Luke 3

Luke 3:1

Ambrose of Milan ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): The Son of God being about to gather together the Church, commences His work in His servant. And so it is well said, The word of the Lord came to John, that the Church should begin not from man, but from the Word. But Luke, in order to declare that John was a prophet, rightly used these few words, The word of the Lord came to him. He adds nothing else, for they need not their own judgment who are filled with the Word of God. By saying this one thing, he has therefore declared all. But Matthew and Mark desired to show him to be a prophet, by his raiment, his girdle, and his food.

Again, the wilderness is the Church itself, for the barren has more children than she who has an husband. The word of the Lord came, that the earth which was before barren might bring forth fruit unto us. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Ambrose of Milan: The Son of God, who is to gather the church, first works in a servant. Thus St. Luke fittingly says that the Word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness, so that the church would not begin from a man but from the Word. For she is a wilderness, because children of depravity outnumber hers, though she has a husband. Then it is said to her, “Sing, O barren one,” and, “Break forth together into singing, you waste places,” because the desert had not yet been cultivated by any work of a flock of people, nor had those trees which could bear fruit displayed the crown of their merits. The one who said, “I am like a green olive tree in the house of the Lord,” had not yet come, nor had that heavenly Vine borne fruit with its shoots of words on the trained branch of its own people. So the Word came that the desolate earth would bring forth fruit for us. The Word came, and the voice followed, for the Word first works within before the voice follows. Hence David too says, “I believed, and then I spoke.” — EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF Luke 2.67

Ancient Greek Expositor ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (Metaphrastes) For the emperor Augustus being dead, from whom the Roman sovereigns obtained the name of “Augustus,” Tiberius being his successor in the monarchy, was now in the 15th year of his receiving the reins of government. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Bede ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): Pilate was sent in the twelfth year of Tiberius to take the government of the Jewish nation, and remained there for ten successive years, almost until the death of Tiberius. But Herod, and Philip, and Lysanias, were the sons of that Herod in whose reign our Lord was born. Between these and Herod himself Archelaus their brother reigned ten years. He was accused by the Jews before Augustus, and perished in exile at Vienne. But in order to reduce the Jewish kingdom to greater weakness, August us divided it into Tetrarchies.

Both Annas and Caiaphas, when John began his preaching, were the High Priests, but Annas held the office that year, Caiaphas the same year in which our Lord suffered on the cross. Three others had held the office in the intervening time, but these two, as having particular reference to our Lord’s Passion, are mentioned by the Evangelist. For at that time of violence and intrigue, the commands of the Law being no longer in force, the honour of the High Priest’s office was never given to merit or high birth, but the whole affairs of the Priesthood were managed by the Roman power. For Josephus relates, that Valerius Gratus, when Annas was thrust out of the Priesthood, appointed Ismael High Priest, the son of Baphas; but not long after casting him off, he put in his place Eleazar the son of the High Priest Ananias. After the space of one year, he expelled him also from the office, and delivered the government of the High Priesthood to a certain Simon, son of Caiaphas, who holding it not longer than a year, had Joseph, whose name also was Caiaphas, for his successor; so that the whole time during which our Lord is related to have taught is included in the space of four years. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Bede: Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene. Herod, Philip, and Lysanias, who governed Judea with the Roman prefect Pilate, were the sons of that Herod under whom the Lord was born, among whom also their brother Archelaus reigned for ten years. He was accused by the Jews before Augustus because of his intolerable cruelty, and he perished in eternal exile at Vienna. Augustus took care to divide the kingdom of Judea into tetrarchies so that it would become less powerful. Moreover, Pilate, in the twelfth year of Tiberius Caesar, was sent to Judea and took over the administration of the nation, and he continued there for ten consecutive years until almost the very end of Tiberius’s reign. — On the Gospel of Luke

Clement of Alexandria: And our Lord was born in the twenty-eighth year, when first the census was ordered to be taken in the reign of Augustus. And to prove that this is true, it is written in the Gospel by Luke as follows: “And in the fifteenth year, in the reign of Tiberius Caesar, the word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zacharias.” And again in the same book: “And Jesus was coming to His baptism, being about thirty years old,” and so on. And that it was necessary for Him to preach only a year, this also is written: “He hath sent Me to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” This both the prophet spake, and the Gospel. Accordingly, in fifteen years of Tiberius and fifteen years of Augustus; so were completed the thirty years till the time He suffered. — The Stromata Book 1

Cyril of Alexandria: The blessed Isaiah was not ignorant of the scope of John’s preachings, but of old, even long before the time, bearing witness of it, he called Christ Lord and God: but John he styled His minister and servant, and said that he was a lamp advancing before the true light, the morning star heralding the sun, foreshowing the coming of the day that was about to shed its rays upon us: and that he was a voice, not a word, forerunning Jesus, as the voice does the word. — Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Sermon VI

Gregory of Nyssa ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (de Virg. c. 6.) Who also entered this life at once in the spirit and power of Elias, removed from the society of men, in uninterrupted contemplation of invisible things, that he might not, by becoming accustomed to the false notions forced upon us by our senses, fall into mistakes and errors in the discernment of good men. And to such a height of divine grace was he raised, that more favour was bestowed upon him than the Prophets, for from the beginning even to the end, he ever presented his heart before God pure and free from every natural passion. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Gregory the Dialogist ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (Hom. 20. in Ev.) The time at which the forerunner of the Saviour received the word of preaching, is marked by the names of the Roman sovereign and of the princes of Judæa, as it follows: Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cæsar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judæa, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, &c. For because John came to preach Him who was to redeem some from among the Jews, and many among the Gentiles, therefore the time of his preaching is marked out by making mention of the king of the Gentiles and the rulers of the Jews. But because all nations were to be gathered together in one, one man is described as ruling over the Roman state, as it is said, The reign of Tiberius Cæsar.

(ubi sup.) Because the Jews were to be scattered for their crime of treachery, the Jewish kingdom was shut up into parts under several governors. According to that saying, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. (Luke 11:17.)

Because John preached Him who was to be at the same time both King and Priest, Luke the Evangelist has marked the time of that preaching by the mention not only of Kings, but also of Priests. As it follows, Under the High Priests Annas and Caiaphas. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Gregory the Dialogist: The time when the precursor of our Redeemer received the word of preaching is indicated by mention of the prince of the Roman commonwealth and the kings of Judea, when it is said: “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, under the high priests Annas and Caiaphas, the word of the Lord came upon John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness.” For since he was coming to preach him who would redeem some from Judea and many from the Gentiles, the times of his preaching are indicated by the king of the Gentiles and the rulers of the Jews. Moreover, because the Gentiles were to be gathered in and Judea was to be scattered on account of the guilt of faithlessness, the very description of earthly rule shows that one man is described as having been in charge of the Roman commonwealth, while in the kingdom of Judea very many ruled over a fourth part each. For by the voice of our Redeemer it is said: “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste.” It is clear, therefore, that Judea had come to the end of its kingdom, since it lay subject to so many kings by whom it was divided. It is also fittingly demonstrated not only under which kings but also under which priests this took place; because John the Baptist was preaching him who would be both king and priest at the same time, Luke the Evangelist indicated the times of his preaching through both the kingdom and the priesthood. — Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 20

Origen of Alexandria: When the prophetic word was sent to the Jews alone, Jewish kings were set at the heading. For example: “The vision which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw against Judea and against Jerusalem, in the reign of Uzziah and Jotham and Ahaz and Hezekiah”; nor do I see anyone else, apart from the kings of Judea, designated in Isaiah’s time. In certain of the prophets we read also the kings of Israel, as in that place: “and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel”. But when the mystery of the Gospel was to be proclaimed and the Gospel was to be spread throughout the whole world, whose herald John was in the wilderness, and the empire of Tiberius ruled the world, then “in the fifteenth year” of him “the word of the Lord” is described as having “come to John”. And if salvation had had to be announced only to those who were about to believe from among the nations, and Israel had had to be wholly excluded, it would have sufficed to say: “In the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea”. But because from Judea also and from Galilee many were about to believe, therefore these kingdoms too are set at the heading, and it is said: “Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and Philip his brother tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, under the high priests Annas and Caiaphas, the word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the desert”. — HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF Luke 21

Origen of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): In the word of prophecy, spoken to the Jews alone, the Jewish kingdom only is mentioned, as, The vision of Esaias, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. (Is. 1:1.) But in the Gospel which was to be proclaimed to the whole world, the empire of Tiberius Cæsar is mentioned, who seemed the lord of the whole world. But if the Gentiles only were to be saved, it were sufficient to make mention only of Tiberius, but because the Jews also must believe, the Jewish kingdom therefore, or Tetrarchies, are also introduced, as it follows, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judæa, and Herod tetrarch, &c. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Tertullian: In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius (for such is Marcion’s proposition) he “came down to the Galilean city of Capernaum,” of course meaning from the heaven of the Creator, to which he had previously descended from his own. — Against Marcion Book IV

Luke 3:2

Bede: During the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the desert. Both indeed, at the beginning of John’s prophecy, that is, Annas and Caiaphas were the chief priests; but Annas held the office for that year, while Caiaphas administered it in the year when the Lord ascended the cross, and indeed with three others in between completing the pontificate, but especially with those mentioned by the evangelist who were related to the passion of the Lord. For at that time, legal precepts having ceased through force and ambition, the honor of the pontificate was conferred neither on account of life nor lineage, but by Roman authority it was conferred upon some now, and again upon others. Indeed, Josephus reports in this manner, saying: Valerius Gratus, having removed Annas from the priesthood, appointed Ismael, son of Fabo, as high priest. But soon after rejecting him as well, he substituted Eleazar, son of Ananus, to the high priesthood. After one year, he also removed him from office and bestowed the ministry of the high priesthood upon one Simon, son of Camith. He too fulfilled the office scarcely for the breadth of a year and then received Joseph, whose name was also Caiaphas, as a successor. And thus, the whole time in which our Lord is described as teaching on earth is confined within a span of four years. In this time, the four successions of high priests that Josephus mentions are described, scarcely ministering for individual years. Because John was coming to preach about Him who would redeem some from Judea and many from the Gentiles, the times of his preaching are designated by the king of the nations and the princes of the Jews. Because the Gentiles were to be gathered, and Judea, for its fault of unfaithfulness, was to be scattered, the very account of earthly authority also shows that in the Roman republic one is described as presiding, and in the kingdom of Judea, many ruled by quarters. For our Redeemer’s voice says: “Every kingdom divided against itself will be desolate” (Matthew XII). Therefore, it is clear that the kingdom of Judea had come to an end since it was subjected to division under so many kings. It is fittingly demonstrated not only by which kings, but also by which priests the events took place. So that because John the Baptist was to preach about Him who would also be king and priest at the same time, Luke the evangelist designated the times of his preaching by the kingdom and the priesthood. — On the Gospel of Luke

John Chrysostom ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (in Matt. Hom. 10.) The word of God here mentioned was a commandment, for the son of Zacharias came not of himself, but God moved him. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Josephus: But the king deprived Joseph of the high priesthood, and bestowed the succession to that dignity on the son of Ananus, who was also himself called Ananus. Now the report goes that this eldest Ananus proved a most fortunate man; for he had five sons who had all performed the office of a high priest to God, and who had himself enjoyed that dignity a long time formerly, which had never happened to any other of our high priests. But this younger Ananus, who, as we have told you already, took the high priesthood, was a bold man in his temper, and very insolent; he was also of the sect of the Sadducees, who are very rigid in judging offenders, above all the rest of the Jews, as we have already observed. — Antiquities of the Jews - Book XX, Chapter 9, Section 1

Origen of Alexandria: Of old “the word of God came to Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, who was of the priests” in the time of this or that king of Judah; now “the word of God comes to John, the son of Zechariah”, which never came to the prophets “in the desert”. But because “the children” of the desolate one “were to be more” than of “her who has a husband”, therefore “the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the desert”. And at the same time consider that it has more reason in it, if the desert is understood mystically and not according to the simple letter. For he who preaches “in the desert” acts to no purpose in crying out there where no one hears him speaking. The forerunner of Christ, therefore, and “the voice of one crying in the desert”, preaches “in the desert” of the soul that does not have peace. And not only then, but also in the present, first “the burning and shining lamp” comes and “preaches the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins”; then “the true light” follows after, when “the lamp” itself says: “he must increase, but I must decrease”. The word of God comes “in the desert”. — HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF Luke 21

Luke 3:3

Ambrose of Milan ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): The Word came, and the voice followed. For the Word first works inward, then follows the office of the voice, as it is said, And he went into all the country about Jordan. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Ambrose of Milan ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): And therefore many say that St. John is a type of the Law, because the Law could denounce sin, but could not pardon it. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Bede: And he went into all the region around Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. To all readers it is clear that John not only preached the baptism of repentance, but also gave it to certain people, yet he could not grant his baptism for the remission of sins. For indeed, the remission of sins is granted to us by the baptism of Christ alone. It should be noted, therefore, what is said, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, since he could not give a baptism that would absolve sins, he preached it. Just as he preceded the incarnate Word of the Father with the word of preaching: so the baptism of repentance, by which sins are absolved, would precede his baptism, by which sins cannot be absolved. — On the Gospel of Luke

Cyril of Alexandria: And all flesh did see the salvation of God, even of the Father: for He sent the Son to be our Saviour. And in these words by “flesh,” man generally is to be understood, that is, the whole human race. For thus all flesh shall see the salvation of God: no longer Israel only, but all flesh. For the gentleness of the Saviour and Lord of all is not limited, nor did He save one nation merely, but rather embraced within His net the whole world, and has illuminated all who were in darkness. — Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Sermon 6

Cyril of Alexandria: Moreover, the fruit of repentance is, in the highest degree, faith in Christ. Next to it is the evangelic mode of life, and in general terms the works of righteousness as opposed to sin, which the penitent must bring forth as fruits worthy of repentance. — COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 7

Gregory of Nazianzus ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (Orat. 39.) To speak now of the difference of baptisms. Moses indeed baptized, but in the water, the cloud, and the sea, but this was done figuratively. John also baptized, not indeed according to the Jewish rite, (for he baptized not only with water,) but also for the remission of sins, yet not altogether spiritually, (for he adds not, in the Spirit.) Jesus baptizes but with the Spirit, and this is perfect baptism. There is also a fourth baptism, namely by martyrdom and blood, by which also Christ Himself was baptized, and which is so far more glorious than the others, as it is not sullied by repeated acts of defilement. There is also a fifth, the most weary, according to which David every night washed his bed and his couch with tears. It follows, As it is written in the book of Esaias the Prophet, The voice of one crying in the wilderness. (Is. 40:3.) — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Gregory the Dialogist: And he came into all the region of Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. It is clear to all readers that John not only preached the baptism of repentance, but also gave it to some, yet nevertheless he was not able to give his baptism for the remission of sins. For the remission of sins is granted to us only in the baptism of Christ. Therefore it must be noted what is said: Preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, because the baptism that would loose sins, since he was not able to give it, he preached: so that just as he preceded the incarnate Word of the Father with the word of preaching, so he might precede the baptism of repentance, by which sins are loosed, with his own baptism, by which sins cannot be loosed; so that because his speech preceded the presence of the Redeemer, his baptism also by preceding might become a shadow of the truth. — Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 20

Gregory the Dialogist ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (ubi sup.) It is plain to every reader that John not only preached the baptism of repentance, but to some also he gave it, yet his own baptism he could not give for the remission of sins. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Gregory the Dialogist ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (ubi sup.) Or John is said to preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, because the baptism which was to take away sin, as he could not give, he preached; just as the Incarnate Word of the Father preceded the word of preaching, so the baptism of repentance, which was able to take away sin, was preceded by John’s baptism, which could not take away sin. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

John Chrysostom ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (ubi sup.) For as the sacrifice had not yet been offered up, nor had the holy Spirit descended, how could remission of sins be given? What is it then that St. Luke means by the words, for the remission of sins? Seeing the Jews were ignorant, and knew not the weight of their sins, and because this was the cause of their evils, in order that they might be convinced of their sins and seek a Redeemer, John came exhorting them to repentance, that being thereby made better and sorrowful for their sins, they might be ready to receive pardon. Rightly then after saying, that he came preaching the baptism of repentance, he adds, for the remission of sins. As if he should say, The reason by which he persuaded them to repent was, that thereby they would the more easily obtain subsequent pardon, believing on Christ. For if they were not led by repentance, in vain could they ask for grace, other than as a preparation for faith in Christ. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Origen of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): Jordan is the same as descending, for there descends from God a river of healing water. But what parts would John be traversing but the country lying about Jordan, that the penitent sinner might soon arrive at the flowing stream, humbling himself to receive the baptism of repentance. For it is added, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Origen of Alexandria: And “he came into all the country round about the Jordan”. For what other places ought the Baptist to have gone around, except those neighboring the Jordan, so that whoever wished to do penance might be at hand for the washing of water? Moreover, “Jordan” is interpreted “descending”. And the river “descending” and running with a great rush is God our Savior, the Lord, into whom we are baptized with true water, with saving water. Baptism is preached also “for the remission of sins”: Come, catechumens, do penance, that you may obtain baptism “for the remission” of sins. He receives baptism “for the remission of sins” who ceases to sin. For if anyone comes to the washing while sinning, no remission of sins is made for him. Therefore I beseech you, do not come to baptism without caution and careful circumspection, but first show “fruits worthy of repentance”! Spend some time in good conduct, keep yourselves clean from all filth and vices, and then remission of sins will be made for you, when you yourselves also have begun to despise your own sins. Forgive your offenses, and they will be forgiven you. — HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF Luke 21

Luke 3:4

Ambrose of Milan ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): Again, the wilderness is the Church itself, for the barren has more children than she who has an husband. The word of the Lord came, that the earth which was before barren might bring forth fruit unto us. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Ambrose of Milan ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): John the forerunner of the Word is rightly called the voice, because the voice being inferior precedes, the Word, which is more excellent, follows. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Basil of Caesarea ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (non occ.) And because a path is a way trodden down by those that have gone before, and which former men have worn away, the word bids those who depart from the zeal of their predecessors repeatedly pursue it. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Bede: As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: The voice, etc. The same John the Baptist, being asked who he was, answered, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, who is therefore called a voice by the prophet because he preceded the word; who also cries in the wilderness, because he announces the comfort of redemption to the abandoned and destitute Judea. What he cried out is made clear when it is added: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Whoever preaches true faith and good works, what else is he doing but preparing the way for the Lord to come to the hearts of the listeners? That the power of grace may penetrate these, and the light of truth may illuminate, making straight paths for God, by forming pure thoughts in the mind through the word of good preaching. — On the Gospel of Luke

Cyril of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (in Esai. 40. lib. 3.) But suppose some one should answer, saying, How shall we prepare the way of the Lord, or how shall we make His paths straight? since so many are the hindrances to those who wish to lead an honest life. To this the word of prophecy replies, There are some ways and paths by no means easy to travel, being in some places hilly and rugged, in others steep and precipitous; to remove which it says, Every valley shall be filled, every mountain and hill shall he brought low. Some roads are most unequally constructed, and while in one part rising, in another sloping downwards, are very difficult to pass. And here he adds, And the crooked ways shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth. But this was in a spiritual manner brought to pass by the power of our Saviour. For formerly to pursue an Evangelical course of life was a difficult task, for men’s minds were so immersed in worldly pleasures. But now that God being made Man, has condemned sin in the flesh, all things are made plain, and the way of going has become easy, and neither hill nor valley is an obstacle to those who wish to advance. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Cyril of Alexandria: John, being chosen for the apostleship, was also the last of the holy prophets. For this reason, as the Lord has not come yet, he says, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” What is the meaning of “Prepare the way of the Lord”? It means, Make ready for the reception of whatever Christ may wish to do. Withdraw your hearts from the shadow of the law, discard vague figures and no longer think perversely. Make the paths of our God straight. For every path that leads to good is straight and smooth and easy, but the one that is crooked leads down to wickedness those that walk in it. — COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 6

Gregory the Dialogist: “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord, as Isaiah the prophet said.” You know, dearest brothers, that the only-begotten Son is called the Word of the Father, as John testifies when he says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And from your own manner of speaking you recognize that the voice sounds first, so that the word may afterward be heard. Therefore John asserts that he is the voice, because he precedes the Word. And so, going before the coming of the Lord, he is called a voice, because through his ministry the Word of the Father is heard by men. He also cries out in the wilderness, because he announces the comfort of the Redeemer to abandoned and forsaken Judea. But what he cries out he indicates when he adds: “Make straight the way of the Lord.” The way of the Lord is made straight to the heart when the word of truth is humbly heard. The way of the Lord is made straight to the heart when one’s life is prepared according to his commandment. — Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 7

Gregory the Dialogist: As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Indeed, the same John the Baptist, when asked who he was, answered, saying: I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. He, as was said by us before, was called a voice by the prophet because he preceded the Word. But what he cried out is revealed when it is added: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Everyone who preaches right faith and good works, what else does he do but prepare a way for the coming Lord into the hearts of his hearers? So that the power of grace may penetrate, so that the light of truth may illuminate, so that he may make straight paths for God, while he forms pure thoughts in the mind through the word of good preaching. — Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 20

Gregory the Dialogist ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (7, 20. in Ev.) John cries in the desert because he brings the glad tidings of redemption to deserted and forsaken Judæa, but what he cries is explained in the words, Prepare ye the way of the Lord. For they who preach true faith and good works, what else do they than prepare the way for the Lord’s coming into the hearts of the hearers, that they might make the paths of God straight, forming pure thoughts in the mind by the word of good preaching. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

John Chrysostom ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (ubi sup.) But to cry, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, was not the office of the king, but of the forerunner. And so they called John the voice, because he was the forerunner of the Word. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

John Chrysostom: See, at least, how both the prophet and the Baptist go upon the same ideas, although not upon the same words. Thus the prophet saith that he shall come saying, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” And he himself when he was come said, “Bring forth fruits meet for repentance,” which corresponds with, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord.” Seest thou that both by the words of the prophet, and by his own preaching, this one thing is manifested alone; that he was come, making a way and preparing beforehand, not bestowing the gift, which was the remission, but ordering in good time the souls of such as should receive the God of all? — Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 10

Origen of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): Or, a way must be prepared in our heart for the Lord, for the heart of man is large and spacious if it has become clean. For imagine not that in the size of the body, but in the virtue of the understanding, consists that greatness which must receive the knowledge of the truth. Prepare then in thy heart by good conversation a way for the Lord, and by perfect works pursue the path of life, that so the word of God may have free course in thee. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Origen of Alexandria: But this very thing, which is now set down from the old instrument, we read written in the prophet Isaiah. For there it is said: “The voice of one crying in the desert: prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight”. The Lord wishes to find ways in you—he who, that he may be able to enter into your souls and make his journey, prepare for him the path of which it is said: “make his paths straight”. “The voice of one crying in the desert”. “The voice” cries: “prepare the way”; for first “the voice” reaches the ears, then after the voice—rather, together with the voice—the word penetrates the hearing. According to this sense Christ was announced by John. Let us see, therefore, what “the voice” announces concerning the word. “Prepare”, it says, “the way for the Lord”. What “way for the Lord” are we to prepare? Surely not a bodily one? Or can the word of God travel by such a road? Or is the way to be prepared for the Lord within, and straight and even paths to be laid out in our heart? This is the way by which the word of God enters, which consists in the capacity of the human heart. Great is the heart of man, and spacious and capacious, if only it be clean. Do you wish to know its greatness and breadth? See how great a magnitude of divine perceptions it can contain. It itself says: “he gave me true knowledge of the things that are: to know the constitution of the world and the operations of the elements, the beginning and the end and the middle of the ages, the changes of the seasons and the transitions of the months, the circuits of the years and the positions of the stars, the natures of living creatures and the ragings of beasts, the violences of spirits and the thoughts of men, the diversities of trees and the power of roots”. You see that the heart of man is not small, which can contain so much. And understand its greatness not in the quantity of the body, but in the strength of perception, which can contain so great a knowledge of the truth. But that I may also lead the simpler folk by everyday examples to believe that the heart of man is great, let us look at what follows. Whatever cities we have passed through, we have them in our mind, and the qualities and situations of the streets and the walls and the buildings are turning over in our heart. The road that we have entered upon we retain in the picture and description of memory; the sea that we have sailed we embrace in silent thought. It is no small thing, as I have said, the heart of man, which can contain so much. But if it is no small thing, containing so much, consequently in it the way of the Lord is prepared and a straight path is made, so that the word of God and wisdom may walk in it. Prepare the way for the Lord through good conduct, and by outstanding works wear smooth the path, so that the word of God may walk in you without any stumbling and may grant you the knowledge of his mysteries and of his coming: to whom is glory and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen. — HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF Luke 21

Prudentius: As messenger of God, who was about to come, He faithfully observed this law, constructing well, That every hill might low become and tough ways plain, Lest when the truth should glide from heaven down to earth It then would find a barrier to its swift approach. — HYMNS FOR EVERY DAY 7.51-55

Tertullian: The law, indeed, had to be overthrown, from the moment when John “cried in the wilderness, Prepare ye the ways of the Lord,” that valleys and hills and mountains may be filled up and levelled, and the crooked and the rough ways be made straight and smooth -in other words, that the difficulties of the law might be changed into the facilities of the gospel. — Against Marcion Book V

Tertullian: John holds not his peace, saying, “Enter upon repentance, for now shall salvation approach the nations” -the Lord, that is, bringing salvation according to God’s promise. — On Repentance

Luke 3:5

Basil of Caesarea ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (non occ.) But as the hills differ from mountains in respect of height, in other things are the same, so also the adverse powers agree indeed in purpose, but are distinguished from one another in the enormity of their offences. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Bede: Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low. What else is meant by the term valley in this place but the humble; what else by mountains and hills but proud men? At the coming of the Redeemer, therefore, the valleys were filled, and the mountains and hills were made low. Because according to his word, everyone who exalts himself will be humbled: and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 14). For a valley filled grows, but a mountain and a hill made low decrease. Because in the faith of the mediator of God and men, the man Jesus Christ, both the gentiles received the fullness of grace, and Judea through the error of perfidy, lost that by which it was arrogant. — On the Gospel of Luke

Bede: The crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth. The crooked are made straight when the hearts of the wicked, twisted by injustice, are guided to the rule of justice. The rough ways are made smooth when harsh and irascible minds are brought back to gentleness through the infusion of heavenly grace. For when the word of truth is not received by an irascible mind, it is as if the roughness of the path repels the steps of the one advancing. But when the irascible mind, corrected through the grace of gentleness, receives the word of reproof or exhortation, the preacher finds a smooth way there, where previously he could not step forward due to the roughness of the path, that is, where he could not engage in the steps of preaching. — On the Gospel of Luke

Gregory of Nyssa ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (ubi sup.) Or by the valleys he means a quiet habitual practice of virtue, as in the Psalms, The valleys shall be filled with corn. (Ps. 65:13.)

