia sancti etiam diliguntur ab eo, addit filius, per quod distinguit filium, secundum unum intellectum, ab aliis. In quo mihi complacui. In quocumque enim relucet bonum alicuius, in illo aliquid complacet sibimet, sicut artifex sibi complacet in pulchro artificio suo, et sicut si homo videat suam pulchram imaginem in speculo. Bonitas divina est in qualibet creatura particulari; sed numquam tota perfecta nisi in filio et spiritu sancto; et ideo totum non complacet sibi nisi in filio, qui tantum habet de bonitate quantum pater: et hoc est in quo, idest, ego complaceo mihi in ipso; Io. III, 35: pater diligit filium, et omnia dedit in manu eius. Sed nota quod contrarietas quaedam videtur esse inter istum Evangelistam, et alios, quia Marcus I, 11 et Lucas III, 22 dicunt, tu es filius meus dilectus; Matthaeus vero, est filius meus dilectus, et: in te. Sed eadem est sententia, quia quod dicitur tu es, hoc directe videbatur dici ad Christum; sed dicebat propter alios, quia Christus certus erat de dilectione patris. Et ideo Matthaeus expressit intentionem dicentis, et dicit hic est et cetera. Unde demonstrat quasi aliis dictum esse; ita dixit Augustinus. Item quaeritur, quare Matthaeus et Marcus dicunt in quo mihi, Lucas vero, in te. Augustinus dicit quod pater in filio complacet sibi, et hominibus. Propter hoc ergo quod dicitur in quo, significat quod complaceat sibi in hominibus. Unde complaceat aliis mihi, idest ad honorem meum, quia aliqui videntes filium, glorificaverunt patrem. Vel secundum utrumque sensum: in quo mihi complacui, idest placitum meum fuit implere salutem hominum: et hoc est in te, idest per te. Et nota quod in isto Baptismo non solum repraesentatur finis et fructus, sed etiam forma Baptismi, quae est, in nomine patris, et filii, et spiritus sancti, infra. Filius enim fuit in carne, pater in voce, spiritus sanctus in columbae specie. Et nota quod hoc quod seorsum fuit, non pertinet ad divisionem operationis personae de Trinitate, cum, sicut est communis essentia, ita operatio; sed hoc dicitur propter appropriationem quamdam, quia tota Trinitas illud et columbam creavit, et carnem creavit; sed referuntur ista ad diversas personas.
3:1
In those days. THE whole twenty-three years and more which Christ is believed to have spent in Nazareth until He approached His thirtieth year, the age of a doctor of the Church, have been passed over by the three Evangelists, SS. Matthew, Mark, and John, in almost total silence. S. Luke alone has told us a little of His childhood (u. 40 fT.).
In those days. This was clearly thirty years later, or thereabouts, as is gathered from S. Luke (iii. i), who says that the coming of S. John Baptist took place in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar. It is certain that Christ was born in the forty-first or forty-second year of the reign of Augustus (vide chap. 1.13). Augustus reigned fifty-six years. We may therefore ask why S. Matthew says " in those days " ? A day is clearly put in Hebrew for a year (Gen. xxiv. 55 ; Exod. xiii. 10 ; Levit. xxv. 29 ; Judges xix. 2 ; I Kings i. 13 ; Amos w. 4) ; also for any time, however long (Judges xviii. I ; EzekielncxxviL 17). These words, therefore, mean the same as after some years, or after some time, as S. Chrysostom (Horn, x.) and Strabus show. Or, more probably, the time referred to is that which Christ spent in Nazareth. The words of the Evangelist thus cohere best. For he had said (u. 23) : " He came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth," and then he added : " In these days " ; that is, while He was living there. Came. Why did He not come before ? Because He was not yet thirty years old, before which age no one could perform the work of a priest, doctor of the Church, or prophet, as the Jews say, and as is clear from Scripture (i Paralip. xxiii. 3). This was the reason why Christ Himself did not begin to teach before His thirtieth year. The Evangelist does not say that S. John then first came into the desert, but then first showed himself in it, and began to preach repentance.
In the desert of Judcea. We read of many deserts in Scripture. The desert of Ziph (i Kings xxiii. 15), between the west and south, a long way from Jerusalem ; the desert of Maon near it (i Kings xxiii. 24), Engeddi (xxiv. 2), Pharan (xxv. i), Edom to the south (4 Kings iii. 8). But when a desert is mentioned absolutely, that of Juda is meant (S. Matt. w. i ; xi. 7 ; xv. 23 ; 5. Mark i. 3, 4, 12, 13 ; 5. Luke i. 80, iii. 2), unless another is evidently intended, as in S. John iii. 14. S. Matthew adds the word Juda that it might be distinguished from others. It lay between the east and north on this side of Jordan ; at the top, on the north and east point, were Enon and Salim, where John baptised.
3:2
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Some think that the kingdom of heaven here means grace, faith, and renewal of spirit, which is said to be within us, as in 5. Luke xvii. 21. It may be so, but in this passage it would rather appear that heaven itself is intended, as in 6". Matt. xxv. 34 ; S. Luke xiii. 28, 29 ; xxiii. 41. It seems to be a tacit allusion and antithesis to the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, and their return from Babylon into the land of Canaan, which had been promised them, and which no doubt was a figure of heaven. The meaning, then, is : Prepare yourselves by penitence ; that is, do not serve Pharoah and the king of Babylon, who are as Satan. In other words, do not prefer slavery to freedom, captivity to a kingdom, as some idle and degenerate Israelites formerly did. For the time is at hand when they who wish may enter heaven. Joshua speaks in the same manner to the people when they entered the land of Canaan, after their long wanderings (iii. 5). The kingdom of heaven is said to be at hand because, although shut before, it was to be opened after the death of Christ (Heb. ix. 8 ; xi. 29, 40). Christ Himself also teaches this ; for what is the meaning of 5. Matt. xxvi. 29, and 5. Luke xxii. 1 8, but that He, by His death, would open the kingdom of heaven ? The thief on the cross understood this (S. Luke xxiii. 42). The Cross of Christ was the ark of the covenant, by which the waters of Jordan were divided, and entrance was made to the promised land (Joshua iii. 16).
3:3
This is he. Euthymius thinks these the words of S. John. But it is clear from .S. Mark i. I, and 5. Luke iii. 4, that they are those of the Evangelist, who applied, as he often does, the words of the Prophet (Isaiah xl. 3) to S. John. " The voice of one crying " (vox damans) ; or, in Hebrew, Tip N"Ylp for the Hebrew is ambiguous. Not only do S. Matthew, S. Mark, and S. Luke apply this testimony to S. John, but he himself also declares that he was the voice (S. John i. 23). The words of Isaiah, " preparing the way in the wilderness," were spoken of the souls of the Jews, which, as undisciplined and stony, they were exhorted to soften, and so prepare by humility, faith, and patience, that Christ might pass through them— per eos transeat—znd receive them with Himself in heaven.
3:4
The same John had his raiment of camel's hair. S. Luke describes the appearance of S. John with great exactness, partly, perhaps, in praise of his sanctity, and partly to show tacitly why he raised so high an opinion of himself that the people flocked from all parts to see him.
His meat was locusts. The locusts of S. John were the insect locusts which were allowed to be eaten by the Law (Levit. xi. 22). Almost all the ancient writers state that S. John's diet consisted of them. (Origen, Horn, in Luc. ; S. Hilary, Can. u. ; S. Ambrose, in Luc. u. 3 ; S. Chrysostom, Horn. u. in Marc.; The Author, Horn, iii.; S. Augustine, Confess., iii. 31.)
Wild honey. The land was described as flowing with milk and honey (Exod. iii. 8, 17; xiii. 5 ; Levit. xx. 24 ; Numb. xiii. 28 ; xiv. 8 ; Deut. vi. 2, et al.}.
3:6
And were baptised of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. Although the Catholic Doctors of the Church do not prove the doctrine of Confession from this passage, they affirm that they who came to John's baptism did not merely confess themselves generally to be sinners — for who does not confess himself to be a sinner ? — but that each declared his own specific sin that he might receive pardon ; for this is to confess sins. The Evangelists relate this not as a customary thing which was done by all who confessed themselves to be sinners, but as something new, singular, and admirable ; for it was both new and admirable that arrogant men should not only confess themselves to be sinners, but guilty of such and such sins.
3:7
And seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees. These were two classes of men of very great favour and authority among the Jews. Christ, we find, had contentions with them, as also with the scribes (chap. v. 20 ; xvi. n, et al.}. We find no mention of them in the Old Testament, for they were not men of office and authority like the priests and scribes, but of a heresy not much before the time of Christ, as we learn from Josephus, who describes these among the other Jewish sects (Antiq., xiii. 9, 23 ; xvii. I ; xviii. 2 ; De BelLJud^ i. 17 ; and S. Epiphanius, Panar., lib. i.). Some think that they were called Pharisees, as being always before the eyes of the people, because they enlarged their phylacteries (S. Matthew xxiii. 5) and loved salutations in the market places (v. 7 ; 5. Luke xx. 46) ; for D"W means to expose, unroll, unfold. Others derive the word from min JIN tWnQ "explaining the Law"; this they conclude from Josephus, who says that they were great expositors of the Law. A better authority is found in Ben Gorton, w. 6. The derivation shows that they are in error ; for they are not termed in Hebrew DW1G expositores, but D^tiTVlD expositi, or separated. I therefore rather follow the Hebrews, who, as Baal Haruch says, teach that the Pharisees were so called as being separated from other men through their remarkable learning and holiness ; for this is the meaning of t£HD like Nazaraei of old, who were called from ^"0 that is, to separate. By the Latins also they who are in any respect remarkable and noble are called egregii, eximii, " singulares" . S. Epiphanius (Her., xiv.) and S. Jerome (Comment, on S. Matthew, xxiii.) think that the Sadducees were so called from p1!£ justice — as being just men. The Pharisees had the office and authority of public teachers, which was confirmed by the testimony of Christ Himself (S. Matthew xxiii. 2). The scribes are always put before the Pharisees, perhaps because they were more ancient and of divine institution. For the Pharisees were of human origin alone. The Jews themselves considered the Sadducees as heretics. They believed neither the Resurrection, nor the immortality of the soul, nor spirit, nor anything but what they could apprehend by their senses or mere reason (S. Mark xii. 18; Acts v. 17; xxiii. 8). They admitted no unwritten traditions, and of the sacred writings they received what they would and rejected what they would. They only, therefore, received the Pentateuch as inspired by God ; the other books they said were of men, and liable to error. This is thought to have been the reason why Christ, when disputing with them on the Resurrection, urged them only with citations from the Pentateuch, when there are others more plain (Matt. xxii. 31, 32). Such as the Pharisees and Sadducees were, however, it is strange that they should have received such harsh treatment from S. John as to becalled a generation of vipers (Origen). S. Chrysostom, Theophylact, and others say that S. John knew that they came not with a true, but with a false and pretended repentance. He adds, therefore, " Bring forth, therefore, fruits meet for repentance ". As if he had said, Show by your actions that you do not come here with dissimulation, but in sincerity. Why did they come if they came hypocritically ? Origen (torn, vi., On S. John) replies : because they would not bethought wicked and heretics by the people whose opinion of John was so exalted. This is confirmed by xxi. 26, where they did not venture to say that the baptism of John was of men, because they feared the people; " for all held John as a prophet".
Generation of vipers. S. Ambrose (On S. Luke, u. 3) thinks this not so much blame as praise ; as if he praised them because when they were the sons of vipers they did not follow their parents, but came to repentance. But both from the words and manner of speaking, and from the same expression having been used by Christ (xxiii. 33), not in praise, but blame, we may see that S. John speaks here in the same sense, and most severely ; for D^DNIl ^TT " sons of vipers," that is, vipers, is a Hebraism ; for as children most frequently resemble their parents, he calls them sons of vipers, to call them vipers themselves. And Christ said, " Fill ye up the measure of your fathers" (S. Matt, xxiii. 32). Vipers are known as the most venomous of beasts, so that when S. Paul was bitten by one, and did not immediately swell out and die, the people thought him a god. John compares the excessive malice of the Pharisees and Sadducees to the most noxious of animals, especially the calumniating and backbiting of the saints, which is as proper and peculiar to the Pharisees and Sadducees as venom to the viper, as is explained by S. Jerome (On Isaiah xxx.) and S. Gregory (Horn. xx. on the Gospels).
Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come ? Who taught you to come hither to flee from the wrath tocome ? you who are vipers rather than men. As if S. John had said, as SS. Chrysostom and Ambrose explain it: This is not of yourselves, but of divine grace and providence: or, Who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come but your own consciences, which inwardly condemn you and compel you to seek a remedy ? For who can teach you who teach all men, and are yourselves taught by none? as God said to Adam, " Who hath told thee that thou wast naked ? " Some Latin copies read, " Who will show you ?" This reading, if it were supported by the Greek, would please me greatly, as the meaning is better. " The soldiers and the publicans and the multitude have sought of me the way of salvation, and I have shown it to them ; but who can show it to hypocrites like you, who seek it with feigning? No one. For who that conceals his disease can be healed by the physician ? " Like Christ, S. John uses the words, " Flee from the wrath to come ". We should allow no rash corrections of the text, yet V7re&ei%ev, " who hath shown," may be easily read or written for uTroSetfet, " shall show ".
From the wrath to come. It cannot be doubted that S. John calls future damnation the wrath to come, both because he opposes it to salvation and the kingdom of heaven, which he said was at hand, and because what S. Matthew here calls the wrath to come, Christ (xxiii. 33) calls the judgment of Gehenna.
3:8
Bring forth, therefore, fruits worthy of penance. The Greek is /cdpTrov afyov T?}? ^eravoua^, that is, " show that you come hither not hypocritically ". By fruits of penance S. John meant all outward signs by whrch true penitence of the heart may be discovered, such as tears, detestation of past sins, good works opposed to former ones.
3:9
And think not to say within yourselves. It is more easy to explain the meaning than the words of this sentence. The meaning clearly is : Be not content and secure because you are the sons of Abraham, as if that were sufficient for your salvation. You have need of acts, and if you are the sons of Abraham do the works of Abraham (S. John viii. 39). But the words of the Greek are obscure — //.^ Sof^re \eyew eV e'airrot?, meaning either " think not" or "you seem not to say". It is an unusual expression, and appears sumptum de media, like 5. Luke iii. 8 : " Do not begin to say ". This is as if S. John had said, " Cease to say ". We must believe that S. Matthew meant to say the same here, in other words : "Do not appear to say," that is, " Do not show yourselves to be saying, We are the sons of Abraham. Do not show yourselves contented because you can call yourselves such. Do not rest in a name, but show forth works worthy of it. If you are the sons of Abraham, do the works of Abraham." These three last words seem to have this force, and to be used by the Evangelist with great choice of selection — " to seem," " to say" — each word is opposed to truth — and "in yourselves". That is, " You teach that you are the sons of Abraham, not in deeds and acts, but in opinion and words". S. Paul appears to use the word SoKelv, existimettir, "should bethought," in the same sense (Hebrews w. i).
God is able of these stories. S. John means actual stones, from which God was not less able to raise up sons to Abraham than He was to create Adam out of the earth, and Eve out of the side of Adam, Isaac the son of Abraham out of the womb of Sarah, which had been long dead. The Evangelist appears to allude to this. At the same time he looks to the calling of the Gentiles, from whom, as from shapeless and unpolished stones, God would create sons to Abraham : that is, faithful men, as S. Jerome and the Ancients explain it. Nothing differs more from life and reason than a stone; nothing is more difficult than to make men, or anything like men, out of stones. S. John took, therefore, as an example, a thing of all most difficult, to teach that with God nothing is difficult (as chap. w. 3 ; 6". Luke xvii. 40 ; Deut. xxxii. 13). What Remigius says, that John with these words pointed to the stones which the Israelites, when crossing the Jordan, erected as an everlasting monument (Josh. w. 7), is not necessary to be believed, and too much confines the sense. The expression to raise up sons is a Hebraism, and means more than to beget : that is, to beget where it did not seem possible. Thus a living brother was said to raise up seed to his dead brother, which the latter was said, in a manner, to beget (Genesis xxviii. 8 ; Deut. xxv. 5, 6 ; Ruth w. 10).
3:10
Now is the axe laid to the root of the tree. There are five words translated here, and therefore the meaning is difficult — axe, root, tree, cut down, cast into the fire. It is clear that the "tree" means a man, as in xii. 33 ; 5. Luke xxiii. 6. What the other words signify is not so clear. Some explain the " axe " as the word of God and the power of the Gospel, and the " root " the faith of each (S. Irenaeus, v. 15 ; S. Jerome, In Comment^}. Others think death to be the axe, and life the root (S. Athanasius, Qucest. xliii., and others, mentioned by Euthymius). Others again say that Christ is the axe, as S. Gregory (Horn. xx. in Evang.}. The meaning seems easy. S. John calls the divine judgment the axe, because it cuts everything to the quick, as appears, ex circumstantiis, chap. iii. 10. This, then, and the great final sentence, "Go, ye cursed, into everlasting fire," is called the axe. The trees are the Jews, for it is spoken of them. Abraham is the root from which, like divers trees, all the Jews were propagated. John, then, shows that they ought not to be content because they were the sons of Abraham, nor to trust in that root which was shortly to be plucked up. Let them trust in Christ, and in those good works which could not be destroyed. These points agree well with the text, and in this sense, for the most part, SS. Hilary, Chrysostom, and Theophylact under stand them. But it seems difficult to see how we are to understand that Abraham was to be cut off. John does not say that the root itself was to be cut ofif, but the tree which does not bring forth good fruit. Why, then, is the axe laid at the foot of the tree ? Not that the root itself, but that the trees from the root were to be cut down. In this sense the root also would be cut down. For the Jews are said to be cut off from Abraham as their root, when they are declared by divine sentence not to be the true sons of Abraham, because they do not follow his faith and works (Romans ix. 7, 8 ; Galat. w. 28). Why, also, is the axe said to be put to the root of the tree now, as if it had not been so before ? For even before this time, they who did not imitate the faith and works of Abraham were cut off, not less than now. Dathan and Abiram show this (Numbers xvi. 31), as also the many thousands in the wilderness (Numbers xxvi. 65 ; I Cor. x. 10). They are said to be cut off now and not before, because the Jews took pleasure before in being the sons of Abraham according to the flesh ; because, too, the law was given to them which was not given to the other nations, and they could be saved more easily by the law than without the law (Romans iii. I, 2). But after the coming of Christ, it availed them not at all, because the Gospel was not preached more to them than to the other nations. " For all the Prophets and the law prophesied until John," but after John, "the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away"; so that if they do not follow Abraham they will be cut off from the root and cast into the fire ; that is, that no more than the other nations will they be judged to be the sons of Abraham. The Gentiles are not said to be cut off, because they never were in the root : that is, they never were the sons of Abraham.
