Commentary on the Gospel of John 6 part 3/6

But wishing further to explain why the priests and Levites who question [John] were sent from the Jews, he does not speak badly in saying "that it was fitting for these, who attend continually upon God, to concern themselves with and inquire into these matters"; but he speaks not very precisely in saying "that he himself [John] was also of the Levitical tribe" — just as we, having raised the question beforehand, examined: that if those who were sent knew John and his birth, how did they have occasion to inquire whether he was [the Christ]? And again, concerning "Are you the prophet?" — supposing that something special is signified by the addition of the article — he says they asked whether he was "a prophet," wishing to learn the more common [meaning].

Moreover, not only Heracleon, but, as far as my research [shows], also all the heterodox — being unable to distinguish this trivial ambiguity — have supposed John to be greater than Elijah and all the prophets, because of "among those born of women there is none greater than John"; not seeing that the true statement "no one is greater than John among those born of women" comes about in two ways: not only by his being greater than all, but also by there being some equal to him. For it is [also] true, even if many prophets are equal to him, that, according to the grace given to him, no one is greater than he.

But he thinks that "greater" is established by his being prophesied by Isaiah, as though none of those who ever prophesied had been deemed worthy of this honor by God. But in truth, as one despising the ancient covenant that is still transacting, and not having observed that Elijah too was prophesied, he dared to say this. For Elijah indeed is prophesied by Malachi, who says: "Behold, I send to you Elijah the Tishbite, who shall restore the heart of the father to the son."

And Josiah too, as we read in the Third [Book] of Kingdoms, is prophesied by name by the prophet who came out of Judah, saying — Jeroboam too being present — "O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name." And some say that Samson too is prophesied by Jacob, who says: "Dan shall judge his own people, as one of the tribes of Israel" — since Samson, having come from the tribe of Dan, judged Israel. And let these things be said also for the refutation of the rashness of the one who declared that no one except John is prophesied — he having said these things in wishing to explain what "I am a voice crying in the wilderness" [means]. And [those] who were sent were from the Pharisees. And they asked him and said to him: "Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?"

Those sent from Jerusalem — the priests and Levites, to question John — having learned both what John was not and what he was, keep silence in the most reverent manner, as it were assenting through their silence and showing that they accept what has been said: that it is fitting, for the voice crying in the wilderness [whose task is] to make straight the way of the Lord, to baptize.

But the Pharisees — being, in accordance with their name, a certain divided and factious people — demonstrate their lack of concord with the Jews in the metropolis and with the ministers of the service of God, the priests and Levites, by sending, as it were reproachfully and, as far as lay in them, obstructively toward the baptizing, those who would ask: "Why do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?" And perhaps, if we should bring together into one body the things written in the Gospels, we might say that they said these things now, but afterward — I do not know how — having submitted themselves to being baptized, heard from John: "Offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruit worthy of repentance."

For these things were said by the Baptist, according to Matthew, when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to the baptism — clearly not having fruits of repentance, and boasting in Pharisaic fashion among themselves concerning Abraham as their father; therefore they are rebuked by him who possessed the zeal of Elijah in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit — John. For the rebuking word is: "Do not presume to say among yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father'"; and the instructive word concerns [the fact] that even those unbelievers who, because of their stony heart, are called stones can, by the power of God, be changed from stones into children of Abraham — since they have come to be before the eyes of the prophet, not fleeing the divine sight; therefore it is said by him: "I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham."

And since they come to the baptism without having produced fruit worthy of repentance, it is most fittingly said to them: "Already the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." For it is as though he says directly to them: "Since you have come to the baptism without having produced fruit of repentance, you are a tree not producing good fruit, [and] shall be cut down by the sharpest and most vigorous axe of the living and active Word, sharper than any two-edged sword."