(ubi sup.) Or, He orders the valleys to be filled, the mountains and hills to be cast down, to show that the rule of virtue neither fails from want of good, nor transgresses from excess. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Gregory the Dialogist: Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low. What is designated by the name of valleys in this place except the humble, what by mountains and hills except proud people? At the coming of the Redeemer, therefore, valleys were filled, but mountains and hills were brought low, because according to his voice: Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted. For a valley that is filled grows, but a mountain and hill that is brought low decreases, because indeed in the faith of the Mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus, the Gentiles received the fullness of grace, while Judea through the error of unbelief lost that by which it was puffed up. For every valley shall be filled, because the hearts of the humble will be filled with the grace of virtues through the eloquence of sacred teaching, according to what is written: He sends forth springs in the valleys. And from which again it is said: And the valleys shall abound with grain. For water flows down from mountains; because the teaching of truth abandons proud minds. But springs rise in the valleys, because humble minds receive the word of preaching. Already we see, already we perceive that the valleys abound with grain, because their mouths are filled with the food of truth who, being meek and simple, seemed despicable to this world.

The people, seeing that John the Baptist himself was endowed with wonderful holiness, believed him to be that singularly lofty and solid mountain of which it is written: “In the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of the mountains.” For they thought he was Christ, as it is said through the Gospel: “And as the people were in expectation, and all were reasoning in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he might be the Christ,” whom they also sought out saying: “Are you the Christ?” But unless John had been a valley within himself, he would not have been filled with the spirit of grace. To show what he was, he said: “There comes one mightier than I after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to loose.” And again he said: “He who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.” Behold, although he was such through his wonderful working of virtues that he was believed to be Christ, he not only answered that he was not Christ, but also declared that he was not worthy to loose the strap of his sandal, that is, to scrutinize the mystery of his incarnation. Those who thought John was Christ believed the Church to be his bride. But he said: “He who has the bride is the bridegroom.” As if to say: I am not the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom. Nor did he declare that he rejoiced because of his own voice, but in the voice of the bridegroom, because he did not rejoice in his heart because he was humbly heard by the people when he spoke, but because he himself heard the voice of truth within so that he might speak outwardly. He rightly says his joy was fulfilled, because whoever rejoices in his own voice does not have full joy. And he adds: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” In this matter we must ask in what way Christ increased and in what way John decreased, unless it be that the people, seeing John’s abstinence and observing that he was withdrawn from men, thought he was Christ; but seeing Christ eating with tax collectors and walking among sinners, they believed he was not Christ but a prophet. But as time passed, Christ who was thought to be a prophet was recognized as Christ, and John who was believed to be Christ became known to be a prophet, and thus was fulfilled what his forerunner predicted about Christ: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Indeed, in the estimation of the people Christ increased because he was recognized as what he was; and John decreased because he ceased to be called what he was not. Therefore, since John persisted in holiness because he persevered in humility of heart, and many fell because they swelled up with proud thoughts within themselves, let it rightly be said: “Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low,” because the humble receive the gift which the hearts of the proud repel from themselves. — Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 20

Gregory the Dialogist: The text continues: “And the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth.” The crooked are made straight when the hearts of the wicked, twisted by injustice, are directed to the rule of justice. And the rough are changed into smooth ways when harsh and wrathful minds, through the infusion of heavenly grace, return to the gentleness of meekness. For when the word of truth is not received by a wrathful mind, the roughness of the path, as it were, repels the step of one journeying. But when a wrathful mind, through the received grace of meekness, accepts the word of correction or exhortation, there the preacher finds a smooth way where previously, because of the roughness of the path, he was unable to proceed—that is, to set the step of preaching. — Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 20

Gregory the Dialogist ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (20. in Ev.) Or, the valley when filled increases, but the mountains and hills when brought low decrease, because the Gentiles by faith in Christ receive fulness of grace, but the Jews by their sin of treachery have lost that wherein they boasted. For the humble receive a gift because the hearts of the proud they keep afar off. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Gregory the Dialogist ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (ubi sup.) But the crooked places are become straight, when the hearts of the wicked, perverted by a course of injustice, are directed to the rule of justice. But the rough ways are changed to smooth, when fierce and savage dispositions by the influence of Divine grace return to gentleness and meckness. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

John Chrysostom: But Luke expresses somewhat further: not repeating the exordium, and so passing on, but setting down likewise all the prophecy. “For every valley,” saith he, “shall be filled; and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” Dost thou perceive how the prophet hath anticipated all by his words; the concourse of the people. Thus, when he saith, “Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;” he is signifying the exaltation of the lowly, the humiliation of the self-willed, the hardness of the law changed into easiness of faith. For it is no longer toils and labors, saith he, but grace, and forgiveness of sins, affording great facility of salvation. Next he states the cause of these things, saying, “All flesh shall see the salvation of God;” no longer Jews and proselytes only, but also all earth and sea, and the whole race of men. Because by “the crooked things” he signified our whole corrupt life, publicans, harlots, robbers, magicians, as many as having been perverted before afterwards walked in the right way: much as He Himself likewise said, “publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you,” because they believed. And in other words also again the prophet declared the self-same thing, thus saying, “Then wolves and lambs shall feed together.” For like as here by the hills and valleys, he meant that incongruities of character are blended into one and the same evenness of self-restraint, so also there, by the characters of the brute animals indicating the different dispositions of men, he again spoke of their being linked in one and the same harmony of godliness. Here also, as before, stating the cause. That cause is, “There shall be He that riseth to reign over the Gentiles, in Him shall the Gentiles trust:” much the same as here too he said, “All flesh shall see the salvation of God,” everywhere declaring that the power and knowledge of these our Gospels would be poured out to the ends of the world, converting the human race, from a brutish disposition and a fierce temper to something very gentle and mild. — Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 10

John Chrysostom ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (ubi sup.) He denounces the haughty and arrogant by the name of mountains, whom Christ has brought low. But by the hills He implies the wreckless, not only because of the pride of their hearts, but because of the barrenness of despair. For the hill produces no fruit. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Origen of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): For when Jesus had come and sent His Spirit, every valley was filled with good works, and the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which if thou hast, thou wilt not only cease to become a valley, but will begin also to be a mountain of God.

Or you may understand the mountains and hills to be the hostile powers, which have been overthrown by the coming of Christ. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Origen of Alexandria: Let us see what things are foretold at the coming of Christ, among which first it is written concerning John: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths”. And what follows pertains properly to the Lord the Savior. For “every valley” was not “filled” by John, but by the Lord the Savior. Let each one consider himself, what he was before he believed, and then he will observe that he was a lowly valley, a headlong valley plunged into the depths. But when the Lord Jesus came and sent the Holy Spirit as his vicar, “every valley” was “filled”. And it was “filled” with good works and with the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Love does not permit a valley to remain in you, for, if you have peace and patience and goodness, not only will you cease to be a “valley”, but you will even begin to be a “mountain” of God. We see this happening and being fulfilled daily among the Gentiles: “every valley shall be filled”, as also concerning the people of Israel, who has been brought down from on high: “every mountain and hill shall be brought low”. That people was once a “mountain” and a “hill”, which has been brought down and destroyed. “By their transgression salvation has been given to the Gentiles, to provoke them to emulation”. But if you should also say that the hostile powers, which were raised up against mortals, are the mountains and hills that have been brought down, you will not err. For in order that valleys of this kind may be filled, the hostile powers, the mountains and hills, must be brought low. But let us also contemplate whether this too, which was prophesied at the coming of Christ, has been fulfilled. For there follows: “and all the crooked shall be made straight”. Each one of us was crooked—if indeed he was, and does not continue so to this very day—and through the coming of Christ, which has taken place unto our soul, whatever things were “crooked” have been “made straight”. For what does it profit you, if Christ once came in the flesh, unless he has also come to your soul? Let us pray that his coming may be made to us daily, and that we may be able to say: “But I live, now not I, but Christ lives in me”. For if Christ lives in Paul and does not live in me, what will it profit me? But when he has come also to me and I have had enjoyment of him, just as Paul had enjoyment of him, then I too shall speak like Paul: “I live, now not I, but Christ lives in me”. Let us therefore consider also the other things that are foretold at the coming of Christ. Nothing was rougher than you: look at your former impulses, look at your anger and your other vices—if indeed they have ceased to be what they were—and you will understand that nothing was rougher than you and, to speak more pointedly, that nothing was more uneven. Your manner of life was uneven, and your speech, and your works were uneven. Therefore my Lord Jesus came and leveled your roughnesses and turned whatever was disordered “into level ways”, so that there might be made in you a journeying without stumbling, and light and most pure, and that God the Father might walk in you, and that Christ the Lord might make his dwelling with you and say: “I and my Father will come and make our dwelling with him”. — HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF Luke 22

Luke 3:6

Augustine of Hippo: The expression of Scripture, “And all flesh shall see the salvation of God,” may without difficulty be understood as if it were said, “And every man shall see the Christ of God.” And He certainly was seen in the body, and shall be seen in the body when He judges quick and dead. And that Christ is the salvation of God, many other passages of Scripture witness, but especially the words of the venerable Simeon, who, when he had received into his hands the infant Christ, said, “Now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word: for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.” — City of God 22.29

Bede: And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Because “all flesh” is understood as every human being, but not every human being could see Christ, the salvation of God, in this life. So where does the prophet direct the prophetic eye in this sentence if not toward the day of the final judgment? When the heavens are opened, the angels minister, and the Apostles are seated, and Christ appears on His throne of majesty, all will see Him, the wicked equally with the just, so that the just may rejoice forever in the reward of their recompense, and the unjust may eternally groan in the punishment of vengeance. For this sentence intends that He will be seen by all flesh at the final judgment, and rightly it is added. — On the Gospel of Luke

Cyril of Alexandria: And all flesh did see the salvation of God, even of the Father: for He sent the Son to be our Saviour. And in these words by “flesh,” man generally is to be understood, that is, the whole human race. For thus all flesh shall see the salvation of God: no longer Israel only, but all flesh. For the gentleness of the Saviour and Lord of all is not limited, nor did He save one nation merely, but rather embraced within His net the whole world, and has illuminated all who were in darkness. And this is what was celebrated by the Psalmist’s lyre, “All the nations whom Thou hast made shall come and worship before Thee, O Lord.” While at the same time the remnant of the Israelites is saved, as the great Moses also long ago declared, saying, “Rejoice ye nations with His people.” — Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Sermon VI

Cyril of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (ubi sup.) That is, of the Father, who sent His Son as our Saviour. But the flesh is here taken for the whole man. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Gregory the Dialogist: There follows: “And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” Because by “all flesh” is meant every person, not every person was able to see the salvation of God, namely Christ, in this life. Where then does the prophet direct the eye of prophecy in this statement except to the day of the last judgment? When, with the heavens opened, angels ministering, apostles seated alongside, Christ shall appear on the throne of His majesty, all—both the elect and the reprobate alike—will see Him, so that the just may rejoice without end in the gift of recompense, and the unjust may groan perpetually in the vengeance of punishment. — Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 20

Gregory the Dialogist ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (ubi sup.) Or else, All flesh, i. e. Every man can not see the salvation of God in Christ in this life. The Prophet therefore stretches his eye beyond to the last day of judgment, when all men both the elect and the reprobate shall equally see Him. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Origen of Alexandria: There follows: “and all flesh shall see the salvation of God”. You were once “flesh”, and you who were once “flesh”—nay, to speak more wondrously, while you are still in the flesh—you see “the salvation of God”. But what it may mean, that it is said “all flesh”, in that none is excepted who does not see “the salvation of God”, I leave to be understood by those who know how to search out the mysteries and veins of the Scriptures. — HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF Luke 22

Luke 3:7

Ambrose of Milan ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): We see these men through the compassion of God, inspired with prudence to seek repentance of their crimes, dreading with wise devotion the terror of the judgment to come. Or perhaps, according to the precept, Be ye wise as serpents, (Matt. 10:16.) they are shown to have a natural prudence, who perceive what is coming, and earnestly desire help, though they still forsake not what is hurtful. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Basil of Caesarea ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (cont. Eunom. lib. 2.) Now it may be observed, that the following words natus and filius are spoken of animals, but genimen may be said of the fœtus before it is formed in the womb; the fruit of the palm trees is also called genimina, but that word is very seldom used with respect to animals, and when it is, always in a bad sense. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Bede: He said therefore to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him: “Brood of vipers,” etc. For the coming wrath is the judgment of final retribution. The sinner will not be able to escape this judgment who now does not turn to the laments of penance. And it is to be noted that the offspring of the wicked, imitating the actions of their evil parents, are called a brood of vipers. Because by envying the good and persecuting them, by repaying evil to others, by seeking to harm their neighbors, in all these things they follow the ways of their carnal predecessors, as if venomous offspring born of venomous parents. But since we have already sinned, since we are entangled in the habit of evil custom, let him tell us what we must do to be able to flee from the coming wrath. — On the Gospel of Luke

Clement of Alexandria: Denunciation is vehement speech. And He employs denunciation as medicine, by Isaiah, saying, “Ah, sinful nation, lawless sons, people full of sins, wicked seed!” And in the Gospel by John He says, “Serpents, brood of vipers.” — The Instructor Book 1

Cyril of Alexandria: WE affirm therefore that the blessed Baptist, as being full of the Holy Ghost, was not ignorant of the daring acts that Jewish wickedness would venture against Christ. For he foreknew that they would both disbelieve in Him, and wagging their envenomed tongue, would pour forth railings and accusations against Him: accusing Him at one time of being born of fornication; at another, as one who wrought His miracles by the help of Beelzebub, prince of the devils: and again, as one that had a devil, and was no whit better than a Samaritan. Having this therefore in view, he calls even those of them who repent wicked, and reproves them because, though they had the law speaking unto them the mystery of Christ, and the predictions of the prophets relating thereunto, they nevertheless had become dull of hearing, and unready for faith in Christ the Saviour of all. “For who hath warned you to flee from the coining wrath?” Was it not the inspired Scripture, which tells the happiness of those who believe in Christ, but forewarns those who believe not, and are ignorant, that they will be condemned to severe and inevitable punishment? — Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Sermon 7

Gregory the Dialogist: For because this statement aims at this—that He will be seen by all flesh at the final examination—it is rightly added: “He said therefore to the crowds that went out to be baptized by him: You offspring of vipers, who has shown you to flee from the wrath to come?” For the wrath to come is the punishment of final vengeance, which the sinner cannot then escape who does not now have recourse to the laments of penance. And it should be noted that evil offspring, imitating the actions of evil parents, are called offspring of vipers, because by envying the good and persecuting them, by returning evil to some, by seeking injuries against their neighbors—since in all these things they follow the ways of their carnal forebears—they are as if venomous children born from venomous parents. — Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 20

Gregory the Dialogist ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (in Hom. 20, in Ev.) Because the Jews hated good men, and persecuted them, following the steps of their carnal parents, they are by birth the poisonous sons, as it were, of poisonous or sorcerous parents. But because the preceding verse declares that at the last judgment Christ shall be seen by all flesh, it is rightly added, Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? The wrath to come being the awarding of final punishment. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

John Chrysostom ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (Hom. in Matt. 10.) The dweller in the wilderness, when he saw all the people of Palestine standing round him and wondering, bent not beneath the weight of such respect, but rose up against them and reproved them. (Hom. in Gen. 12.) The holy Scripture often gives the names of wild beasts to men, according to the passions which excite them, calling them sometimes dogs because of their impudence, horses on account of their lust, asses for their folly, lions and panthers for their ravening and wantonness, asps for their guile, serpents and vipers for their poison and cunning; and so in this place John calls the Jews a generation of vipers.

(Hom. in Matt. 11.) Now they say that the female viper kills the male in copulation, and the fœtus as it increases in the womb kills the mother, and so comes forth into life, bursting open the womb in revenge as it were of its father’s death; the viper progeny therefore are parricides. Such also were the Jews, who killed their spiritual fathers and teachers. But what if he found them not sinning, but beginning to be converted? He ought not surely to rebuke them, but to comfort them. We answer, that he gave not heed to those things which are outward, for he knew the secrets of their hearts, the Lord revealing them to him; for they vaunted themselves too much in their forefathers. Cutting therefore at this root, he calls them a generation of vipers, not indeed that he blamed the Patriarchs, or called them vipers. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Origen of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): No one that remains in his old state, and forsakes not his old habits and practices, can rightly come to be baptized; whoever then wishes to be baptized, let him go forth. Hence are those words significantly spoken, And he said unto the multitude that went forth to be baptized of him. To the multitudes then who are going forth to the laver of baptism, He speaks the following words, for if they had already gone forth, He would not have said, O generation of vipers. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Origen of Alexandria: But this too must be attended to, that John speaks “to the peoples going out” to baptism. If anyone wishes to be baptized, let him go out; for one remaining in his former state and not leaving his ways and his custom by no means comes rightly to baptism. And that you may understand what it is to go out to baptism, receive the testimony and hearken to the words in which God speaks to Abraham: “go out from your land” and the rest. And so, as the crowds were going out to the washing—not having gone out, but only striving to go out—John speaks the things that follow. For if they had already gone out, he would never have said to them: “brood of vipers”. Whatever things, therefore, he speaks to them, he speaks also to you, O catechumens, male and female, who are preparing to come to baptism. Consider whether perhaps it may be said also to you: “brood of vipers”; for if you too have some likeness to the vipers of sense and to the invisible serpents, to you too it will be said: “brood of vipers”. But also that which follows, unless you have driven out the wickedness and the venom of serpents from your heart, will be said to you: “who has shown you to flee from the wrath to come?” Great wrath hangs over this age; the whole world is to suffer the wrath of God. So great a vastness of heaven and breadth of earth and choirs of stars, the splendor of the sun and the nocturnal comforts of the moon, the “wrath” of God will overthrow; for all these things shall pass away because of the sins of men. And formerly, indeed, the “wrath” of God came upon one earth only, “because all flesh had abandoned its way upon the earth”; but now the “wrath” of God is to come both upon heaven and upon earth: “the heavens shall pass away, but you shall remain”—it is said to God—“and all shall grow old like a garment”. See of what kind and how great the “wrath” is, which is about to consume the whole world and will punish those who are worthy of punishment, and will find material in which to exercise itself. Each one of us, from that which he has done, has prepared material for wrath: “for according to your hardness and impenitent heart you treasure up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and of the revelation of the just judgment of God”, it is said to the Romans. — HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF Luke 22

Luke 3:8

Ambrose of Milan ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): But although God can alter and change the most diverse natures, yet in my mind a mystery is of more avail than a miracle. For what else than stones were they who bowed down to stones, like indeed to them who made them. It is prophesied therefore that faith shall be poured into the stony hearts of the Gentiles, and through faith the oracles promise that Abraham shall have sons. But that you may know who are the men compared to stones, he has also compared men to trees, adding, For now the axe is laid to the root of the tree. This change of figure was made, that by means of comparison might be understood to have now commenced a more kindly growth of manhood.

Let him then that is able bring forth fruit unto grace, him who ought, unto repentance. The Lord is at hand seeking for His fruit, who shall cherish the fruitful, but rebuke the barren. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Augustine of Hippo: In a word, therefore, let us all listen, and seriously reflect what great merit there is in having fed Christ when he was hungry—and what sort of a crime it is to have ignored Christ when he was hungry. Repentance for our sins does indeed change us for the better. But even repentance will not appear to be of much use to us if works of mercy do not accompany it. Truth bears witness to this through John, who said to those who came to him, “Bear fruits that befit repentance.” And so those who haven’t produced such fruits have no reason to suppose that by a barren repentance they will earn pardon for their sins. — SERMON 389.6

Basil of Caesarea ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (non occ.) For neither does the speed of its sire make the horse swift; but as the goodness of other animals is looked for in individuals, so also that is reckoned to be man’s legitimate praise which is decided by the test of his present worth. For it is a disgraceful thing for a man to be adorned with the honours of another, when he has no virtue of his own to commend him. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Bede: Therefore, produce fruit worthy of repentance. In these words, it is notable that he advises not only producing fruits of repentance but also those worthy of repentance. For it is one thing to produce a fruit of repentance and another to produce one worthy of repentance. Indeed, the fruit of good work ought not to be equal for one who has sinned less and one who has sinned more, or for one who has not fallen into any sins and one who has committed certain crimes. Therefore, by the phrase “produce fruits worthy of repentance,” each person’s conscience is addressed, so that one seeks greater gains of good works through repentance, to the extent that they have brought upon themselves greater losses through their faults. But the Jews, boasting in the nobility of their lineage, refused to acknowledge themselves as sinners because they were descended from Abraham’s lineage. To them, it is rightly said: — On the Gospel of Luke

Bede: And do not begin to say, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones. For what were stones, if not the hearts of the Gentiles, insensible to the knowledge of the Almighty God? Just as it is said to some Jews: ‘I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh’ (Ezekiel 36). And it is not unreasonably that the Gentiles are signified by the name of stones, as they worshipped stones. Whence it is written: ‘Let those who make them become like them, and all who trust in them’ (Psalms 113). Indeed, from these very stones children of Abraham have been raised up, for as the hard hearts of the Gentiles believed in the seed of Abraham, which is Christ, they became his children, united to his seed. Hence, it is said to these same Gentiles by the valiant preacher: ‘And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed’ (Galatians 3). So, if we through faith in Christ now exist as the seed of Abraham, the Jews, due to their unbelief, have ceased to be Abraham’s children. — On the Gospel of Luke

Cyril of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): For what profits the nobleness we inherit through the flesh, unless it be supported by kindred feelings in us? It is folly then to boast of our worthy ancestors, and fall away from their virtues. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Cyril of Alexandria: Can you see how most skillfully he humbles their foolish pride and shows that their being born of Abraham according to the flesh brings them no profit? Of what benefit is nobility of birth, if people’s deeds are not accordingly earnest and they fail to imitate the virtue of their ancestors? The Savior says to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do what Abraham did.” The relationship that God requires is one of character and manners. Thus it is useless to boast of holy and good parents, while we fall short of their virtue.But, says the Jew, if it is so, how is the seed of Abraham still to be multiplied? How can God’s promise to him hold true, according to which he will multiply his seed as the stars of heaven? By the calling of the Gentiles, O Jew! God said to Abraham himself, “Through Isaac shall your descendants be named,” adding that he has set Abraham as a father of many nations. But the phrase “through Isaac” means “according to promise.” He is set, therefore, as a father of many nations by faith, that is to say, in Christ. As can be seen, the blessed Baptist called them stones, because they as yet did not know the one who is by nature God. They were in error and in their great folly worshiped the creation instead of the Creator. But they were called and became the sons of Abraham and, by believing in Christ, acknowledged him who is by nature God. — COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 7