3:11
/ indeed baptise you in water. I indeed, who am only a man, baptise you only with water, and merely wash your bodies. Unto penance. That you may bring forth penance, and be ready to receive Him who is to come after me. My baptism warns you that as water cleanses the body, so you should be careful to wash your souls from the stains of sin.
But He that shall come after me. He that shall come after me means one who is already born, and whose coming is at hand — that is, Christ Is mightier than I. Is more powerful, and of greater virtue, so that I am not worthy to loose His shoe — that is, to do Him even the very lowest service. The other Evangelists express the same thing in other words (S. Mark i. 7 ; 5. Luke iii. 1 6 ; 5. John i. 26, 27). It is a Hebrew phrase from the custom of persons who enter holy places taking off their shoes (Exod. iii. 5 ; Joshua v. 15). Such as were of higher rank had slaves to carry their shoes when they had taken them off. To this S. Matthew alludes. In hot countries shoes consist only of the lower soles, which are fastened above, and must be unbound before they can be taken off. They are called in Greek t^oS^/mra, and in Latin crepidce. He is greater and stronger than I, because He is not man only, but God also, and He would baptise you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire — that is, He would cleanse not your bodies alone, as I do, but your souls also — pouring out upon them the Holy Ghost, and kindling them with fire from heaven. Some modern heretics, among other perversions of Scripture, have said that John instituted the Sacra ment of Baptism, and that his differed in no respect from Christ's, except that it was given by a different hand. Each was of water ; each of God ; each to repentance ; each for remission of sins ; each in the name of Christ ; each required the same confession of faith ; each was delivered by the same doctrine ; nor would Christ receive any other baptism from John than His own. They who think that the baptism of John and of Christ were the same seem to have understood neither the words of John, nor why he spoke them ; for why should he have mentioned the baptism of Christ, except that from the different condition of that to his own he might prove the different condition of Christ to himself. The Jews thought that when Christ came He would baptise (S. John i. 25). They saw that John baptised, and they began to doubt whether he were not the Christ. They therefore sent priests and Levites to ask him, " Who* art thou ? " and when they disputed with him on baptism (S. John i. 19, 25 ; 5. Luke iii. 15, 16), he proved from the effects of his baptism that he was not Christ, because he only baptised with water, but Christ would baptise with the Holy Ghost. He only cleansed their bodies, Christ would cleanse their souls. But these heretics say, " John did not speak of the baptism of Christ by water, but of the outpouring of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost". Yet they cannot deny that he also spoke of the baptism of Christ by water, of which Christ Himself said : " Except a man be born of water and the Holy Ghost" (S.John iii. 5). Their denial that baptism is treated of at all in this passage is so senseless as to need no refutation. The baptism of Christ consists of water and the Holy Spirit, as man consists of body and soul. The baptism of John was of water alone, and, as he himself said, did not confer the Holy Ghost. It is not, therefore, the same. Moreover, when John said, " He shall baptise you in the Holy Ghost and fire," it is clear from 5. John iii. 5 that His baptism did not consist of water alone, but of the Holy Ghost and fire ; and, therefore, when John says, on the other hand, " I baptise you with water," the word " only " must be understood. If so, he makes his own baptism far inferior to that of Christ. The words, " He is mightier than I," have this force ; for why does he call Christ mightier rather than better, more holy, greater, except that he desired to show that he could not do by his own baptism what Christ would do by His? Besides, John said that he baptised to repentance (S. Mark i. 4 ; 5. Luke iii. 3 ; Acts xix. 4), and it is called the baptism of repentance, which Christ's never is. Again, the baptism of John was not conferred on repentance now brought forth, but that it might be brought forth. The baptism of Christ was not that it might be, but as it was now actually brought forth. John is not said to preach repentance and baptism, but baptism and repentance, or, which is the same thing, the baptism of repentance ; because baptism preceded, repentance followed. For S. Peter does not say of the baptism of Christ, " Be baptised and repent," but " Repent and be baptised " (Acts u. 38) ; because baptism followed, repentance preceded. It was not, therefore, the same baptism. What can be clearer ? For they who had received the baptism of John were commanded to be baptised again by S. Paul (Acts xxix. 15).
And fire. It is beyond doubt that by fire is meant the Holy Ghost ; for the word " and " here is not conjunctive but explicative. The explanation is added to show that it is not the communication of any holy spirit whatever that is meant, but that most notable One which was made by fire on the day of Pentecost. A proof of this is the fact that when Christ spoke of the baptism of water only (S. John iii. 5) He did not add this explanation.
3:13
Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan. Why Christ pleased to be baptised by John, the Lord by the servant, is explained in verse 15 : "to fulfil all justice". The Ancients add other very probable reasons : 1. That testimony might thus be given to Him from heaven, as says S. Jerome. For this reason, chiefly, John was commanded to baptise, that he might show Christ to the multitudes who came together from every part. 2. That Christ might give authority to John's baptism. 3. That He might thus allure more to His baptism, and that men might not think it a grievous thing, as S. Augustin says, to come to the baptism of the Lord when He, the Lord Himself, did not think it so to come to the baptism of His servant. 4. That by touching the water He might sanctify it to baptism (S. Epiphanius, Anchor.*}. We might add that Christ wished, before He began to teach, to be in a manner initiated, and, if it may be said, when about to teach that He was Christ, to be made a Christian, if in any manner the baptism of John could make Him such, because it showed the way to Christ. It is certain that he received baptism from no necessity of bringing forth repentance, who had done no sin, and in whose mouth was found no guile ; but rather that, when about to carry our sins into the desert, like the scapegoat of old, He might in the baptism of repentance put on the person of a sinner.
3:14
But John stay &d Him. John stayed Him, because he knew that He did not need baptism, and because, if not needing it, He wished to be baptised, John knew that he himself was not worthy to baptise Him. This is the meaning of his words : " I ought to be baptised by Thee, and comest Thou to me ? " From this it is plain that John knew Christ, and who He was. This is more clear from 5. John i. 29, 30. Hence arises the question how the same John said (verse 33): "I knew Him not". S. Augustin says that John knew before that He was Christ, but not that He would reserve to Himself the power of baptising with fire, until he saw the Spirit descending on Him. But he had said : " He shall baptise you in the Holy Ghost and fire ". So that S. Chrysostom, in his Sixteenth Homily on S. John, Euthymius, and Theophylact, on S.John i. 33, say, with more correctness probably, that John, from the time when he leaped in his mother's womb, always knew Him to be the Saviour, and God, and all that He was, but did not know His person before He came to baptism ; for Christ had passed His whole life in Egypt and Nazareth, and he himself in the desert. But, as soon as he saw Him, he knew by divine inspiration that He was the one whom he had known when born, and whom he foretold as to come after him, and baptise with the Spirit and fire. So, says Rupertus, Samuel knew that among the sons of Jesse there was one who was to be anointed king of Israel, when as yet he knew the faces of none of them ; but as soon as he saw David, he knew him by inspiration (i Sam. xvi. 12). Their opinion cannot be received who say, in apparent opposition to the words of the Evangelist, that the dove came down upon Christ before He was bap tised. Or why was it said to John : " Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, He it is"? S. Hilary says, indeed (De Trin., vi.), that that was not said to John on his own account, but because of the bystanders ; that he might teach by divine testimony that He was Christ whom he had proclaimed before he knew Him, lest, as S. Chrysostom says, anyone should think that the testimony of John was not confirmed by divine witness, or that it was given to personal recognition, or friendship, or favour. What, then, did John learn from the descent of the Spirit, and the voice from heaven ? Nothing new ; but the knowledge which he possessed before was made perfect and confirmed — as Bede and Rupertus say on John i.
I ought to be baptised by Thee. Some think, from these words, that John was baptised by Christ afterwards ; as well as from the following : " Suffer it to be so now " (S. Chrysostom, Jerome, Euthymius, Theophylact, in loc.\
3:15
Suffer it to be so now. Now, when I have not yet been declared to be Christ by the descent of the Holy Ghost, and the Voice from heaven, I come not as Christ, but as one of the multitude, a private person ; and thou oughtest not therefore to refuse baptism to Me because I am greater than thou. So S. Chrysostom, Theophylact, and others. That is, when the greater is baptised by the less, the master by the servant. It behoves us to fulfil. If it be not actually necessary, yet it is becoming. It is a work, as it is called, of supererogation. " We " may mean myself in undergoing, you in administering, baptism ; and " to fulfil," the omitting nothing not only that is necessary, but even that is profitable and becoming. This is the force of the word " fulfil ".
All justice. Some explain this of the justice of the Law, which, as S. Paul says, consists of washings and external ceremonies (Heb. ix. 10), which Christ pleased to fulfil, as He pleased to be circumcised, because He came not to destroy the Law, but to fulfil it (Matt. v. 17), as S. Jerome and Euthymius, who say that most necessarily the baptism of John was a sacrament of the Old Law; an assertion which many of the old Schoolmen adopt from their Master, the Master of the Sentences. S. Thomas, who alone was as great as all the rest, says, more correctly, that it was neither a sacrament nor a ceremony of the Law, but a mean between the Law and the Gospel ; instituted indeed by God, but only for a brief period, that He might bring in Christ and His baptism, as John himself was a mean between the Prophets and Christ. The word "justice" in this passage may be taken to mean no part of the Old Law, nor justice placed in any positive precept, which was of necessary observation, but whatever was agreeable to the virtue and duty of a holy man, though not to do it might be without sin. All the words of John show this. " I ought to be baptised by Thee," as if he had said : " Thou hast no need of me ". Christ answers : " Though it be not necessary, yet it becomes Me to be baptised by thee, that we may fulfil all justice" ; that is, that we may perform not only the Commandments, but whatever is just and consistent with holiness. Why it behoved Christ to be baptised has been said on verse 17.
3:16
And Jesus being baptised, forthwith came out of the water. The word "forthwith" is very forcible. S. Mark (i. 10) also uses it. It does not refer to the verb went up, but to what follows : " And the heavens were opened " ; and the words are thus to be united : " Immediately that He was baptised, when He had scarcely come up out of the water, the heavens were opened ". This meaning may be gathered from the words of S. Mark : " And forthwith coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opened " ; that is : " Immediately on His ascending ". Reason also teaches this. For there was no need to tell us that Christ, immediately after He had received baptism, went up out of the water. Who doubts this, or what did Christ, when baptised, do in the river ? But when it is said that : " Immediately after His baptism, and going up out of the river, He saw the heavens opened," there was not merely a useful, but a necessary reason. For the Evangelist desired to teach that the heavenly and divine testimony was so united with the baptism that there was no delay between them, and that God seems to have awaited nothing else to show His own testimony to Christ but that His baptism and the testimony of John should precede it ; for God should confirm the testimony of man, not man that of God. S. Luke says, that on the prayer of Christ the heavens were opened, and the dove descended. We must believe that, as soon as Christ came up out of the water, He threw Himself upon His knees to receive His Father's testimony with due reverence ; for even sons, when well taught, uncover their heads when speaking to their parents.
And lo, the heavens were opened unto Him. That is, to Christ — as is clear from these words, and S. Mark (i. 10). But we must believe that the heavens were opened to all who stood by — that is, they were seen by all to be, as it were, opened when they were opened in veri similitude, that all might understand that both the Holy Spirit and the Voice came down from heaven ; but they are said to be opened to Christ only, because they were opened on His account. Whether they were opened in very fact, or only in appearance, is of no great moment ; but as the question has been raised it should be decided. S. Chrysostom, thinking of the heavens no otherwise than as of all other corporeal substances, seems to say that they were opened in actual fact ; but The Author (Horn, w.) and S. Jerome on this passage, and on Ezekiel i., think that they were not opened actually, but in appearance alone. Their opinion seems the more probable, both because it mattered nothing as to the result, whether they were so in reality or only in appearance, and because it is not credible that the solidity of the heavens should be broken up not of necessity, whilst in other passages they are said to have been opened when it is plain that in fact they were not (Gen. vu. n ; Acts vu. 57) ; where, if they had been really opened, not only S. Stephen, but all who stood by, must have seen it, whereas he alone is said to have done so. Again, they are said at times to have been shut when they were not actually .so ; for that is not really shut which was not opened before (Deut. u. 17 ; I Kings viii. 25 ; 2 Paralip. vi. 26 ; vu. 13).
And he said. Many refer this to John, from S. John i. 13. This seems rather forced, as, after the beginning (verse 14) John was not named, and all the preceding words were referred to Christ. S. Mark, the interpreter of S. Matthew, refers them to Christ (i. 10). The words of S. John (i. 13) are not contrary, because, as has been said before, not only Christ and John, but all those who were present, saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending : Christ, because they were opened for Him ; John, because this was given to him by God as a sign ; the others, that by it they might believe John. But all the Evangelists do not mean to say the same thing. SS. Matthew and Mark, because they spoke about Christ, said that He saw the Spirit descend. S. John, treating of the Baptist, said that he saw it. No one asserts that the multitude saw it, because no one wrote of them.
As a dove. Tertullian (De Cam. Ckst.} thinks it to have been a true dove. So S. Augustin (L. de Ag. C/ist., chap. 22). Others think the same. I do not agree with them, because S. Augustin only proves that it was a true body, which is a very different thing to a true dove. In many other places he says that it was only the appearance of a dove, as do most others. This is the more probable because all the Evangelists, as if by concert, use a particle of comparison, and it was not necessary to the action that it should have been an actual dove. But whether it was a real body with the appearance of a dove, or whether it were not an actual body, but something with the appearance of such, so seen by the bystanders, is a different question. The opinion of S. Augustin seems tenable, that it was a true body, because, if not so, either it would not have been seen by all, or there must have been as many miracles as there were spectators — as the miracle must have been wrought, not in the body of the dove, but in the eyes of the bystanders, which is not to be hastily granted. One thing we must guard against, as S. Augustin warns us — the idea that the Holy Spirit is united hypostatically to the body of the dove, as the Son of God is to the human nature — which Tertullian seems to think : but as we read that angels often took human bodies, that they might be seen by men. It has been asked by some, and not without reason, why the Holy Ghost descended here in the form of a dove, but on the day of Pentecost in the form of tongues of fire and of tongues (Acts u. 3). The answer is easy : He now descended on Christ, not to ascend, because He was God Himself, and " God is a consuming fire " (Dent. w. 24) — not to teach Him to speak, " because grace is poured abroad in His lips " (Ps. xliv. 3), but to give a testimony of Him. It is required of one who gives testimony of another, to describe the nature and peculiarities of the person of whom he speaks. It was said of Christ, " The bruised reed He shall not break, aud the smoking flax He shall not quench " ; and it was said in the place in which the descent of the Holy Ghost was mentioned (Isa. xlii. I, 2, 3). Christ says of Himself, " Learn of Me, because I am meek and humble of heart" (S. Matt. xi. 29). The dove is the most gentle of animals, and, as S. Cyprian says, one bitter without gall, cruel without biting. Under the appearance of the dove, the nature and, if I may so say, the habit of the Holy Ghost is shown. He is the Giver of all graces, " dividing to every man according as He will " (i Cor. xii. 11). The dove signifies grace and meekness. The love of the Father to Christ also seems to be shown by it, as the appearance of the dove and the Voice that was heard agree. " This is My beloved Son." The dove is also a very amatory creature — always murmuring a song of love. Therefore the most beloved Spouse of God is often called a dove, and beloved (Cant. u. 10, 14 ; v. 2 ; vi. 8). Tlie Holy Ghost was given to the Apostles, because they needed Him to kindle them with love, and teach them to speak indifferent languages. He was therefore given under the form of fire and tongues.
And coming upon Him. Upon Christ — eV avrov for e<£' eavrov. For the Greeks occasionally, and the Greeks and LXX. and Latin version frequently, use the demonstrative for the reciprocal pronoun, because in Hebrew the word r?y means both (i Kings xvii. 39 ; xxiii. 6). Why the Holy Ghost descended upon Christ when recently baptised is not difficult to be conjectured, and the ancient Fathers (S. Iren., iii. 19 ; S. Just., Cont. Tryph.; S. Amb., Pref. to lib. iii., De Sp. Sto.; S. Jerome, Quest. 2 to Algas) have told us (Isaiah xi. I, 2; xlii. I ; Ixi. i). The prophecies must be fulfilled. The Holy Spirit must come upon Christ, as S. John (i. 33) says, to " remain," that is, to rest upon Him ; and then especially when He was initiated by His baptism as His director (inagisterium) to announce (glad tidings) to the meek, to heal the broken in heart, to preach deliverance to the captives, and freedom to the prisoners, that all might under stand that He was the Christ of whom Isaiah had prophesied so long before. When Christ, therefore, had read in the synagogue that passage of Isaiah, He added, " This day is fulfilled this scripture" (S. Luke w. 21).