XXIII. But Luke too displayed the self-praise of the Pharisees, through: "Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. And the Pharisee, standing, prayed thus to himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not as the rest of men — extortioners, unjust, adulterers — or even as this tax collector.'" Because of these words, the tax collector, rather than he, went down to his house justified; and it is added: "everyone who exalts himself will be humbled." As hypocrites, then, in accordance with the Savior's reproving words to them, they come to the baptism, not escaping the notice of the one baptizing, still having the venom of vipers under their tongues, and that of asps: "for the venom of asps is under their lips."

And truly their fury was manifest, in the likeness of the serpent, also through this bitter question: "Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?" To whom I would say — since Christ, Elijah, and the prophet baptize, but the voice of one crying in the wilderness has not received this authority: "O you, you harshly interrogate the one sent as a messenger before the face of Christ, to prepare his way before him, being ignorant of all the mysteries concerning his place. For the Christ himself, being Jesus, even though you do not wish it, did not himself baptize, but his disciples [did]."

He himself being the prophet — (whence has it been credited to you that Elijah who is to come will baptize? Nor even did the wood upon the altar, in the days of Ahab, needing washing that it might be kindled when the Lord appeared in fire, [have need of] one who baptized it? For he commands the priests to do this not only once — for he says, "Do it a second time," and they did it a second time, and "Do it a third time," and they did it a third time. He, then, who did not himself baptize at that time, but yielded the work to others, how, according to what is said by Malachi, having come to dwell [among us], was he going to baptize?) Christ, then, does not baptize in water, but his disciples do; but he keeps for himself the [baptizing] with the Holy Spirit and fire.

But Heracleon, accepting the Pharisees' statement as soundly spoken concerning the fact that baptizing is owed to Christ, Elijah, and every prophet, says, in these very words, "to whom alone baptizing is owed" — and he is refuted both by what we have just said, and especially because he has understood "the prophet" too generically; for he cannot show any of the prophets having baptized. But he says, not implausibly, that the Pharisees inquire in accordance with their own cunning, not as wishing to learn.

But since it seems necessary to us to set alongside the similar wordings of the Gospels the [texts] presently in hand, and to do this in each case to the end — in order that things that seem to clash may be shown to be in harmony, and things similarly worded may each be clarified individually — come, let us do this here too.

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord" is spoken, in the [Gospel] according to the disciple John, from the mouth of the Baptist; but in Mark it is recorded as the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, according to the writing of Isaiah, thus: "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: 'Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who shall prepare your way; the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'"

"Make straight the way of the Lord," however, is not found in the prophet, which Mark cited. Perhaps, then, John, abbreviating "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God," wrote instead "Make straight the way of the Lord"; whereas Mark, gathering into one two prophecies spoken in different places by two prophets, made this: "As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: 'Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who shall prepare your way. The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'"

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness" is written immediately after the account concerning Hezekiah rising from his sickness, whereas "Behold, I send my messenger before your face" is by Malachi.

What John did in abbreviating the saying he cited, Mark himself also displayed the same thing with another wording. For the prophet says: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God"; but Mark [says]: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths." And he made a similar abbreviation also in the case of "Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who shall prepare your way"; for he did not cite the preceding phrase, "before me."

Furthermore, concerning "those who had been sent were from the Pharisees, and they questioned him" — in examining this, we placed the question of the Pharisees first, as something passed over in silence by Matthew, …… of that which is recorded to have happened in Matthew: that "John, seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to the baptism, said to them, 'Offspring of vipers,'" and so on. For it is logical to inquire first, and only then to have come [to baptism].

And this too must be observed: that Matthew, [speaking] of those going out to John — Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan — for the purpose of being baptized in the Jordan river, confessing their sins, says he heard from the Baptist no word of reproach or refutation [directed at them]; but only [says] that those who were seen — many of the Pharisees and Sadducees — having come, heard "Offspring of vipers" and so on. But Mark says that no reproachful word was spoken by John to those who came, being all Judea and all the Jerusalemites, who were baptized by him in the Jordan and confessed their sins — consistently with his not even having named the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Moreover, this too we must necessarily set forth: that both Matthew and Mark say that all Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan — or all the Judean country and all the Jerusalemites — were baptized, confessing their sins; but Matthew introduces the Pharisees and Sadducees as coming to the baptism, yet not confessing their sins; therefore it is likely that this too is a reasonable cause of their having heard "Offspring of vipers."