Gregory of Nyssa ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (non occ.) So then having foretold the casting away of the Jews, He goes on to allude to the calling of the Gentiles, whom He calls stones. Hence it follows, For I say unto you, &c. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Gregory the Dialogist: But because we have already sinned, because we are entangled by the habit of evil custom, let him say what we must do in order to be able to flee from the wrath to come. There follows: “Therefore bring forth fruits worthy of repentance.” In these words it should be noted that the friend of the bridegroom admonishes that not only fruits of repentance should be brought forth, but fruits worthy of repentance. For it is one thing to bring forth a fruit of repentance, another to bring forth a fruit worthy of repentance. For to speak according to fruits worthy of repentance, it must be known that whoever has committed no unlawful things, to him it is rightly granted to use lawful things; and so let him do works of piety, yet if he does not wish, he need not abandon the things that are of the world. But if anyone has fallen into the sin of fornication, or perhaps, what is more serious, into adultery, he ought to cut off from himself lawful things to the same degree that he remembers having perpetrated unlawful things. For the fruit of good work ought not to be equal for him who has sinned less and him who has sinned more, or for him who has fallen into no crimes and him who has fallen into some crimes, and him who has fallen into many. Therefore by what is said, “Bring forth fruits worthy of repentance,” the conscience of each person is addressed, so that one may seek greater gains of good works through repentance to the same degree that one has brought upon oneself greater losses through sin. — Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 20

Gregory the Dialogist: But the Jews, glorying in the nobility of their lineage, were unwilling to acknowledge themselves as sinners for this reason: that they had descended from the stock of Abraham. To them it is rightly said: “And do not begin to say, ‘We have Abraham as our father’; for I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.” For what were the stones but the hearts of the Gentiles, insensible to the understanding of Almighty God? As it is also said to certain ones among the Jews: “I will take away the heart of stone from your flesh.” Nor is it undeserved that the Gentiles were signified by the name of stones, because they worshipped stones. Whence it is written: “Let those who make them become like them, and all who trust in them.” From these stones, indeed, children of Abraham were raised up, because when the hard hearts of the Gentiles believed in the seed of Abraham, that is, in Christ, they became children of him to whose seed they were united. Whence also it is said to these same Gentiles through the outstanding preacher: “But if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed.” If therefore we, through faith in Christ, are now the seed of Abraham, the Jews on account of their unbelief have ceased to be children of Abraham. That indeed on that day of the dreadful judgment good parents cannot benefit wicked children, the prophet testifies who says: “If Noah, Daniel, and Job were in the midst of them, as I live, says the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter, but they themselves shall deliver their own souls by their righteousness.” And again, that good children profit wicked parents nothing, but rather the goodness of children increases the guilt of wicked parents, the Truth Himself says to the unbelieving Jews: “If I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges.” — Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 20

Gregory the Dialogist ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (ubi sup.) But because he cannot then flee from the wrath of God, who now has not recourse to the sorrows of repentance, it is added, Bring forth therefore fruits. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Gregory the Dialogist ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (ubi sup.) He warns them that they must bring forth not only the fruits of repentance, but fruits worthy of repentance. For he that has violated no law, to him it is permitted to use what is lawful, but if a man has fallen into sin, he ought so to cut himself off from what is lawful, as he remembers to have committed what is unlawful. For the fruit of good works ought not to be equal in the man who has sinned less, and the man who has sinned more, nor in him who has fallen into no crimes, and him who has fallen into some. In this way it is adapted to the conscience of each man, that they should seek for so much the greater blessing on good works through repentance, as they have by guilt brought on themselves the heavier penalties. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Gregory the Dialogist ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (ubi sup.) But the Jews glorying in their noble birth were unwilling to acknowledge themselves sinners, because they were descended from the stock of Abraham. So then it is rightly said, And begin not to say within yourselves, we have Abraham for our father. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Irenaeus: If, then, God promised him the inheritance of the land, yet he did not receive it during all the time of his sojourn there, it must be, that together with his seed, that is, those who fear God and believe in Him, he shall receive it at the resurrection of the just. For his seed is the Church, which receives the adoption to God through the Lord, as John the Baptist said: “For God is able from the stones to raise up children to Abraham.” Thus also the apostle says in the Epistle to the Galatians: “But ye, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of the promise.” And again, in the same Epistle, he plainly declares that they who have believed in Christ do receive Christ, the promise to Abraham thus saying, “The promises were spoken to Abraham, and to his seed. Now He does not say, And of seeds, as if [He spake] of many, but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” And again, confirming his former words, he says, “Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore, that they which are of faith are the children of Abraham. But the Scripture, fore-seeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, declared to Abraham beforehand, That in thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which are of faith shall be blessed with faithful Abraham.” Thus, then, they who are of faith shall be blessed with faithful Abraham, and these are the children of Abraham. — Against Heresies (Book V, Chapter 32)

John Chrysostom ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (ubi sup.) For it is not sufficient for the penitent to leave off his sins, he must also bring forth the fruits of repentance, as it is in the Psalms, depart from evil and do good, (Ps. 34:14.) just as in order to heal, it will not do to pluck out the arrow only, but we must also apply a salve to the wound. But he says not fruit, but fruits, signifying abundance.

(ubi sup.) Not meaning thereby that they had not descended in their natural course from Abraham, but that it avails them nothing to have Abraham for their father, unless they observed the relationship in respect of virtue. For Scripture is accustomed to entitle laws of relationship, such as do not exist by nature, but are derived from virtue or vice. To whichsoever of these two a man conforms himself, he is called its son or brother.

(ubi sup.) As if He said, Think not that if you perish the Patriarch will be deprived of sons, for God even from stones can produce men unto him, and prolong the line of his descendants. For so has it been from the beginning, seeing that for men to be made from stones unto Abraham is but equivalent to the coming forth of a son from the dead womb of Sarah. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Maximus the Confessor ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (lib. Ascet.) The fruit of repentance is an equanimity of soul, which we do not fully obtain, as long as we are at times affected by our passions, for not as yet have we performed the fruits worthy of repentance. Let us then repent truly, that being delivered from our passions we may obtain the pardon of their sins. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Origen of Alexandria: Then there follows: “Who has shown you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance”. And to you, who come to baptism, it is said: “bring forth fruits worthy of repentance”. Do you wish to know what are the fruits worthy of repentance? “Love is the fruit of the spirit, joy is the fruit of the spirit, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control” and the rest of this kind. If we have all these things, we have brought forth “fruits worthy of repentance”. Again it is said to those who came to John’s baptism: “and do not begin to say within yourselves: we have Abraham as father; for I say to you, that God is able from these stones to raise up sons of Abraham”. John, the last of the prophets, prophesies the casting out of the former people and the calling of the Gentiles. For to those who gloried in Abraham he says: “and do not begin to say within yourselves: we have Abraham as father”. And again he speaks concerning the Gentiles: “for I say to you, that God is able from these stones to raise up sons of Abraham”. From what stones? He was certainly not pointing to irrational and bodily stones, but to insensible men, once hard, who, because they worshiped stones or wood, had that fulfilled in them which was sung in the psalm concerning such men: “let those who make them become like them, and all who trust in them”. Truly those who make idols and trust in them are like their gods: they have been turned, without sense and without any reason, into stones and wood. For although they see so great an order of created things, their beauty, their function, so great a beauty of the world, they are unwilling to understand the creator from the created things, nor do they consider that there is some providence over so great a dispensation, some governor; but they are blind, seeing the world only with those eyes with which irrational beasts of burden and wild animals see. For they do not perceive that there is present, in these things which they see governed by reason, some reason. These things are said because John had said: “God is able from these stones to raise up sons of Abraham”. Let us therefore also beseech God that, even if we were at some time stones, we may be turned into “sons of Abraham” in place of those sons who have been cast out and who have lost the promise and the adoption by their own fault. I will yet set down one testimony concerning stones, since indeed in the canticle of Exodus it is written: “let them be turned into stones, until your people pass over, O Lord, until this your people pass over, whom you have possessed”. And so God is asked that for a little while the Gentiles be turned into stones—for the Greek word sounds this more pointedly, “ἀπολιθούντωσαν” (let them be petrified)—“until the people” of the Jews “pass over”. There is no doubt that, after those have passed over, the Gentiles will cease to be stony and, in place of a hard heart, will receive in Christ a human and rational nature: to whom is glory and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen. — HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF Luke 22

Origen of Alexandria: If it were impossible to be rid of these serpents, the serpents residing in the soul on account of its wickedness, then the Savior (or John) would not have said: “Bring forth then fruits worthy of repentance!” Having turned, you will no longer be serpents, broods of vipers. — DIALOGUE WITH HERACLIDES

Tertullian: It is enough for me that even John, when “strewing the Lord’s ways,” was the herald of repentance no less to such as were on military service and to publicans, than to the sons of Abraham. The Lord Himself presumed repentance on the part of the Sidonians and Tyrians if they had seen the evidences of His “miracles. — On Modesty

Tertullian: For, in coming to the High Priest of the Father-Christ-all impediments must first be taken away, in the space of a week, that the house which remains, the flesh and the soul, may be clean; and when the Word of God has entered it, and has found “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, -that thus the man may be fit for God. — On Modesty

Luke 3:9

Bede: The ax is already laid at the root of the tree. The tree of this world is the entire human race. The ax, however, is our Redeemer, who is held, as it were, by a handle and iron from humanity, but cuts from divinity. This ax is already laid at the root of the tree, because although He awaits patiently, it is evident what He is about to do. — On the Gospel of Luke

Bede: Therefore, every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. For every perverse person quickly finds the prepared burning of hell, who here scorns to bear the fruit of good work. It should be noted that the ax is said to be laid not next to the branches, but at the root. For when the children of the wicked are taken away, what else is it but the branches of the unfruitful tree being cut off? But when the whole progeny is taken away together with the parent, the unfruitful tree is cut off at the root, so that there no longer remains any source from where the wicked offspring could sprout again. In these words of John the Baptist, it is evident that the hearts of the listeners are disturbed, when it is immediately added: — On the Gospel of Luke

Cyril of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): By the axe then he declares the deadly wrath of God, which fell upon the Jews on account of the impieties they practised against Christ; he does not pronounce the axe to be yet fixed to the root, (ad radicem) but that it was laid, i. e. near the root. For though the branches were cut down, the tree itself was not yet entirely destroyed. For a remnant of Israel shall be saved. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Cyril of Alexandria: What he means by the axe in this passage is the sharp wrath which God the Father brought on the Jews for their wickedness towards Christ and brazen violence. The wrath was brought on them like an axe. To this you may also add the parable in the Gospels about the fig tree. As an unfruitful plant, no longer of the generous kind, it was cut down by God. John does not say, however, that the axe was laid into the root, but at the root, that is, near the root. The branches were cut off, but the plant was not dug up by its root. Thus the remnant of Israel was saved and did not perish utterly. — COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 7

Gregory the Dialogist: There follows: “For now the axe is laid to the root of the tree. For every tree not producing good fruit will be cut down and cast into the fire.” The tree of this world is the entire human race. The axe, however, is our Redeemer, who is held as if by a handle and iron through His humanity, but cuts through His divinity. This axe is now laid to the root of the tree because, although He waits through patience, it is nevertheless seen what He is about to do. “For every tree not producing good fruit will be cut down and cast into the fire,” because every perverse person more quickly finds the prepared burning of Gehenna who scorns to produce the fruit of good work here. And it should be noted that he says the axe is laid not beside the branches, but to the root. For when the children of the wicked are taken away, what else is done but the branches of an unfruitful tree are cut off? But when an entire lineage together with the parent is taken away, the unfruitful tree is cut off from the root, so that nothing may remain from which a wicked offspring might grow again. — Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 20

Gregory the Dialogist ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (ubi sup.) Or we may take it in this way; The tree represents the whole human race in this world, but the axe is our redeemer, who by the handle and iron, as it were, is held indeed in the hand of man, but strikes by the power of God. Which axe indeed is now laid at the root of the tree; for although it waits patiently, yet it is plain what it is about to do. And we must observe that the said axe is to be laid not at the branches, but at the root. For when the children of the wicked are taken away, what is this but the cutting off of the branches of an unfruitful tree. But when the whole family together with the parent is removed, the unfruitful tree is cut off from the very root. But every hardened sinner finds the fire of hell the quicker prepared for him, as he disdains to bring forth the fruits of good works. Hence it follows, Every one then. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Hippolytus of Rome: 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.” For these fruits, he says, are only rational living men, who enter in through the third gate. They say, forsooth, “Ye devour the dead, and make the living; (but) if ye eat the living, what will ye do? “They assert, however, that the living “are rational faculties and minds, and men-pearls of that unportrayable one cast before the creature below.” This, he says, is what (Jesus) asserts: “Throw not that which is holy unto the dogs, nor pearls unto the swine.” Now they allege that the work of swine and dogs is the intercourse of the woman with a man. And the Phrygians, he says, call this very one “goat-herd” (Aipolis), not because, he says, he is accustomed to feed the goats female and male, as the natural (men) use the name, but because, he says, he is “Aipolis”-that is, always ranging over,-who both revolves and carries around the entire cosmical system by his revolutionary motion. For the word “Polein” signifies to turn and change things; whence, he says, they all call the twos centre of the heaven poles (Poloi). — Hippolytus Refutation of All Heresies Book V

Hippolytus of Rome: All things, therefore, he says, when unbegotten, are in us potentially, not actually, as the grammatical or geometrical (art). If, then, one receives proper instruction and teaching, and (where consequently) what is bitter will be altered into what is sweet,-that is, the spears into pruning-hooks, and the swords into plough-shares, -there will not be chaff and wood begotten for fire, but mature fruit, fully formed, as I said, equal and similar to the unbegotten and indefinite power. 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. — Hippolytus Refutation of All Heresies Book 6

John Chrysostom ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): It is elegantly said, that beareth not fruit, and it is added, good. For God created man an animal fond of employment, and constant activity is natural to him, but idleness is unnatural. For idleness is hurtful to every member of the body, but much more to the soul. For the soul being by nature in constant motion does not admit of being slothful. But as idleness is an evil, so also is an unworthy activity. But having before spoken of repentance, he now declares that the axe lies near, not indeed actually cutting, but only striking terror. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Origen of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): If the completion of all things had been then already begun, and the end of time close at hand, I should have no question but that the prophecy was given, because at that time it was to be fulfilled. But now that many ages have elapsed since the Spirit spoke this, I think it was prophesied to the people of Israel, because their cutting off was approaching. For to those that went out to him that they should be baptized, he gave this warning among others. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Origen of Alexandria: John at that time was already speaking: “Behold, the axe is laid to the root of the trees”. And indeed, if the consummation were already pressing in and the end of the times were at hand, no question would arise for me. For I would say that what he says—“Behold, the axe is laid to the root of the trees”—and that other saying—“Every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire”—was prophesied for this reason, because it was being fulfilled at that time. But since so many ages have flowed by since then, and such innumerable years have passed from that time to the present day, we must inquire how the Holy Spirit says in the prophet: “Behold, the axe is laid to the root of the trees”. I think it is prophesied to the people of Israel, that their cutting-down is near. For “to those” who “were going out” to him, “to be baptized”, he was saying, among other things: “Bring forth fruits worthy of repentance”, and, as if to the Jews, he was saying: “Do not begin to say within yourselves: We have Abraham for our father. For I tell you that God is able to raise up sons of Abraham from these stones”. Therefore this, which he says—“Behold, the axe is laid to the root of the trees”—he speaks to the Jews.

With this sense there agrees also that saying of the Apostle, that the branches were broken off and cut down by this axe of unbelief, so that it might cut away from the tree not the root, but those things which had sprouted from the root, in order that the branches of the wild olive might be grafted into the root of the original tree. “Every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire”. For it has this end, that it be consumed by burning. — HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF Luke 23

Philoxenus of Mabbug: And He shall come of Whom it is said, “He holdeth His fan in His hand and He will purify His threshing-floors; and He will gather His wheat into the garner, but the straw He will burn up with unquenchable fire.” And the Husbandman who planted in the world the tree of our mankind will shew Himself to be the Judge, and He will hold in His hand the axe for cutting down, and every tree which beareth not good fruit He will cut down and cast into the fire. — 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 1 – Prologue

Luke 3:10

Ambrose of Milan: The Baptist gave a fitting response to each kind of people. To the tax collectors he said that they should not exact payment beyond what was appointed. To the soldiers, that they should not make false accusations or rob anyone, by which he meant that their pay was fixed, so that wanting to have more, they could not resort to plunder. These and other precepts are appropriate for all occupations, and the practice of compassion is shared. Thus it is a common precept that the basic necessities of life must be provided for all occupations, all ages and all people. Neither the tax collector nor the soldier is exempted, neither the farmer nor the townsman, neither the rich man nor the pauper—all are commanded in common to give to the one who does not have. Compassion is the fullness of the virtues and therefore the form of the perfect virtue is placed before all. Neither should they spare their own food and clothing. Yet the measure of compassion is maintained in relation to the capacity of the human condition, so that each does not take all for himself but shares what he has with the poor. — EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF Luke 2.77

Bede: And the crowds asked him, saying: What then shall we do? For they were struck with terror, seeking advice. — On the Gospel of Luke

Cyril of Alexandria: St. Luke has introduced three groups of people that ask John questions—the multitudes, the tax collectors and the soldiers. Just as a skillful physician applies to each sickness a suitable and fitting remedy, so also the Baptist gave to each group, representing a mode of life, useful and appropriate advice. He told the multitudes to practice mutual kindness as they strive for repentance. In the case of the tax collectors, he put an end to unrestrained taxation. Then, very wisely, he told the soldiers to oppress no one but be content with their wages. — COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILIES 8-9

Cyril of Alexandria: THE blessed Luke has introduced three classes of men making inquiry of John,—-the multitudes, the publicans, and, thirdly, the soldiers: and as a skilful physician applies to each malady a suitable and fitting remedy, so also the Baptist gave to each mode of life useful and becoming counsel, bidding the multitudes in their course towards repentance practise mutual kindness: for the publicans, he stops the way to unrestrained exactions: and very wisely tells the soldiers to oppress no one, but be content with their wages. — Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Sermons VIII and IX

Gregory the Dialogist: From these words of John the Baptist it is clear that the hearts of the hearers were disturbed, since it is immediately added: “And the crowds asked him, saying: ‘What then shall we do?’” For they had been struck with terror who were seeking counsel. — Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 20

Gregory the Dialogist ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (ubi sup.) In the preceding words of John, it is plain that the hearts of his hearers were troubled, and sought for advice from him. As it is added, And they asked him, saying, &c. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Origen of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): Three classes of men are introduced as enquiring of John concerning their salvation, one which the Scripture calls the multitude, another to which it gives the name of Publicans, and a third which is noticed by the appellation of soldiers.

But this place admits of a deeper meaning, for as we ought not to serve two masters, so neither to have two coats, lest one should be the clothing of the old man, the other of the new, but we ought to cast off the old man, and give to him who is naked. For one man has one coat, another has none at all, the strength therefore of the two is exactly contrary, and as it has been written that we should cast all our crimes to the bottom of the sea, so ought we to throw from us our vices and errors, and lay them upon him who has been the cause of them. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Luke 3:11

Ambrose of Milan ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): For other commands of duty have reference only to individuals, mercy has a common application. It is therefore a common commandment to all, to contribute to him that has not. Mercy is the fulness of virtues, yet in mercy itself a proportion is observed to meet the capacities of man’s condition, in that each individual is not to deprive himself of all, but what he has to share it with the poor. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Basil of Caesarea ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): But we are hereby taught, that every thing we have over and above what is necessary to our daily support, we are bound to give to him who hath nothing for God’s sake, who hath given us liberally whatever we possess. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Bede: And he answered them, saying: He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise. Because a tunic is more necessary for our use than a cloak, it pertains to the fruit worthy of repentance. That we ought not only to share our exterior and less necessary things but also those very necessary to us with our neighbors, namely either the food by which we live carnally or the tunic by which we are clothed. For it is written in the law: You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Mark XII), he is convicted of loving his neighbor less who does not share with him in his necessity even in those things that are necessary to himself. Therefore, the command is given to share two tunics with a neighbor because this could not be said of one since if one tunic is divided, no one is clothed. For in a half tunic, both he who receives and he who gives remain naked. Among these things, it must be known how much the works of mercy avail, since they are particularly commanded as worthy fruits of repentance. Hence also Truth itself says: Give alms, and behold all things are clean for you. — On the Gospel of Luke

Gregory the Dialogist: It follows: “But he answered and said to them: He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.” By the fact that a tunic is more necessary for our use than a cloak, it pertains to fruit worthy of repentance that we ought to share with our neighbors not only whatever external and less necessary things we have, but even those things that are very necessary to us—namely, either the food by which we live bodily, or the tunic by which we are clothed. For since it is written in the law: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” he is proven to love his neighbor less who does not share with him even those things necessary to himself in his neighbor’s time of need. Therefore the precept is given about dividing two tunics with one’s neighbor, because this could not be said of one tunic, since if one is divided, no one is clothed. For with half a tunic, both he who receives remains naked and he who gave remains naked. But amid these things it should be known how greatly works of mercy avail, since for fruits worthy of repentance these are commanded above all others. Hence Truth also says through itself: “Give alms, and behold, all things are clean to you.” Hence again he says: “Give, and it shall be given to you.” Hence it is written: “Water extinguishes a burning fire, and almsgiving resists sins.” Hence again it is said: “Store up almsgiving in the bosom of the poor, and it will pray for you.” Hence a good father admonishes his innocent son, saying: “If you have much, give abundantly; if you have little, take care to impart even that little willingly.” — Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 20

Gregory the Dialogist: But behold, no one persecutes us even unto death. How then can we prove whether we love our enemies? Yet there is something that ought to be done in the peace of holy Church, by which it may become clear whether we would be able to die for love in a time of persecution. Certainly the same John says: “He who has the substance of this world, and sees his brother in need, and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God remain in him?” Hence also John the Baptist says: “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none.” Therefore, he who in a time of tranquility does not give his tunic for God, when will he give his life in persecution? Therefore, let the virtue of charity, that it may be unconquered in disturbance, be nourished through mercy in tranquility, so that one may first learn to spend one’s possessions for almighty God, and afterward oneself. — Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 27

Gregory the Dialogist ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (ubi sup.) Because a coat is more necessary for our use than a cloak, it belongs to the bringing forth of fruits worthy of repentance, that we should divide with our neighbours not only our superfluities but those which are absolutely necessary to us, as our coat, or the meat with which we support our bodies; and hence it follows, And he who has meat, let him do likewise. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Gregory the Dialogist ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (ubi sup.) For because it was written in the law, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, he is proved to love his neighbour less than himself, who does not share with him in his distress, those things which are even necessary to himself. Therefore that precept is given of dividing with one’s neighbour the two coats, since if one is divided no one is clothed. But we must remark in this, of how much value are works of mercy, since of the works worthy of repentance these are enjoined before all others. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Irenaeus: And therefore has the Lord said: “Judge not, that ye be not judged: for with what judgment ye shall judge, ye shall be judged.” [The meaning is] not certainly that we should not find fault with sinners, nor that we should consent to those who act wickedly; but that we should not pronounce an unfair judgment on the dispensations of God, inasmuch as He has Himself made provision that all things shall turn out for good, in a way consistent with justice. For, because He knew that we would make a good use of our substance which we should possess by receiving it from another, He says, “He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.” And, “For I was an hungered, and ye gave Me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink; I was naked and ye clothed Me.” And, “When thou doest thine alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth.” And we are proved to be righteous by whatsoever else we do well, redeeming, as it were, our property from strange hands. But thus do I say, “from strange hands,” not as if the world were not God’s possession, but that we have gifts of this sort, and receive them from others, in the same way as these men had them from the Egyptians who knew not God; and by means of these same do we erect in ourselves the tabernacle of God: for God dwells in those who act uprightly, as the Lord says: “Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that they, when ye shall be put to flight, may receive you into eternal tabernacles.” For whatsoever we acquired from unrighteousness when we were heathen, we are proved righteous, when we have become believers, by applying it to the Lord’s advantage. — Against Heresies (Book IV, Chapter 30)

Origen of Alexandria: Then three orders are introduced of those inquiring of John concerning their salvation: one, which Scripture called “the peoples going out to the baptism”; another, which it names “tax collectors”; a third, which is reckoned under the appellation of “soldiers”. “The crowds asked him, saying: What shall we do? And he answering said to them: He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none, and he who has food, let him do likewise”—which indeed I do not know whether it is fitting to be commanded to the crowds. For it befits the apostles rather than the common people that he who has two tunics should give one to him who has none. And that you may know that this befits the apostles rather than the peoples, hear what is said by the Savior to them: “Do not take two tunics on the way”. And so the double garment with which each one is clothed, and the command that he give the other “to him who has none”, sounds forth another understanding. For the Savior wishes that, just as we ought not to “serve two masters”, so neither should we have two tunics nor be wrapped in a double garment, lest there be one garment of the old man and another of the new. On the contrary, he desires that “we strip off the old man and put on the new”. Thus far the exposition is easy. But further it is asked how, according to this interpretation, we are bidden to give a garment “to him who has none”.

Who then is that one who does not have even a single garment upon his flesh, who is naked, who is covered by no clothing at all? Nor indeed do I say this in order that liberality and mercy toward the poor and hyperbolic clemency should not be commanded, so that we should cover even the naked with a second tunic. But I say this, that this passage admits also a deeper understanding, and that we ought to give a tunic to him who has none at all.