3:17
This is My beloved Son. S. Mark (i. n), S. Luke (iii. 22), say, "Thou art". They are not contrary to S. Matthew, but one probably gives the words, the others the meaning. Which give the words is uncertain, probably SS. Mark and Luke because they are more in number, and because we should expect that the Voice would be addressed to Him on whom the Spirit descended ; as, in the Transfiguration, because the Voice was directed to the Apostles, it did not say, " Thou art," but, " This is My beloved Son" (S. Luke ix. 35). This is My Son, My most beloved. The double article, 6 vios 6 ayaTryTos, shows that God spoke not of any son, but of His one only Son by nature, from eternity, equal to Himself; for others are sons by adoption only. S. Athanasius (Orat. Cont. Arian : " Quod Deus ex Deo ") explains the only-begotten Son as the beloved or, what is more forcible, the most dear. For not Homer alone, but the sacred books as well, give this appellation to only-begotten sons (Gen. xxii. 2). On the other hand, again, S. John (iii. 16, and I Ep. w. 9) puts " only begotten " for " most dear ". In whom I am well pleased. eV &> evSotcrjcra — In quo placui. But our version, to fill up the sense, has added a dative case, mihi. The expression evSo/ceo) is very commonly used in Scripture, as is its derivative evSoKia. Our version generally renders ev&o/cLa by sibi complacet(S. Matt. xii. 18 ; xvii. 5 ; 5. Mark i. II ; S.Luke Hi. 22 ; xii. 32 ; Coloss. i. 19 ; 2 /^ter i. 17) — ev&oicia is &»*- placitum (as Ephes. i. 9) and sometimes &?«# voluntas (as >S. £&/££ u. 14). There has been much discussion on these two words, for, although they are true, they do not seem altogether to convey the full expression, and to fill up the meaning. The Greek word has been introduced from the LXX., who always render the Hebrew ("Tin by ev&oqelv, as in Psalm xxxix. 14 ; xliii. 4 ; nor is it rendered in any other way except in Isaiah xlii. I. So that from the Hebrew word PEn the force of the Greek one is to be understood. The former has many meanings : "to be appeased," "to be reconciled," "to restore to favour" (as Psalm Ixxxiv. i) mil*1 IT!n. "Thou hast been appeased," reconciled to thy land, that is, to thy people, as the Hebrew reads, and the words that follow confirm it : rQX£? IpV1 " Thou hast turned away the captivity of Jacob," In this place, therefore, to retain the words of our version, " In whom I am well pleased," does not mean only "Whom I have loved," nor "In whom I am greatly delighted," nor, " In whom I rest," as some moderns explain it, but "In whom," that is, "through whom I am appeased and reconciled to the world ; that is, I have decreed and determined to be appeased and reconciled. When I look on Him I lay aside all My wrath and My displeasure." For the Father chose, by that Voice sent forth from heaven, to declare, not only that Christ was His Son, but that He had sent Him, that men might receive Him more willingly. He alludes to the Prophet Isaiah (xlii. i) ^Q2 nn!n. Why this Voice was sent from heaven it is not difficult to conjecture. The dove is a silent bird, and might signify many things. The Voice was added to explain the symbol. "As," says S. Augustin, " the word came to the element and a sacrament was made ; " for that which was obscurely shown by the elements is declared openly by words. " The Son of God," says S. Hilary (Can. u.), " is shown to the hearing and sight ; and to a people unbelieving and disobedient to the Prophets, a testimony is sent of their Lord both by sight and voice. He is worthy of belief who heard and saw." Something resembling this took place in the Trans figuration (S. Matt. xvii. 5 ; S. Luke ix. 35) ; but for another object : that the chiefs of the Apostles, who, as S. Paul says, were to be the pillars of the Church, might be strengthened. All the ancient Fathers, and especially those who contend against the Arians, have given another reason ; it is, that the mystery of the Trinity might be declared of the Father, who spoke ; of the Son, who received the testimony ; of the Holy Ghost, who descended in the form of the dove. What voice it was, or how formed, is not difficult to be imagined. God, who forms all human voices by the air in a human throat, was able to form a human voice in the same air without a human throat, as we see in Exodus iii. 4 ; 5. Mark ix. 6, 7 ; 5. John xii. 28 ; Acts x. 15.
3:5
v. 5 tunc exibat ad eum lerosolyma; agmen ducit urbs principalis; isti urbi praeprimis data sunt splendida prophetarum oracula, quare in ea prae reliquis maiorem decuit exsistere exspectationem et cupiditatem explorandi quid propheta repente exortus annuntiaret. Ex urbe motus ille et impulsus diffunditur in omnem Iudaeam et omnem regionem circa Iordanem ; ἡ περίχωρος τοῦ I. cf. Gen 13,10. 2 Par. 4,17 LXX planities est et regio in utraque fluminis parte, cui nunc nomen est el Ghor. Multos undique ad Ioannem confluxisse etiam Iosephus Antiq. 18,5. 2 testatur. Cum Ioannes singulari ratione vocetur baptista, uti praeter evangelia losephus quoque testis est, ritum baptismi novum et eousque incognitum invexisse censendus erit. In lege quidem praescribebantur variae lustrationes ac lotiones quibus mundities quaedam legalis acquirenda crat iis qui lege immundi habebantur ob certa quaedam quae iis agere vel pati acciderat (cf. Lev. 14,8; 15,5-8; 16,2'*; 17,15 elc.); varias lustrationes et crebras in morem quoque induxerant pharisaei (Marc. 7,5. Luc. 11,38). Quare novitas non consistebat in ipsa lotione vel immersione corporis in aquam, sed in eo quod primo immergerentur a loanne, óaptizabantur ab eo in Iordane v. 6, dum alias lotiones et lustrationes in se quisque et per se faceret, secundo quod iste baptüsmus non usurpabatur ad immunditiem quandam legalem aufereudam, sed erat baptismus poenitentiae in remissionem peccatorum (Marc. 1,^. Act. 19,5) ; proinde ad hunc ritum subeundum incitabautur dolore peccatorum et eo ritu profitebantur se dolore afflictos propter offensiones et iniurias Deo illatas; proinde tertio ista caerimonia eo animi sensu suscepta revera praeparabantur ad remissionem peccatorum accipiendam ; quarto ei ritui adiuncta erat confessio peccatorum, confitentes peccata sua v. 6 et quinto iste baptismus administrabatur etiam ut in eum qui venturus esset post ipsum crederent, hoc est in Iesum (Act. 19,5). Hisce igitur ritus hic ab omni alio simili qui vel lege vel traditione pharisaica erat inductus satis distinguitur et nomen illud baptistae Ioanni proprium declaratur. Hunc itaque ritum baptista ad Deum auctorem refert (Ioan. 1,33) et propter illam novitatem quaerunt legati synedrii : quid ergo baptizas, si tu non es Christus neque Elias neque propheta (Ioan. 1,25;? In ipso autem ritu symbolice exprimitur desiderium quo quis culpis foedatus a Dco se mundari et expiari exoptat et efflagitat. seq. atque p. 453 quaerit, an quos Ioannes abluebat eorum peccata baptismo ipso sint expiata. Respondet post loannem Damascenum qui sic senserit repertum a se esse nullum, qui secus, permultos, atque ex illo alteram hanc sententiam obtinuisse. Ante illam aetatem etiam maiorem partem Patrum qui quaestionem hanc attigerint eam negasse, attamen fuisse qui illam affirmarint, uti Iuvencus, Titus bostrensis, Optatus, Gregorius nyssenus, Paulinus, Prudentius aliique. Verum bene monet ut iudicium fieri queat de his testimoniis, duo esse notanda; unum, quod Ioannes etiam baptismum a Christo instituendum praedixerit; « cum igitur Patres narrant Ioannem praedicasse lavacrum regenerationis, lavacrum salutare, purgationem per aquam, horumque similia, nisi in ipsorum verbis aliquid sit quod obstet putandi sunt his nominibus non quem Ioannes, sed quem Christus instituit baptismum designare ». Alterum quod oporteat ih memoriam revocari, enuntiari verbis S. Thomae : quando Christus est baptizatus, tunc vere baptismus institutus fuit quantum ad ipsum sacramen - tum (p. 3 qu. 66 art. 2), eandemque opinionem fuisse Patribus non paucis; quare credi posse cum dicant peccata eorum quos loannes tinxisset esse eo ipso expiata, eos loqui de baptismo quem Ioannes post Christum baptizatum administraret et quem iam esse sacramentum a Christo institutum sint opinati. . Populus magna religione accurrit ad baptistam v. 6. Verum aliter se habent ii qui singulare legis studium et observantiam profitebantur et qui eo nomine auctoritate valebant et 1i qui nobilitate et opibus pollentes pariter duces populi erant : pharisaei et sadducaei v. "7. Pharisaei i. e. separati, prae reliquis maximam legis observantiam affectabant , non solum legem mosaicam , verum etiam multa ex traditione patrum esse servanda dicentes. Sadducaei ἃ Iosepho describuntur tamquam nobiles et divites et auctoritate primi (Antiq. 13,10. 6; 18, 1. 4); a pharisaeis maxime distinguebantur eo quod . solum legem scriptam agnoscerent, interpretationem autem eius pharisaeorum et alia a pharisaeis ad legis tutelam excogitata omnino reiicerent. Ex Act. 5, 17 et 23,9 elucet pontificem aliosque sacerdotes fuisse sadducaeos; etiam losephus Antiq. 20,9. 1 Ananum pontificem eandem sectam secutum esse dicit. Unde sacerdotes nobiliores sadducaeos fuisse censent et nomen ipsum derivari a Sadok (Σαδδούχ, pv ', cf. Schürer l. c. p. 339). Sadducaei vitae rationem sequebantur mollem, ad mores gentium amplectendos satis parati. Narrat evangelista v. 7 multos ex pharisaeis et sadducaeis venisse ad baptismum; sed quo animo venerint, loannes vehementi increpalione palam facit : progenies viperarum i. e. pessima soboles malorum progenitorum, quibus itaque pravitas et iniquitas quasi iure hereditario est transmissa. Quae sit notio colligitur ex Is. 59,5 et Ps. 57,5; designantur homines peccati veneno infecti, aliis quoque maxime perniciosi, obdurati et contumaces ad omnem exhortationem. Hac gravissima reprehensione illi excipiuntur qui veluti duces ac doctores ' populi reputantur; quare evangelista statim ab initio nobis indicat quaes regnum coelorum áppropinquans habiturum sit adversarios, quales misera plebs seductores. Eos autem cum tamquam filii Abraham se censeant Deo acceptos neque ulla indigere poenitentia iram divinam effugere non posse Ioannes graviter monet quis demonstravit vobis fugere a ventura ira? τίς ὑπέδειξεν; quis docuit vos? i. e. non est qui vos docuerit; minime effugietis ultionem venturam. Eodem sensu Christus eos postnodum compellavit : serpentes genimina viperarum, quomodo fugietis a iudidoque volunt verba esse admirantis quod hominum genus adeo perversum velit resipiscere (Theoph. Fab. Cai. lans.) , propter compellationem et propter v. 9 seq. admitti nequit. Vocatur ira ventura ultio et vindicta Dei peccatoribus imminens; atque hanc simul cum , regno coelorum appropinquante adfore Ioannes eodem modo docet quo prophetae iam vaticinati erant simul cum instauratione theocratiae fore ut Deus gravissime in hostes suos animadvertat; cf. Is. 50,11; 56,9 seq. 63,&-6; 66,15 et praeprimis Mal. 3,2. 3. Quae ira Dei ut effugiatur, poenitentia opus est; hac autem illi se indigere negant, uti ex v. 9 sequitur. Ostendit itaque loannes quid agere debeant si omnino iudicium imminens velint effugere
3:8
v. 8 facite ergo fructum dignum poenitentiae i. e. si non vultis exscindi et in ignem proiici uti arbor infructuosa, quam arboris imaginem v. 10 explicite propositam hic iam ob oculos habet. Talia itaque edant opera quibus pateat se poenitere et ad meliorem frugem revertere; « date operam, non : verbo, sed re ipsa, resipiscentia, inquam, studioque virtutum, qui . poenitentiae sunt fructus » (Patr.); cf. Act. 26,20; « vides quid dicat, quoniam non oportet solum fugere malitiam, sed etiam fructus virtutis facere » (TheopA.). Qua autem funesta persuasione capti sint et ab emendatione alieni, exponitur
3:9
v. 9 e£ ne velitis dicere intra vos, apud vos cogitare et ea sententia vos tutos existimare et heredes regni Dei : patrem habemus Abraham, cui scil. et cuius semini promissiones factae sunt; unde exitiali persuasione opinabantur sibi quasi iure quodam deberi regnum Dei et se esse eo ipso quod ab Abraham descendant gentem ex IEDUCIP ie lw. s x. $us r Tes GER 2S PPAR: Der «ζω [ON UONCQUERMEEND Coq toc gt tocmnt DER aem CEU ἘΔ ΣΦ ΤΩΝ . t.a ST Á o - sanctam, genus electum; cf. Ioan. 8,33 seq. !; illa cernitur generis superbia, arrogantia, suae iustitiae fiducia, qua nuntium messianum postea ab iis esse spretum et reiectum videmus (cf. Rom. 2,17 seq. 9, 32; 10,3; 11,20). Verum hanc superbiam et fiduciam Ioannes subvertit funditus : dico enim vobis quoniam polens est Deus de lapidibus istis suscitare filios Abrahae τῷ ᾿Αὐραάμ. Filii enim Abraham non sunt quicumque ex Abraham descenduat; id iam historia in Genesi eos docere potuit in iis quae de Ismael, de filiis Ceturae, de Esau etc. referuntur. Unde « nolite de carnali prosapia patriarchae gloriari, quia non qui filii carnis, hi filii sunt Dei, sed qui fide et operibus eum imitari student, hi aestimantur in semine » (Bed.), uti Christus quoque dixit :'si filii Abrahae estis, opera Abrahae facite (Ioan. 8,39) et vide Rom. 9,7 seq.; ii tandem vere filii sunt qui indolem patris sequuntur, i. e. qui sectantur vestigia fidei Abraham (Rom. 5,12), qui ex fide sunt, ii sunt filii Abrahae, ii benedicentur cum fideli Abraham (Gal. 3,7. 9). Tales autem qui fide et obedientia in se exprimant Abrahae indolem et exemplum, Deus qui hominem formavit primum de limo terrae, etiam ez /apidibus suscitare, creare potest. Ad animorum elationem cum contemptu reprimendam baptista digito ostendens lapides deserti (de /apidtóus istis) iisdicit : Deus minimeindiget vestri ad suum regnum condendum, vestri veluti filiorum Abraham, ut impleat promissiones patriarchae factas, ei quippe filios creare potest ex ipsis lapidibus; itaque etsi vos omnes, immo si totum quod nunc vivit genus humanum, obedientiam Deo detrectaveritis, Deus regnum suum et innumerabilem posteritatem Abraham vel ex ipsis lapidibus excitare potens est. Quod si ex lapidibus, quanto magis ex gentibus? Proinde iam clare proferuntur minae fore ut filii regni eiiciantur. In mentione /apidum alludi ad 15. 51,1 : attendite ad petram unde excisi estis, et Deum stmili quodam modo olim filios Abraham suscitasse, haud raro advertunt (cf. lans. Maid. ). « Nihil magis distat a vita εἰ ratione quam lapis; usus est ergo in exemplum re omnium difficillima, ut doceret nihil esse Deo difficile » (Maid. ; cf. Luc. 19,40). Quam nihil prodesset abrahamiticum genus ac sanguis sine pietate, poterant iam discere, ut S. Chrys. monet, eo quod Isaias eos vocat principes Sodomorum et populum Gomorrhae (1,10) et Amos filios Aethiopum (cf. Ez. 16,3). Eo autem quod dicit potest, illis spem relinquit (S. Chrys.); « vide quomodo illos a carnali illa imaginatione et a praesidio proavorum revocarit, ut in propria poenitentia temperantiaque (σωφροσύνη) spem salutis haberent; vides quomodo cognationem carnis excludens fidei cognationem inducit » (S. CÀrys.). Neque praetereundum est quanta libertate et animi fortitudine baptista in nobiles illos et potentes peccatores invehatur. Et quam prope adsit ira Dei quae scil. simul cum regno coelorum appropinquante imminet exponitur v. 10 iam autem (8€) securis ad radicem arborum posita est; ergo periculum proxime instat; iam non erit dilatio; dicit ad radicem « ostendens ipsos si segniter agant immedicabilia mala passuros esse sine ulla spe curationis » (S. Chrys.) et « hactenus tolerati estis, exspectati estis velut arbor ad faciendum fructum , sed iam tempus venit quo velut arbor infructuosa excidenda est gloria gentis vestrae, templum vestrum, celsitudo vestra; non erit hoc excidium sicut alterum (quod 70 tantum duravit annis) sed ad radicem posita , αἱ in aeternum non reviviscat » (Cai.). Similitudine arboris non facientis fructum iam praeparat Christi parabolam de sterili ficulnea (Luc. 13,6); in igne praeludit minis Christi de igne gehennae. Notat Ians. : « legendum esse per praesens tempus ezcidttur et mittitur etiam ex graecis apertum est; praesens autem ponitur, ut sententia magis sit generalis et cum maiore emphasi significetur imminere periculum ». Ex eo quod hic dicit facere fructum bonum, eliam quid sit μετανοεῖν ex mente baptistae colligitur; porro sequitur non esse satis ut quis solum a malo abstineat, id quod Christus parabola servi declarat qui unum acceperat talentum (Matth. 25,26) et palmitis non ferentis fructum (Ioan. 15,2). Quis sit nexus
3:11