Do not suppose that we have set forth, out of season, the passages from the other Gospels — those from [the account of] those sent from the Pharisees who questioned John — in our examination. For if we have rightly matched the Pharisees' inquiry, recorded by the disciple John, with their baptism as it is set down in Matthew, it was consistent to examine the corresponding places and set forth the observations found.

Similarly to Mark, Luke also mentions the voice crying in the wilderness, from his own narration, thus: "The word of God came upon John the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness, and he came into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness:'

"...the way of the Lord, make his paths [straight]." Luke also added what follows of the prophecy: "Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough ways smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God" — writing, like Mark, "make his paths straight," abbreviating, as we have said before, "make straight the paths of our God."

Instead of "all the crooked places shall become straightness," without the [word] "all," he put the phrase, and instead of the singular "into straightness" he made the plural "straight [paths]." Moreover, instead of "the rough shall become plains," he made: "and the rough ways [shall become] smooth roads"; and, omitting "and the glory of the Lord shall be seen," he cited what follows: "and all flesh shall see the salvation of God." These observations are useful for demonstrating that the evangelists abbreviate the prophetic texts.

Furthermore, this too must be observed: that Matthew says "Offspring of vipers" and so on was spoken to the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to the baptism, being different from those who confessed their sins and heard nothing of the kind; whereas Luke records that these words were spoken to the crowds who went out to be baptized by him, not making two classes of those being baptized, as we found in Matthew.

And reasonably so — this evangelist too, since the crowds are not ranked among those praised, as will be clear to those who observe carefully, introduces the Baptist as having said "Offspring of vipers" and so on to the crowds. Moreover, to the Pharisees and Sadducees it is said, in the singular, "Bring forth fruit worthy of repentance"; but to the crowds, in the plural, "[bring forth] fruits worthy of repentance."

For perhaps the Pharisees are required [to produce] the exceptional fruit of repentance, which is none other than the Son and faith in him; whereas the crowds, not even having a beginning of good things, are required [to produce] all the fruits of repentance; therefore the plural is used with reference to them.

It is said to these Pharisees, in addition: "Do not presume to say among yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'" For the crowds now have a beginning, seeming to be introduced into the divine word, [in] their approaching the truth; therefore they begin to say among themselves, "We have Abraham as our father"; but the Pharisees do not begin [now] — rather, they have long held this opinion. Nevertheless, both groups hear that the aforementioned stones, being pointed out, are able to be raised up as children to Abraham, being raised from insensibility and deadness.

Observe that to the Pharisees, in accordance with what is said in the prophet, "You ate false fruit" — [that is,] they have fruit, but false [fruit] — it is said: "Every tree, then, not producing good [fruit] is cut down"; but to the crowds, who do not bear fruit at all, [it is said]: "Every tree, then, not producing fruit is cut down." For that which has no fruit does not have good fruit either; therefore it is worthy of being cut down. But that which has fruit does not altogether have good fruit; therefore it too is reasonably felled by the axe.

If we examine more carefully the matters concerning fruits, we shall find that it is impossible for one who has only just begun to be cultivated, even if he bears fruit, to bring forth good fruit at first. Rather, the farmer is content, first, that it bring forth for him the fruits appropriate to one beginning cultivation; and afterward, by the proper course, through the purifications fitting to farming, he shall, after whatever fruits [came before], take also good fruits. And the Law bears witness to us in this understanding, saying that the one who plants must, for three years, leave what has been planted uncircumcised, its fruits not being eaten: "For three years," it says, "the fruit shall be uncircumcised for you; it shall not be eaten; but in the fourth year all the fruit shall be holy, praiseworthy to the Lord."