Who then is this one who has no tunic? Surely he who utterly does not have God. We ought therefore to strip ourselves and give to him who is naked. One has God, another has him not at all—that contrary power, namely. And just as it is written that “we should cast our sins into the depth of the sea”, so we ought to throw off from ourselves our vices and sins and cast them upon him who was for us the cause of them. “And he who has food”, he says, “let him do likewise”. He who has food, let him give to him who has none, so that he may bestow upon him not only clothing, but also that which he may eat. — HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF Luke 23

Tertullian: Who fears not to lose, finds it not irksome to give. Else how will one, when he has two coats, give the one of them to the naked, unless he be a man likewise to offer to one who takes away his coat his cloak as well? How shall we fashion to us friends from mammon, if we love it so much as not to put up with its loss? We shall perish together with the lost mammon. — Of Patience

Luke 3:12

Bede: Then publicans also came to be baptized and said to him: Master, what shall we do? And he said to them: Do nothing more than what is appointed to you. The great power that the word of the blessed Baptist had and how much it stirred the minds of the hearers is proven here, as it compelled even the publicans and soldiers to seek counsel for their salvation. To whom he, no differently than to the crowds, advises the practice of mercy according to their appropriate situation. He commands the publicans not to exact more than what is prescribed. Publicans, as their name suggests, are those who collect public taxes, or who are contractors of the treasury’s revenues or public properties. Additionally, those who pursue the profits of this world through trading are also so called. He restrains all of them equally in their respective statuses from engaging in fraud so that while first refraining from the desire for what belongs to others, they may at last reach the point of sharing their own goods with neighbors. — On the Gospel of Luke

Bede ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): What great virtue there was in the discourse of the Baptist is manifested by this, that the Publicans, nay even the soldiers, he compelled to seek counsel of him concerning their salvation, as it follows, But the publicans came. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

John Chrysostom ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (Hom. in Matt. 24.) Great is the force of virtue that makes the rich seek the way of salvation from the poor, from him that hath nothing. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Origen of Alexandria: “Now the tax collectors also came to be baptized by him”. This, even according to the simple understanding, may teach the tax collectors to seek “nothing more” than what is commanded in the law; for those who exact more transgress not the commandment of John, but of the Holy Spirit, who spoke in John. But I do not know whether, according to the ἀναγωγήν (the anagogical or higher sense), the discourse signifies something else more excellent, and whether we ought to bring forth things so mystical in such an audience, especially among those who do not look into the marrow of the Scriptures, but delight only in the surface. It is indeed dangerous, yet it must be touched upon summarily and briefly. When we have departed from the world and this our life has been changed, there will be certain ones sitting at the boundaries of the world, most diligently searching, as if by the office of tax collectors, lest they find anything of their own in us. It seems to me that “the prince of this world” is like a tax collector, whence it is written of him: “The prince of this world comes, and in me he has nothing”. That also which we read in the Apostle: “Render to all their debts; to whom tribute, tribute; to whom custom, custom; to whom honor, honor; owe nothing to anyone, except that you love one another”—is to be understood in a sacred sense. Wherefore let us consider to how great dangers we are subject, lest perchance, when we do not have that which we may render for the custom, we ourselves be dragged off for the debt, as is wont to happen also among the tribute-payers of the world, when someone for a debt is himself shut up to serve the state. Very many of us are to be held by tax collectors of this sort—whom that holy man Jacob did not greatly dread, nor fear that anything from the tax collectors’ tributes should be found in him. Whence Laban spoke boldly to that tax collector: “Recognize, if anything of your goods is with me”. Concerning which Scripture gives testimony, saying: “And Laban did not recognize anything with Jacob”. Therefore our Savior, and the Holy Spirit who spoke in the prophets, teaches not only men, but also angels and invisible powers. Why do I speak of the Savior? The prophets themselves too and the apostles preach all that they proclaim not only to men, but also to angels. That you may know this to be true, he says: “Give heed, O heaven, and I will speak”, and: “In the sight of the angels I will sing praise to you”, and: “Praise the Lord, you heavens of heavens, and let the waters that are above the heavens praise the name of the Lord”, and: “Let the angels praise him”, and: “In every place of his dominion, bless the Lord, O my soul”. You will find in many places, and especially in the Psalms, that discourse is directed also to the angels, since power is given to man—to him, that is, who has the Holy Spirit—to address even the angels. Of these I will set down one example, that we may know that the angels too are instructed by human voices. It is written in the Apocalypse of John: “To the angel of the church of the Ephesians write: I have something against you”. And again: “To the angel of the church of Pergamum write: I have something against you”. Certainly it is a man who writes to the angels and commands them something. I do not doubt that angels are present also in our assembly, not only generally to the whole church, but even individually, concerning whom the Savior says: “Their angels always behold the face of my Father, who is in heaven”. A twofold church is present here, one of men, the other of angels. If we say anything according to reason and according to the will of the Scriptures, the angels rejoice and pray with us. And because the angels are present in the church—in that church, at least, which merits it and is Christ’s—therefore it is commanded to women when praying that they have “a veil upon the head because of the angels”. What angels? Surely those who assist the saints and rejoice in the church, whom indeed we do not see, because our eyes are darkened by the filth of sins, but the apostles of Jesus see them, to whom he says: “Amen, amen I say to you, you shall see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man”. But if I had this grace, that I might see as the apostles saw and behold as Paul beheld, I would now discern the multitude of angels which Elisha saw, and which Gehazi, who had stood with him, did not see. Gehazi was in fear lest he be captured by the enemies, seeing Elisha alone. But Elisha, as a prophet of the Lord, prays and says: “O Lord, open the eyes of this boy, that he may see, for there are many more with us than with them”. And immediately, at the prayers of the holy man, he beheld the angels which Gehazi previously did not see. We have said these things for this reason, to show that the tax collectors are taught by John—not only those who serve the tributes of the state, but also those who were coming to repentance and were tax collectors other than the bodily ones, just as there were also other soldiers who were going out to the baptism of repentance. For not only John and the prophets came, but the Savior himself also came to preach saving repentance to men and to angels and to the other powers, so that “in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things heavenly, earthly, and infernal, and every tongue confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father”: to whom is glory and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen. — HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF Luke 23

Tertullian: But how will a Christian man war, nay, how will he serve even in peace, without a sword, which the Lord has taken away? For albeit soldiers had come unto John, and had received the formula of their rule; albeit, likewise, a centurion had believed; still the Lord afterward, in disarming Peter, unbelted every soldier. No dress is lawful among us, if assigned to any unlawful action. — On Idolatry

Luke 3:13

Apostolic Constitutions: For I Matthew, one of those twelve which speak to you in this doctrine, am an apostle, having myself been formerly a publican, but now have obtained mercy through believing, and have repented of my former practices, and have been vouchsafed the honour to be an apostle and preacher of the word. And Zacchaeus, whom the Lord received upon his repentance and prayers to Him, was also himself in the same manner a publican at first. And, besides, even the soldiers and multitude of publicans, who came to hear the word of the Lord about repentance, heard this from the prophet John, after he had baptized them: “Do nothing more than that which is appointed you.” In like manner, life is not refused to the heathen, if they repent and cast away their unbelief. — Constitutions of the Holy Apostles Book 2

Bede ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): He commands them therefore that they exact no more than what was presented to them, as it follows, And he said unto them, Do no more than what is appointed to you. But they are called publicans who collect the public taxes, or who are the farmers of the public revenue or public property? Those also who pursue the gain of this world by traffic are denoted by the same titles, all of whom, each in his own sphere, he equally forbids to practise deceit, that so by first keeping themselves from desiring other men’s goods, they might at length come to share their own with their neighbours. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

John Chrysostom ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (Hom. in Matt. 11.) But John’s desire when he spoke to the Publicans and soldiers, was to bring them over to a higher wisdom, for which as they were not fitted, he reveals to them commoner truths, lest if he put forward the higher they should pay no attention thereto, and be deprived of the others also. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Luke 3:14

Ambrose of Milan ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): Teaching thereby that wages were affixed to military duty, lest men seeking for gain should go about as robbers. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Apostolic Constitutions: If a soldier come, let him be taught to “do no injustice, to accuse no man falsely, and to be content with his allotted wages:” if he submit to those rules, let him be received; but if he refuse them, let him be rejected. — Constitutions of the Holy Apostles Book 8

Augustine of Hippo ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (cont. Faust. lib. xxii c. 74.) For he knew that soldiers, when they use their arms, are not homicides, but the ministers of the law; not the avengers of their own injuries, but the defenders of the public safety. Otherwise he might have answered, “Put away your arms, abandon warfare, strike no one, wound no one, destroy no one.” For what is it that is blamed in war? Is it that men die, who some time or other must die, that the conquerors might rule in peace? To blame this is the part of timid not religious men. The desire of injury, the cruelty of revenge, a savage and pitiless disposition, the fierceness of rebellion, the lust of power, and such like things are the evils which are justly blamed in wars, which generally for the sake of thereby bringing punishment upon the violence of those who resist, are undertaken and carried on by good men either by command of God or some lawful authority, when they find themselves in that order of things in which their very condition justly obliges them either to command such a thing themselves, or to obey when others command it. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Augustine of Hippo: For if the Christian religion condemned wars of every kind, the command given in the gospel to soldiers asking counsel as to salvation would rather be to cast away their arms, and withdraw themselves wholly from military service; whereas the word spoken to such was, “Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely, and be content with your wages,"—the command to be content with their wages manifestly implying no prohibition to continue in the service. — LETTER 138

Bede: But soldiers also questioned him, saying: What shall we do? And he said to them: Do not accuse anyone falsely, etc. The most just teacher, of exceptional moderation, advises that they should not extort money by falsely accusing those they ought to benefit by defending. He teaches that the wages of military service are therefore established so that one does not become a plunderer while seeking sustenance. No office, no type of activity should be exempt from showing mercy, which is the fullness of virtues, and alone liberates from death and confers eternal life. The judge himself attests, who promised to say: Come, blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom. For I was hungry, and you gave me food, etc. — On the Gospel of Luke

Bede ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): It follows, But the soldiers also asked him. In the justest manner he advises them not to seek gain by falsely accusing those whom they ought to benefit by their protection. Hence it follows, And he says unto them, Strike no one, (i. e. violently,) nor accuse any falsely, (i. e. by unjustly using arms,) and be content with your wages. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Gregory of Nazianzus ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (Orat. 19.) For by wages he refers to the imperial pay, and the rewards assigned to distinguished actions. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Hippolytus of Rome: Then shall the holy angels run on their commission to gather together all the nations, whom that terrible voice of the trumpet shall awake out of sleep. And before the judgment-seat of Christ shall stand those who once were kings and rulers, chief priests and priests; and they shall give an account of their administration, and of the fold, whoever of them through their negligence have lost one sheep out of the flock. And then shall be brought forward soldiers who were riot content with their provision, but oppressed widows and orphans and beggars. Then shall be arraigned the collectors of tribute, who despoil the poor man of more than is ordered, and who make real gold like adulterate, in order to mulct the needy, in fields and in houses and in the churches. Then shall rise up the lewd with shame, who have not kept their bed undefiled, but have been ensnared by all manner of fleshly beauty, and have gone in the way of their own lusts. Then shall rise up those who have not kept the love of the Lord, mute and gloomy, because they contemned the light commandment of the Saviour, which says, Thou shalt love try neighbour as thyself. Then they, too, shall weep who have possessed the unjust balance, and unjust weights and measures, and dry measures, as they wait for the righteous Judge. — Dubious Hippolytus Fragments

Luke 3:15

Ambrose of Milan ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): Now what could be more absurd than that he who was fancied to be in another should not be believed in his own person? He whom they thought to have come by a woman, is not believed to have come by a virgin; while in fact the sign of the Divine coming was placed in the childbearing of a virgin, not of a woman. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Ancient Greek Expositor ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (Metaphrastes.) And hence John gloried not in the estimation in which all held him, nor in any way seemed to desire the deference of others, but embraced the lowest humility. Hence it follows, John answered. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Bede: But as the people were expecting, and all were pondering in their hearts about John, whether perhaps he might be the Christ, John answered them all, saying. How did he respond to those who were considering him, and secretly in their hearts were thinking that he might be Christ? Except that they not only were thinking but also, as another Evangelist declares, they sent priests and Levites to him to inquire if he was Christ. From this, it is evident that at that time the Jews were very much aware from the Scriptures that the time of the Lord’s incarnation was at hand. But a marvelous blindness, that what they believed willingly in John, they did not believe in the Savior, approved by so many signs and virtues, and testified to by John himself. — On the Gospel of Luke

Bede ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): But how could he answer them who in secret thought that he was Christ, except it was that they not only thought, but also (as another Evangelist declares) sending Priests and Levites to him asked him whether he was the Christ or not? — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Cyril of Alexandria: IT is written, that “a just father will bring up (his children) excellently.” For those who are clad in the glory of the righteousness that is by Christ, and are acquainted with His sacred commands, will train up excellently and piously those who are their sons in the faith, giving them not the material bread of earth, but that which is from above, even from heaven. Of which bread the admirable Psalmist also makes mention, where he says, “Bread establisheth man’s heart, and wine rejoiceth man’s heart.” Let us therefore now also establish our hearts: let our faith in Christ be assured, as we correctly understand the meaning of those evangelic writings now read unto us. “For when the people, it says, were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts of John, whether he were not the Christ, he answered them in the words which we have just heard read.” They had beheld with admiration the incomparable beauty of John’s mode of life: the splendour of his conduct: the unparalleled and surpassing excellence of his piety. For so great and admirable was he, that even the Jewish populace began to conjecture whether he were not himself the Christ, Whom the law had described to them in shadows, and the holy prophets had before proclaimed. Inasmuch therefore as some ventured on this conjecture, he at once cuts away their surmise, declining as a servant the honours due to the Master, and transferring the glory to Him Who transcends all, even to Christ. For he knew that He is faithful unto those that serve Him. And what he acknowledges is in very deed the truth: for between God and man the distance is immeasurable. “Ye yourselves, therefore, he says, bear me witness that I said I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before Him.” But where shall we find the holy Baptist thus speaking? In the Gospel of John, who has thus spoken concerning him; “And this is the testimony of John when the scribes and Pharisees at Jerusalem sent to ask him whether he were the Christ. And he confessed, and denied not, and said, that I am not the Christ, but am he that is sent before Him.” Great therefore and admirable in very deed is the forerunner, who was the dawning before the Saviour’s meridian splendour, the precursor of the spiritual daylight, beautiful as the morning star, and called of God the Father a torch. Having therefore thus declared himself not to be the Christ, he now brings forward proofs, which we must necessarily consider, and by which we may learn how immeasurable the distance evidently is between God and man, between the slave and the Master, between the minister and Him Who is ministered unto, between him who goes before as a servant, and Him Who shines forth with divine dignity. What, therefore, is the proof? “I indeed baptize in water: after me shall come He Who is mightier than I, Whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.” As I said, therefore, the difference is incomparable, the superiority immeasurable, if, as is the case, the blessed Baptist, being so great in virtue, declares that he is not worthy even, as it were, to touch His shoes. And his declaration is true: for if the rational powers above, principalities, and thrones, and lordships, and the holy Seraphim themselves, who stand around His godlike throne, holding the rank of ministers, unceasingly crown Him with praises as the Lord of all, what dweller upon earth is worthy even to be nigh unto God? For though He be loving unto man, and gentle, and mild, yet must we, as being of slight account, and children of earth, confess the weakness of our nature. And after this, he again brings forward a second proof, saying, “I indeed baptize you in water: but He shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost and in fire.” And this too is of great importance for the proof and demonstration that Jesus is God and Lord. For it is the sole and peculiar property of the Substance That transcends all, to be able to bestow on men the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, and make those that draw near unto It partakers of the divine nature. But this exists in Christ, not as a thing received, nor by communication from another, but as His own, and as belonging to His substance: for “He baptizes in the Holy Ghost.” The Word therefore That became man is, as it appears, God, and the fruit of the Father’s substance. But to this, it may be, those will object who divide the one Christ into two sons,—-those I mean who, as Scripture says, are “animal, and dividers, and having not the Spirit,”—-that He Who baptizes in the Holy Ghost is the Word of God, and not He Who is of the seed of David. What answer shall we make, then, to this? Yes! we too affirm, without fear of contradiction, that the Word being God as of His own fulness bestows the Holy Ghost on such as are worthy: but this He still wrought, even when He was made man, as being the One Son with the flesh united to Him in an ineffable and incomprehensible manner. For so the blessed Baptist, after first saying, “I am not worthy to stoop down “and loose the thong of His shoes,” immediately added, |40 “He shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost and in fire;” plainly while having feet for shoes. For no one whose mind was awake would say, that the Word, while still incorporeal, and not as yet made like unto us, had feet and shoes, but only when He had become a man. Inasmuch, however, as He did not then cease to be God, He wrought even so works worthy of the Godhead, by giving the Spirit unto them that believe in Him. For He, in one and the same person, was at the same time both God and also man. But yes, he objects, the Word wrought the works of Deity by means of Him Who is of the seed of David. If so then thou arguest, we will repeat to thee in answer the words of John; for he somewhere said unto the Jews, “There cometh after me a man Who was before me, because He is before me: and I knew Him not, but He That sent me to baptize in water, He said unto me, Upon Whom thou seest the Spirit descending from heaven, and abiding upon Him, This is He That baptizeth in the Holy Ghost: and I saw, and bare witness, that This is the Son of God.” Behold, therefore, while plainly calling Him a man, he says that He is prior to him, and was before him, in that He is first, evidently in His divine nature; according to what was plainly said by Himself to the Jewish populace, “Verily I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am.” Next, he says as well, that the Spirit also came down from heaven upon Him. Do they pretend that the Holy Ghost came down upon the Word of God while still abstract and incorporeal? and represent Him Who bestows the Spirit as made partaker of His own Spirit? Or rather is this their meaning, that having received the Spirit in His human nature, He in His divine nature baptizes in the Holy Ghost? For He is Himself singly, and alone, and verily the Son of God the Father, as the blessed Baptist, being taught of God, himself bare witness, saying, “And I saw, and bare witness that This is the Son of God!” Wouldst thou have also a third proof, in addition to what have already been given? “His fan,” he says, “is in His hand, and He shall purge His floor, and gather His wheat into His stores, but the chaff He shall burn with fire unquenchable.” For he compares those upon earth to ears of corn, or rather to the threshingfloor and the wheat upon it: for each one of us has grown like an ear of corn. And our Lord once, when speaking to the holy Apostles, made a similar comparison of our state: “The harvest indeed is great: but the labourers are few: pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send forth labourers into His harvest.” We therefore, who are upon the earth, are called ears of corn and wheat, and the harvest. And this harvest belongs to God over all: for He is Lord of all. But behold! says the blessed Baptist, the threshing floor belongs to Christ as its owner; for as such He purges it, removing and separating the chaff from the wheat. For the wheat is the just, whose faith is established and assured: but the chaff signifies those whose mind is weak, and their heart easy to be ensnared, and unsafe and timorous, and blown about by every wind. The wheat, then, he says, is stored up in the granary: is deemed worthy, that is, of safety at God’s hand, and mercy, and protection and love: but the chaff, as useless matter, is consumed in the fire. In every way, therefore, we may perceive that the Word of God, even when He was man, nevertheless continued to be one Son. For He performs those works that belong to Deity, possessing the majesty and glory of the Godhead inseparable from Him. If so we believe, He will crown us with His grace: by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be glory and dominion with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen. — Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Sermon X

Gregory of Nyssa: But it is well to know, that the treasures, which according to the promises are laid up for those who live honestly, are such as the words of man cannot express, as eye hath not seen, nor the ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive. And the punishments which await sinners bear no proportion to any of those things which now affect the senses. And although some of those punishments are called by our names, yet their difference is very great. For when you hear of fire, you are taught to understand something else from the expression which follows, that is not quenched, beyond what comes into the idea of other fire. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Gregory the Dialogist: The people, seeing that John the Baptist himself was endowed with wonderful holiness, believed him to be that singularly lofty and solid mountain of which it is written: “In the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of the mountains.” For they thought he was Christ, as it is said through the Gospel: “And as the people were in expectation, and all were reasoning in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he might be the Christ,” whom they also sought out saying: “Are you the Christ?” But unless John had been a valley within himself, he would not have been filled with the spirit of grace. — Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 20

Origen of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): It was meet that more deference should be paid to John than to other men, for he lived such as no other man. Wherefore indeed most rightly did they regard him with affection, only they kept not within due bounds; hence it is said, But while the people were expecting whether he were the Christ.

But love is dangerous when it is uncontrolled. For he who loves any one ought to consider the nature and causes of loving, and not to love more than the object deserves. For if he pass the due measure and bounds of love, both he who loves, and he who is loved, will be in sin. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Origen of Alexandria: Even love has its danger, if it exceed due measure. For whoever loves someone ought to consider the nature and the reasons for loving, and not to love him more than he deserves. For if love should overstep its measure and limit, both the one who loves and the one who is loved will be in sin. That this may become clearer, let us set forth an example. The people marveled at John and loved him, and it was truly a wonder deserving that more honor be paid to him than to the rest of men, since he had lived otherwise than all mortals. We are none of us content with simple food, but we take delight in a variety of dishes; a single kind of wine does not suffice us to drink, and we purchase wines of various flavors; but John always fed on “locusts”, always on “wild honey”, and was content with simple and meager food, lest his body should grow fat with richer viands and be weighed down with dainty banquets. For our bodies are of such a nature that they are burdened by superfluous food, and when the body has been burdened, the soul too is weighed down, which, being diffused throughout the whole body, lies subject to its passions. Wherefore it is rightly enjoined upon those who are able to observe it: “It is good not to eat flesh nor to drink wine, nor anything by which your brother is made to stumble”. The life of John, therefore, was wonderful and much different from the manner of life of other men. He had no purse, no servant, not even a cheap hut. He dwelt in the desert, not only up to “the day of his showing forth to Israel”, but also at that time when he preached repentance to the people, he was in the wilderness of Judea and was watered by plain water, so that in his drink also he was different from the rest. We who dwell in cities, who are in the midst of peoples, seek finer garments and foods and dwellings; but he, who dwelt in the wilderness—see with what clothing he was clad: “from camels’ hair” he had made himself a tunic, and he was girded with “a leather belt”. All things, therefore, in him were new, and because of the unlikeness of his life all who saw him marveled at him, and, marveling, most zealously honored him, above all because he baptized the penitent “unto the remission of sins”. For which reasons they indeed loved him most justly, but they did not keep due measure in their love: for they were thinking, “lest perhaps he himself were the Christ”. Guarding against such disordered and irrational love, the apostle Paul spoke of himself: “But I fear lest anyone should think of me above that which he sees or hears from me; and lest the greatness of the revelations should exalt me”, and so on. Fearing this, lest he himself also fall into it, he was unwilling to disclose about himself all that he knew, lest anyone should suppose him to be more than he perceived, and, exceeding the measure of honor, should say what had been said of John, namely that “he himself was the Christ”. This indeed some have said even of Dositheus, the heresiarch of the Samaritans, and others also of Judas the Galilean. In short, certain men rushed into such audacity of love that they invented certain new and unheard-of monstrosities concerning Paul. For some say that what is written, “to sit at the right hand of the Savior and at the left”, is said of Paul and of Marcion—that Paul sits “at the right hand”, and Marcion sits “at the left”. Others, moreover, reading, “I will send you an advocate, the Spirit of truth”, are unwilling to understand a third person distinct from the Father and the Son, and a divine and sublime nature, but rather the apostle Paul. Do not all these seem to you to have loved more than is fitting, and, while they marvel at the excellence of each one, to have lost the measure of love? This indeed we too suffer in the church; for very many, while they love us more than we deserve, boast these things and speak, praising our sermons and doctrine in a way that our conscience does not accept. Others, on the contrary, slandering our treatises, accuse us of holding views which we know we have never held. But neither these, who love more, nor those, who hate, hold to the rule of truth, and the ones lie through love, the others through hatred. Whence it is fitting to put reins upon love also, and to permit it only so much liberty of roaming as will not let it plunge over precipices. It is written in Ecclesiastes: “Be not overly just, nor think things greater than yourself, lest perhaps you be struck senseless”. Following this example, I can say something similar: do not love a man “with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole strength”; do not love an angel “with your whole heart, with your whole soul, with your whole strength”, but keep this precept, according to the word of the Savior, for God alone. For “you shall love”, he says, “the Lord your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole strength”. Let someone answer me and say: The Savior commanded, “You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole strength, and your neighbor as yourself”. I wish to love Christ also: teach me, then, how I am to love him. For if I love him “with my whole heart and with my whole soul and with my whole strength”, I act against the precept, in that I would so love another besides the one God. But if I love him less than the almighty Father, I fear lest I be found impious and profane toward the “firstborn of all creation”. Teach me and show me the reasoning, how, walking midway between the two, I ought to love Christ. Do you wish to know with what love Christ is to be loved? Listen briefly! Love the Lord your God in Christ, and do not think that you can have a different love toward the Father and toward the Son. Love God and Christ together; love the Father in the Son, the Son in the Father, “with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole strength”. But if anyone inquires and says: prove from the scriptures what you assert, let him hear the apostle Paul, who had a reasonable love, saying: “For I am certain that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor might, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior”: to whom is glory and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen. — HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF Luke 25