v. 11 ego quidem (μέν) baptizo vos in aqua etc. varie statuunt. Et S. Chrys. quidem nexum repetit ex v. 8 ac si Ioannes a circumstantibus interrogaretur : quomodo fructum facere possumus? et similiter TheopA. qui opinatur nunc explicari fructum quem facere debeant scil. credere in Christum. Alii nexum ex v. 10 petunt, id quod melius est; e& quidem vel: non is ego sum qui poenam hanc infligam (Arn.), vel : non penes me est decernere quis in regnum messianum suscipiatur, quis ab eo excludi debeat (Schanz, Weiss), vel : non ego illud iudicium in v. 10 expressum exercebo (Fz/. Ke:/).. Aliud monet Lap., verba ea scil. non esse praecedentibus connectenda neque esse dicta immediate post ea, sed esse dicta ea occasione quam suppleat et explicet S. Lucas 3,15, cum scil. multi apud se cogitarent ipsum loannem esse Christum. Et similiter Dion. Schegg explicant; Mansei vero ad legationem Ioan. 1,26 verba refert. Dein adverte apud S. Marcum 1,8 eadem referri tamquam argumentum praedicationis. Cum igitur S. Lucas explicite narret qua occasione et cur loannes eam dixerit sententiam, haec autem ratio apud S. Matthaeum non cernatur, unum ex duobus statui oportet : vel nullum cum antecedentibus nexum apud Matthaeum esse exquirendum, sed dicendum evangelistam varia effata loannis proferre, quibus muneris eius ratio et officium describatur; vel asserendum (id quod fieri potuisse nemo negaverit) baptistam saepius et variis occasionibus eadem de se et de Christo praedicasse. Quodsi hoc alterum sequeris , merito nexum aliquem cum antecedentibus statues. Ad munus praecursoris quam maxime speclabat id quod [oan. 1, 7 dicitur : hic venit in testimonium, ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine , ut omnes crederent per illum, proinde etiam, ut populum ad Christi sequelam a se transmitteret. Hoc autem quomodo [oannes praestiterit, evangelista nos docet v. 11, in quo versu et se maxime humiliat et Christum magnifice extollit. Declaratur quoque quo modo paret Domino plebem perfectam (Luc. 1,17) : baptizo vos in aqua ad poenitentiam ; vide v. 2. 6. Uti iam dictum est, [oannes baptista apud Iudaeos magna valebat auctoritate; quare eius de Christo testimonium grave erat et plurimi ponderis apud aequales evangelistae. Aptissime igitur ad rem suam refert Ioannem tanta reverentia maiestatis ac sublimitatis Christi fuisse, ut non se dignum existimaret qui vel infimus eius esset servus; qui autem post me venturus est fortior me est, cuius non sum dignus calceamenta portare. Quibus verbis simul aliquid praedicit quod utrum verum sit necne aequales mox diiudicare possunt; ergo eam exhibet normam secundum quam cognosci potuit et debuit essetne propheta a Deo missus. Si autem audis, monet S. Chrys., ipsum fortiorem me esse, ne putes id me per comparationem dixisse (sim. S. Amórosius in Luc. lib. 9,80; Salm. Ians.); sed merito ita de se loquitur quia iam maximam populi commotionem effecerat et ab iis ut propheta in virtute Eliae habebebatur. Unde ea locutione quae ad animorum sensum accommodata erat maximam excitavit de Messia exspectationem et simul docet, si iam ad se tanto studio accurrant quanta sedulitate debeant verba Messiae excipere. Quo sensu Christus fortior sit, statim subdit ex Christi baptismo et v. 19 et praesertim declaratur loan. 1,30 ex Messiae divinitate. Et ne quis putaret collationem esse inter ipsum et Messiam , declarat excessum immensum : cuzus non sum dignus i. e. « ne inter extremos eius servos quidem numerari possum propter magnitudinem divinitatis ipsi unitae; postremis siquidem servis huiusmodi commissum est obsequium » (EutA.). Apud alios legitur Solvere corrigiam calceamentorum | etus (Marc. 1,8. Luc. 3,16. Ioan. 1,97. Act. 13,95); de qua re S. Augustinus (de cons. ev. 2,29; M. 34,1091) utrumque proponit vel ἃ baptista aliud alio tempore aut contextim utrumque esse dictum, vel cum ille de calceis dicens nihil aliud intenderet nisi excellentiam Domini et suam humilitatem, eandem sententiam eandemque significationem aliis verbis ab aliis esse expressam. Excellentiam Christi declarat zpse vos baptizabit tn Spiritu sancto et igni i. e. uti ego zn aqua, aqua vos infundo et aquae immergo, ita ille Spiritum sanctum largiter in vos effundet, animis infundet - eosque quasi ipso immerget. Quae baptizandi metaphora ad Spiritus s. communicationem translata iam apud prophetas reperitur vel ex eorum verbis necessario colligitur; [s. 43,3 : effundam spiritum meum super semen tuum cf. 32,15; Ez. 11,19; 36,26; 39,29 : eo quod effuderim spiritum meum super omnem domum Israel; Ioel 2,28 : effundam spiritum meum super omnem carnem ; Zach. 12,10. Isto aufiat in baptismo christiano, sed magis generatim declarari largam eius in Christifideles effusionem efficitur ex verbis Christi : loannes quidem baptizavit aqua , vosautem baptizabimini Spiritu sancto non post multos dies (Act. 1,5), quibus concordant verba Petri Act. 11, 15. 16. Proinde asseritur Spiritum sanctum eiusque dona nobis a Christo dari; unde baptista idem de Christo affirmat quod Christus de se, a se scil. mitti Paraclitum (Ioan. 16,7) et proinde egregium fert de Christi divinitate testimonium; « quis enim Spiritum sanctum dare posset nisi qui simul esset Deus » (lans.) « immo sic sentiendum omnino foret, etiamsi nomine Spiritu. sancto nihil hic nisi divinum aliquod χάρισμα designaretur » (Patr. p. 467; Grimm V p. 114). Huius autem Spiritus vim, efficaciam , operationom ulterius declarat addens et ?gn:. Quae loquendi ratio pariter uti óaptizare etc. explicatur ex oraculis propheticis. Sicut enim Deus ipse dicitur ignis MATTH. 3, 14. | 431 consumens (Deut. 4,24), ita quoque dicitur lavare sordes et sanguinem lerusalem in spiritu iudicii et spiritu ardoris Is. 4,4 et cf. 1,95 : excoquam ad purum scoriam tuam, et ipse Messias describitur a Malachia : ipse quasi ignis conflans et herba fullonum et sedebit conflans et emundans argentum et purgabit filios Levi et colabit eos (Mal. 3,2. 3). Explicatur itaque :gn:s additione gratiae vehementia et efficacia (S. Chrys. Euth.), purgatio, exustio scelerum; « totum enim hominem Spiritus immutat, sordes peccatorum exurit , tenebras fugat et ad virtutis opera et promovendam Dei gloriam ardentes prorsus homines reddit et invictos « (ans. sim. Lap. Calm. Grimm, Schegg, Schanz, Fil.). Ad hanc vim et efficaciam demonstrandam Spiritus sanctus die pentecostes sub forma ignis descendit in apostolos, qui igitur ad litteram baptizati sunt Spiritu sancto et igni; quare in eo eventu verba illa potissimum explicari merito censent (cf. S. Hier. Euth. Alb. Ians. Cai. Maid. Lap. Calm. etc.). Quod enim ibi specie visibili in apostolis fiebat, id pro mensura gratiae cuiusvis invisibili ratione fit in unoquoque qui Christi corpori mystico sociatur. Apposite dicit 46. : « loquitur de igne qui descendit Act. 2, quando Spiritus sanctus datus ad robur, sicut nobis datur in Confirmatione, quia et Confirmatio est perfectio ultima baptizati; manet fomes post baptismum; ex hoc debilitaretur miles Christi , nisi contra eum acciperet confirmationem, quod facit ignis exsiccans concupiscentiam et elevans cor ad spem et illuminans ad agenda et accendens ad amorem ; ignem veni mittere ; Jampades eius lampades ignis atque flammarum; egrediatur ut splendor iustus eius et salvator eius velut lampas accendatur » (Luc. 12,49. Cant. 8,6. Is. 62,1). et tribulatio quam pro nomine Christi credentes fuerant perpessuri, tamen non abs re est eundem Spiritum sanctum etiam nomine ignis significatum videri » (serm. 71,19; M. 38,455). Tribulationem autem esse fomentum quo amor divinus in cordibus accendatur; per eam hominem baptizari ad perfectionem, fidem reddi auro rutilantiorem; unde merito sermonem fieri de baptismo ignis (Salm.). Etiam martyrium eo nomine designari aliqui opinati sunt, cui tamen obstat , ut Patr. p. 466 notat, quod ex integra Ioannis sententia appareat aliquid amplius significari quodque martyrium non ea res foret quae sive Christianos in universum sive illos quos Ioannes alloquebatur attingeret. . Dicitur (quod adverti debet) iv πνεύματι ἁγίω καὶ πυρί praepositione ἐν non repetita; quare ipsa dictione cogimur arctum nexum inter utrumque assumere neque duo inter se plane diversa interpretari. Id non satis advertunt qui ignem accipiunt de futuro iudicio post mortem quo baptizantur aut igne purgatorii (cf. S. Hil. Hier. Rab. gl. ord. Ans. laud. aliique quos recenset Patr. p. 466) aut igne inferni (Arn. Coleridge, Keil, Weiss) quam sententiam de suppliciis aeternis praeter illam de purgatorio iam Origenes proposuit (in Ieremiam hom. 2,3; in Lucam hom. 24. 26; M. 13,281. 1868). Eam explicationem ipsa oppositione commendant, scil. ut aquae opponatur Spiritus, poenitentiae opponatur ignis, et ita iis qui renuerint poehitentiam baptismus ignis, immersio in ignem instare dicatur. At haec oppositio est longius petita neque vera est oppositio quia ego baptizo vos in aqua. s» poenitentiam non continet duo membra inter se distincta, multo minus duo baptismatis genera. Potius commendari posset ita ut in v. 12 ille baptismus ignis magis explicetur; at ignem inferni vel purgatorii dici ignem quo Christus baptizét a consueto dicendi genere abhorret. Si opposifionem cernere vis, habes eam quam 7/ans. notat, Christi baptismum esse tanto excellentiorem, puriorem, efficaciorem quanto Spiritus sanctus sit excellentior et purior aqua, quanto ignis sit efficacior aqua; vel fortasse melius, oppone inter se externam illam poenitentiae testificationem quam secum ferebat baptismus Ioannis et Spiritum sanctum qui a Christo datur, aquam et ignem, ut discrimen efficaciae significetur. Quod dicitur in Spiritu sancto, ita ut Spiritus sanctus sit quasi res illa in qua vel'in quam flat immersio (sicut iv ὕδατι), significat locutione plana ipsum Spiritum sanctum nobis dari. Atque hanc Spiritus in iustis inhabitationem frequenter in s. litteris commemorari cernimus; cf. Ioan. 14,93, Rom. 5,5; 8,8. 13. 16. 26. 1 Cor. 3,46; 6,19. 9 Cor. 4,22; 6,16. Gal. 3,2 5. 14 etc. Praeter donum hoc increatum nobiscum communicari donum creatum (gratiam habitualem) iis in locis indicatur fere, ubi sermo est de spiritu nostro (πνεῦμα) qua locutione saepe animus altiore principio imbutus designatur, indicatur ipsa effusionis in cordibus factae metaphora Rom. 5,9, indicatur semine Dei quod in nobis sit, nova creatura (4 Ioan. 3,19. 92 Cor. 5,17. Gal. 6,15), nova vita (Ioan. 10,10) etc. Quemadmodum prophetae Messiam exhibent quoque tamquam iudicem (Is. 63,3. Mal. 3,2) et Simeon dixit eum forein resurrectionem et ruinam multorum in Israel (Luc. 2,34), ita baptista quoque postquam eum ostendit salvatorem et omnium bonorum largitorem , eum quoque iudicem declarat v. 12, « ut qui promissione non provocantur ad recipiendum et amplectendum Christum, metu severi iudicis sint solliciti ut huic sese consecrent et ne qui baptizati sunt torpeant audientes ipsum postquam baptizavit in Spiritu sancto, adhuc expurgare aream suam » (lans.). Evangelista autem ea quoque refert, ut doceat populum iam a praecursore monitum esse instare discrimen et facile fieri posse ut e regno Dei eiiciantur; proinde sibi caveant; cuius ventilabrum in manu sua scil. is qui ventilabrum suum, sibi proprium manu sua gerit (unde non oportet pleonasmum in cuius statuere); « ventilabri opus est ab infructuosis fructuosa discernere » (S. Hil.), est vannus vel cribrum quo segetes trituratas ex spicis excussas agricolae evannant, ventilant et in ventum iactant, ut paleis a vento abreptis sola frumenti grana pura et a paleis et stramine separata remaneant (Lap. Huius imaginis gemina est parabola quoque quam Christus dixit de zizaniis (Matth. 13,30. Patr.). Christus autem permundabit aream. suam διαχαθιαρεῖ i, e. perfecte purgabit (/ans.) ab imo margine ad sumum. Aream primo de populo Israel, dein de orbe intellige; 'etiam hic valet Judaeo primum et Graeco (cf. Rom. 2,9); « ventilabrum vocat iustum eius iudicium , quod eos qui omni iniquitalis vento agitantur quasi palaceos tradit igni gehennae inexstinguibili, illos vero qui virtutum habent gravitatem in apothecam coelestium tabernaculorum colligit » (Euth.); cum dicatur igni fnezstinguibili a parabola ad rem parabola declaratam transitus fit. Notatu dignum est quantopere praedicatio Ioannis praeludat doctrinae Christi; cf. de gehenna et igni qui non exstinguetur Matth. 5,99. 29; 10,98; 18,9; 93,33. Marc. 9,853 seq. et sicut Christus praedicationi suae publicae finem imponit demonstrans iudicium ultimum et geminum eius exitum : vitam aeternam et supplicium aeternum 925,46, ita iam praecursor idem reddit de eo testimonium declarans non aliud nomen esse datum in quo oporteat nos salvos fieri. Testimonium quod loannes de Christo perhibuit iam Iesu praesenti redditur et a loanne quidem qui profitetur se indigere baptismo Christi et multo magnificentius coelesti apparitione et voce qua Christus sollemniter ad munus suum quasi initiatur. — Quare haec pars narrationis evangelicae aptissima quoque est qua Iesum a Galilaea esse Christum duplici hoc argumento demonstretur; unde cur Matthaeus eam referat manifestum evadit. . « Cum Ioannes populum sua praedicatione et baptismo ad poenitentiam praeparasset et venturum post se Christum promisisset, reliquum erat ut Christus partim a Ioanne partim a Patre coelesti demonstraretur sicque demonstratus suum mox negotium ad quoda Patre missus fuit auspicaretur. Itaque tunc, inquit Matthaeus, hoc est cum Ioannis testimonio fuit annuntiatus, Iesus relicta Nazareth... venit in Iudaeam, Patris sui coelestis peculiare habitaculum, ubi auspicanda erat evangelii praedicatio » (lans.). Venit scil. tunc cum Ioannis ministerio iam magna commotio et exspectatio. populi esset excitata, venit ad Ioannem, quia divinitus ordinatum erat ut manifestaretur in Israel dum loannes baptizaret (Ioan. 1,31). Neque caret significatione quod venit zn Iordanem ἐπὶ τὸν ᾿Ιορδάνην et quod ibi in Iordane administrabatur baptismus; nam per lordanem populus olim ingressus est in terram promissionis; quare conveniens erat, ut ibi quoque quasi aditus aperiretur ad regnum Dei, cuius typus erat Palaestina; ita ex gl. ord. rationem afferunt Tost. Sylv. et similiter S. Pasch. Salm. Cur autem Christus voluerit baptizari , ipse rationem affert v. 15 quem vide. Ioannes Iesum nondum viderat, non eum de facie novit. Id patet ex loan. 1,31. 33 : et ego nesciebam eum, sed qui misit me baptizare, mihi dixit : super quem videris etc. Sciebat autem Christum mox appariturum et insuper sciebat eum ad se venturum. Utrumque ex verbis Ioannis evidens est. Quanto autem animi desiderio et quanta exsultatione felicissimum illud tempus oppertus sit quis satis explicabit? Flagrabat quippe in eius animo sacrum illud desiderium quam maxime quo teste Christo Abraham et multi reges et prophetae tempus messianum videre exoptabant. Quare sollicite circumspexisse censendus erit et oculis quaesivisse quando tandem ille ad se veniret. Iesus autem eum. profecto prae se tulit vultus totiusque corporis habitum, modestiam , sanctitatem, ut loannes eo conspecto iam non dubitare posset. Adde tunc sane minime ei defuisse peculiarem Spiritus sancti impulsum. Olim in utero materno clausus senserat latentem in vulva Dominum et eum dum maxime exspectaret non sensisse praesentem quis sibi persuadebit? Quare quod Matthaeus narrat v. 1*4 Iesum statim a Ioanne esse agnitum, nullo modo repugnat ei quod apud Ioan. 1,33 legimus. Insuper assumi potest cum Jans. Mald. Lap. aliisque peculiaris quidam afflatus Dei quo appropinquantem Christum dignosceret quasi voce quadam interna monitus, uti de Samuele legitur 1 Reg. 16,12 cum David iuvenis ad eum adduceretur : ait Dominus : surge, unge eum, ipse est enim. Christum autem agnitum esse ut talem (et non solum, ut aliqui opinati sunt vel explicari posse censebant, tamquam virum quendam sanctisimum, Fab. Tost. Schegg) elucet ex verbis v. 11 : ipse vos baptizabit etc. ; sciebat quippe ad baptismum dandum opus esse missione divina Ioan. 1,33; quare non potuit baptista ad aliquem qui ipsi valde pius et sanctus videbatur esse dicere : ego indigeo ut a te baptizer. Baptismus novum rerum ordinem inchoat et quasi consecrat, et baptismus quidem loannis illum praeparat, Christi baptismus illum inducit; tertium baptismum fingere baptistae non potuit in mentem venire. Proinde verbis illis profitetur à se Iesum esse agnitum ut Christum. Unde cur eum retinuerit satis explicatur, neque enim poterat ignorare Iesum esse sanctissimum, quare baptismus in poenitentiam in eum convenire non poterat; erat quoque conveniens, ut eum retineret propter populum, ne existimaret baptismo poenitentiae Christum eguisse. Quomodo haec narratio concilietur cum Ioan. 1,33, varie tentatur. Et rationalistae quidem vel apertam exsistere contendunt contradictionem vel volunt v. 44 et 45 esse postea assutos perperam, cum Iustinus quoque nihil referat de his baptistae verbis; ac si Iustinus omnia debuisset referre, ita ut eius silentio demonstraretur rem eo tempore in libris evangeliorum non esse lectam! Alii volunt Iesum agnitum esse ut virum perfecte sanctüm interno quodam impulsu et instinctu, vel praesensione quadam prophetica (Keil, Mansel) eum obscure coniecisse Iesum esse Messiam. Sed, ut dixi, in verbis v. 44 se clare scire quis sit Iesus profitetur, ut Dion. Sylv. quoque recte statuunt. — Etiam veteres de ea re iam disceptarunt. « Non parva quaestio est, fratres mei », dicit S. Auguslinus et in tract. 5 in Ioan. n. 9 nodum ita solvit, ut dicat Dominum iam notum fuisse Ioanni, sed per columbam eum didicisse, « quia Dominus baptizandi habens potestatem eam potestatem nulli servo daturus est, sed sibi eam retenturus est, ut omnis qui baptizetur per servi ministerium, non imputet servo sed Domino » (M. 35, 1418) et similiter : « columbae descensione didicit quod ipse baptizaret in Spiritu sancto propria quadam et divina potestate, ut nullus homo etiamsi aliquem baptizaret posset dicere suum esse quod traderet vel a se dari Spiritum sanctum » (de cons. evang. 2,25. 32; M. 34, 1093). Ea s. doctor contra Donatistas docuit ; at ex verbis v. 44 etiam congressus est Cai. ; contendit columbam apparuisse statim cum Iesus accederet ad baptismum et eo signo igitur eum esse agnitum. At eam explicandi rationem iam bene exclusit S. Augustinus : « quid dicturi sumus? quia non scimus quando venerit columba? ne forte ibi lateant (Donatistae), legantur alii evangelistae et invenimus apertissime tunc descendisse columbam, cum Dominus ab aqua ascendit » (in Ioan. tract. 4 n. 16; M. 35,1412). Neque admitti potest explicatio Bedae : eum quem noverat, perfectius iam cum baptizaretur agnovit; neque quod Aib. habet : cognovit eum ante baptisma in persona, non in potestate. Varias variorum sententias etiam recenset Toletus in comment. in Ioan. annot. 72; ipse vero exponit : loannem dici nescivisse, quia non determinate sciebat quis esset; nondum enim eum viderat. In quam sententiam Patr. concedit contendens οὐκ ἥἤδειν verti debere non vidi eun! — At eo quo supra dixi modo, facillime omnia conciliantur. Signum columbae etc. subsequens erat dein maxime sollemnis confirmatio quae baptistae insuper dabatur, qui hunc Iesum publico suo testimonio Christum declarare debuit ac testificari; unde valde conveniens erat, ut id secundo quodam eoque sublimiore argumenti genere constaret. Quia igitur « cum famulis Dominus, cum reis iudex baptizandus venit » (S. Chrys.), loannes eum retinere studuit;