Reasonably, then, it is said to the crowds, without the addition of "good": "Every tree, then, not producing fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire"; whereas that which for a longer time bears fruit similar to the beginning — being a tree that does not produce good fruit — is cut down and thrown into the fire, whenever, at the onset of the [period] introduced after the triad [three years], occurring in the tetrad [fourth year], it does not produce fruit that is holy, praiseworthy to the Lord.

But if all these things have been said by us with a digression, in setting forth also [the parallels] from the other Gospels, they do not seem to me untimely, nor foreign to the present inquiry. For the Pharisees send, after the priests and Levites sent from Jerusalem, to ask John who he was, questioning: "Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?" And having questioned here, coming afterward to be baptized, as Matthew records, they hear indeed what is fitting to their arrogance and hypocrisy.

Since what was said to these [Pharisees] was similar to what was said to the crowds, it was necessary to make a comparison and clarification of the texts; and in doing so, the sequence [of exposition] required us to consider more things. But we shall fittingly add these things also to what has been said: two groups of those sending [messengers] to John are recorded — one, of the Jews from Jerusalem, sending priests and Levites; the other, of Pharisees perplexed as to why he baptizes.

And we have concluded that, after the inquiry, the Pharisees come to be baptized. Perhaps, then, before these, the Jews from Jerusalem, who sent [messengers] before the Pharisees, having accepted John's words, since they sent before the Pharisees, also come before them.

For Jerusalem, and all Judea, and consequently all the region around the Jordan, were being baptized in the Jordan river by him, confessing their sins; or, as Luke says: "All the Judean country and all the Jerusalemites went out to him, and were baptized by him in the Jordan river, confessing their sins." Yet neither does Matthew introduce the Pharisees and Sadducees — to whom "Offspring of vipers" is spoken — nor does Luke [introduce] the crowds, as making this same rebuke while confessing their sins.

It is worth raising the question: how is it that, while all the city of Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan were being baptized in the Jordan by John, the Savior says: "John the Baptist has come neither eating nor drinking, and you say, 'He has a demon'"; and, to those who asked, "By what authority do you do these things?" he says: "I also will ask you one question, which if you tell me, I also will tell you by what authority I do these things: the baptism of John, whence was it — from heaven, or from men?" — when they, reasoning among themselves, say: "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'"

The difficulty raised is resolved thus: the Pharisees, as we have previously observed, who heard "Offspring of vipers," not having believed him, come to the baptism — it being likely that, fearing the crowd, and, in accordance with hypocrisy toward those [crowds], deeming it right to be washed, so that they might not seem to oppose such people.

Holding, then, that his baptizing was from men and not from heaven, they fear, because of the crowd, lest they be stoned, and fear to say what they suppose [to be true]; so that what is said by the Savior against the Pharisees does not contradict what is recorded in the Gospels concerning the multitude of those baptized by John. But it was a mark of the Pharisees' rashness to say that John had a demon, and, [likewise,] to assert that Jesus performed his mighty works by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons. — John answered them, saying: "I baptize in water; among you stands one whom you do not know, the one coming after me, of whom I am not worthy to loose the strap of his sandal."

Heracleon thinks that John answers those sent from the Pharisees, not [addressing] what they were asking, but what he himself wished [to say], not noticing that he thereby accuses the prophet of ignorance — if indeed, being asked about one thing, he answers about another; for this too must be guarded against, as being a fault even in ordinary conversation.

But we say that the answer is, above all, right to the point. For to "Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ?" what else was fitting to say than to set forth that the baptism was rather corporeal? "For I," he says, "baptize in water." And having said this in response to "Why then do you baptize?," in response to the second [question], "If you are not the Christ," he expounds a doxology concerning the pre-eminent essence of Christ — that he possesses such power as also to be invisible in his divinity, being present to every man, and indeed co-extensive with the whole world; which is signified through "Among you stands one."