Luke 3:16

Ambrose of Milan ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): Or: John saw into the secrets of the heart; but let us remember by whose grace, for it is of the gift of God to reveal things to man, not of the virtue of man, which is assisted by the Divine blessing, rather than capable of perceiving by any natural power of its own. But quickly answering them, he proved that he was not the Christ, for his works were by visible operations. For as man is compounded of two natures, i. e. soul and body, the visible mystery is made holy by the visible, the invisible by the invisible; for by water the body is washed, by the Spirit the soul is cleansed of its stains. It is permitted to us also in the very water to have the sanctifying influence of the Deity breathed upon us. And therefore there was one baptism of repentance, another of grace. The latter was by both water and Spirit, the former by one only; the work of man is to bring forth repentance for his sin, it is the gift of God to pour in the grace of His mystery. Devoid therefore of all envy of Christ’s greatness, he declared not by word but by work that he was not the Christ. Hence it follows, There cometh after me one mightier than I. In those words, mightier than I, he makes no comparison, for there can be none between the Son of God and man, but because there are many mighty, no one is mightier but Christ. So far indeed was he from making comparison, that he adds, Whose shoes latchet I am not worthy to unloose. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Ambrose of Milan ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): By the words, Whose shoes I am not worthy to bear, he shows that the grace of preaching the Gospel was conferred upon the Apostles, who were shod for the Gospel. (Eph. 6:15.) He seems however to say it, because John frequently represented the Jewish people. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Augustine of Hippo ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (de Cons. Evang. lib. ii. 12.) Matthew says, Whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. If therefore it is worth while to understand any difference in these expressions, we can only suppose that John said one at one time, another at another, or both together, To bear his shoes, and to loose the latchet of his shoes, so that though one Evangelist may have related this, the others that, yet all have related the truth. But if John intended no more when he spoke of the shoes of our Lord but His excellence and his own humility, whether he said loosing the latchet of the shoes, or bearing them, they have still kept the same sense who by the mention of shoes have in their own words expressed the same signification of humility. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Basil of Caesarea ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (lib. de Spir. Sanct. c. 12.) But because he says, He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit, let no one admit that baptism to be valid in which the name of His Spirit only has been invoked, for we must ever keep undiminished that tradition which has been sealed to us in quickening grace. To add or take away ought thereof excludes from eternal life. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Bede: I indeed baptize you with water. However, one mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie. John does not baptize with the spirit, but with water, because he, being unable to absolve sins, washes the bodies of the baptized with water but does not wash the mind through forgiveness. So why does he baptize who does not remit sins through baptism? Except that by maintaining the order of his forerunning, he who was born before Christ by birth would also be a forerunner to the Lord by baptizing Him, and thus he who was made the forerunner of Christ by preaching would also become His forerunner by baptizing in imitation of the sacrament. It was a custom among the ancients that if anyone did not wish to take as his wife the one who was properly his to take, the one who came as a suitor by the right of kinship would untie his sandal. What, then, was Christ among men except the bridegroom of the holy Church? About whom the same John also says, “He who has the bride is the bridegroom” (John III). But because people thought John to be the Christ, which John himself denies, it is proper that he declares himself unworthy to untie His sandal strap. As if he said openly: I cannot lay bare the feet of the Redeemer, because I, unworthy, do not usurp the name of the bridegroom. However, this can be understood in another way: for who does not know that sandals are made from dead animals? When the Lord incarnate came, He appeared as if shod, who in His divinity assumed the mortality of our corruption. But the mystery of this incarnation the human eye is not able to penetrate. For it cannot at all be investigated how the Word is made flesh, how the supreme and life-giving Spirit is animated in the womb of the mother, how He who has no beginning both exists and is conceived. Therefore, the sandal strap is the binding of the mystery. Thus, John cannot untie the strap of His sandal, because the mystery of the incarnation he also cannot sufficiently investigate, he who recognized it through the spirit of prophecy. — On the Gospel of Luke

Bede: He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. This is both the cleansing of sanctification and the testing of tribulation. However, the same Holy Spirit can also be understood as signified by the name of fire. Because He both enkindles through love and illuminates the hearts which He fills with wisdom. Hence, to those to whom it was said, “John indeed baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts XI), the same baptism of the spirit is perceived in the vision of fire. Some explain it in this way, that in the present we are baptized in the spirit, and in the future we will be baptized in fire. Namely, just as now we are reborn in the remission of all sins from water and the spirit, so also then, from certain light sins which have adhered to us as we go from here, we are cleansed by the baptism of purgatorial fire before the final judgment. As the Apostle says: “If anyone builds on this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will be made clear by fire. If anyone’s work remains which he has built on it, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, though as through fire” (I Corinthians III). Although this can also be understood of the fire of tribulation applied to us in this life, yet if anyone takes this as referring to the fire of future purification, it should be carefully considered, because he said that he can be saved through fire, not someone who builds on the foundation of Christ with iron, bronze, or lead, that is, greater and harder sins which are already unresolvable, but with wood, hay, and straw, that is, the smallest and lightest sins, which fire easily consumes. Nevertheless, it should be known that no one will obtain any purification even from the smallest sins there, unless he has acted with good deeds in this life so that he may deserve to obtain it there. — On the Gospel of Luke

Bede ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): The Holy Spirit also may be understood by the word fire, for He kindles with love and enlightens with wisdom the hearts which He fills. Hence also the Apostles received the baptism of the Spirit in the appearance of fire. There are some who explain it, that now we are baptized with the Spirit, hereafter we shall be with fire, that as in truth we are now born again to the remission of our sins by water and the Spirit, so then we shall be cleansed from certain lighter sins by the baptism of purifying fire. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Clement of Alexandria: As a witness for simplicity in shoes let John suffice, who avowed that “he was not worthy to unloose the latchet of the Lord’s shoes.” For he who exhibited to the Hebrews the type of the true philosophy wore no elaborate shoes. — The Instructor Book 2

Clement of Alexandria: This, then, is the type of “the law and the prophets which were until John;” while he, though speaking more perspicuously as no longer prophesying, but pointing out as now present, Him, who was proclaimed symbolically from the beginning, nevertheless said, “I am not worthy to loose the latchet of the Lord’s shoe.” For he confesses that he is not worthy to baptize so great a Power; for it behooves those, who purify others, to free the soul from the body and its sins, as the foot from the thong. — The Stromata Book 5

Cyril of Alexandria: After this, John brings forward a second argument, saying, “I indeed baptize you in water. He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire.” This too is of great importance for the proof and demonstration that Jesus is God and Lord. For it is the sole and peculiar property of the Substance that transcends all, to be able to bestow on people the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit and make those that draw near unto it partakers of the divine nature. But this exists in Christ, not as a thing received, nor by communication from another, but as his own and as belonging to his substance. He baptizes in the Holy Spirit. — COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 10

Cyril of Jerusalem: John, filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb, was sanctified for the purpose of baptizing the Lord. John himself did not impart the Spirit but preached the glad tidings of him who does. He says, “I indeed baptize you with water, for repentance. But he who is coming after me, he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Why fire? Because the descent of the Holy Spirit was in fiery tongues. Concerning this the Lord says with joy, “I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish that it would be kindled!” — Catechetical Lecture 17:8

Gregory the Dialogist: “I baptize in water; but there has stood in your midst one whom you do not know. He who comes after me was made before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.” John baptizes not with the Spirit, but with water, because, not being able to forgive sins, he washes the bodies of the baptized through water, but nevertheless does not wash the mind through pardon. Why then does he baptize who does not remit sins through baptism, unless, preserving the order of his role as precursor, he who had preceded by being born the one who was to be born, might also precede by baptizing the Lord who was to baptize; and he who by preaching became the precursor of Christ, might also become his precursor in baptizing through imitation of the sacrament? — Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 7

Gregory the Dialogist: To show what he was, he said: “There comes one mightier than I after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to loose.” Behold, although he was such through his wonderful working of virtues that he was believed to be Christ, he not only answered that he was not Christ, but also declared that he was not worthy to loose the strap of his sandal, that is, to scrutinize the mystery of his incarnation. — Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 20

Gregory the Dialogist ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (Hom. 7. in Evan.) But John denounces himself as unworthy to loose the latchet of Christ’s shoes: as if he openly said, I am not able to disclose the footsteps of my Redeemer, who do not presume unworthily to take unto myself the name of bridegroom, for it was an ancient custom thata when a man refused to take to wife her whom he ought, whoever should come to her betrothed by right of kin, was to loose his shoe. Or because shoes are made from the skins of dead animals, our Lord being made flesh appeared as it were with shoes, as taking upon Himself the carcase of our corruption. The latchet of the shoe is the connection of the mystery. John therefore can not loose the latchet of the shoe, because neither is he able to fathom the mystery of the Incarnation, though he acknowledged it by the Spirit of prophecy. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

John Chrysostom ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (ubi sup.) And having said that his own baptism was only with water, he next shows the excellence of that baptism which was brought by Christ, adding, He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and fire, signifying by the very metaphor which he uses the abundance of grace. For he says not, “He shall give you the Holy Spirit,” but He shall baptize you. And again, by the addition of fire, he shows the power of grace. And as Christ calls the grace of the Spirit, water, (John 4:14; 7:38.) meaning by water the purity resulting from it, and the abundant consolation which is brought to minds which are capable of receiving Him; so also John, by the word fire, expresses the fervour and uprightness of grace, as well as the consuming of sins. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

John Chrysostom: What happened in the case of our Master’s body also happens in the case of your own. Although John appeared to be holding his body by the head, it was the divine Word that led his body down into the streams of Jordan and baptized him. The Master’s body was baptized by the Word, by the voice of his Father from heaven which said, “This is my beloved Son,” and by the manifestation of the Holy Spirit which descended upon him. This also happens in the case of your body. The baptism is given in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Therefore John the Baptist told us, for our instruction, that man does not baptize us but God: “There comes after me one who is mightier than I, and I am not worthy to loose the strap of his sandal. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.“For this reason, when the priest is baptizing he does not say, “I baptize so-and-so,” but “So-and-so is baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” In this way he shows that it is not he who baptizes but those whose names have been invoked, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. — BAPTISMAL INSTRUCTIONS 11.13

Origen of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): And as John was waiting by the river Jordan for those who came to his baptism, and some he drove away, saying, Generation of vipers, but those who confessed their sins he received, so shall the Lord Jesus stand in the fiery stream with the flaming sword, that whoever after the close of this life desires to pass over to Paradise and needs purification, He may baptize him with this laver, and pass him over to paradise, but whoso has not the seal of the former baptisms, him He shall not baptize with the laver of fire. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Origen of Alexandria: The people received John, who was lesser than Christ, supposing and pondering “whether perhaps he himself were the Christ”; but him who came as “greater” than John they did not receive. Do you wish to know the reason? Learn it: John’s baptism was visible, Christ’s baptism was invisible. “For I”, he says, “baptize you with water; but he who comes after me is greater than I, and he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire”. When does Jesus baptize “with the Holy Spirit”, and again, when does he baptize “with fire”? Does he baptize both “with the Spirit and with fire” at one and the same time, or at a distinct and different time? “But you”, he says, “shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence”. The apostles were baptized “with the Holy Spirit” after his ascension into the heavens; but that they were baptized “with fire”, Scripture does not record. But just as John, beside the river Jordan, awaited those coming to the baptism, and drove others away, saying: “brood of vipers” and the rest, while those who confessed their vices and sins he received, so the Lord Jesus Christ will stand in the river of fire beside the “flaming sword”, so that whoever, after the departure from this life, desires to pass over to paradise and has need of cleansing, he may baptize with that stream and send across to the things longed for; but him who does not have the sign of the earlier baptisms he will not baptize with the fiery washing. For it is fitting that one first be baptized “with water and the Spirit”, so that, when he comes to the fiery river, he may show that he has kept both the washings of water and of the Spirit, and then may deserve to receive also the baptism of fire in Christ Jesus: to whom is glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. — HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF Luke 24

Luke 3:17

Ambrose of Milan: Through the sign of the fan, the Lord is said to have the right to distinguish merits. When the grain is winnowed on the threshing floor, the full grain is separated from the empty, the fruitful is separated from the worthless, as if by a weighing of a blowing breeze. So through this comparison, the Lord is manifest, because on the day of judgment, he separates the merits and fruits of solid virtue from the unfruitful shallowness of worthless ostentation and inadequate deeds, before he establishes the people of perfect merit in a heavenly home. For he who has deserved to be like him is the perfect fruit. The Lord is like the grain of wheat that has died. So he confers very many fruits on us, hated by chaff and no friend to worthless merits. And therefore, a fire that is not harmful by its nature will burn before him. For he who burns up the evils of wickedness adds to the radiance of goodness. — EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF Luke 2.82

Ambrose of Milan ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): By the sign of a fan then the Lord is declared to possess the power of discerning merits, since when the corn is winnowed in the threshing floor, the full cars are separated from the empty by the trial of the wind blowing them. Hence it follows, And he shall gather the wheat into his barn. By this comparison, the Lord shows that on the day of judgment He will discern the solid merits and fruits of virtue from the unfruitful lightness of empty boasting and vain deeds, about to place the men of more perfect righteousness in His heavenly mansion. For that is indeed the more perfect fruit which was thought worthy to be like to Him who fell as a grain of wheat, that He might bring forth fruit in abundance. (John 12:24.) — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Ancient Greek Expositor ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (ubi sup.) By these words then, He shall baptize with the Holy Spirit, He signifies the abundance of His grace, the plenteousness of His mercy; but lest any should suppose that while to bestow abundantly is both in the power and will of the Creator, He will have no occasion to punish the disobedient, he adds, whose fan is in his hand, showing that He is not only the rewarder of the righteous, but the avenger of them that speak lies. But the fan expresses the promptitude of His judgment. For not with the process of passing sentence on trial, but in an instant and without any interval he separates those that are to be condemned from the company of those that are to be saved. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Basil of Caesarea ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (non occ.) But they are mixed up with those who are worthy of the kingdom of heaven, as the chaff with the wheat. This is not however from consideration of their love of God and their neighbour, nor from their spiritual gifts or temporal blessings. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Bede: His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor. By winnowing fork, that is, openly, the discernment of just judgment is meant; by the threshing floor, the present Church is prefigured. In which undoubtedly, which is sorrowful enough, many are called, but few are chosen (Matthew XX). Few grains are to be received into the heavenly mansions, in comparison to the weeds, which are to be consigned to perpetual flames. The purification of this threshing floor is also carried out now individually, when any perverse person is either cast out from the Church by priestly censure for manifest sins, or condemned after death by divine strictness for hidden sins, and it will be universally completed in the end, when the Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all scandals. Therefore the Lord has the winnowing fork in hand, that is, the discernment of judgment in his power, because the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son. — On the Gospel of Luke

Bede: And he will gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. And the Lord himself ended the parable of the good seed, upon which the enemy man sowed tares, by saying: And in the time of the harvest, I will say to the reapers: Gather first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn; but gather the wheat into my barn (Matthew XIII). Clearly teaching that the impious and sinners will be delivered to the fire of Gehenna, while the holy will be crowned with heavenly glory. Indeed, this differs between the chaff and the tares: for the chaff comes forth from no other seed than the wheat, although it degenerates from the nobility of a good root. However, the tares differ not only by their fruit but are also generated from entirely different origins. The chaff are those who are imbued with the mystic rituals of the same faith as the elect, but they differ from their solid perfection, either by the lightness of their works or by the emptiness of their faithlessness. The tares, however, are those who are not even worthy to hear the words of faith, and thus, they are separated from the lot of the good, both in deeds and profession. And so, in this world’s field, one is of the elect, and two are the fruits of the reprobate, since all that the enemy sows is subject to flames, and what is graver, many of those things which the good sower casts are either snatched by birds, dried out by the sun, choked by thorns, or certainly turned into chaff and perish. Only the wheat, created of good soil and proven worthy by patience, will be stored in the heavenly barn of the elect. Similarly, according to another parable, not only the fishes that decline the nets of Apostolic faith reside in the deep darkness of sinners, but many, dragged to the shore of extreme discretion among the good, then deserve to be sent to outer darkness because of their wickedness. He calls the fire of Gehenna unquenchable in two ways: that it can never be extinguished, nor will it ever cease to torment those whom it punishes, but will inflict (so to speak) an immortal death. This is in distinction to that most sacred fire, which he had earlier mentioned the elect of Christ would be baptized with. Concerning this, the Psalmist also says: You have tested us by fire, as silver is tested by fire (Psalm LXV). And a little later: We did not stay in that state forever, but we passed through fire and water, and you brought us into refreshment. I will enter into your house with burnt offerings (Ibid.), that is, the distresses of pressures conquered, I will penetrate the courts of your heavenly kingdom with thanksgiving. — On the Gospel of Luke

Bede ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): For by the floor is represented the present Church, in which many are called but few are chosen. The purging of which floor is even now carried on individually, when every perverse offender is either cast out of the Church for his open sins, (by the hands of the Priesthood,) or for his secret sins is after death condemned by Divine judgment. And at the end of the world it will be accomplished universally, when the Son of Man shall send His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom every thing that has offended. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Clement of Alexandria: Sick, we truly stand in need of the Saviour; having wandered, of one to guide us; blind, of one to lead us to the light; thirsty, “of the fountain of life, of which whosoever partakes, shall no longer thirst;” dead, we need life; sheep, we need a shepherd; we who are children need a tutor, while universal humanity stands in need of Jesus; so that we may not continue intractable and sinners to the end, and thus fall into condemnation, but may be separated from the chaff, and stored up in the paternal garner. “For the fan is in the Lord’s hand, by which the chaff due to the fire is separated from the wheat.” You may learn, if you will, the crowning wisdom of the all-holy Shepherd and Instructor, of the omnipotent and paternal Word, when He figuratively represents Himself as the Shepherd of the sheep. And He is the Tutor of the children. — The Instructor Book 1

Gregory of Nyssa ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (non occ.) But it is well to know, that the treasures, which according to the promises are laid up for those who live honestly, are such as the words of man cannot express, as eye hath not seen, nor the ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive. And the punishments which await sinners bear no proportion to any of those things which now affect the senses. And although some of those punishments are called by our names, yet their difference is very great. For when you hear of fire, you are taught to understand something else from the expression which follows, that is not quenched, beyond what comes into the idea of other fire. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Gregory the Dialogist ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (Mor. 15. sup. Job 20.) The fire of hell is here wonderfully expressed, for our earthly fire is kept up by heaping wood upon it, and cannot live unless supplied with fuel, but on the contrary the fire of hell, though a bodily fire, and burning bodily the wicked who are put into it, is not kept up by wood, but once made remains unquenchable. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Irenaeus ((Reporting Valentinian Views)): They show, further, that that Horos of theirs, whom they call by a variety of names, has two faculties,-the one of supporting, and the other of separating; and in so far as he supports and sustains, he is Stauros, while in so far as he divides and separates, he is Horos. They then represent the Saviour as having indicated this twofold faculty: first, the sustaining power, when He said, “Whosoever doth not bear his cross (Stauros), and follow after me, cannot be my disciple;” and again, “Taking up the cross follow me;” but the separating power when He said, “I came not to send peace, but a word.” They also maintain that John indicated the same thing when he said, “The fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge the floor, and will gather the wheat into His garner; but the chaff He will burn with fire unquenchable.” By this declaration He set forth the faculty of Horos. For that fan they explain to be the cross (Stauros), which consumes, no doubt, all material objects, as fire does chaff, but it purifies all them that are saved, as a fan does wheat. — Against Heresies (Book I, Chapter 3)

Irenaeus: …all the prophets announced His two advents: the one, indeed, in which He became a man subject to stripes, and knowing what it is to bear infirmity, and sat upon the foal of an ass, and was a stone rejected by the builders, and was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and by the stretching forth of His hands destroyed Amalek; while He gathered from the ends of the earth into His Father’s fold the children who were scattered abroad, and remembered His own dead ones who had formerly fallen asleep, and came down to them that He might deliver them: 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. — Against Heresies (Book IV, Chapter 33)

Origen of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): Or, because without the wind the wheat and chaff cannot be separated, therefore He has the fan in His hand, which shows some to be chaff, some wheat; for when you were as the light chaff; (i. e. unbelieving,) temptation showed you to be what you knew not; but when you shall bravely endure temptation, the temptation will not make you faithful and enduring, but it will bring to light the virtue which was hid in you. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Origen of Alexandria: “God is a spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth”. Our God too “is a consuming fire”. God, therefore, is called by two names: both “spirit” and “fire”: spirit for the righteous, fire for sinners. But the angels also are called spirits and fire: “he who makes”, it says, “his angels spirits and his ministers a burning fire”; to the holy ones they are spirits, but to those who deserve punishments they supply fire and burning. According to which sense our Lord and Savior too, since he is “spirit”, “came to send fire upon the earth”; “spirit” according to that which is written: “but when you have turned to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away”, and: “the Lord is a spirit”. But “he came to send fire” not upon heaven, but “upon the earth”, as he himself shows when he says: “I came to send fire upon the earth, and what do I wish but that it already blaze?” For if “you have turned to the Lord”, who is “spirit”, Christ will be “spirit” to you and “he did not come to send fire upon the earth”. But if you are not turned to him, but have earth and its fruits, “he came to send fire upon” your “earth”. Something like this is also written concerning God: “a fire is kindled in my fury”, not as far as heaven, but “as far as hell beneath”, and “it shall devour” not heaven, but “the earth and its produce”. To what end have I recalled these things? Because the baptism too, with which Jesus baptizes, is “in the Holy Spirit” and “in fire”. I remember the things I spoke recently, nor has the earlier explanation escaped me, but I wish to bring in something new as well. If you are holy, you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit; if a sinner, you will be plunged into fire; and one and the same baptism will be turned, for the unworthy and for sinners, into condemnation and fire, but to those who are holy and turn to the Lord with their whole faith, the grace and salvation of the Holy Spirit is to be granted. He, therefore, who is said to baptize “in the Holy Spirit and in fire”, has “a winnowing fork in his hand and he will cleanse his threshing floor; and he will gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire”. I wish to find the reason why our Lord has a “winnowing fork”, and by what wind blowing the light chaff is snatched hither and thither, while the heavy wheat is carried down into one place; for neither can the wheat and the chaff be separated without wind. I consider that temptations are to be understood in place of the wind, which out of the mingled heap of believers show some to be chaff, others to be wheat. For when your soul has been overcome by some temptation, the temptation does not turn you into chaff, but, since you were chaff — namely light and unbelieving — the temptation reveals you to be what you were hiding. On the contrary, however, when you bravely endure trials, the temptation does not make you faithful and patient, but it brings out into the open the virtue of patience and fortitude which was in you, but was hidden. “For do you think”, says the Lord, “that I spoke to you otherwise than that you might appear righteous?” And elsewhere: “I afflicted you and beset you with want, that the things which were in your heart might be made manifest”. In this manner too the storm does not make a building stand firm upon the sand, but, if you wish to build, upon “the rock”; and when the storm has arisen, that which is founded “upon the rock” it will not overthrow, but that which sways “upon the sand” it proves at once to have been not well founded. Wherefore, before the storm arises, before the blasts of the winds rise up, before the rivers swell, while all things are still silent, let us turn all our zeal to the foundations of our buildings, let us build our house with the varied and firm stones of the precepts of God, so that, when persecution rages and a dreadful whirlwind rises up against Christians, we may show that we have a building “upon the rock”, Christ Jesus. But if anyone — far be it from us — should deny him, let that one know that he did not deny Christ at that time when he seemed to have denied, but that he had the seeds and the roots of denying already long before, and that then was recognized what he had, and it was brought out into the open. Let us therefore pray to the Lord that we may be a firm building, which no storm may overturn, “founded upon the rock”, our Lord Jesus Christ: to whom is glory and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen. — HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF Luke 26

Philoxenus of Mabbug: And since the building itself is fixed in the ground every man can build and raise upon it whatsoever he pleaseth, until the day which shall decide is revealed, and He shall come of Whom it is said, “He holdeth His fan in His hand and He will purify His threshing-floors; and He will gather His wheat into the garner, but the straw He will burn up with unquenchable fire.” And the Husbandman who planted in the world the tree of our mankind will shew Himself to be the Judge, and He will hold in His hand the axe for cutting down, and every tree which beareth not good fruit He will cut down and cast into the fire. — 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 1 – Prologue

Luke 3:18

Origen of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): John having announced the coming of Christ, was preaching the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and the other things which the Gospel history has handed down to us. But besides these he is declared to have announced others in the following words, And many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people.