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v. 14 Joannes autem prohibebat eum διεκώλυεν, serio, graviter, quasi contentione quadam et vi eum retinere conabatur, dicens : ego a te debeo baptizari ἐγὼ χρείαν ἔχω i. e. indigentiam habeo, indigeo, et tu venis ad me! « neque dixit : tu baptizaris a me; nam illud metuit dicere, sed quid? tu venis ad me » (S. CArys. Theoph.). oannes enim aliud baptisma non cognoscit nisi id ad quod dandum ipse erat missus et baptisma Christi in Spiritu sancto. Cum itaque dicat : ego indigeo, opus habeo ut a te baptizer, Iesum profitetur esse illum de quo dixerat
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v. 15 respondens autem Iesus dixit ei : sine modo ; « bene dixit sine, permitte nunc ut a te baptizer, non reprehendens quidem rationem ob quam modo loanni videbatur indecens ut baptizaret eum, sed potius approbans, ostendens tamen ob eam non omittendum baptismum » (lans.) et Christus, dum eo modo respondet , non denegat eminentiam potestatis suae, potius eam affirmat, sed mysterium ostendit dispensationis (op. imp.); propterea addit modo ἄρτι, nunc id permitte, « signi- - ficans tempus illud secundum Dei dispensationem ita postulasse, ut tecta divinitate humilitatem prae se ferret » (lans.). Et addit rationem : sic entm decet nos implere omnem iustitiam , nos scil. me et te. Dei igitur esse ordinationem, voluntatem, beneplacitum ut baptizetur indicat; proinde cum nos deceat omni nutui voluntatis Dei vel beneplaciti obsequi, etiam oportet ut a te baptizer et tu ne recuses. Proinde :ustitiam intellige id quod rectum, sanctum est et ad illam pertineat rectitudinem quam Deus inesse hominibus exoptat. Ad hanc autem omnem vel summam rectitudinem sane pertinet, ut si quid cognoscitur Deo placens vel ab eo aliquo modo ordinatum , id etiam fiat. Bene expendit S. Chrys. illud sic decet πρέπον ἐστίν : « considera quomodo illum ab eo inducat ἃ quo maxime putabat non par esse ita fieri; non enim dixit sic iustum est, sed sic decet; quia enim indignum esse putabat, si ille ἃ servo baptizaretur, hoc maxime ipsi contra opposuit, ac si dixisset : nonne id refugis et cohibes quasi indecorum? propterea ergo sine, quia maxime decorum est ». Ex Christi responsione sequitur susceptionem baptismi pertinuisse ad ea quae Pater coelestis a Messia fieri exoptabat. Sunt qui susceptionem baptismi tamquam mandatum Christo impositum considerent ; ita videtur S. Chrys. quia iustitiam explicat observationem mandatorum et Christum dicit sicut cetera, ita hoc quoque observasse; similiter Eut. qui praeceptum colligit ex eo quia baptista dicit : qui misit me baptizare ; similiter Tost. Cai. sic a Deo esse statutum docent. . Αἱ cum Christus dicat decet nos implere, non cogitandum erit de praecepto. Cur autem Deo placuerit susceptio baptismi, vel aliis verbis, cur haec personae et officio Messiae valde fuerit congrua et conveniens, ita ut eum decuerit etiam hoc in se implere, rationes a Patribus et interpretibus afferuntur multae. Una ex potissimis ea videtur esse, quod haec caerimonia eo tempore a Deo pro populo erat statuta; Christus autem uti factus erat sub lege (Gal. &,&) et reliquas caerimonias (circumcisionis, praesentationis in templo etc.) obibat, ita hanc quoque non aversatus est, idque eo magis quia Christus in omnibus peccato excepto voluit fratribus assimilari et imprimis ut in se suscipere peccata aliorum et sese sistere Patri tamquam portantem et luentem peccata populi (ita unum alterumve exponunt Dion. Cai. lans. Salm. Mald. Lap. Bar. Coleridge, Fil. Grimm M p. 124). Bene quoque advertunt Salm. Grimm, Fil. ipsa immersione significari mortem ; unde in baptismo simul cerni sollemnem Christi professionem se velle mortem obire ut peccata deleantur; « Christus itaque accedens ad baptismum professus est se reum sive debitorem pro universis peccatoribus suscipiens omne onus eorum ac debitum exsolvendum in se... quando in illis aquis immergitur, innuit quod moritur atque sepelitur » (Saim. t. & tract. 7 p.64). Atque tamquam Christus erat manifestandus in: baptismo. Id indicat baptista Ioan. 1, 31 : ut manifestetur in Israel, propterea veni ego in aqua bapüzans (cf. Euth. Pasch. Mald.). Huic autem rationi palmari commode. aliae adiunguntur quibus magis magisque pateat baptismi susceptionem fuisse valde convenien-, tem et proinde rem quoque Deo gratam. Quae rationes igitur illud decet implere omnem iustitiam explicant quoque et illustrant vel hanc unam rationem a Christo redditam (Rab. gl. ord. Maid.) suis quasi partibus divisam proponunt. Venit ergo ad baptismum ut loannem eiusque ministerium comprobaret (op. mp. Hier. Bed. gl. ord. Rab. Thom. Dion. lans. οἷο), ut aquam quam pro suo baptismo adhibiturus erat sanctificaret (S. Amór. Bed. Rab. gl. ord. Alb. Thom. Dion. lans. Lap. etc.) vel, ut S. Hil. dicit : quia per illum in aquis ablutionis nostrae erat sanctificanda purgatio atque simul ut ex eis quae consummabantur in Christo cognosceremus post aquae lavacrum et Porro contra inobedientiam: Adam quam expiaret, Christus omnem voluit implere iustitiam (EutA.), nobis exemplum humilitatis exhibere (S. Hier. Ians.); voluit suo nos exemplo hortari ad baptismi susceptionem, ne forte nobiliores ac potentiores ritum eum spernerent (S. Amór. Bed. Pasch. Thom. lans. etc.). Refert Euth. aliquos dicere baptizatos ἃ baptista i in aqua usque ad Christum autem cum non haberet peccata non esse in aqua detentum ideoque evangelistam dicere
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v. 16 baptizatus autem Iesus confestim ascendit de aqua et eodem modo Schanz, Fil. quoque confestim ascendit concipiunt. Alii traiectione quadam usi confestim εὐθύς referunt vel ad baptizatus vel frequentius ad coeli aperti sunt (Ians. Mald. Lap. Lamy), at merito recentiores eiusmodi traiectionem repudiant (Arn. Schegg , Keil, Weiss), vocem autem confestim referunt ad modum describendi rem vel ad celerem eventus consequentiam. Sed cur confestim ascendit? Fortasse Christus sacro quodam studio desiderabat ut testimonium coeleste sibi redderetur, quo et ipse publice ad suum munus initiaretur et loanni et circeumfusae multitudini revelatio communicaretur , sicut postmodum dicebat : desiderio desideravi hoc pascha manducare vobiscum. Tale autem desiderium celeri ascensu descendentem sicut columbam et venientem super se ; Christum vidisse ipsis verbis clarissime enuntiatur, Ioannem quoque eius eventus testem fuisse constat ex loan. 1,34 : et testimonium perhibui quia hic est Filius: Dei. Sed quid de ceteris qui simul aderant? adfuisse alios et per se est probabile et Luc. 3,21 satis indicatur (cum baptizaretur omnis populus et Iesu baptizato). Eos nihil vidisse, sed signa coelestia ἃ Christo et loanne solum esse percepta, censent S. Pasch. Dion. Cai. (qui tamen vocem a pluribus esse auditam opinatur) et Patr. p. 481. At reliquos etiam manifestationem divinitus factam percepisse sensibus, communis est plurimorum sententia ; ita S. CArys. Theoph. Euth. Hil. op. imp. Rab. Tost. lans. Mald. Salm. Sylv. Suarez in p. 3 disp. 27 s. 1 n. 4, Lap. Estius, Men. Calm. Reisch, Coleridge, Grimm et haec etiam erat sententia S. Hier., αἱ videtur, cum dicat : « sedit quoque columba super caput Jesu ne quis putaret vocem Patris ad Ioannem factam, non ad Dominum » neque obstat quod ait coelos esse apertos spiritualibus oculis; hisce enim visionem non ad solam imaginationem referre videtur, cum addat : « quibus et Ezechiel apertos esse coelos commemorat »; visionem enim Ezechieli exhibitam non in sola imaginatione Ezechielis concludit. Pariter S. Augustinus (de Trinit. 2,6) ita loquitur ut visionem columbae etc. ad multos extendat. Contra quam sententiam non multum habent ponderis quae Patr. affert, dici scil. a Ioanne : quia vidi Spiritum descendentem, non ergo vidisse ceteros; et Ioanni id ἃ Deo ut signum datum esse quo viso Christum populo indicaret; at si etiam populus ea vidisset et audisset, iam non opus fuisse testimonio baptistae. At aderatne £otus populus? Melius in eam rem Suarez : « omnes fundantur in significatione mysterii quae illo sensibili signo facta est, illa autem significatio sensibilis non erat Christo necessaria , sed nobis; ergo oportuit ut talis esset quae ab aliis perciperetur ». lta simul et auditui) vere aliquid rei sensibilis sit obiectum. Atque aperti sunt. οἱ coeli 1. e. propter eum, eius gratia (op. imp. Mald.);in aeris regione sensibiliter visus fuit quidam hiatus, seu Species aperturae sensibilis ex qua columba et vox delabi videretur (Lap. Salm. sim. Cai.), quia enim, ut Suarez notat, Spiritus sanctus visibiliter descensurus erat in specie columbae, oportuit visibiliter demonstrari columbam illam e coelo descendere singulari et extraordinario modo. Apparuit itaque hiatus quidam vel ita ut ipsum firmamentum aperiri columbamque emittere videretur vel ut solum. nubes discinderentur vel ut inopina quaedam lux ex imo coelorum &ut nubis sinu erumperet (Calm. Fil.) et in splendore inde emicante descenderet columba. Descendit autem Spiritus Dei. vel Spiritus sanctus (Luc. 3,22) corporali specie sicut columba in ipsum, ut S. Lucas ait. Ut se visibili modo manifestaret, elegit similitudinem vel speciem aut figuram columbae. Postquam Christus personam peccatoris in se suscipiens baptizatus est et suo baptismo spopondit se mortem obiturum pro mundi salute, iam ostenduntur signis visibilibus illa quae ipsi Christo insunt et quae eius opere sunt efficienda. In ipso enim inhabitat plenitudo.divinitatis corporaliter, et requiescet super eum Spiritus Domini, Spiritus Domini super me (Col. 2,9. Is. 11,2; 61,1); per ipsum autem eiusque obedientiam coeli per inobedientiam Adami clausi nobis reserati sunt (S. Chrys. Theoph. Euth.), per ipsum generi humano mittitur auctor et effector sanctitatis. Cernitur autem in specie columbae descendere, ut eo augurio legatio pacis ac reconciliationis exprimatur. Nam, prout bene advertit S. Chrys. : « veterem nobis historiam in memoriam revocat. Cum enim olim communi naufragio totum orbem invadente nostrum genus periclitaretur ne exstingueretur, hoc animal apparuit et tempestatis finem ostendit ac ramum olivae rostro tenens communem orbis tranquillitatem nuntiavit... ideoque columba apparet non ramum olivae ferens, sed omnium malorum liberatorem nobis ostendens et pro ramo olivae adoptionem filiorum afferens » et S. Amór. : « pacem in typo vetere columba quondam ad illam arcam quae sola fuit diluvii immunis advexit ; docuit me cuius typus columba illa fuerit qui nunc descendere dignatus est in specie columbae; docuit in illo ramo, in illa arca typum fuisse pacis Ecclesiae quod inter ipsa mundi diluvia Spiritus sanctus ad Ecclesiam suam pacem afferal fructuosam » ; atque similiter ex illo eventu explicant cur in specie columbae descendat Spiritus sanctus Euth. Theoph. Pasch. Alb. Ians. Lamy, Reischl , Grimm οἷς. Quemadmodum itaque Christo nato angeli pacem annuntiarunt, ita cum Christus muneri suo initiatur, pacis symbolum ostenditur isque visibili modo descendit qui est huius pacis auctor et vinculum. Praeter hanc rationem aliae quoque assignantur cur columbae speciem Spiritus sanctus ad sui manifestationem selegerit. Monent a Christo commendari simplicitatem columbae (S. Amór. Thom. Ians.j, in Cant. sponsam laudari ac salutari eo nomine, columbam esse quam maxime pullorum amantem , esse cultricem caritatis (op. 1mp. S. Thom. Dion. lans. Lamy), cerni in eo magnam fecunditatem (S. Thom.); alii demum variarum virtutum symbola in ea exprimi cernunt, praesertim septem in ea delineari virtutes (cf. οί. ord. Raó. Ans. laud.). — Species autem columbae venit super Christum ἐρχόμεvov ἐπ᾽ αὐτόν, ut indubie constaret ad quem verba illa coelitus afferrentur : Aic est filius meus dilectus; sicut in descensu Spiritus sancti oraculum Isaiae in Christo completum esse ostenditur, ita hisce verbis is declaratur esse de quo idem Isaias 42,1 et de quo Ps. 2,7; 109,3. Emphasis cernitur ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός. Apud LXX hebr m unicus, unigenitus saepius redditur voce eadem ἀγαπητός; vide Gen. 99,9. 19. 16. Ier. 6,26. Am. 8,10. Zach. 12,10. Prov. 4,3; quare Mald. Lamy haud immerito arbitrantur etiam hoc loco dici filium unicum, unigenitum, qui ut talis unice est dilectus, et ut filius unicus Patri est consubstantialis et verus Deus et in quo uno Pater. unice sibi complacet : : in quo mihi complacui, iv ᾧ οηὐδόχησα i. e. ut Theoph. exponit ἀναπαύομαίι, ἀρέσχομαι, uti iam Is. 52,1 : complacuit sibi in illo anima mea; « in quocumque enim relucet bonum alicuius, in illo aliquid complacet sibimet, sicut artifex sibi complacet in pulchro artificio suo; bonitas divina est in qualibet creatura particulari, sed nunquam tota perfecta nisi in Filio et Spiritu sancto, et ideo totus non complacet sibi nisi in Filio qui tantum habet de bonitate quantum Pater » (S. Thom.). Et cum hoc voce coelesti declaretur de Christo personam peccatorum in se suscipiente, simul enuntiatur per hunc et in hoc Patrem placari et reconciliari mundo velle et decernere (Maid. Sylv.) et neminem ei posse esse gratum et acceptum nisi per Christum et in Christo (Jans.). Olim Deus dixerat : poenitet me hominem fecisse in terra, idque valet de homine terreno; at hic ostendit per quem sibi complaceat in homine qui ad Christi imaginem renovatur (Rab. Pasch.). Habetur itaque in Christi baptismo secunda quaedam epiphania (Fil.); nam, ut Cai. notat, gesta sunt haec ad monstrandum officium Christi praedicantis et redimentis mundum; Iesus siquidem usque ad tempus baptismi conversatus et habitus est sicut unus de populo; a tempore autem baptismi incepit exsequi officium pro quo venerat; propter quod Petrus dicit : oportet ut ex his viris qui nobiscum conversati sunt toto tempore quo ingressus et egressus fuit inter nos Dominus Iesus incipiens.a baptismo Ioannis etc., ubi clare patet officiam Christi inchoasse à baptismo Ioannis. Quia itaque baptismus Christi initium erat officii Christi, ideo exordium tanti officii conse- ' eratum est tot mysteriis. Sic ille, et similiter Co/eridge. In suo baptismo Christum simul.instituisse sacramentum baptismatis, multorum est sententia; cf. S. Thom. 3 p. qu. 66 art. 2 et Gabriel Vasquez ad h. 1.; vide quoque Lap. Coleridge p. &2. Si dicitur Spiritum sanctum descendisse et venisse super Christum , id non eo sensu intelligi debet ac si Christus in anima humana internum quoddam gratiae incrementum accepisset vel tum demum unctus esset spiritu Dei. Ipsejenim etiam ut homo ἃ primo momento omnem in se habebat plenitudinem ; unde missio visibilis Spiritus sancti non significavit in eo novum effectum , sed solum declarabatur et manifestabatur aliis praesentia Spiritus sancti in Christo, vel ut Suarez loquitur, nihil aliud fuit nisi Spiritus sancti donum quod a principio conceptionis in Christo.erat ac permanebat novo signo visibili manifestari (c. Rab. Thom. lans.). Haec autem manifestatio facta est ut fides in Christum excitaretur. Quemadmodum igitur Christus voce Patris non est factus filius, verum tamquam talis solum palam declaratus, ita descensu Spiritus sancti non ipse aliquid accepit quod antea non haberet, sed ei testimonium exhibetur coeleste propter homines. Simul autem ea quae in Christi baptismo facta sunt designabant ea quae per baptismum nobis dantur : aperitur baptizatis coelum antea clausum, datur Spiritus sanctus, recipiuntur in filios Dei adoptivos (9l. ord. S. Pasch. Thom. Dion. Ians. Sylv.) et eo quoque modo patet quam verum sit ; de plenitudine eius omnes nos accepi- . mus (Ioan. 1,16). Denique monent quam praeclara et sublimis manifestatio mysterii SS. Trinitatis in Christi baptismate habeatur (S. Hier. Ambr. Bed. Rab. Thom. Ians. Mald. Lap. Lamy etc.).