And since the Pharisees, expecting the coming of the Christ, saw nothing so great concerning him, supposing him to be only a perfect and holy man, [John] fittingly refutes the Pharisees' ignorance concerning his [Christ's] pre-eminence, adding to "Among you stands one" the words "whom you do not know."

And that no one might suppose that the one who is invisible and extends over every man — or even over the whole world — is other than the one who became man and appeared on earth and lived among men, he joins to "Among you stands one whom you do not know" the words "the one coming after me" — that is, the one who is to be manifested after me.

Discerning the surpassing pre-eminence of him [Christ] beyond his own nature — which was doubted by some, [asking] whether he himself [John] might perhaps be the Christ — wishing to show how far he falls short of the majesty of the Christ, so that no one might reckon of him more than what he sees or hears from him, he says also: "of whom I am not worthy to loose the strap of his sandal" — hinting that the account concerning his [Christ's] embodiment is not something he is sufficient to loose and clarify for those who do not understand it, as though bound and hidden — so that he might say something worthy of so great a coming, compressed into such very brief terms.

It is not out of season for us, in examining "I baptize in water," to set forth the similar wordings of the evangelists concerning this and compare them with the passage before us.

Matthew, then, says: "Seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to the baptism" — after the reproving words we have examined — "I indeed baptize you in water for repentance; but he who comes after me is stronger than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry; he will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire" — in harmony with the account according to John, [namely] the confession concerning the baptism in water, spoken to those sent from the Pharisees.

But Mark [says]: "John proclaimed, saying, 'There comes after me one stronger than I, whose sandal strap I am not fit to stoop down and loose. I baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit'" — teaching that these things were proclaimed to more people, [indeed] to all who were listening.

But Luke says that: "While the people were in expectation, and all were reasoning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might perhaps be the Christ, John answered, saying to all: 'I indeed baptize you with water; but one stronger than I comes, whose sandal strap I am not fit to loose; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.'"

Having, then, the similar wordings of the four [evangelists], come, let us see, as far as possible, each one's meaning individually, and the differences, beginning with Matthew, who is also handed down as having been the first of the rest to publish the Gospel to the Hebrews, to those who believe from [among] the circumcision. "I indeed," he says, "baptize you in water for repentance" — as it were cleansing and turning [them] away from worse things and exhorting to repentance: "For I have come to prepare for the Lord a people made ready," and to make room, through the baptism of repentance, for the one who will come after me, and, on account of this, [is] much stronger than my power and better able to benefit you; for his baptism is not corporeal, but that of one who fills the repentant with the Holy Spirit and a more divine fire, which does away with all matter and consumes all that is earthy — not only from the one who has received it, but also from the one who hears about the one who possesses it.

So much stronger than I is the one coming after me, that not even the outermost garments of the powers surrounding him — not even the unveiled ones, exposed [in a way] that even ordinary people could perceive them — am I sufficient to carry; I cannot bear even these.

But I do not know which to say — whether it is my own great weakness, unable to bear even the humble things of Christ in comparison with the greater things surrounding him, or rather his surpassing divinity, greater than the whole world — since I, who have received such grace as to have been deemed worthy even of prophecy, foretelling the things concerning his coming into the life of men, in "I [am] a voice crying in the wilderness" and "Behold, I send my messenger before your face" — I, whose birth Gabriel, who stands before God, wondrously announced as good news to my father in his old age; I, at whose name Zechariah at once received back his voice and, through it, the gift of prophecy; I, who am testified to by my Lord that indeed among those born of women there is none greater than I — [yet] I am not fit even to carry his sandals; for if [I am not fit] even for the sandals, what must be said concerning his garments? Who is this who will be able to keep his whole garment intact? Who will comprehend the seamless tunic from above, woven throughout, so as to grasp what meaning it holds?

It must be observed that, of the four who have said that John confessed to have come to baptize in water, only Matthew has added to this "for repentance," teaching that the benefit from the baptism depends upon the intention of the one being baptized — coming about for the one who repents, but, for the one not approaching in this manner, resulting in a harsher judgment.