And as in the Gospel according to St. John it is related of Christ that He spoke many other things, so also in this place we must understand Luke to say the same of John the Baptist, since certain things are announced by John too great to be entrusted to writing. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Origen of Alexandria: He who teaches the word of the Gospel proclaims not one thing but very many. For this is what Scripture signifies when it says: “now with many other exhortations also he was proclaiming good news”. And so John was preaching to the people “other” things as well, which are not written down; but the things that are written—consider how many they were. He proclaimed Christ, he pointed him out, he preached the baptism of the Holy Spirit; he taught the tax collectors salvation, the soldiers discipline, that the threshing floor is to be cleansed, that the trees are to be cut down, and the rest that the narrative of the Gospel relates. Therefore, apart from these things that are written, he is shown to have proclaimed still other things that are not written, in that it is said: “now with many other exhortations also he was proclaiming good news to the people”. And just as in the Gospel according to John it is reported concerning Christ that he spoke many other things also, “which are not written in this book”, “which, if they were written, I do not think that the world itself could contain the books that would have to be written”: so also in the present passage understand that Luke perhaps, since certain things greater than ought to be committed to letters were being proclaimed by John, was unwilling to state them by name, but only indicated that they had been spoken, and therefore said: “now with many other exhortations also he was proclaiming good news to the people”. — HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF Luke 27

Luke 3:19

Bede: However, Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him concerning Herodias, the wife of his brother, and concerning all the evil deeds which Herod had done, added this above all, and shut John up in prison. These matters are more fully recounted by Matthew and Mark, who narrate that John, by the schemes of Herodias, was not only bound but also beheaded. This is to be understood as not having occurred at that time but, according to John’s Gospel, after some signs had been performed by the Lord and his baptism having already become widely known, yet mentioned here by this Evangelist to emphasize Herod’s wickedness. For while the unlearned populace thronged to John’s preaching, the soldiers believed, the publicans repented, and the whole populace received baptism in general, on the contrary, he not only despised him but did not hesitate to kill him. Through the deeper understanding of the mystery, because John the Evangelist undertook to write about the divinity of Christ, while the other three about his ministry in humanity, John the Baptist, indeed holding the type of the old law (which is the precursor of grace), beautifully attesting that while John the Evangelist was still preaching and baptizing as the precursor of the Lord, the Lord himself made and baptized more disciples. Mystically teaching him to have been the eternal God throughout the ages and the teacher of the faithful peoples through the law before he was born in the flesh. Beautifully also do the other Evangelists begin the Lord’s preaching after John was handed over to prison, whose role it was, after the law corrupted by the Jews and defiled as if by the darkness of prison’s ignorance and the savage tradition, to reveal the heavenly doctrine of the Lord appearing in the flesh and acting through the flesh, as if coming into Galilee. — On the Gospel of Luke

Bede ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): But John was not imprisoned in those days. According to St. John’s Gospel it was not till after some miracles had been performed by our Lord, and after His baptism had been noised abroad; but according to Luke he had been seized beforehand by the redoubled malice of Herod, who, when he saw so many flock to the preaching of John, and the soldiers believing, the publicans repenting, and whole multitudes receiving baptism, on the contrary not only despised John, but having put him in prison, slew him. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Eusebius of Caesarea: Luke too, before beginning the acts of Jesus, makes a similar observation, saying that Herod added one more offense to his other crimes by shutting up John in jail. — ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 3.24

Eusebius of Caesarea ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (non occ.) He is called the tetrarch, to distinguish him from the other Herod, in whose reign Christ was born, and who was king, but this Herod was tetrarch. Now his wife was the daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia, but he had sacrilegiously married his brother Philip’s wife, though she had offspring by his brother. For those only were allowed to do this whose brothers died without issue. For this the Baptist had censured Herod. First indeed he heard him attentively, for he knew that his words were weighty and full of consolation, but the desire of Herodias compelled him to despise the words of John, and he then thrust him into prison. And so it follows, And he added this above all, that he shut up John in prison. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Origen of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): But we marvel at John, because among them that are born of women there was not a greater than he, for by his good deeds he had been exalted to so high a fame for virtue, that by many he was supposed to be Christ. But what is much more marvellous he feared not Herod, nor dreaded death, as it follows, But Herod the tetrarch being reproved by him. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Origen of Alexandria: Let us marvel at John, and indeed from the very things that follow, most of all because “among those born of women there was none greater than John the Baptist”, and because he rightly rose to so great a reputation by his virtue that he was thought by very many to be “the Christ”. But this is far more marvelous: Herod the tetrarch held royal power and could have killed him whenever he wished; and although he had done an unjust deed and one contrary to the law of Moses, in taking his brother’s wife, who had a daughter by her former husband, John did not fear him, did not show partiality, did not consider, as I have said, the royal power, did not dread destruction—for he knew, even if he were not a prophet, that when provoked Herod could kill him—so then, though he knew all these things, with prophetic liberty he rebuked Herod and denounced the incestuous marriage. — HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF Luke 27

Luke 3:20

Origen of Alexandria: And on that account, shut up “in prison”, he was anxious not about death, not about the uncertain judgment of the judge, but in his chains was thinking about Christ, whom he had proclaimed. And because he himself could not go to him, he sends his disciples to inquire: “Are you he who is to come, or do we look for another?” Take note that he taught “even in prison”. For whence had he disciples even in that place, and for what reason did they persevere there, unless because even in prison he was performing the office of a master and was instructing them with divine discourses? And among these, when a question had arisen concerning Jesus, he sends some of his disciples and asks: “Are you he who is to come, or do we look for another?” The disciples return and report to their master what the Savior had commanded to be reported: armed with his words, John dies confidently for the battle and is gladly beheaded, confirmed by the very voice of the Lord that he whom he believed was truly the Son of God. So much concerning John and his liberty, and concerning the madness of Herod, who upon many crimes added this one also, that he first shut John up in prison and afterward beheaded him. — HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF Luke 27

Luke 3:21

Ambrose of Milan ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): In a matter which has been related by others, Luke has rightly given us only a summary, and has left more to be understood than expressed in the fact, that our Lord was baptized by John. As it is said, Now when all were baptized, it came to pass. Our Lord was baptized not that He might be cleansed by the waters but to cleanse them, that being purified by the flesh of Christ who knew no sin, they might possess the power of baptism.

But the cause of our Lord’s baptism He Himself declares when He says, Thus it becomes us to fulfil all righteousness. But what is righteousness, except that what you would have another do to you, you should first begin yourself, and so by your example encourage others? Let none then avoid the laver of grace, since Christ avoided not the laver of repentance.

Now the Spirit rightly showed Himself in the form of a dove, for He is not seen in His divine substance. Let us consider the mystery why like a dove? Because the grace of baptism requires innocence, that we should be innocent as doves. The grace of baptism requires peace, which under the emblem of an olive branch the dove once brought to that ark which alone escaped the deluge.

We have seen the Spirit, but in a bodily shape, and the Father whom we cannot see we may hear. He is invisible because He is the Father, the Son also is invisible in His divinity, but He wished to manifest Himself in the body. And because the Father did not take the body, He wished therefore to prove to us that He was present in the Son, by saying, Thou art my Son. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Ambrose of Milan: Now let us consider the mystery of the Trinity. We say, “one God,” but we confess the Father, and we confess the Son. For although it is written, “You shall love the Lord thy God and serve him alone,” the Son denied that he is alone, saying, “I am not alone, for the Father is with me.” Nor is he alone now, for the Father bears witness that he is present. The Holy Spirit is present, because the Trinity can never be separated from Itself. Then “heaven was opened, the Holy Spirit descended in bodily shape like a dove.” — EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF Luke 2.92

Ambrose of Milan: Why like a dove? For the grace of the washing requires simplicity, so that we may be innocent like doves. The grace of the washing requires peace, as in an earlier image the dove brought to the ark that which alone was inviolable by the flood. He of whom the dove was the image, who now deigned to descend in the form of a dove, taught me that in that branch, in that ark, was the image of peace and of the church. In the midst of the floods of the world the Holy Spirit brings its fruitful peace to its church. David too taught, he who perceived the sacrament of baptism and said with the Spirit of prophecy, “Who will give me wings like a dove?” — EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF Luke 2.92

Ambrose of Milan: We saw the Spirit, but in bodily form, let us also see the Father. Because we cannot see, let us hear. Our merciful God is present. He will not forsake his temple. He wishes to build up every soul, he wishes to mold it for salvation, he wishes to convey living stones from earth to heaven. He loves his temple. Let us love him. If we love God, let us keep his commandments. If we love him, we shall know him. He who says that he knows him and keeps not his commandments is a liar. For how can he who does not love Truth love God, for God is Truth? Therefore let us hear the Father, for the Father is invisible. Yet the Son is invisible according to his divinity, for no one has seen God at any time. So, while the Son is God, he is not seen as the Son, insofar as he is God. Yet he wished to show himself in the body. Because the Father did not wear a body, therefore the Father wished to prove to us that he is present in the Son, saying, “You are my beloved Son. In you I am well pleased.” If you wish to learn that the Son is always present with the Father, read the voice of the Son saying, “If I go up into heaven, you are there. If I go down into the grave, you are present there.” If you seek evidence of the Father, you have heard it from John. Believe him by whom Christ believed he must be baptized, to whom the Father entrusted his Son, saying with a heavenly voice, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” — EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF Luke 2.94

Athanasius of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (De Dec. Nic. Syn.) The holy Scriptures by the name of Son set forth two meanings; one similar to that spoken of in the Gospel, He gave to them power that they should become the sons of God; another according to which Isaac is the son of Abraham. Christ is not then simply called a Son of God, but the article is prefixed, that we should understand that He alone is really and by nature the Son; and hence He is said to be the Only begotten. For if according to the madness of Arius He is called Son, as they are called who obtain the name through grace, He will seem in no way to differ from us. It remains therefore that in another respect we must confess Christ to be the Son of God, even as Isaac is acknowledged to be the son of Abraham. For that which is naturally begotten of another, and takes not its origin from any thing besides nature, accounts a son. But it is said, Was then the birth of the Son with suffering as of a man? By no means. God since He cannot be divided is without suffering the Father of the Son. Hence He is called the Word of the Father, because neither is the word of man even produced with suffering, and since God is by nature one, He is the Father of one only Son, and therefore it is added, Beloved. For when a man has only one son, he loves him very much, but if he becomes father of many, his affection is divided by being distributed.

But as the prophet had before announced the promise of God, saying, I will send Christ my son, that promise being now as it were accomplished at Jordan, He rightly adds, In thee I am well pleased. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Augustine of Hippo ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): But it is most strange that He should receive the Spirit when He was thirty years old. But as without sin He came to baptism, so not without the Holy Spirit. For if it was written of John, He shall be filled with the Spirit from his mother’s womb, (Luke 1:15.) what must we believe of the man Christ, the very conception of whose flesh was not carnal but spiritual. Therefore He condescended now to prefigure His body, i. e. the Church, in which the baptized especially receive the Holy Spirit.

(de Con. Ev. lib. ii. c. 14.) But the words of Matthew, This is my beloved Son, and those of Luke, Thou art my beloved Son, convey the same meaning; for the heavenly voice spoke one of these. But Matthew wished to show that by the words, This is my beloved Son, it was meant rather to declare to the hearers, that He was the Son of God. For that was not revealed to Christ which He knew, but they heard it who were present, and for whom the voice came. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Bede ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): Because though all sins are forgiven in baptism, not as yet is the weakness of this fleshly substance made strong. For we rejoice at the overwhelming of the Egyptians having now crossed the Red sea, but in the wilderness of worldly living there meet us other foes, who, the grace of Christ directing us, may by our exertions be subdued until we come to our own country.

For not then were the heavens opened to Him whose eyes scanned the innermost parts of the heaven, but therein is shown the virtue of baptism, that when a man comes forth from it the gates of the heavenly kingdom are opened to him, and while his flesh is bathed unharmed in the cold waters, which formerly dreaded their hurtful touch, the flaming sword is extinguished.

As if He said, In Thee have I appointed My good pleasure, i. e. to carry on by Thee what seems good to Me. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Bede: It happened, however, when all the people were being baptized, and Jesus having been baptized and praying, heaven was opened. The Lord was baptized not to be cleansed by the waters himself, but desiring to cleanse the waters themselves, which having been washed by his flesh, of course ignorant of sin, might assume the right of baptism, and what so many baptisms under the law could not do against the evil of transgression, might conceive the power of regenerative sanctification. Hence, when he said the entire people had been baptized, he added nothing great. But having said that Jesus was baptized and praying, he stated heaven was opened. Because while the Lord descended into the waters of the Jordan in the humility of the body, by the power of his divinity, he opened the gates of heaven for us. And while the innocent flesh was dipped in the cold waters, the fiery sword, once opposed to the guilty, was extinguished. For indeed, was heaven opened to Him at that time, whose eyes beheld the innermost parts of the heavens? But the power of baptism is shown there, from which anyone who emerges, the gate of the heavenly kingdom is declared to him. Also as that which Jesus, whose are all things that are of the Father, is remembered to have prayed when baptized, it is not doubted that it was done to instruct us, for whom after the bath of baptism, so that the hall of heaven may be opened, it is necessary to live not idly but to persevere in fasting, prayers, and almsgiving. For although all sins are released in baptism, yet the frailty of the flesh is not yet strengthened. For as after crossing the Red Sea we indeed rejoice over the Egyptians slain, but in the desert of worldly conversation, other enemies come upon us who, with the leading and cooperating grace of Christ, are conquered by our efforts until we reach the promised country of eternal life. — On the Gospel of Luke

Cyprian ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (De unit. Eccles.) the dove is a harmless and pleasant creature, with no bitterness of gall, no fierceness of bite, no violence of rending talons; they love the abodes of men, consort within one home, when they have young nurturing them together, when they fly abroad, hanging side by side upon the wing, leading their life in mutual intercourse, giving with their bills a sign of their peaceful harmony, and fulfilling a law of unanimity in every way. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Cyprian: From the first moment of his descent from the glories of heaven to earthly things, he did not disdain to put on man’s flesh although he was the Son of God. Although he himself was not a sinner, he did not disdain to bear the sins of others. Having put aside his immortality for a time, he suffered himself to become mortal, in order that though innocent he might be slain for the salvation of the guilty. The Lord was baptized by his servant, and he, although destined to grant the remission of sins, did not disdain to have his body cleansed with the water of regeneration. — Treatise IX. On the Advantage of Patience 6

Cyril of Alexandria: But how then, they object, was he baptized and received the Spirit? We reply that he had no need of holy baptism. He was wholly pure and spotless, and the holiest of the holy. He did not need the Holy Spirit, for the Spirit that proceeds from God the Father is from him and equal to him in substance. Now, at last, we must explain God’s plan of salvation. God, in his love of humankind, provided for us a way of salvation and of life. Believing in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and making this confession before many witnesses, we wash away all the filth of sin. The communication of the Holy Spirit enriched us, made us partakers of the divine nature and gained for us the grace of adoption as God’s children. It was necessary, therefore, that the Word of the Father become for our sakes the pattern and way of every good work when he humbled himself to emptiness and deigned to assume our likeness. For it follows that he who is first in everything must set the example in this too. He commences the work himself in order that we may learn about the power of holy baptism and learn how much we gain by approaching so great a grace. Having been baptized, he prays that you, my beloved, may learn that never-ceasing prayer is a thing most fitting for those who have once been counted worthy of holy baptism. — COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 11

Cyril of Alexandria: AGAIN come, that fixing our mind intently upon the Evangelic Scriptures, we may behold the beauty of the truth. Come let us direct the penetrating and accurate eyes of the mind unto the mystery of Christ; let us view with wonder the admirable skill of the divine economy: for so shall we see His glory. And thus to act is for our life: as He Himself assures us, when speaking unto God the Father in heaven, “Those things are life eternal: to know Thee Who alone art true; and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou hast sent.” How therefore was He sent? and what was the manner of His coming unto us? For being by nature God That filleth all, how, as the blessed John the Evangelist said, “was He in the world,” Himself being Lord? And how was He sent by the Father, when as God He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things? for all things were established by Him. The wise John the Evangelist then teaches us, saying, “And the Word was made flesh.” But perchance some one will say, ‘What then? Having ceased to be the Word, did He change into being flesh? Did He fall from His Majesty, having undergone a transformation unto something which previously He was not?’ Not so, we say. Far from it. For by nature He is unchangeable and immutable. In saying, therefore, that the Word became flesh, the Evangelist means a man like unto us. For we also are often called flesh ourselves. For it is written, “And all flesh shall see the salvation of God,” meaning thereby that every man shall see it. While therefore He immutably retains that “which He was, yet as having under this condition assumed our likeness, He is said to have been made flesh. Behold Him, therefore, as a man, enduring with us the things that belong to man’s estate, and fulfilling all righteousness, for the plan of salvation’s sake. And this thou learnest from what the Evangelist says: “And it came to pass that when all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized, and prayed.” Was He too then in need of holy baptism? But what benefit could accrue to Him from it? The Only-begotten Word of God is Holy of the Holy: so the Seraphim name Him in their praises: so every where the law names Him: and the company of the holy prophets accords with the writings of Moses. What is it that we gain by holy baptism? Plainly the remission of our sins. But in Jesus there was nought of this; “for He did no sin: neither was guile found “in His mouth,” as the Scripture saith. “He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sins, and made higher than the heavens,” according to the words of the divine Paul. But yes! perchance some one will say, who has been ill instructed in the faith, ‘Was it then God the Word that was baptized? Was He in need of being made partaker of the Holy Ghost? Not at all. Therefore it is that we affirm, that the man who was of the seed of David, and united unto Him by conjunction, was baptized and received the Spirit.’ The Indivisible therefore is divided by you into two sous: and because He was baptized when, thirty years old, He was made holy, as you say, by being baptized. Was He therefore not holy until He arrived at His thirtieth year? Who will assent to you, when thus you corrupt the right and blameless faith? For “there is one Lord Jesus Christ,” as it is written. But this we affirm: that He was not separate from Him, and by Himself when baptized and made partaker of the Holy Ghost: for we know, both that He is God, and without stain, and Holy of the Holy: for we confess that “of His fulness have all we received.” For the Holy Spirit indeed proceedeth from God the Father, but belongeth also to the Son. It is even often called the Spirit of Christ, though proceeding from God the Father. And to this Paul will testify, saying, at one time, “They that are in the flesh cannot please God: but ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any one have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” And again, “But because ye are sons, God hath sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Father, our Father.” The Holy Spirit therefore proceedeth indeed as I said from God the Father, but His Only-begotten Word, as being both by nature and verily Son, and resplendent with the Father’s dignities, ministereth It to the creation, and bestoweth It on those that are worthy. Yea verily He said, “All things that the Father hath are mine.” But let us retort upon those who pervert the right belief this question; ‘How can He Who received the Spirit, if He be, according to your phrase, a man, and the Son separately and by Himself, baptize with the Holy Ghost, and Himself give the Holy Spirit to them who are baptized?’ For to be able to impart the Spirit to men suiteth not any one whatsoever of things created, but, together with God’s other attributes, is the distinct property of Almighty God alone. But He Who gave It was man: for the wise John said, “After me cometh a Man, Who was before me . . . He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” As therefore it is unbefitting God the Word, |46 regarded as God the Word, to draw near unto holy baptism, and be made partaker of the Spirit, so in like manner it is altogether incredible, or rather impossible to believe that the ability to baptize men with the Holy Ghost, is the act of a mere man with nothing in Him superior to ourselves. How then will the mystery be true? In that for our aid He assumed a kind of adaptation. The divine Word became man, even “He Who was in the form of God the Father, and thought it not robbery to be equal unto God,” as most wise Paul says, “but took the form of a slave, being made in the likeness of men, and humbling Himself to poverty.” Enquire therefore Who He was that was first in the likeness of God the Father, and could be regarded as on an equality with Him, but took the form of a slave, and became then a man, and besides this made Himself poor. Was it He of the seed of David, as they argue, Whom they specially regard separately and by Himself as the other Son, distinct from the Word of God the Father? If so, let them show that He ever was on an equality with the Father. Let them show how He assumed the form of a slave. Or what shall we say was that form of a slave? And how did He empty Himself? For what is poorer than human nature? He therefore Who is the exact image of God the Father, the likeness, and visible expression of His person, Who shines resplendent in equality unto Him, Who by right of nature is free, and the yoke of Whoso kingdom is put upon all creation,—-He it is Who took the form of a slave, that is, became a man, and made Himself poor by consenting to endure these human things, sin only excepted. But how then, they object, was He baptized, and received also the Spirit? To which we reply, that He had no need of holy baptism, being wholly pure and spotless, and holy of the holy. Nor had He need of the Holy Ghost: for the Spirit That proceedeth from God the Father is of Him, and equal to Him in substance. We must now therefore at length hear what is the explanation of the economy. God in his love to man provided for us a way of salvation and of life. For believing in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and making this confession before many witnesses, we wash away all the filth of sin, and are enriched by the communication of the Holy Spirit, and made partakers of the divine nature, and gain the grace of adoption. It was necessary therefore that the Word of the Father, when He humbled Himself unto emptiness, and deigned to assume our likeness, should become for our sakes the pattern and way of every good work. For it follows, that He Who in every thing is first, must in this also set the example. In order therefore that we may learn both the power itself of holy baptism, and how much we gain by approaching so great a grace, He commences the work Himself; and, having been baptized, prays that you, my beloved, may learn that never-ceasing prayer is a thing most fitting for those who have once been counted worthy of holy baptism. And the Evangelist says that the heavens were opened, as having long been closed. For Christ said, “Forthwith shall ye see the heavens opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.” For both the flock above and that below being now made one, and one chief Shepherd appointed for all, the heavens were opened, and man upon earth brought near to the holy angels. And the Spirit also again came down as at a second commencement of our race: and upon Christ first, Who received it not so much for His own sake as for ours: for by Him and in Him are we enriched with all things. Most suitably therefore to the economy of grace does He endure with us the things of man’s estate: for where otherwise shall we see Him emptied, Whose in His divine nature is the fulness? How became He poor as we are, if He were not conformed to our poverty? How did He empty Himself, if He refused to endure the measure of human littleness? Having taken therefore Christ as our pattern, let us draw near to the grace of holy baptism, that so we may gain boldness to pray constantly, and lift up holy hands to God the Father, that He may open the heavens also unto us, and send down upon us too the Holy Ghost, to receive us as sons. For He spake unto Christ at the time of holy baptism, as though having by Him and in Him accepted man upon earth to the sonship, “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.” For He Who is the Son by nature and in truth, and the Only-begotten, when He became like unto us, is specially declared to be the Son of God, not as receiving this for Himself:—-for He was and is, as I said, very Son:—-but that He might ratify the glory unto us. For He has been made our firstfruits, and firstborn, and second Adam: for which reason it is said, that “in Him all things have become new:” for having put off the oldness that was in Adam, we have gained the newness that is in Christ: by Whom and with Whom, to God the Father, be glory and dominion with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen. — Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Sermon XI

Cyril of Jerusalem: He [Jesus] was not baptized to receive the forgiveness of sins. He was without sin. Being sinless, still he was baptized so that he might give grace and dignity to those who receive the sacrament. “Since the children share in flesh and blood, so he in like manner has shared in these,” that we, sharing his incarnate life, might also share his divine grace. Jesus was baptized that we in turn also made here partakers with him, might receive not only salvation but also the dignity. — Catechetical Lecture 3:11

Gregory of Nazianzus ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (in Orat. 39.) Christ comes also to baptism perhaps to sanctify baptism, but doubtless to bury the old Adam in water. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Gregory of Nazianzus: Christ is born; the Spirit is his forerunner. Christ is baptized; the Spirit bears him witness. Christ is tempted. The Spirit leads him up. Christ performs miracles. The Spirit accompanies him. Christ ascends. The Spirit fills his place. — ORATION 31.29, ON THE HOLY SPIRIT

Gregory the Dialogist ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (sup. Ezech. Hom. 8.) Or else, Every one who by repentance corrects any of his actions, by that very repentance shows that he has displeased himself, seeing he amends what he has done. And since the Omnipotent Father spoke of sinners after the manner of men, saying, It repents me that I have made man, (Gen. 6:7.) He (so to speak) displeased Himself in the sinners whom He had created. But in Christ alone He pleased Himself, for in Him alone He found no fault that He should blame Himself, as it were, by repentance. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

John Chrysostom ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): Now there was a Jewish baptism which removed the pollutions of the flesh, not the guilt of the conscience; but our baptism parts us from sin, washes the soul, and gives us largely the outpouring of the Spirit. But John’s baptism was more excellent than the Jewish; for it did not bring men to the observance of bodily purifications, but taught them to turn from sin to virtue. But it was inferior to our baptism, in that it conveyed not the Holy Spirit, nor showed forth the remission which is by grace, for there was a certain end as it were of each baptism. But neither by the Jewish nor our own baptism was Christ baptized, for He needed not the pardon of sins, nor was that flesh destitute of the Holy Spirit which from the very beginning was conceived by the Holy Spirit; He was baptized by the baptism of John, that from the very nature of the baptism, you might know that He was not baptized because He needed the gift of the Spirit. But he says, being baptized and praying, that you might consider how fitting to one who has received baptism is constant prayer.