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Date indiquée très vaguement, tout à fait comme dans Ex. n, 11 : aussitôt après ce qui ἃ été dit de l'enfance de Moïse, il apparaît comme un homme mr. Cependant Ex. a soin de dire que Moïse à grandi. Dans Is. xexvin, 1; I Macch. 1, 11; χι, 30; x, 68, le point d'attache est moins éloigné. Mt. suppose donc ès l'âge de Jésus lors de son baptème. Cette date très qu'on savait à peu pr vague est le prototype de in illo tempore dans les leçons de l'évangile; cf. Mc. 1, 9; vin, 1. — παραγίνεται prés. historique (cf. x, 43. 19), beaucoup plus rare dans Mt. que dans Mec., mais qui convient bien ici pour marquer l'entrée en scène de Jean; ici dans le sens de survenir, plutôt que d’être présent. C'est la même nuance que Le. (ἦλθεν), tandis que ἐγένετο de Me. est comme l'apodose de la prophétie. — Ἰωάνης ὁ δαπτιστής est la forme traditionnelle pour désigner cette grande figure, dans Mt. dans Le. et dans Me. vi, 25; vi, 28 ; dans Josèphe (Ant. XVII, v, 2) Ἰωάννου τοῦ ἐπιχαλουμένου βαπτιστοῦ, — A désert, Mt. est seul à ajouter τῆς Ἰουδαίας. Quoique « le désert de Juda » soit une expression de la Bible (Jud. τ, 16; Ps. Lx, 1), on ne 18 trouve pas dans les LXX. Ce terme ne s’entendait que de la partie stérile de la tribu de Juda à l’est de la ligne de faîte Jérusalem — Hébron. Ge n'est donc pas ici une désignation géographique précise, mais une indication générale, comme dans τι, 1. 22, opportume puisque Mt. avait laissé Jésus en Galilée. Le texte de Mt. est comme intermédiaire entre celui de Me. et celui de Le. Ce dernier distingue nettement le désert où la parole de Dieu suscita Jean (μι, 2) et les bords du Jourdain où il vint ensuite (sn, 3). On dirait qu'il a voulu améliorer la tournure de Mc. qui ne distingue pas du tout, puisque Jean prêche le baptême dans le désert. On serait tenté de rattacher au désert les steppes du bas Jourdain, mais l'Écriture leur donnait le nom spécial de Araba (Jos. vur, 44 etc.) et l'on voit plus loin que Me. lui-même (τ, 12) distingue le désert et les bords du Jourdain. Dans τ, 4 il a done bloqué par une concision extrême, qui n’est pas dans sa manière. Mt. ἃ eu soin de ne placer dans le désert que l'invitation à la pénitence, non au baptême, ce qui permettait de supposer un changement de lieu. On pourrait donc dire que Me., le plus fruste, a été atténué par Mt., puis nettement amélioré par Le. Cependant les critiques ne peuvent guère insisler, puisqu'ils représentent Mt. comme un abréviateur de Mc.
3:2
La prédication du Baptiste en style direct, exactement comme la prédication de Jésus (iv, 17), ce qui n’est certes pas un arrangement postérieur à Mec. D'après Mc. Jean prêche le baptême, et un baptême de pénitence pour la rémission des péchés. On n’explique pas pourquoi Mt. aurait omis ce dernier {trait s'il suivait Mc. Parce que Jésus allait venir au baptème (Allen)? mais de toute facon il est venu parmi les foules qui confessaient leurs péchés, οἱ Mt. ἃ pris soin de dissiper toute équivoque (nr, 14 5.). — Mt. a donc exprimé d'abord d'un mot la prédication de Jean : pénitence, et cela parce que le règne des cieux approche. Mt. est seul dans le N. T. à dire règne ou royaume « des cieux », et il le dit trente-deux fois tandis qu'il a trois fois strement. (x, 28; xxr, 31. 43) et deux fois peu probablement (νι, 33; xrx, 24) δασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ, la formule de Mc., de Le., de Paul. Sa formule à Ini est ἡ δασιλεία τῶν οὐραγῶν (aussi Voix de celui qui crie dans le désert; préparez la voie du Seigneur, rendez droits ses sentiers. évangile des Hébreux frag. 44 ΗΒ. 1922, p. 335). Le pluriel τῶν οὐρανῶν, s'explique parce que le ciel en hébreu et en araméen est toujours au pluriel. Dalman (Worte. p. 75) ἃ noté que l’araméen juif ΝΞΟ ΝΓΉΣΟΩ équivaut à l'hébreu ou ΤΊΣ), où le mot « ciel « n'a pas d'article, car ce dialecte n'avait pas pour ce mot de forme distincte de celle de l’état déterminé. Dans les deux cas « ciel » (littéralement « cieux »), sans la détermination par l'article, peut tenir la place de Dieu. C'est bien ainsi que l'ont entendu les Rabbins, quoique l'expression « règne du ciel » pour signifier « règne de Dieu » ne se trouve ni dans la Bible, ni dans les Targums. La plus ancienne attestation Ras dr ἢ est du Talmud de Jérusalem (Qidd. 594), qui attribue à Jochanan ben Zakkaï (vers 80 ap. J.-C.) une opposition entre le joug du règne du ciel et le joug de la chair et du sang. Dalman ajoute que Jésus ἃ sûrement employé l'expression populaire, règne de Dieu, et non pas « règne du ciel », expression rabbinique qui était à peine en usage de son temps. — Mais si la formule de Mt. est plus récente que la formule parlée de Jésus, et transformée sous l'influence du rabbinisme, comment expliquer cette innovation après Mc. et après Paul? Pourquoi ce pluriel τῶν οὐρανῶν qui ne s'explique que comme une traduction littérale de l'araméen ou de l'hébreu? Le plus vraisemblable est que la formule remonte à Jésus qui l'a employée ordinairement pour marquer le royaume surnaturel}, bien différent du grand royaume terrestre qu'imaginaient les Juifs. ML. à conservé de cette facon, comme souvent, le son primitif des paroles du Sauveur. Ce qui n'empêche pas que, l'expression une fois admise dans son évangile, il n'ait pu l'employer aussi souvent pour signifier le « règne de Dieu ». C’est précisément le cas ici. Mt. est aussi le seul à parler (7 fois) du πατὴρ ὁ οὐράνιος, Les deux expressions sont connexes. On comprend très bien que Paul ayant surtout parlé du règne de Dieu, la βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ, qui pouvait s'entendre plus aisément pour les deux sens, ait prévalu dans Pusage. — Sur la pénitence comme préparation au règne messianique, cf. Le Messia- . nisme…. p. 189.
3:3
Le texte est cité d'après les LXX (Is. xt, 3) qui avaient omis de traduire ΠΝ, « dans la sleppe », parallèle au désert, probablement parce qu'ils entendaient : « voix de celui qui crie dans le désert », et non : « préparez dans le désert ». C'est le même texte cité que dans Mc., mais Mt. a coutume de renvoyer à l'A. T., tandis que c’est l'unique cas où Mc. fasse un renvoi en son nom de narrateur; de plus, tandis que le texte d’Isaie dans Mc. forme une introduction générale après un texte de Malachie (probablement ajouté par un copiste), dans Mt. le texte d'Isaïe est bien adapté au v. 2. Puisque le règne approche, il faut préparer la voie du Seigneur; 18 voix qui crie dans le désert est exactement parallèle à Jean qui prêche dans le désert. C'est donc Mt. qui a le premier établi ce rapprochement scripturaire, Le. ayant rétabli le même ordre naturel, mais avec [65 termes de Mc. quant au thème de [ἃ prédication (Le. 11, 3.4), tandis que Jo. (1, 23) a mis les paroles d'Isaïe dans la bouche de Jean, qui incarne la voix en lui-même. Dans Ja citation, αὐτοῦ remplace τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν, dans Mt. Me. Le. L'accord ne paraît pas fortuit; cependant, en grec du moins, le pronom est plus naturel que le parallélisme synonymique (avec zvptou). La variante τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν de ὁ et syreur. est plutôt relative à Le. dans Ta., Ir. (πι, 9, 1), Cyr.-AL et suspecte d'emprunt aux LXX.
3:4
Pour le sens, exactement comme Me. 1, 6, mais il est dit plus clairement que Jean avait un costume tissé de poil de chameau (ἀπὸ τριχῶν, heilén. au lieu de ἐκ, classique) et au lieu de faire dépendre deux verbes de ἦν (construc= tion périphrastique), Mt. distingue le vêtement et la nourriture. On pourrait en soi regarder celle rédaction comme un perfectionnement de celle de Mc., mais il est clair que cette description de l’ascétisme de Jean est plus exigée dans Mt, qui s'étend plus longuement sur sa prédication et qui reviendra sur sa vie austère (χι, 18). Elle est d’ailleurs bien en place, avant la mention de l’ébranlement des foules, — La manducation des &xpie était autorisée par la loi (Lev. xt, 22); cependant elle ἃ dù paraître aux citadins un aliment impur, car Tatien avait remplacé cette nourriture par du lait (Isho‘dad, sur Mt. 1m, 4). C'est sans doute dans le même dessein que l’évangile des Ébionites (Εριρη. haer. xxx, 13) ἃ mis ἐγχρίς : καὶ τὸ βρῶμα αὐτοῦ, φησί, μέλι ἄγριον οὗ ἣ γεῦσις ἦν τοῦ μάννα ὡς ἐγχρὶς (gâteau au miel) ἐν ἐλαίῳ (cf. Num. xt, 8). — De méme Isidore de Péluse (P.G. LXXVIIL, 269) : ἀκρέμονες (pointes) βοτανῶν ἢ φυτῶν. Mais le texte est clair, et il n'est pas rare aujourd'hui encore que les Bédouins mangent des sauterelles; c'est bien la nourriture d’un ascète. La difficulté est pour le miel sauvage. L'opinion commune l'entend du miel déposé par les abeilles qui errent en liberté (Dt. xxxn, 13; Jud. σιν, 8; I Sam. xiv, 26 ss.). On en trouve encore sur les montagnes au delà du Jourdain, dans des creux de rochers, d'où le nom de miel des montagnes (Syrsin. et Isid. μέλι ὄρειον ὑπὸ μελισσῶν ἀγρίων γινόμενον). Mais, quoi qu’en dise Isidore (πικρότατον ὅν; καὶ πάσῃ γεύσει πολέμιον), par un parti pris évident, ce miel est aussi bon que l'autre, ct passait pour une nourriture exquise (Ps. Lxxxr, 17). Comme il n'y avait sur les bords du Jourdain ni montagnes, ni rochers, ni fleurs des champs, le miel y eût été une bonne fortune très rare, au lieu de représenter une nourriture vulgaire. D'autre part μέλι, un peu comme notre mot beurre de palme, de cacao, de coco, se disait de l’exsudation de certains arbres, cèdres (Hippocrate), palmiers (Jos. Bell. IV, vx, 3, précisément à Jéricho), et probablement aussi du éamaris mannifera. Du moins les moïnes du Sinaï en recueillent qui ressemble à du miel, mais avec un goût fade. Le miel végétal est nommé μέλι ἄγριον par Diodore de Sic. {xix, 94, 10), et par Suidas, lequel, comme les Ébionites, fait allusion à la manne : μέλι ἄγριον ὅπερ ἀπὸ τῶν δένδρων ἐπισυναγόμενον, μάννα τοῖς πολλοῖς προσαγορεύεται, Les bords du Jourdain étant couverts de tamaris, nous pensons que ce sont ces arbustes qui fournissaient à Jean une nourriture insipide. Sur l’impureté du miel à cause des pattes des abeilles, cf. RB. 1912, p. 235.
3:5
τότε en tête de la phrase, une des caractéristiques de Mt., le distinguant de Mc. La phrase est étrange. On comprend que Jérusalem, comme capitale, soit placée en tête de la Judée. Mais que vient faire la περίχωρος τοῦ ᾿Ιορδάνου " C'est le Jia 922 (Gen. xin, 40; xx, 17; I Reg. vu, 46; Π Chr. 1v, 17); mais ce mot ne désigne pas seulement le cercle fertile des oasis au pied des montagnes (Buzz, Geogr. 113, Klost.), c'est tout l’ampithéâtre au milieu duquel coule le Jourdain, car 1 Reg. va, 46 indique un sol argileux, donc stérile, qui pouvait être habité par des nomades. Mais alors c’est le lieu où Jean baptisait, comme Le. 11, 3 l’a dit expressément, et en partie le désert de la Judée où Jean préchait, d’après πὶ, 4. Il n’est pas dit qu'ayant prêché dans les montagnes, il soit descendu pour baptiser au Jourdain. Il faut done reconnaitre ici un ordre de dignité plutôt que géographique. D'abord Jérusalem, la ville sainte, puis la Judée, puis les bords du Jourdain, qui ont dû venir les premiers; mais Jérusalem est censée donner le signal comme capitale religieuse. C’est comme un fleuve qui s’'épanche en arrivant dans la plaine.
3:6
ποταμω p. Ἰορδανη (THV) et non om. (5).
Ce verset ne serait pas à sa place, si l’allocution qui suit s'adressait à tout 16 monde. C’est le parti qu’a pris 1,0., très bien composé. D'abord les harangues de Jean à ceux qui viennent, puis le baptême du peuple (ur, 21). Mais Mt. ayant réservé la harangue aux Pharisiens, elle était d'autant plus saisissante si ces personnages étaient apostrophés par Jean qui n'avait pas fait difficulté de baptiser les autres. Chaque thème a sa raison d’être.
3:7
αὐτου p. βαπτισμα (SV) plutôt que 0». (TH).
3:8
Personne n'avait pu instruire ces malins; 115 étaient venus d'eux-mêmes. Qu'ils fassent donc réellement pénitence. — καρπόν ἄξιον au sing. comme au v. 10, tandis que Le. a mis le pluriel ici à cause du sens figuré des bonnes œuvres, ἄξια τῆς μετανοίας ἔργα (Act. xxvi, 20). La tournure de Mt. est donc primitive.
3:9
δόξητε (Le. ἄρξησθε) est traduit de bien des manières : Quelques-uns {Loësy, Schanz, Klost., B. Weiss) : « ne vous illusionnez pas jusqu'à dire »; Ebeling « n'ayez pas l'aplomb de dire »; Blass, Jo. Weiss : « ne prenez pas fantaisié de dire ». Dans toutes ces manières on force quelque peu le sens de δοχεῖν, qui peut seulement signifier «trouver bon » ou « être d'avis de », ou « s'imaginer » (vi, 7; [ Cor. vin, 2 etc.}, « avoir l'air ». ΠῚ nous semble que δοχεῖν a ici son sens ὁ, d’ « avoir l'air », comme souvent : « N'ayez pas l'air’ de gens qui pensent ». Cf. δοξη τς Eur. Hippol. 119 μὴ δόχει τούτων κλύειν, « n’aie pas l'air d'entendre ». Au lieu d'une tournure vague et embarrassée, on ἃ un trait pittoresque. L'attitude seule des Pharisiens suffirait à montrer qu'ils ne croient pas à la nécessité de la pénitence, mais, à cause de leurs habitudes de dissimulation, leur ironie échapperait à un coup d'œil moins perçant que celui de Jean. N les démasque. De toute facon on peut supposer un original sémitique. Pour le dernier mode, cf. Gen. six, 14 : « il était comme quelqu'un qui plaisante » : ἔδοξε δὲ γελοίαζειν (2191). Pour les autres, ou bien: 22 991, aram. Mow = (cf. Esth. 1, 19 ete.), ou l’hébreu ὩΣ (Prov. π, 10), dans le Targ. nD, ou l'hébreu 207 (I Sam. xvur, 25), de même en araméen. Il est donc tout à fait arbitraire de dire (Dalman, etc.) que Mt. ἃ mis en meilleur grec le même sens que Lec.; son sens est de toute facon plus subtil, aussi Le. a-t-il peut-être simplifié mat et cur.
3:10
Mt. n'a pas καί après ἤδη δέ, ce qui est assurément plus simple que l'addition dans Le. Tous deux ont le singulier καρπὸν καλόν, au propre, à propos d'un arbre, “a sémitique, mais qu'on trouve aussi en grec (Arist. De plant. τ, 4; 1, : Klost.). Dans cette plaine où l'on peut cueillir le fruit trompeur de la Le de Sodome, il n’était pas inutile d'ajouter « bon » à « fruit » (« bon », omis par Syrsin, et Ir. 1v, 38, [4 mss.], mais mis dans Îr. 1v, 8, 3, est om. par Klost.).
3:11
Le discours semble maintenant s'adresser à tous les Israélites et aborder un autre thème. Le. n’a sûrement pas manqué de tact en commençant ici un discours nouveau. Dans Mt. il n’y ἃ pas solution de continuité, et la liaison se fait par εἰς μετάνοιαν qui lui est propre. L'ordre de Mt. et de Le. est de beaucoup le plus naturel. Jean doit dire ce qu'il fait avant de parler d'un autre, sur lequel il ἃ beaucoup à dire, tandis que Mec. qui ne prête à Jean aucun discours personnel le fait débuter par l'annonce du Messie; c'est tout son rôle. Le datif instrumental ὕδατι (Me. Le.) suffisait, mais ἐν convenait avant πνεύματι (aussi Le.) pour ne pas faire de l'Esprit-Saint un simple instrument quoique ἐν ne change pas le sens, il Υ ἃ une nuance : « dans la puissance de l'Esprit-Saint ». C'est sans doute pour avoir un parallélisme plus complet que Mt. écrit ἐν ὕδατι. Le. est donc le seul qui ait observé les deux nuances, car Me. n’a pas ἐν avant πνεύματι. Noter la tournure : moi — Lui (cf. Me. τ, 8), très bien adaptée en grec avec μέν et δέ, modifiée dans Le. par le ἔρχεται de Mc. qui fait entrer en scène le Messie, alors que l’opposition n'était qu'entre les personnes; dans Mt. non pas: « il en vient un plus fort », mais : « celui qui se trouve venir après moi, est (Mt. ἐστιν) plus fort ». On voit donc très bien une fusion dans Le., maïs nullement une action de Mc. sur Mt. Au lieu de délier la courroie des chaussures, Mt. dit : porter les chaussures, ce qui est un office plus bumble, car on peut délier la chaussure par complaisance ou pour exercer l'hospitalité, tandis que la porter est l'office d'un esclave (cf. Pcaure, Trinummus, 252, sandaligerulac, dans une exhibition de tous les esclaves). Il semble aussi que cet office devait être plus commun en Orient, où l’on se déchaussait (comme aujourd’hui) plus fréquemment, et par conséquent qu'une expression plus spéciale et ayant plus la saveur du terroir ἃ été remplacée dans Me. et Le. par une expression plus générale. Merx cite le proverbe arabe : « Moi je porterais ses souliers »? pour dire : Suis-je donc son esclave ? Ν — καὶ πυρί. Même division des opinions qu'au temps de Jérôme : a) πυρί est 1}. lexégèse de l'Esprit-Saint (Chrys. τῇ ἐπεξηγήσει τοῦ πυρὸς πάλιν τὸ σφοδρὸν καὶ ἀκάθεχτον (incoercible) τῆς χάριτος ἐνδεικνύμενος), ce qui s'explique par l’effusion de l'Esprit-Saint en forme de langues comme de feu (Act. τι, 3); c'est l'opinion des catholiques, Schanz, Knab. et de Merx. Ou bien 6) πυρί prélude au v. sui- 2) vant, et s’entend du châtiment (Hilaire : quia baptizatis in Spiritu sancto reliquum sit consummari îgne iudicit, Allen, Klost, Loisy, etc.); ce serait pour indiquer le double rôle du Messie, baptisant les uns, brûlant les autres. Mais le châtiment final ne peut être symbolisé par un baptême, car le baptême, même de feu, purifie, et de plus (Schanz), s’il s'agissait de deux actes aussi distincts, il eût fallu écrire à tout le moins ἐν πυρί. L'emploi du même cas indique bien l'exexégèse dont parle Chrys. Pour le dire plus clairement Syrsin. a écrit : « dans le feu et l'Esprit ». Merx a bien noté que les deux comparaisons de celui qui baptise et de l'agriculteur sont trop distinctes pour que πυρί soit pris dans le premier cas au même sens que dans le second. 19) καὶ διακαθαριεῖ... καὶ συνάξει (au lieu de διακαθᾶραι... χαὶ συναγαγεῖν, Le. πι, 17), tournure naturelle en sémitique et qui ἃ pénétré dans Le. surtout à Antioche. — αὐτοῦ après σῖτον insiste sur l'appartenance des justes à Dieu, ce qui est plus expressif que αὐτοῦ après ἀποθήκην (Le.) : le lieu de la béatitude qui est à Dieu.
3:13
Τότε, dans un sens très vague, comme au v. 5. — παραγίνεται, COMME au v. 1; cf. Mc. xiv, 43. — Tournure tout aussi sémitique que καὶ ἐγένετο. τότε esi surtout fréquent dans Daniel et convient bien au récit araméen. Il n'était pas nécessaire de nommer Nazareth, à cause de τι, 23, mais la mention du Jourdain est naturelle. La fin du verset insiste sur ce que le baptèmc devait être donné par Jean, pour préparer le v. 14. — τοῦ βαπτισθῆναι est nettement final. 14, Τωχνης p. δὲ (SV) plutôt que om. (TH). 15, προς ἄυτον (TSV) et non αὐτω (H).
3:14
διεκώλυεν, imparfait de conatu. — Si Jésus avait été déjà connu de Jean seulement pour la sainteté de sa vie, on pourrait croire à une simple lutte de politesse, très vraisemblable en Orient. C’est ainsi que les Pères du désert en agissaient, quand l’un venaït témoigner à l’autre sa vénération. Mais, dans le contexte de Mt., Jean croit reconnaître celui qui est plus fort que lui, et qui baptisera dans l'Esprit et le feu. C'était donc à Jean d’être baptisé, et il ne pouvait comprendre la démarche de Jésus. Sur la difficulté de concilier ce point avec Mt. x1, 2 ss, cf. ad ἢ. L.
3:15
ἄφες, cf. var; 4; xur, 30; Me. vu, 27; Le. xur, 8 etc. (mais non Jo.), dans le sens de tolérer, laisser faire. — ἄρτι (Mt. et Jo, mais ni Mc. ni Le.) a ici un sens très plein. Pour cette fois, c’est-à-dire seulement cette fois, le plus fort doit s’incliner devant le plus faible. C'est que le baptême donné par Jean doit précisément amener le témoignage divin qui consacre la grandeur de Jésus. — πρέπον, éfsi non oportet, famen decet (Mald.}, motif suffisant pour Jésus et pour Jean, sans qu’il soit nécessaire de parler d'obligation, d'autant qu'il ne pouvait être question d’une obligation légale, puisque la Loi n’ordonnait pas le baptême. Aussi δικαιοσύνη, à la différence de δικαίωμα, s'entend de l'accomplissement de tous les devoirs envers Dieu. Jean avait été envoyé par Dieu pour baptiser, et Jésus avait conscience de faire la volonté de son Père. Dans les inscriptions, la δικαιοσύνη est jointe à la libéralité (φιλοτιμία), à la piété (ef. Dirr. Or. 339 1. 48; 438 1. 8; av. J.-C.). — πληρῶσαι, en bonne mesure, en toute perfection; ef. v, 17: xx, 32; Le. 1x, 31. — τότε ἀφίησιν, encore un τότε avec le prés. historique, comme v. 13.
3:16
εὐθυς aveën (THV) et non aveën εὐθὺς (S). — ἀνεωχθῃσαν (TSV) et non nvewyônoav (H). — auto p. ἀνεωχθησαν (SV) plutôt que om. (TH). — vo πνευμα tou θεου (SV) plutôt que πνευμα ϑεου (TH).
εὐθύς dans Mc. se rapporte à εἶδεν, ce qui est aisé, mais dans Mt. à ἀνέθη. On aecuse Mi. d’avoir transcrit ce mot machinalement et de l'avoir mal placé: d’autres (Wellh. Klost.) croient que εὐθὺς dvé6n &. +. 6. a été interpolé dans Mt. d’après Mc.; Knab. finit par Le regarder comme superflu et négligeable. Mais Ἢ pourquoi Mt. n'aurait-il pas dit que Jésus s’en est tenu strictement au baptême? Sans doute quelques-uns le prolongeaient, pour confesser emphatiquement leurs fautes. C’est ce qu'ont compris les « quelques-uns » cités par Euthymius (Sehanz), s'inspirant peut-être de ce qui se passait dans l'église grecque. εὐθύς et εὐθέως sont assez fréquents dans Mt. pour qu'on ne soupçonne pas Un emprunt maladroit à Me. ; c’est καὶ ἰδού (style de Mt.) qui répond plutôt à εὐθύς de Mc. — Au lieu de l'expression étrange de Mc., « les cieux fendus », Mt. et Le. emploient ἀνοίγω, terme trop naturel dans ce cas pour qu'on doive conclure à une dépendance; cf. Jo. 1, 52; Act. x, 11; Apoc. χιχ, 11. — Faut-il lire αὐτῷ après ἀνεῴχθησαν ὃ D'après Merx, le texte de Jean (1, 32) prouve qu'on ne le lisait pas au temps du quatrième évangile, mais il semble plutôt que l’omission s’est produite pour éviter une contradiction apparente. Si les cieux ont été ouverts pour Jésus seul, comment le Baptiste aurait-il vu? L’omission s'appuie sur ΒΝ sa. et Ir. ΗΠ. Vig., mais ces Pères latins sont contrebalancés par les versions latines. Nous lisons donc αὐτῷ, mais en l’entendant uniquement de l'ouverture des cieux. Le regard de Jésus pénètre dans le ciel qui s'ouvre et il voit l'Esprit descendre. Mais quand l'Esprit se présente en forme de colombe, il prend une forme sensible, visible à d’autres. Il est vrai que dans Mt. (contrairement à Me.), xataBatrov précède ὡσεὶ περιστεράν. On pourrait done entendre (Weiss, Holtz, εἰς.) que l'Esprit descendit à la façon des colombes. Mais si la descente des oiseaux qui fondent sur leur proie-est caractéristique, on ne peut en dire autant du vol des colombes (malgré Martial, Epig. vin, 32 aera per tacitum delapsa), et il serait étrange que Mt. peu porté au pittoresque se soit éloigné du sens de Me., souligné par Le., et qui supposait une tradition établie. Il faut plutôt entendre ὥσεί « sous l'apparence de » (cf. Le. xxn, 44). Mt. ajoute une nuance très subtile. À moins de lever la tête en haut par un mouvement pénible, Jésus devait voir les cieux ouverts devant lui; la colombe en descendant devait done prendre sa course pour venir à lui; d’où ἐρχόμενον, nouvel indice que l'apparition était sensible. Mt. qui ἃ adressé [ἃ voix à tous (v. 17) n'a pas dû réserver à Jésus seul la vision de la colombe. Aucun évangéliste ne parle formellement des assistants, peut-être parce qu'une pareille vision exigeait une certaine pureté du cœur, ct une grâce spéciale, mais c'était le fait du Baptiste et sans doute d’autres personnes.