But he says, The heavens opened, as if till then they had been shut. But now the higher and the lower sheep-fold being brought into one, and there being one Shepherd of the sheep, the heavens opened, and man was incorporated a fellow citizen with the Angels.

The Holy Spirit descended also upon Christ as upon the Founder of our race, that He might be in Christ first of all who received Him not for Himself, but rather for us. Hence it follows: And the Holy Spirit descended. Let not any one imagine that He received Him because He had Him not. For He as God sent Him from above, and as man received Him below. Therefore from Him the Spirit fled down to Him, i. e. from His deity to His humanity.

That baptism savoured partly of antiquity, partly of novelty. For that He should receive baptism from a Prophet showed antiquity, but the Spirit’s descent denoted something new.

Or to show the meekness of the Lord, the Spirit now appears in the form of a dove, but at Pentecost like fire, to signify punishment. For when He was about to pardon offences, gentleness was necessary; but having obtained grace, there remaineth for us the time of trial and judgment.

Christ indeed had already manifested Himself at His birth by many oracles, but because men would not consult them, He who had in the mean time remained secret, again more clearly revealed Himself in a second birth. For formerly a star in the heavens, now the Father at the waves of Jordan declared Him, and as the Spirit descended upon Him, pouring forth that voice over the head of Him who was baptized, as it follows, And a voice came from heaven, Thou art my beloved Son. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Maximus of Turin: Today, then, is another kind of birth of the Savior. We see him born with the same sort of signs, the same sort of wonders, but with greater mystery. The Holy Spirit, who was present to him then in the womb, now pours out upon him in the torrent. He who then purified Mary for him now sanctifies the running waters for him. The Father who then overshadowed in power now cries out with his voice. He who then, as if choosing the more prudent course, manifested himself as a cloud at the nativity now bears witness to the truth. So God says, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear him.” Clearly the second birth is more excellent than the first. The one brought forth Christ in silence and without a witness. The other baptized the Lord gloriously with a profession of divinity. From the one, Joseph, thought to be the father, absents himself. At the other, God the Father, not believed in, manifests himself. In the one the mother labors under suspicion because in her condition she lacked a father. In the other she is honored because God attests to his Son. — SERMON 13A

Maximus of Turin: Today, then, he is baptized in the Jordan. What sort of baptism is this, when the one who is dipped is purer than the font, and where the water that soaks the one whom it has received is not dirtied but honored with blessings? What sort of baptism is this of the Savior, I ask, in which the streams are made pure more than they purify? For by a new kind of consecration the water does not so much wash Christ as submit to being washed. Since the Savior plunged into the waters, he sanctified the outpouring of every flood and the course of every stream by the mystery of his baptism. When someone wishes to be baptized in the name of the Lord, it is not so much the water of this world that covers him but the water of Christ that purifies him. Yet the Savior willed to be baptized for this reason—not that he might cleanse himself but that he might cleanse the waters for our sake. — SERMON 13A.3

Origen of Alexandria: But because the Lord was baptized and the heavens were opened and “the Holy Spirit descended” upon him and a voice thundered from the heavens saying: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”, it must be said that at the baptism of Jesus heaven was unbarred, and that the heavens were opened for the dispensation of the remission of sins—not of him “who had done no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth”—but for the whole world. — HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF Luke 27

Tertullian: In fact, they say that Jesus Christ descended, that is, that the dove came down on Jesus; and, since the dove is styled by the Greek name peristera/-(peristera), it has in itself this number DCCCI. — Pseudo-Tertullian Against All Heresies

Luke 3:22

Bede: And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon him. Truly in bodily form, because in the nature of divinity it could not be seen by mortals. Truly like a dove, because the spirit of discipline will flee deceit, nor will it dwell in a body subjected to sins. And because some, after the example of Simon, persist in the bitterness of gall and in the bond of iniquity, they can have no part or share in it. Hence, when the world’s crimes were once purged by the flood in the figure of baptism, not by a raven, but by a dove bearing the olive branch in its mouth was peace announced as restored to the world. Mystically teaching that the anointing of the Holy Spirit will be present only to those who have been baptized in the simplicity of heart. For no one should think that the Lord after baptism was first anointed by the grace of the Holy Spirit, or that anyone has achieved progress in divine nature over time, but rather should know that from the very moment of human conception, the one who is true man, the same exists as true God. However, with the arrival of the dove, it was shown that in his body, that is, the Church, those especially who are baptized receive the Holy Spirit. — On the Gospel of Luke

Bede: And a voice came from heaven: You are my beloved Son, in you I am well pleased. Rightly John is second to none among those born of women, to whom Christ showed himself to be baptized, the invisible Spirit appeared to be seen, and the Father commended his Son from heaven. For it was not revealed to the Son himself what he already knew well, but it was shown to John or to the others who were present, what they might know. From this it is to be noted that the same John, who until then proclaimed a man stronger than himself and Christ, henceforth being admonished by the descent of the Spirit or the Father’s attestation, openly preached the Son of God: He is, he says, of whom I said, after me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me, and I did not know him (John 1). And again about the dove: And I saw, and I testified that this is the Son of God (ibid.). Thus the mystery of the Trinity is shown in the baptism of the Savior, that we too may be taught to be baptized in his name. And what is said: In you I am well pleased, is as if he says: In you I have established my good pleasure, that is, to do through you what pleases me. But what is said according to Matthew: In whom I am well pleased (Matthew 3) is thus explained: That everyone who, by repenting, corrects what they have done, by that very fact indicates that they have displeased themselves by repenting, who amends what was done. And because the Almighty Father, as he could be understood by men, spoke in a human manner about sinners saying: It repents me that I have made man on the earth (Genesis 6), as if he displeased himself in the sinners whom he created. But he was well pleased in his only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ alone. For it did not repent him to have made this man among men, in whom he found no sin at all, thus it is said of him through the Psalmist: The Lord has sworn and will not repent; you are a priest forever (Psalms 110). — On the Gospel of Luke

Clement of Alexandria ((as quoted by Corderius, AD 1564)): God here assumed the “likeness” not of a man, but “of a dove,” because He wished, by a new apparition of the Spirit in the likeness of a dove, to declare His simplicity and majesty. — From the Catena on Luke, Edited by Corderius

Origen of Alexandria: And that the Holy Spirit descended so that, after the Lord “had ascended on high leading captivity captive”, he might bestow on us the Spirit who had come to him; which Spirit indeed he also gave at the time of his resurrection, saying: “Receive the Holy Spirit! If you forgive anyone’s sins, they will be forgiven him; if you retain anyone’s, they will be retained”. Now “the Holy Spirit descended upon” the Savior “in the form of a dove”, a bird that is gentle, innocent, and simple. Whence it is also commanded to us that we should imitate the innocence of doves. Such is the Holy Spirit—clean and winged and rising to the heights. Wherefore in prayer we say: “Who will give me wings like a dove’s, and I shall fly and be at rest?"—that is: who will give me the wings of the Holy Spirit? And in another place the prophetic word promises: “If you sleep in the midst of the lots, the wings of a dove covered with silver, and the hinder parts of its back in the greenness of gold”. For if we take our rest “in the midst of the lots” of the Old and New Testament, there will be given to us “the wings of a dove covered with silver”, that is, the words of God, and “its hinder parts” radiant with the gleam and “greenness” of gold, so that our understanding may be filled with the perceptions of the Holy Spirit—that is, so that our speech and mind may be filled with his coming, and that we may neither say anything nor understand anything except what he has suggested, and that all sanctification, both in heart and in words and in deed, may come from the Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus: to whom is glory and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen. — HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF Luke 27

Tertullian: 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,” in order that the nature of the Holy Spirit might be declared by means of the creature (the emblem) of simplicity and innocence, because even in her bodily structure the dove is without literal gall. — On Baptism

Luke 3:23

Ambrose of Milan ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): Luke rightly thought, seeing that he could not embrace more of the sons of Jacob, lest he should seem to be wandering from the line of descent in a superfluous course, that the ancient names of the Patriarchs though occurring in others far later, Joseph, Judah, Simeon, and Levi, should not be omitted. For we recognise in these four kinds of virtue; in Judah, the mystery of our Lord’s Passion prophesied by figure; in Joseph, an example of chastity going before; in Simeon, the punishment of injured modesty; in Levi, the priestly office. Hence it follows, Who was the son of Melchi, i. e. “my King.” Who was the son of Janna, i. e. “a right hand.” Who was the son ofJoseph, i. e. “growing up;” but this was a different Joseph. Who was the son of Mattathias, i. e. “the gift of God,” or “sometimes.” Who was the son of Amos, i. e. “loading, or he loaded.” Who was the son of Naum, i. e. “help me.” Who was the son of Matthat, i. e. “desire.” Who was the son of Mattathias, as above. Who was the son of Simei, i. e. “obedient.” Who was the son ofJoseph, i. e. “increase.” Who was the son of Judah, i. e. “confessing.” Joanna, “the Lord, his grace,” or “the gracious Lord.” Resa, “merciful.” Zorobabel, “chief or master of Babylon.” Salathiel, “God my petition.” Neri, “my lanthern.” Melchi, “my kingdom.” Addi, “strong or violent.” Cosam, “divining.” Her, “watching, or watch, or of skins.” Who was the son of Jesus, i. e. “Saviour.” Eliezer, i. e. “God my helper.” Joarim, i. e. “God exalting, or, is exalting.” Matthat, as above. Levi, as above. Simeon, i. e. “He has heard the sadness, or the sign.” Juda, as above. Joseph, as above. Jonah, a dove, or wailing. Eliachim, i. e. “the resurrection of God.” Melchi, i. e. “his king.” Menan, i. e. “my bowels.” Mattathias, i. e. “gift.” Nathan, i. e. “He gave, or, of giving.”

But by Nathan we perceive expressed the dignity of Prophecy, that as Christ Jesus alone fulfilled all things, in each of His ancestors different kinds of virtue might precede Him. It follows, Who was the son of David.

The mention of just Noah ought not to be omitted among our Lord’s generations, that as our Lord was born the builder of His Church, He might seem to have sent Noah beforehand, the author of His race, who had before founded the Church under the type of an ark. Who was the son of Lamech.

His years are numbered beyond the deluge, that since Christ is the only one whose life experiences no age, in His ancestors also He might seem to have felt not the deluge. Who was the son of Enoch. And here is a manifest declaration of our Lord’s piety and divinity, since our Lord neither experienced death, and returned to heaven, the founder of whose race was taken up into heaven. Whence it is plain that Christ could not die, but was willing that His death should profit us. And Enoch indeed was taken, that his heart might not change by wickedness, but the Lord, whom the wickedness of the world could not change, returned to that place whence He had come by the greatness of His own nature.

Nor do the Evangelists seem so to differ who have followed the old order, nor can you wonder if from Abraham down to Christ there are more successions according to Luke, fewer according to Matthew, since you must admit the line to have been traced through different persons. But it might be that some men have passed a very long life, but the men of the next generation have died at an early age, since we see how many old men live to see their grandchildren, while others depart as soon as they have sons born to them. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Ambrose of Milan: You see that the description of descent is connected by the old custom from the fathers to the sons and from the sons to the fathers. You see that the family is everywhere listed through the generations of the husband. Do not marvel if Matthew reports the order of the generations from Abraham to Joseph, and Luke from Joseph to Adam and to God. Do not marvel that Joseph’s lineage is described. Indeed, being born according to the flesh, he must follow the usage of the flesh, and he who came into the world must be described in the custom of the world, particularly as the lineage of Mary is also in the lineage of Joseph. For since Joseph was a righteous man, he took a wife from his own tribe and his own country, nor could a righteous man contravene what is prescribed in the law. “The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another. For every one of the people of Israel shall cleave to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. Every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, so that every one of the people of Israel may possess the inheritance of his fathers.” Therefore, also at the time of the enrollment, Joseph went up from his house and the country of David to be enrolled with Mary his wife. She who enrolls from the same house and the same country surely signifies that she is of this same tribe and this same country. — EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF Luke 3.4

Ambrose of Milan: Here too some … raise issues: that Matthew counted forty-two generations from Abraham to Christ, but Luke fifty, and that Matthew reported that the generation descended through some persons, and Luke mentioned others. In this matter, you can test what we said. Although Matthew wove some forefathers of the divine lineage, but Luke others, into the order of generation, nevertheless each indicated that the remaining ancestors were from the race of Abraham and David. Matthew thought the generation should be derived through Solomon, but Luke through Nathan. This fact seems to show both a royal and a priestly family of Christ. We should not consider one account truer than the other, but that the one agrees with the other in equal faith and truth. According to the flesh, Jesus was truly of a royal and priestly family, King from kings, Priest from priests. Although the prophecy pertains not to the carnal but the celestial, since a King exults in the power of God, to whom judgment is committed by the King, his Father, and a Priest is forever. Accordingly it is written, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” Then, each fittingly kept faith, so that Matthew established his origin led through kings, and Luke, by deriving the lineage of his race transmitted through priests from God to Christ, declared his very descent the more holy. At the same time, the image of a calf is indicated, in so much as he thinks the priestly mystery must be preserved. — EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF Luke 3.12-13

Ambrose of Milan: He could not include more sons of Jacob, lest he seem to digress outside the generations in an irrelevant series. Of course, in the case of other, that is, distant, descendants of the patriarchs, Luke did not think the names should be omitted, but that those of Joseph, Judah, Simeon and Levi should be preferred beyond the rest. We know that there were four kinds of virtues in those from whom they were descended. In Judah, the mystery of the Lord’s passion was prefigured. In Joseph, an example of chastity went before. In Simeon, the payment for violated virginity was represented. In Levi, the office of a priest was symbolized. We observe the dignity of prophecy manifested also through Nathan so that because Christ Jesus is one and all, diverse kinds of virtues went before also in individual forefathers. — EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF Luke 3.47

Ambrose of Milan: Yet it seems needful to explain why St. Matthew began to enumerate the descent of Christ from Abraham but St. Luke led it from Christ up to God. But first I think we should not set aside by any means the question why St. Matthew, when he began the order of descent from Abraham, did not say, “The Book of the Generation of Abraham,” but “The Book of the Generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.” Why he named these two in particular.…The Evangelist selected those two authors of the race, the one who received the promise concerning the congregation of the nations, the other who obtained the prophecy of the generation of Christ. Although he is later in the order of the succession, yet he is described before Abraham in the generation of the Lord, because it is more to have received the promise concerning Christ than that concerning the church, since the church itself is through Christ. Then there is one prince of the race according to the flesh, and another according to the spirit. The one is a prince by grace of children, the other through the faith of the peoples. For greater is he who saves than he who is saved. Hence he is called “the Son of David,” “the Book of the Generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David.” — EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF Luke 3.6, 10

Ambrose of Milan ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): Rightly as was supposed, since in reality He was not, but was supposed to be so, because Mary who was espoused to Joseph was His mother. But we might doubt why the descent of Joseph is described rather than that of Mary, (seeing that Mary brought forth Christ of the Holy Spirit, while Joseph seemed to be out of the line of our Lord’s descent,) were we not informed of the custom of the Holy Scripture, which always seeks the origin of the husband, and especially in this case, since in Joseph’s descent we also find that of Mary. For Joseph being a just man took a wife really from his own tribe and country, and so at the time of the taxing Joseph went up from the family and country of David to be taxed with Mary his wife. She who gives in the returns from the same family and country, shows herself to be of that family and country. Hence He goes on in the descent of Joseph, and adds, Who was the son of Eli. But let us consider the fact, that St. Matthew makes Jacob, who was the father of Joseph, to be son of Nathan, but Luke says that Joseph (to whom Mary was espoused) was the son of Eli. How then could there be two fathers, (namely, Eli and Jacob,) to one man.

For it is related that Matthas, who was descended from Salomon, begat Jacob as his son, and died leaving his wife living, whom Melchi took unto him as wife, and from her Eli was born. Again, Eli, when his brother Jacob died without children, was joined to his brother’s wife, and begot a son Joseph, who according to law is called the son of Jacob, since Eli raised up seed to his deceased brother, according to the order of the ancient law. (Deut. 25:5.) — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Ambrose of Milan: It benefits no one to change what is written: “Who was thought to be the son of Joseph.” For it was right that he was “thought” so, because he was not the Joseph’s son by nature but was thought to be his Son, because he was born of Mary, who was engaged to Joseph, her husband. So you have: “Is not this Joseph the carpenter’s son?” — EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF Luke 3.2

Ancient Greek Expositor ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (Severus.) For this reason also He came at thirty years to be baptized, to show that spiritual regeneration makes men perfect as far as regards their spiritual life. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Augustine of Hippo ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (ubi sup. c. 4.) Matthew indeed wished to set forth God descending to our mortality; accordingly at the beginning of the Gospel he recounted the generations from Abraham to the birth of Christ in a descending scale. But Luke, not at the beginning, but after the baptism of Christ, relates the generation not descending but ascending, as if marking out rather the high priest in the expiation of sins, of whom John bore testimony, saying, Behold, who taketh away the sins of the world. But by ascending he comes to God, to whom we are reconciled, being cleansed and expiated.

(Quæst. Ev. lib. ii. qu. 6.) But most fitly with regard to our baptized Lord does Luke reckon the generations through seventy-seven persons. For both the ascent to God is expressed, to whom we are reconciled by the abolition of sins, and by baptism is brought to man the remission of all his sins, which are signified by that number. For eleven times seven are seventy-seven. But by the tenth number is meant perfect happiness. Hence it is plain that the going beyond the tenth marks the sin of one through pride coveting to have more. But this is said to be seven times to signify that the transgression was caused by the moving of man. For by the third number the immortal part of man is represented, but by the fourth the body. But motion is not expressed in numbers, as when we say, one, two, three; but when we say, once, twice, thrice. And so by seven times eleven, is signified a transgression wrought by man’s action. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Augustine of Hippo ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (Quæst. Ev. ii. qu. 5.) Or there occur three reasons, by one of which the Evangelist was led. For either one Evangelist has mentioned the father by whom Joseph was begotten, but the other his maternal grandfather, or some one of his ancestors. Or one of the fathers mentioned was the natural father of Joseph, the other his father who had adopted him. Or after the manner of the Jews, when a man has died without children, the next of kin taking his wife ascribes to his dead kinsman the son whom he has himself begotten.

(de Con. Ev. lib. ii. c. 3.) It is most probable that Luke took the origin by adoption, as not being willing to say that Joseph, was begotten by him whose son he related him to be. For more easily is a man said to be his son by whom he was adopted, than to be begotten by him from whose flesh he was not born. But Matthew saying, “Abraham begat lsaac, and Isaac begat Jacob,” and continuing in the word “begat,” until at last he says, but “Jacob begat Joseph,” has sufficiently expressed that he has carried through the succession of the fathers, to that father by whom Joseph was not adopted, but begotten. Although even supposing that Luke should say that Joseph was begotten by Eli, neither ought that word to perplex us. For it is not absurd to say that a man has begotten not in the flesh but in love the Son whom he has adopted. But rightly has Luke taken the origin by adoption, for by adoption are we made the sons of God, by believing on the Son of God, but by His birth in the flesh, the Son of God has rather for our sakes become the Son of man.

(de Con. Ev. lib. ii. c. 3.) He sufficiently declared by this that he called not Joseph the son of Eli because he was begotten by him, but rather because he was adopted by him, for he has called also Adam himself son, since though made by God, yet by grace (which he forfeited by sin) he was placed as a son in paradise. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Bede: And Jesus himself was beginning to be about thirty years old, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph. Jesus is baptized at thirty years of age, and then finally begins to perform signs and teach, thereby showing the legitimate and mature time of age, to those who think any age, whether for a priest or for teaching, is appropriate. Who also, as was read above, at the age of twelve, sitting in the midst of the teachers in the temple, not teaching but asking questions, wanted to be found. For so that men would not dare to preach in an immature age, he at twelve years old asks people on earth, who by his divinity always teaches angels in heaven. Nor should anyone be moved against these things, that Jeremiah and Daniel received the spirit of prophecy as boys, because miracles are not to be drawn as examples of operation. For Almighty God makes even the tongues of infants eloquent, and out of the mouth of infants and sucklings perfected praise. But what we say with the practice of teaching is one thing, what we know from a miracle is another. However, the forty-year-old age of the baptized Savior can also intimate the mystery of our baptism, for the faith, namely of the Holy Trinity and the operation of the legal Decalogue. For the Decalogue indeed, with the grace of faith revealed, the more sublimely it is understood, the more devoutly it is fulfilled. For as some kind of sacred triennial time, he taught those to be baptized who said: Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Matt. XXVIII). As if he ordered this same triennium to be multiplied by ten when he added: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you (Ibid.). In whose figure also the brazen sea, in which the priests about to enter the temple washed, is said to have been encompassed outwardly by a thirty cubit cord, and inwardly to hold three thousand baths. Because (with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.) This sense is supported by the apostles baptizing three thousand souls first after receiving the grace of the Holy Spirit. And because the mention of the brazen sea has arisen, it is pleasing to also inquire how the rules of baptism agree in other respects. From lip to lip (it says) ten cubits (3 Kings VII), because it is fitting for us not to be constrained by earthly anxiety, but to be expanded by the expectation of the heavenly denarius. Its lip is as the lip of a cup or an unfolded lily leaf: with one of which the cup of the Lord’s passion is expressed, with the other the brightness of his resurrection is revealed. For that the Apostle says: Whoever is baptized into Christ Jesus is baptized into his death (Rom. VI), pertains to the lip of the cup. But that he adds: That as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life (Ibid.), looks to the flower of the unfolded lily. Its thickness is of three fingers, so that the strength of all baptized is solidified by the perfection of faith, hope, and charity. It had a height of five cubits, because whatever is sinned by sight, hearing, taste, smell, or touch, is all washed away by the water of regeneration. The oxen that bear it look in threes to each quarter of the sky so that the whole world is baptized in the faith of the Holy Trinity. It stood on the right side of the priest’s court facing east towards the south, because with the grace of the New Testament standing, it was given by him who visited us the day spring from on high (Luke I). But also in countless places of Holy Scripture, the number thirty is found fitting for the sacraments of Christ and the Church. For even Joseph, who in the figure of resurrection and of the New Testament defended the Egyptians from famine for eighty years, took up the government of the kingdom purified of the filth of the dungeon at thirty years, and David at the same age began the kingdom, which he completed as a seventy-year-old, that is, worthy of perpetual rest, and Ezekiel received the gifts of prophecy with the heavens opened at thirty years. And because by faith both adversities should be patiently borne, and rewards should be highly hoped for, both the height of the ark or the temple and the length of the tabernacle are measured by thirty cubits. — On the Gospel of Luke

Bede: As was supposed (he says) the son of Joseph. He placed this phrase on account of those who thought he was born from Joseph like other men are born. Hence, if it troubles anyone that since Mary conceived Christ by the Holy Spirit, and Joseph is called his father not truly, but supposedly, why not rather is Mary’s lineage described than Joseph’s, who seemed to have no relation to him, let them first know that it is not customary in the Scriptures to set forth the order of women in genealogies. Next, Joseph and Mary were from one tribe, whence the law compelled him to take her as a relative. And that they are registered together in Bethlehem indicates they are born from one stock, and thus through Joseph’s genealogy, the origin of Mary is also shown. Certainly, Luke beautifully begins the genealogy of Christ by introducing the Father speaking: You are my beloved Son (Mark 1), so that by divine testimony he confirms the same as the true Son of God, whom by the order of human succession he proves to be the true son of man. — On the Gospel of Luke

Bede: Who was Heli, who was Mathat, who was Levi, who was Melchi, etc. It rightly raises the question of how Joseph could have had two fathers coming from different lines of ancestors, one whom Luke mentions and the other whom Matthew mentions. For Matthew says: “And Mathan begot Jacob. And Jacob begot Joseph, the husband of Mary.” But this knotty question, Africanus explained very clearly when writing about the harmony of the Gospels. He said, “Mathan and Mathat, at different times, each fathered children from the same wife named Estha. Because Mathan, who descended from Solomon, had first taken her as his wife, and upon leaving behind a son named Jacob, died. After his death, since the law does not forbid a widow from marrying another man, Mathat, who was descended from Nathan and of the same tribe but not of the same lineage, took the widow of Mathan as his wife, from whom he also fathered a son named Heli. Through this, Jacob and Heli are brothers, though from different fathers. Of these, Jacob, following the law, took the wife of his brother Heli, who died childless, and begot Joseph, who is naturally his son, which is why it is written: ‘And Jacob begot Joseph.’ But according to the law, Joseph is also considered the son of Heli, since Jacob, as his brother, had taken Heli’s wife to raise up seed for him, as mandated by the law. Thus, both genealogies, Matthew’s saying ‘And Jacob begot Joseph’, and Luke’s with the proper observation stating ‘He was supposed the son of Joseph, who was the son of Heli,’ are validated and intact. Moreover, Africanus conveyed these same ideas in these very words, except he wrote ‘Melchi’ instead of ‘Matthat,’ because either his copy had it so, or in the history where he learned these things, he found the same Matthat had two names. Since Matthew established the royal persona of the Lord, and Luke the priestly persona, where the strongest of the beasts, the lion, signifies the former, and the calf, the offering of priests, signifies the latter, both maintained their purpose in tracing the genealogy of the Savior. Thus, it has been observed that Matthew, who set forth the royal persona in Christ, listed forty men in his genealogical series, excluding Christ Himself. Now this number signifies the time in which we ought to be ruled by Christ in this world and on this earth according to a laborious discipline, by which God chastises (as it is written) every son whom He receives (Heb. XII). For there are not forty-two generations, which make up thrice fourteen, but due to Jeconiah being counted twice, there are forty-one generations, if we also include Christ, who presides over our temporal and earthly life to be rightly governed by the number forty. For since the number is a sacrament of this laborious time, during which we fight under the discipline of Christ the King against the devil, it is also signified by the fact that He consecrated the fast of forty days, which is the humiliation of the soul. Both the law and the prophets through Moses and Elijah, who fasted for forty days, and the Gospel through the fast of the Lord Himself, who was also tempted by the devil for forty days, what else do they prefigure but the temptation of our flesh throughout all the time of this world, which He deigned to assume from our mortality? Therefore, this number signifies this temporal and earthly life because the times of the years run in fourfold seasons, and the world itself is bounded by four parts. Forty, however, contains ten four times. Furthermore, the number ten is completed by progressing from one to four. And because Matthew wished to signify Christ descending to partake in our mortality, he therefore recounted the generations from Abraham to Joseph and up to the nativity of Christ by descending from the beginning of his Gospel. Luke, however, did not recount the generations from the beginning of his Gospel, but from the baptism of Christ, not by descending but ascending, assigning Him more as a priest in expiating sins, where a voice from heaven declared Him, where John himself bore witness, saying: “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” By ascending, however, he passes from Abraham and arrives at God, to whom we are reconciled, purified and expiated. Rightly, he also took up the origin of adoption, because we are made sons of God by adoption through believing in the Son of God. But by carnal generation, the Son of God rather made the Son of Man. But he sufficiently demonstrated that he did not call Joseph the son of Heli because he was begotten from him, but because he was adopted by him, since he also called Adam the son of God, even though he was made by God, but by the grace which he later lost by sinning, he was constituted as a son in paradise. Therefore, in the generations of Matthew, the acceptance of our sins by the Lord Christ is signified: in the generations of Luke, the abolition of our sins by the Lord Christ is signified. Therefore, he recounted them descending, and the latter ascending. For what the Apostle says: He sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh (Rom. VIII), this is the acceptance of sins. But what he adds: In order to condemn sin in the flesh by means of sin, this is the expiation of sins. Hence Matthew descends from David through Solomon, in whose mother he sinned. But Luke ascends to David through Nathan, through whose name the prophet God expiated his sin. — On the Gospel of Luke

Bede ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): The thrice ten years also which our Saviour had passed when He was baptized might intimate also the mystery of our baptism, because of the faith in the Trinity, and the obedience to the Decalogue.