3:17
Encore χαὶ ἰδοῦ, quand la colombe est arrivée. La voix ne s’adresse pas à Jésus, mais le désigne aux autres. Mt. suppose donc qu’elle ἃ été entendue d'eux. Le but de ce mode a élé bien compris par Auguslin (De cons. ev. 11, 14), qui ne refuse pas de le regarder comme un changement : ut illis potius qui audiebant indicaretur, quod ipse esset filius Dei... non enim Christo indicabatur quod sciebat, sed audiebant qui aderant, propter quos etiam ipsa vox facta est. Mais ce n’est pas une raison pour conclure que Mt. a transformé une révélation faite à Jésus en une manifestation de sa dignité. Car le caractère apparent de la colombe, plus clairement affirmé dans Me. que dans Mt., son vol qui s'arrête au-dessus de Jésus, la voix, dont il est naturel qu’elle soit entendue, tout cela indique une manifestation extérieure dont Jésus est l'objet; tandis qu'une communication intime, la voix du Seigneur adressée à Jésus, selon la formule ancienne des prophètes, n'aurait pas eu besoin de cette mise en scène. La présence du peuple, indiquée expressément par Le. (1, 24), est supposée par les autres (Mt. nr, 5; Me. 1, 5); cf. Comm. Me., où le parti de Mc. est expliqué par son souci du secret messianique; peut-être faut-il aussi faire la part d'une réminiscence de Ps. 11, 7 : υἱός μου et σύ, Les critiques qui attribuent à Le. d'avoir transporté dans son évangile ces mois æt les suivants ne devraient pas nier qu'ils ont pu influer sur la rédaction de Mc. Mais ils ne songent qu'à leur dogme, la conscience messianique acquise par Jésus au baptême. Objecter qu'une semblable manifestation eût rendu impossible l'évolution lente de la croyance messianique, c'esl opposer des schèmes tout faits, tels qu'ils peuvent être dans les livres. Car, outre que la manifestation surnaturelle a pu être réservée à peu de personnes, elle explique cependant que Jésus ait trouvé aussitôt des disciples. Il faut tenir compte dans la vie de la mobilité des foules, et de l'obstacle permanent de la vie humble de Jésus opposé à la conviction messianique que la manifestation avait d'abord fait naître. Le sens du Baptême de Jésus dans Mt. est le même que dans Me. et dans Le. C'est la manifestation de Jésus comme d'un plus fort que Jean, et qui doit remplacer son baptême par un nouveau baptéme dans l'Esprit. Le baptême chrétien n’est pas encore institué, et Jean continuera à baptiser; mais Jésus est investi de sa mission; déjà un ordre succède à l'autre. Ce qui est spécial à Mt. est tout à fait dans l'esprit de son Évangile. Quelques chrétiens pouvaient se demander pourquoi Jésus, étant sans péché, s'était soumis au baptême de la pénitence. C'est l'objection de l'évangile selon les Hébreux Ecce mater domini et fratres eius dicebant ei : Ioannes baptista baptizat in remis- Sionem peccatorum, eamus et baptizemur ab eo. Divit autem οἷς : Quid peccavi, ut vadam et baplizer ab eo? nisi forte hoc ipsum, quod diri, ignorantia est (Hier. C. Pelag. ur, 2). Ce scrupule n’a pas arrêté les évangélistes. Une autre difficulté, celle des critiques modernes, n'existe que d’après Mt. et Le. Puisque Jésus avait été conçu par l'Esprii-Saint, pourquoi le recevoir au baptème? Mais ni Le., ni même Mt. ne s’en préoccupent, pas plus qu'ils ne se demandent pourquoi Jésus ἃ été proclamé Fils de Dieu à la Transfiguration, sans doute parce qu'ils trouvaient naturel que celui qui avait été conçu par l'Esprit-Saint füt l'objet des complaisances de l'Esprit et du Père. Spécialement, puisque le nouveau baptême devait être dans l'Esprit ou par l'Esprit, il convenait qu'une apparition sensible manifestât Jésus comme celui qui devait le donner. C'est aussi le sens de Mc., résultant de son v. 8. Mais il restait une difficulté. Pourquoi l’instituteur du nouveau baptème devait-il recevoir l'ancien, Le plus fort s'incliner devant le plus faible? C'est précisément la question à laquelle répond Mt., et c'est celle géliste a écrit τι, 14 ss. et v, 17 avec πληρῶσαι, Jésus n'est pas venu en novateur qui révolutionne, il est venu rendre parfait l'ordre ancien. De même qu'il se soumeltait à la Loi, il acceptait les conditions préliminaires au messianisme, dont la principale se révélait comme un baptême de pénitence. C'élait un dessein de Dieu pour une époque de transition. Le trait particulier à Mt. fait donc partie de la trame de 1᾿ ὄυϑῃρ1}6 dans ses parties les moins contestées; ce n’est point une addition destinée à changer le moment où Jésus a pris conscience de son messianisme. Et pour parler en rigueur, ce qui obligeait les premiers chrétiens à croire que Jésus n'avait pas pris au baptême la conscience de sa vocation, ce n'était pas précisément la conception surnaturelle seulement, c'était déjà sa préexistence. L'opinion des critiques suppose done que Mc., disciple de Paul, n'admettait pas cette préexistence! Cérinthe et Marcion, qui admettaient l’apparition d'une nouvelle personnalité au baptème, étaient plus logiques que l'opinion moderne. Par ailleurs, en se soumettant au baptême, Jésus ne se confessait pas pécheur. Comme dit très bien M. Loisy (1, 405) : « Un juste pouvait s'y prêter pour signifier sa volonté de vivre purement, sans avouer des péchés qu'il n ’avait pas commis; il manifestait sa résolution de se préparer, selon son pouvoir, à l'avènement du royaume. » Jésus n’a donc pas mis à l’épreuve les assistants en les exposant à le prendre pour un pécheur (cf. l'opinion de Josèphe sur v. 7). Pour Mt. il allait sans dire que le dessein de Dieu était prudent et sage; il fallait seulement qu'il eût été notifié au Baptiste. — Néanmoins ce fut la manifestation divine qui dut être pour lui, même d'après Mi., la grande et décisive lumière, et c'est de celle-là seulement que Jo. 1, 32 ss. ἃ tenu compte. CHAPITRE IV
3:1
GIOVANNI BATTISTA. - Precursore di Gesù nella predicazione e nel Battesimo, donde trasse il nome (ὁ βαπτιστής « il battezzatore »: Mt. 3, 1, ecc.). …
… I declivi orientali invece, che scendono spesso a precipizio sul Mar Morto, da el-'Aṣūr fino all'estremità meridionale di esso (ca. 80 km.), passando nei pressi di Ephrem, Bethel, Gerico e Betlemme, costituiscono il «deserto di Giuda» (Mt. 3, 1), di ca. 1700 kmq. (F.-M. …
… Ad es.: la predicazione del Battista, il Battesimo e le tentazioni (Mt. 3,1 - 4, 12 = Mc. 1, 1-14 = Lc. 3,1-4, 14); la tempesta sedata, gli indemoniati geraseni, la guarigione del paralitico, la vocazione di Matteo-Levi, la disputa sul digiuno, la figlia di Jair …
3:2
Nel Nuovo Testamento, i sinottici specialmente (cf. Mt. 3, 2; 4, 23; 9, 35; 13, 1-53; 21, 43; Mc. 1, 14; Lc. 1, 32, 33; 16, 16) ci descrivono il regno fondato dal Cristo, regno predetto dai profeti (cf. Is. 9, 6, 7; Dan. 2, 44; 7, 14), a cui …
Gli inizi della predicazione di Gesù e di G. B. sono riferiti con gli stessi termini (Mt. 3, 2; 4, 17). G. B. comincia nel Gôr: poi attraversa il Giordano e va a Bethania (v.), dove riceve l'ambascerità dei sinedristi (Io. 1, 28). Mentre Gesù predica in Giudea (Io. 3, 22) attorniato …
che i credenti vi si incamminano (Mt. 3, 2;
3:3
… Marco; si passava poi ad una sala quadrilatera con tre cappelle annesse con pitture di angeli e profeti, dei quali restano i nomi di Daniele e di Isaia; nell'angolo Giovanni Battista con un rotolo contenente in greco il vaticinio d'Isaia, riportato in Mt. 3,3 e in Mc. 1,3. Nella volta angeli alati si prosternano davanti al Redentore. …
… palestinesi su vari padri che vennero in contatto con loro, particolarmente su s. Girolamo), i cristiani scorgevano già negli autori ispirati del Nuovo Testamento la tendenza ad interpretazioni libere, ed anche a mere accomodazioni (cf. Mt. 2, 15; 3, 3; 13, 14, 15; Rom. 10, 18; II Cor. 8, 15 ecc.). …
RUTH. - Virtuosa donna moabita, sposa di Booz, ava di David (Mt. 3, 3-6), del tempo dei Giudici (Ruth 1, 1), la cui storia è oggetto del libro omonimo.
… nota sono pure certe uniformità in costrutti rari, come ἀπεκρίμενο invece del più comune ἀπεκρίθη (Mt. 27, 12 = Mc. 14, 61 = Lc. 23, 9), in citazioni del Vecchio Testamento uniformi nei S. ma diverse tanto dall'ebraico che dal greco dei Settanta (cf. Mt. 3, 3 = Mc. 1, 3 = Lc. 3, 4; Mt. 26, 31 = Mc. 14, 27).
3:4
… Era l'abito ordinario dei profeti, predicatori di penitenza (Is. 20, 2; II Reg. 1, 8; Mt. 3, 4). Insieme al c. si usava pure la cenere per aspergere il capo; di qui l'espressione biblica: « far penitenza nel c. e nella cenere » (Mt. 11, 21). Come strumento di penitenza, il …
(II Reg. 1, 8), come poi Giovanni Battista (Mt. 3, 4),
3:5
BATTESIMO di GIOVANNI. - È il b. che il precursore (donde l'epiteto di «battista» = «battezzatore»), amministrava sulle rive del Giordano, invitando il popolo a mutare vita e a prepararsi all'avvento del Regno di Dio (Mt. 3, 5). Apparentemente esso nulla apportava di nuovo ai Giudei, che già trovavano prescritte nella legge (Lev. 14, 1 segg., 15, 5 segg.) parecchie abluzioni, quali riti di purificazione …
RELIGIONI, STUDIO COMPARATO DELLE
… sfruttamento indipendente del simbolismo più naturale, con finalità, tuttavia, distinte: l'acqua purifica; gli Indù si purificano delle loro colpe nelle acque del Gange; Giovanni il Precursore battezzava nelle acque del Giordano in segno di penitenza (Mt. 3, 5-6); i primi Apostoli battezzavano dovunque nel nome di Gesù in segno di rigenerazione (Act. 8, 34-38); stesso rito, ma differente spirito (v. BATTESIMO, II, coll. 1003-45). Puri incontri …
3:7
… Il termine « B. » nella S. Scrittura non è riservato esclusivamente al Sacramento istituito da Gesù Cristo (cf. Mt. 3, 7; Mc. 7, 4.8; Lc. 3, 3) e neppure è l'unica parola scelta a designarlo (Eph. 5, 26; Tit. 3, 5; F. Prat, I, p. 551; Oepke, pp. 527-28, 543).
… Fate dunque degni frutti di penitenza» (Mt. 3, 7) e apre il Nuovo additando nel Messia già venuto colui che «tiene il ventilabro per vagliare il grano: e ripulirà la sua aia e ammasserà il frumento
Giovanni Battista stigmatizzava farisei e s. «come razza di vipere» (Mt. 3, 7). La parabola del ricco epulone (Lc. 16, 19-31) presenta il tipo dei s. Nemici tra loro, farisei e s. gareggiavano nel sottoporre a Gesù domande capziose (Mt. 16, 1, e cf. 23, 29-33), …
3:9
… il patto di Dio con A. (Lc. 1, 55-73) che si verificano in Gesù, « figlio » del patriarca (Mt. 1, 1; Lc. 3, 34). Gesù stesso dà ad una malata e a Zaccheo questo titolo « figlio di A. » di cui gli Ebrei erano particolarmente fieri (Lc. 13, 16; 10, 9; Mt. 3, 9; Lc. 3, 8; Io. 8, 39), ma dichiara che non è la discendenza carnale, bensì la imitazione delle opere di A. che vale (Io. 8, 33-44). A. è in cielo (Lc. 13, 28) e giudei e gentili riposeranno …
3:10
… L'ignavo infatti merito la severa condanna del servo che non traffica i talenti (Mt. 25, 24-30), e dell'albero che non dà frutti (Mt. 3, 10).
3:11
Non si riferisce alla materia del B. il fuoco di cui parla Giovanni Battista in Mt. 3, 11 e Lc. 3, 16. Ivi, il fuoco caratterizza l'azione dello Spirito Santo di cui mette in rilievo l'efficacia somma. …
Giovanni, del resto, è esplicito su questo punto: «Io vi ho battezzati in acqua; ma egli vi battezerà in Spirito Santo» (Mc. 1, 8), «in Spirito Santo e fuoco» (Mt. 3, 11; Lc. 3, 16), dove l'aggiunta «fuoco» sta ad indicare che la grazia, data dal B., consumerà come fuoco i peccati, purificherà e illuminerà. …
… Il Battesimo è per loro il « battesimo del fuoco » (Mt. 3, 11), amministrato sotto la forma di un tatuaggio alla punta dell'orecchio destro, sede della memoria (v. F. J. Dölger, in Antike und Christentum, 1 [1929], p. 75), mettendo così in …
… Regno di Dio. G. B. non è la luce, ma il prisma che la riflette (Io. 1, 8); non è il Messia, ma colui che ne ripercuote la voce (Io. 1, 20-23); non è lo sposo, ma il paraninfo che gli presenta la sposa (Io. 3, 29); non ha il Battesimo nello Spirito (Mt. 3, 11), ma battezza colui che vivifica nello Spirito (Mt. 3, 13-17); è « il più grande tra i nati di donna » (Mt. 11, 11).
… In questo senso si devono intendere la parole del Salmo 18, 16: « In sole posuit tabernaculum suum »; c) respinsero inoltre il Battesimo d'acqua, per la ragione che i discepoli di s. Giovanni Battista furono battezzati « nello Spirito Santo e nel fuoco » (Mt. 3, 11); d) non esiste un paradiso invisibile; l'inferno è questo mondo; la risurrezione dei corpi consiste nella procreazione dei figli.
3:12
GIOVANNI, APOSTOLO, EVANGELISTA, SANTO
… D'altra parte nei Sinottici si trovano delle allegorie (Mt. 3, 12 = Lc. 3, 17: il mietitore che si serve del crivello; Mt. 15, 13 sg.: il giardiniere che sradica la pianta che un altro ha posto nel suo giardino). …
3:13
… Alcuni pensano che Gesù lo istituì nel momento, in cui egli stesso fu battezzato al Giordano (Mt. 3, 13); l'acqua, allora, avrebbe ricevuta una virtù purificatrice (s. Ambrogio, In Lc., II, 83; PL 15, 1665; s. Giov. …
BATTESIMO di GESÙ. - La scena narrata dai sinottici (Mt. 3, 13-17; Mc. 1, 9-13; Lc. 3, 21-22) e accennata da Giovanni (Io. 1, 32-34) si può ricostruire facilmente così: sui trent'anni (Lc. 3, 23), Gesù parte da Nazareth, si presenta al Giordano in …
… Secondo i dati evangelici era ben noto (τὸ ἑδρῶς), situato nelle vicinanze di Cafarnao e caratterizzato da altipiani (Mt. 3, 13; 5, 1; 8, 5; Mc. 3, 20; Lc. 6, 13, 17; 7, 1; Io. 6, 17).
Di lui rimangono 18 trattati o meglio omelie sul Vangelo di s. Matteo, dei quali quello sulle otto beatitudini (omelia detta in un giorno di grande mercato) fu singolarmente apprezzato; gli altri comprendono: Mt. 3, 13-17; 5; 6, 1-24 e sembrano frammenti omiletici su tutto quel Vangelo. …
… La scena meravigliosa con la discesa dello Spirito Santo sotto forma di colomba, è descritta con vivacità dai Sinottici (Mt. 3, 13-17; Mc. 1, 9-11; Lc. 3, 21 sgg.).
3:15
… 21-22) e accennata da Giovanni (Io. 1, 32-34) si può ricostruire facilmente così: sui trent'anni (Lc. 3, 23), Gesù parte da Nazareth, si presenta al Giordano in mezzo alla folla accorsa alla parola del Battista, e domanda di essere anch'egli battezzato (Mt. 3, 15). Quando esce dall'acqua ed è immerso nella preghiera (Lc. 3, 22), i cieli si aprono, ne discende lo Spirito Santo in forma di colomba, che si possa sopra di lui e una voce proclama: …
3:16
… Egli è il Cristo, cioè l'Unto, il consacrato (Dan. 9, 25-26; Ps. 2, 2), il giusto (Is. 53, 11), ripieno di Spirito Santo (Is. 11, 2; 42, 1; 61, 1-2). Il Nuovo Testamento consacra in maniera esplicita questi dati essenziali (Mt. 1, 20; Lc. 1, 35: concezione di Cristo. Mt. 3, 16 e luoghi paralleli sinottici; Act. 10, 38: suo Battesimo; Lc. 4, 18: suo ministero). …
Nel Nuovo Testamento, il divino Spirito personale è la forza che presiede all'Incarnazione, alla fondazione e allo sviluppo del Regno di Dio (Lc. 1, 15, 35, 41, 67; 2, 25-27; Mt. 3, 16; 4, 1; 10, 20; 12, 28; Lc. 4, 1, 14; Io. 14, 17; 16, 7-15). Gli Atti degli Apostoli rilevano costantemente l'azione dello Spirito divino, sommo dono messianico (Act. 2, 17) nella Chiesa …
… in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti » (Mt. 29, 19); la teofania al Giordano: « Et descendit Spiritus Sanctus corporali specie sicut columba in ipsum et vox de caelo facta est: Tu es filius meus dilectus, in te complacui mihi » (Lc. 3, 22; cf. Mt. 3, 16-17; Mc. 1, 10-11); la distribuzione delle Grazie: « Divisiones vero Gratiarum sunt, idem autem Spiritus, et divisiones ministrationum sunt idem autem Dominus, et divisiones operationum …
… Così nelle acque del Giordano e sul Thabor (Mc. 17, 11; Mt. 3, 16 e 17, 1; Lc. 3, 21). Gesù opera come Dio: rimette i peccati (Lc. 5, 20) perfeziona e completa la legge di Dio (Mt. 5, 21), è padrone del sabato (Mt. 12, 8; Mc. 3, 1), è giudice …
3:17
… transitorio ma permanente) indica la perfezione morale della Vergine e la sua sublime grandezza, quasi novella creazione d'ordine soprannaturale (cf. Hugon, p. 72) di cui, come della prima (Gen. 1, 31), il divino Artefice si compiace (cf. Cant. 4, 1, 7 e Mt. 3, 17).
La risposta è facile: 1) Nel Vangelo non si trova nessuna condanna dei b. Gesù Cristo stesso ha voluto assoggettarsi al b. simbolico di penitenza e di purificazione instaurato dal Precursore (Mt. 3, 17-18) e a sua volta ha innalzato nel Battesimo il b. a dignità di Sacramento. …
… J. Buxtorf, G. Dalman, B. W. Bacon, P. Billerbeck riallacciano (senza fondamento) alla b. q. la «voce dal cielo» a Gesù di Mt. 3,17 (Mc. 1, 11; Lc. 3, 22) e Mt. 17,5 (Mc. 9, 7; Lc. 9, 35) e Io. 12, 28, la «voce» a Paolo e a Pietro (Act. 9,4 [22,7]; 26,14]; 10,13, 15), e Apoc. 10, 4-8; 18,4.
… Quanti, infatti, viene qualificato come F. di D. proprio (Rom. 8, 32), unico (Mt. 3, 17; 17,5), unigenito (Io. 1, 14, 18; 3, 16), primogenito (Col. 1, 15), vero (I Io. 5, 20); appellativi che escludono in modo as-soluto qualunque filiazione che non sia quella na-turale.
… Egli è vero Figlio di Dio, proclamato tale dal cielo durante il Battesimo e la Trasfigurazione (Mt. 3, 17 e 17, 5; Mc. 1, 11 e 9, 7; Lc. 3, 22 e 9, 35), da Pietro per divina ispirazione (Mt. 16, 16), perfino dai demoni (ibid. 8, 29; Mc. 5, 7). Gesù stesso si dichiara Figlio di Dio e per …
… Sotto quale influsso, se non quello del Maestro incomparabile, nel quale hanno finito per riconoscere il Figlio prediletto del Padre (Mt. 3, 17; Mc. 1, 11; Lc. 3, 22; Mt. 17, 5; Mc. 9, 6; Lc. 9, 35), il suo eguale (Mt. 11, 27), il Giudice dell'ultimo giorno (Mt. 16, 27; Mc. 8, 38; Lc. 9, 26; Mt. 11, 21; Mc. 10, 37), il maestro …
3:22
Riferendo che s. Giuseppe, di ritorno dall'Egitto « audiens quod Archelaus reguareit » in Iudaea pro Herode patre suo, trimit illo ire, Mt. 3, 22 sembra indicare l'intervallo di tempo prima dell'andata di A. a Roma, quando era designato come successore di Erode, ma non ancora riconosciuto; inoltre caratterizza bene il governo …
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · Douay-Rheims originale (Reims 1582), trascrizione EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Pubblico dominio.