Or else, Jacob, taking the wife of his brother Eli who had died without children according to the command of the law, begot Joseph, by natural parentage his own son, but by the ordinance of the law the son of Eli. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Cyril of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (Glaph. in Exod. lib. 1.) Although in truth Christ had no father according to the flesh, yet some fancied he had a father. Hence it follows, As was supposed the son of Joseph. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Eusebius of Caesarea ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): Let us then more carefully explain the meaning of the words themselves. For if when Matthew affirmed Joseph to be the son of Jacob, Luke had in like manner affirmed that Joseph was the son of Eli, there would be some dispute. But seeing the case is that Matthew gives his opinion, Luke repeats the common opinion of many, not his own, saying, as was supposed, I do not think that there is any room for doubt. For since there were among the Jews different opinions of the genealogy of Christ, and yet all traced Him up to David because to him the promises were made, while many affirmed that Christ would come through Solomon and the other kings, some shunned this opinion because of the many crimes related of their kings, and because Jeremiah said of Jechonias that “a man should not rise of his seed to sit on the throne of David.” (Jer. 22:30.) This last view Luke takes, though conscious that Matthew gives the real truth of the genealogy. This is the first reason. The next is a deeper one. For Matthew when he began to write of the things before the conception of Mary and the birth of Jesus in the flesh, very fitly as in a history commences with the ancestry in the flesh, and descending from thence deduces His generation from those who went before. For when the Word of God became flesh, He descended. But Luke hastens forward to the regeneration which takes place in baptism, and then gives another succession of families, and rising up from the lowest to the highest, keeps out of sight those sinners of whom Matthew makes mention, (because that he who is born again in God is separated from his guilty parents, being made the son of God,) and relates those who have led a virtuous life in the sight of God. For thus it was said to Abraham, Thou shalt set out to thy fathers, (Gen. 15:15.) not fathers in the flesh, but in God, on account of their likeness in virtue. To him therefore fore who is born in God he ascribes parents who are according to God on account of this resemblance in character. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Gregory of Nazianzus ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (Orat. 39.) We must therefore consider who He was who was baptized, and by whom and when: seeing He was pure, baptized by John, and at a time when His miracles had begun, that we might thence derive the lesson of purifying ourselves beforehand, and of embracing humility, and of not beginning to preach until the maturity of our spiritual and natural life. The first of these was said for their sakes who are receiving baptism; for although the gift of baptism brings remission, yet we must fear lest we return again to our vomit. The second is pointed at those who exalt themselves against the stewards of the mysteries, whom they may excel in rank. The third was uttered for those who trust in their youth, and imagine that any age is fit for promotion and teaching. Jesus is cleansed, and dost thou despise purification? By John, and dost thou say ought against thy teacher. At thirty years old, but dost thou in teaching precede thy elders? But the example of Daniel and the like are ready in thy mouth, for every guilty person is ready with an answer. But that is not the law of the Church which seldom happens, as neither does a single swallow make the spring.

(Orat. 40.) Still must a child be baptized if necessity demands it. For it is better to be insensibly sanctified, than to pass from this life unsealed. But you will say, Christ is baptized at thirty years old, and He was God, but thou biddest us to hasten our baptism. In that thou saidst God, the objection was done away: He needed no cleansing, nor was any danger hanging over Him while He put off His baptism. But with thee it extends to no slight calamity, if thou passest from this life born in corruption, but not if thou hast put on the robe of incorruption. And truly it is a blessed thing to keep unsullied the clean robe of baptism, but it is better at times to be slightly stained, than to be altogether devoid of grace. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Irenaeus: Such are the thirty Aeons in the erroneous system of these men; and they are described as being wrapped up, so to speak, in silence, and known to none [except these professing teachers]. Moreover, they declare that this invisible and spiritual Pleroma of theirs is tripartite, being divided into an Ogdoad, a Decad, and a Duodecad. And for this reason they affirm it was that the “Saviour”-for they do not please to call Him “Lord”-did no work in public during the space of thirty years, thus setting forth the mystery of these Aeons. — Against Heresies (Book I, Chapter 1)

Irenaeus: They, however, that they may establish their false opinion regarding that which is written, “to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,” maintain that He preached for one year only, and then suffered in the twelfth month. [In speaking thus], they are forgetful to their own disadvantage, destroying His whole work, and robbing Him of that age which is both more necessary and more honourable than any other; that more advanced age, I mean, during which also as a teacher He excelled all others. For how could He have had disciples, if He did not teach? And how could He have taught, unless He had reached the age of a Master? For when He came to be baptized, He had not yet completed His thirtieth year, but was beginning to be about thirty years of age (for thus Luke, who has mentioned His years, has expressed it: “Now Jesus was, as it were, beginning to be thirty years old,” when He came to receive baptism); and, [according to these men,] He preached only one year reckoning from His baptism. On completing His thirtieth year He suffered, being in fact still a young man, and who had by no means attained to advanced age. — Against Heresies (Book II, Chapter 22)

John Chrysostom ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (Hom. 31, in Ep. ad Rom.) But because this part of the Gospel consists of a series of names, men think there is nothing valuable to be derived therefrom. Lest then we should feel this, let us try to examine every step. For from the mere name we may extract an abundant treasure, for names are indicative of many things. For they savour of the Divine mercy and the offerings of thanks by women, who when they obtained sons gave a name significant of the gift.

(Hom. in Matthew 1.) Matthew, who wrote as for the Jews, had no further object than to show that Christ proceeded from Abraham and David, for this was most grateful to the Jews. Luke however, as speaking to all men in common, carried his account beyond as far even as Adam. Hence it follows, Who was the son of Thara. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

John Chrysostom ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): Or, He waited accomplishing the whole law until that age which takes in every sin, that none might say that He abrogated the law because He was not able to fulfil it. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Julius Africanus: But if, with Luke, we reckon them from Nathan the son of David, in like manner the third from the end is Mel chi, whose son was Heli the father of Joseph. For Joseph was the son of Hell, the son of Mel chi. — Julius Africanus The Epistle to Aristides

Origen of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): Having related our Lord’s baptism, he next enters upon the generation of the Lord, not bringing it down from the higher to the lower, but beginning with Christ, he carries it up to God Himself. Hence he says, And Jesus Himself began. For when He was baptized, and had Himself undergone the mystery of the second birth, then He is said to have begun, that thou also mightest destroy this first birth and be born in the second.

The Lord descending into the world took upon Him the person of all sinners, and was willing to be born of the stock of Solomon, (as Matthew relates,) whose sins have been written down, and of the rest, many of whom did evil in the sight of God. But when He ascended, and is described as being born a second time in baptism, (as Luke relates,) He is not born through Salomon, but Nathan, who reproves the father for the death of Uriah, and the birth of Solomon. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Origen of Alexandria: Our Lord and Savior, who was far better than Melchizedek, whose lineage Scripture has not disclosed, is now described as having been born according to the order of the fathers; and although his divinity is not subject to any human beginning, for your sake, who were born in the flesh, he willed to be born. And yet the order of his birth is not narrated in the same way by the evangelists, a matter which has greatly troubled some people. For Matthew, beginning to weave the sequence of that birth from Abraham, arrives at the point of saying: “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was in this way”, and he describes not the one who was baptized, but the one who came into the world; whereas Luke, in setting forth his birth, does not lead down from higher to lower, but, when he had first spoken of him as baptized, ascends all the way to God himself. Nor are the persons the same in his genealogy when he is said to descend and when he is said to ascend. For the one who makes him descend from the heavens introduces women too, and not just any women, but sinful ones, and women whom Scripture had censured; but the one who narrates him as baptized makes mention of no woman. In Matthew, therefore, as we have said, there is named Tamar, who by deceit lay with her father-in-law, and Ruth the Moabite, not of the stock of Israel, and Rahab, whose origin I cannot know, and the wife of Uriah, who violated her husband’s bed. For because our Lord and Savior had come for this purpose, that he might take up the sins of men, and God “made him who had done no sin to be sin for us”, therefore, descending into the world, he assumed the person of sinful and vicious men, and willed to be born of the line of Solomon, whose sins are recorded, and of Rehoboam, whose transgressions are related, and of the rest, many of whom did “evil in the sight of the Lord”. But when he ascends from the washing and is described as born a second time, he is born not through Solomon, but through Nathan, who rebuked his father over the death of Uriah and the birth of Solomon. But in Matthew the term “begetting” is always added; here, however, it is entirely passed over in silence. For there it is written: “Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, Jacob begot Judah and his brothers, Judah begot Perez and Zerah of Tamar”, and right up to the end “begot” is always attached. But in Luke, where Jesus ascends from the washing, he is called “son”, “as was supposed, of Joseph”; and in so long a series of names, except for the fact that he “was supposed to be the son of Joseph”, the term “begetting” is nowhere written down. In Matthew it is not written: “he was beginning”; but here, because he was about to ascend from baptism, “he was beginning” is read, Scripture relating: “and this same Jesus was beginning”. For when he was baptized and took up the mystery of the second birth, so that you too might destroy your former nativity and be born in the second regeneration, then he is said “to have begun”. And just as the people of the Jews, when they were in Egypt, did not have a beginning of months, but when they had gone out of Egypt, then it is said to them: “this month, the beginning of months, shall be the first for you among the months of the year”, so he who is not yet baptized is not narrated “to have begun”. For let us not suppose that it was added in vain to that which is said, “this same was Jesus”, what follows: “beginning”. But this also, which he says, “about thirty years old”, must be considered. “Joseph was thirty years old” when he was released from his chains and, having interpreted the dream of Pharaoh, was made ruler of Egypt, and in the time of plenty gathered wheat, so that in the time of famine he might have what he could distribute. I think that the thirty years of Joseph went before, as a type of the thirty years of the Savior. For this Joseph gathered not such wheat as that Joseph in Egypt, but true and heavenly wheat, so that, the wheat having been gathered in the time of plenty, he might have what he could distribute when famine had been sent into Egypt, “not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the word of God”. And so he gathers from the prophets, from the law, from the apostles the words of abundance, so that when now no more books are written, nor is any new instrument composed, nor are apostles sent, then he may distribute those things which had been brought together by Jesus into the storehouses of the apostles — that is, into their souls and the souls of all the saints — and may nourish Egypt, imperiled by famine, and especially his brothers, of whom it is written: “I will declare your name to my brothers, in the midst of the church I will sing to you”. Other men too have words of patience and words of justice and the words of the remaining virtues; this is the wheat which Joseph distributed to the Egyptians. But the grain which he gives to his brothers, that is, to his disciples, is another kind, from the land of Goshen, from that land which looks toward the east: the wheat of the Gospel, the wheat of the apostles. From this wheat we ought to make loaves, yet in such a way that they are not mixed with “the old leaven”, and that we may have new bread milled from the wheat and flour of the Scriptures in Christ Jesus: to whom is glory and dominion for ages of ages. Amen. — HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF Luke 28

Origen of Alexandria: But you too, who hear these things, if you attend to the holy Scriptures in your leisure, will find very many deeds of great matters contained under the number thirty or fifty. At thirty years of age Joseph is brought out of prison and receives the sovereignty of all Egypt, that by divine foresight he might drive off the ruin of the impending famine. Jesus is related to be of thirty years when He came to the baptism and “saw the heavens divided and the Spirit of God coming upon Himself in the likeness of a dove”; where also the mystery of the Trinity first began to be disclosed. — HOMILIES ON Genesis 2.5

Prudentius: What do you say about the sacred words of Luke When he the genealogy repeats, The fleshly line retracing through old sires? Up generations seventy-two Christ mounts—so many teachers into the world He sent—and by the steps down to his birth Goes back to Adam, head of earthly flesh. The Father then receives his Son and us, And Adam son of God becomes through Christ. Nothing now remains but that you deem this race Unreal, Levi, Judah, Simeon, King David, other mighty kings, unreal, The virgin’s swelling womb itself grown big With lying vapor, flimsy clouds and mist. That airy blood dissolves, the bones grow soft And melt, the trembling muscles disappear. That every deed the idle wind dispels, The breezes scatter, all an empty tale. — THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST 1001-18

Pseudo-Augustine ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (Aug. Quæst. Nov. ac Vet. Test. 56.) Or in another way; Matthew descends from David through Salomon to Joseph: but Luke beginning from Eli, who was in the line of our Saviour, ascends through the line of Nathan the son of David, and joins the tribes of Eli and Joseph, showing that they are both of the same family, and thereby that the Saviour was not only the Son of Joseph, but also of Eli. For by the same reason by which the Saviour is called the son of Joseph, he is also the son of Eli, and of all the rest who are of the same tribe. Hence that which the Apostle says, Of whom are the fathers, and from whom Christ came according to the flesh. (Rom. 9:5.) — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Luke 3:31

Augustine of Hippo ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (Retract. i. c. 26.) But it must be confessed that a prophet of this same name reproves David, that he might be thought to be the same man, whereas he was different. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Gregory of Nazianzus ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): (Carm. 18.) But some say that there is one succession from David to Joseph, which each Evangelist relates under different names. But this is absurd, since at the beginning of this genealogy, two brothers come in Nathan and Salomon, from whom the lines are carried in different ways.

(ubi sup.) From David upwards according to each Evangelist there is an unbroken line of descent; as it follows, Who was the son of Jesse. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Luke 3:32

Bede: Who was (he says) Mathan, who was David, who was Jesse. This number which Luke follows certainly indicates the abolition of sins, about which you will see in its place. Do not be surprised if Luke lists more successions from David to Christ, and Matthew fewer: that is, the former forty-three, the latter twenty-eight, admitting that the generation runs through different persons. For it can happen that some lived a long life, while men of another generation died prematurely, since we see many old men living with their grandchildren, but other men die as soon as they have begotten sons. — On the Gospel of Luke

Luke 3:36

Bede: Who was Sela, who was Cainan, who was Arphaxad. The name and generation of Cainan, according to Hebrew truth, is found neither in Genesis nor in the Words of the Days; but it is claimed that Arphaxad begat Sela or Sale as a son without any intermediary; for it is written: Now Arphaxad lived thirty years and begot Sale (Gen. XI). And likewise in Chronicles: Arphaxad begot Sala, who also begot Heber (1 Chronicles I). Therefore, understand that blessed Luke took this genealogy from the edition of the seventy interpreters, where it is written that Arphaxad at the age of one hundred and thirty-five begat Cainan, and Cainan, when he was one hundred and thirty years old, begat Sela. But which of these is true, or if both can be true, God knows. We simply remind the reader that such a great discrepancy exists between the two codes in the series of time that from the flood to the birth of Abraham in Hebrew truth there are found to be 292 years, but in the translation of the seventy interpreters, 1,077 years are comprehended. And some chronographers, taking a middle course, removing only the generation of Cainan, and without correcting the other years according to the Hebrew example, describe 942 years of the same period. — On the Gospel of Luke

Bede ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): The name and generation of Cainan, according to the Hebrew reading, is found neither in Genesis, nor in the Chronicles, (dierum Vulg. verbis.) but Arphaxad is stated to have begot Sala his son, without any one intervening. Know then that Luke borrowed this generation from the Septuagint, where it is written, that Arphaxad at a hundred and thirty-five years old begot Cainan, but he at a hundred and thirty years begot Sala. It follows, Who was the son of Arphaxad. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Luke 3:37

Bede: He was Methuselah, he was Enoch. Beautifully the order of generations ascending from the baptized Son of God to God the Father, in the seventieth degree holds Enoch, who, with death delayed, was translated to paradise, to signify those who, regenerated in the grace of adoption of sons by water and the Holy Spirit, will in the meantime, after the absolution of the body, be received into eternal rest (since the number seventy, on account of the seventh Sabbath, most fittingly signifies the rest of those who, aided by the grace of Christ, have fulfilled the Decalogue of the law) and at the time of the resurrection, will be shown to be joined to the immutable wisdom of God, contemplating through the ages. — On the Gospel of Luke

Bede ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): But rightly rising up from the baptized Son of God to God the Father, he places Enoch in the seventy-seventh step, who, having put off death, was translated unto Paradise, that he might signify that those, who by the grace of adoption of sons are born again of water and the Holy Spirit, are in the mean time (after the dissolution of the body) to be received into eternal rest, for the number seventy, because of the seventh of the sabbath, signifies the rest of those who, the grace of God assisting them, have fulfilled the decalogue of the aw. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Luke 3:38

Ambrose of Milan ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)): What could better agree than that the holy generation should commence from the Son of God, and be carried up even to the Son of God; and that he who was created should precede in a figure, in order that he who was born might follow in substance, so that he who was made after the image of God might go before, for whose sake the image of God was to descend. For Luke thought that the origin of Christ should be referred to God, because God is the true progenitor of Christ, or the Father according to the true birth, or the Author of the mystical gift according to baptism and regeneration, and therefore he did not from the first begin to describe His generation, but not till after he had unfolded His baptism, that both by nature and by grace, he might declare Him to be the Son of God. But what more evident sign of His divine generation than that when about to speak of it St. Luke introduces first the Father, saying, Thou art my beloved Son? — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Ambrose of Milan: Therefore Luke also thought that his origin should be traced back to God. Because God is the true Father of Christ, either the Father according to the true generation or the Author of the mystical gift—according to the regeneration of baptism. Furthermore, he did not start by describing his generation but first set forth his baptism. He desired to show him as God, the Author of all, weaving everything together through baptism. He also stated that Christ derived from God in the order of succession, in order to prove him the Son of God according to nature, according to grace and according to the flesh. Then what clearer evidence is there of divine generation than that before speaking of Jesus’ generation, Luke has the Father himself saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”? — EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF Luke 3.11

Bede: Who was Seth, who was Adam, who was of God. Because no iniquity of Christ, who had none, is of course joined with the iniquities of men, which he took upon himself in his flesh; therefore, the number according to Matthew, except for Christ, is forty. But because he unites us, cleansed and purged from all sin, to his own righteousness and that of his Father, as the Apostle says: “But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit” (I Cor. VI), therefore in that number according to Luke, both Christ himself, from whom the enumeration begins, and God, to whom it leads, are included, and the number becomes seventy-eight, signifying the complete remission and abolition of all sins. For the Lord also made mention of this number when Peter asked him about forgiving a brother’s sins. For he said: not only seven times, but seventy times seven must be forgiven (Matt. XVIII). Whence it is rightly believed that by the mention of this number, he ordered all sins to be forgiven. Nor did the Lord come in the seventieth and seventh generation to abolish all sins without reason or in vain, except because something lies hidden in that number which pertains to the signification of all sins. This is to be considered in the number eleven and seven. These numbers, when multiplied by each other, reach such an amount. For eleven times seven, or seven times eleven, make seventy-seven. But eleven signifies the transgression of ten. And if in ten is signified the perfection of blessedness, whence also it is that all those hired to the vineyard are rewarded with a denarius (Matt. XX), which happens when the seven-fold creature is joined to the Trinity of the Creator, it is clear that the transgression of ten signifies sin, by the proud desire of having something more and losing the integrity and perfection. This is multiplied by seven because that transgression made by the movement of man is signified. For the incorporeal part of man is signified by the number three. Whence it is that we are ordered to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind (Mark XII). But the body is four; for many ways the nature of the body is found fourfold. Therefore, man, consisting of these combined, is not absurdly signified by the number seven. And movement is not expressed in numbers when we say one, two, three, four, etc., but when we say once, twice, thrice, four times. Accordingly (as I said), not seven and eleven, but seven times eleven signifies the transgression, made by the movement of the sinning man, that is, overstepping the stability of his perfection by the desire for having more. Therefore, suitably by multiplying eleven by seven, all sins reach the number seventy-seven. In which number also is found the full remission of sins, atoning us by the flesh of our priest, from whom this number now begins, and reconciling us to God, to whom this number now extends, through the Holy Spirit who appeared in the form of a dove in this baptism, where this number is mentioned. But if anyone wishes to dispute the exposition given above, by saying that Matthew listed not forty-one but forty-two generations, because, according to the account of the Chronicles, Jechoniah should be counted for two persons, namely father and son, let him understand that the same number nonetheless intimates the present time of the Church, which, with the Lord’s cooperation, labors in the hope of the future Sabbath. For seven times six makes forty-two. And it is rare to find anyone who doubts that six pertains to work and seven to signaling rest. Wherefore, rightly, the people saved from the land of Egypt remained forty years in the desert, but because they diligently strove under the hope of entering into rest, they camped in forty-two exceedingly narrow paths. At the last of these, when they received Jesus as leader, immediately through the opening of the Jordan, they entered the promised seats, having conquered their enemies. Just as the Lord Jesus, in the forty-second generation, coming in the flesh since the world dispelled the shadows of ancient blindness with Abraham believing, opened to us the gates of heaven through the washing of baptism. And we ourselves, through the perfected course of virtues, in which we wait with patience, hoping for what we do not see (Romans VIII), under the sacrament of the same number (as has been said), will arrive at the promised kingdoms of the heavenly homeland, joyfully crossing the river dried up by Christ as leader. And since by that same baptism which He began at thirty, He is about to cleanse the stains of the entire Church, the mystical connection of these numbers also reveals this. Because, evidently, the number thirty, computed with its equal parts, adds up to twelve, which is the number of patriarchs and apostles, and becomes forty-two. For its equal parts are: thirty one, one; fifteenth, two; tenth, three; sixth, five; fifth, six; third, ten; half, fifteen. Which, joined together, make forty-two. Where mystically (as we said) it is indicated that the entirety of the Church’s perfection consists in the faith and grace of Christ, which was first recognized by the patriarchs and more widely proclaimed by the voice of the apostles. Nor is there any other name under heaven in which we must be saved (Acts IV), just as in forty-two there is no part that is not contained in the parts of the number thirty. Therefore, the number thirty, with its parts, completes forty-two, because the Lord, through the sacraments of His baptism, both presently fortifies the Church laboring temporally and, after the labors are finished, leads it to eternal rest. — On the Gospel of Luke