CHAPTER 5

From Isaiah.

Of the Preaching of John in the Wilderness. 

[Passage quoted, Isa. xl. 3.]

THIS prophecy too was necessarily to be fulfilled in the (c) times of our Saviour. And according to the Evangelist Luke, in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judaea, and those numbered with him, the Word of God came to John, the son of Zachariah, in the wilderness, "And he went into all the country around Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." To this the evangelist adds the witness, saying, "As it is written in the books of the words of Isaiah the prophet, 'The Voice of One crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord,'" and that which follows. What then did John's voice shout in its preaching in the (d) wilderness, but an invitation to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, as to reptiles of the wilderness, akin to his "generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? "And he changed too the crooked souls into straight, and the rough roads into smooth by saying to them, "Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance." And this was fulfilled when John had prepared them to behold the glory of the Lord, and what is called "the salvation of our God," which is the Christ, as he bore witness, saying:

"I indeed baptize you with water, but there cometh (429) one after me that is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." 

Who also seeing Jesus coming cried:

"Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world: This is he of whom I spake, a man cometh after me, who was before me.''

And Symeon also bare witness that the same Jesus was "the salvation of God," who took Him in his arms when He was still an infant, and said:

"Now thou art letting thy servant, O Lord, depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen - 162 - thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face (b) of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles."

With which the prophet agrees, saying, "And all flesh shall see the salvation of God." For "all flesh" stands for "all the nations." And I need not say this was fulfilled, and that all nations knew the Christ of God. Such was the literal fulfilment of the prophecy.

(c) But why did John go forth to preach in the wilderness, and not in cities, or in Jerusalem itself? It might be answered that he did so in fulfilment of the prophecy. But a critical questioner will at once inquire, what this prophecy meant to teach when it spoke of the wilderness and the things to do with it. And I should reply to him that it is a symbol of the destruction of Jerusalem, and the Altar there, and of the Mosaic worship, because the forgiveness of sins was no longer extended to them by the legal (d) sacrifices, but by the cleansing and washing delivered to her that was before thirsty and deserted; I mean the Gentile Church, in which also the prophetic voice bids to prepare the way of the Lord, foretelling that the souls which are lying deep in sin as in a valley will be raised up, and that the old heights of Jerusalem, and of her rulers and kings, called "mountains and hills," shall be laid low, which being completed, he says, "All flesh shall see the salvation of God," meaning every soul united with a body, both Greek and Barbarian, of every nation without exception, and this is seen to have been fulfilled according to the prophecy.

(430) Now let me ask myself what it was in John that struck the multitude with fear, so that they marvelled at him and put trust in his baptism of repentance, and all from every side left their homes, and flowed in one stream into the wilderness, having regard to the fact that the records give no account of anything he did; for we are not told that he raised the dead, or worked other miracles.

What then was it that struck the multitude? Surely it was his manner of life so strange and different to that of the people; for he came forth from the desert clad in a strange (b) garment, refusing all social human intercourse, he went not into village or city or the human haunts of men, he did not even share their common food; for it is written that from childhood he was in the deserts, until the day of his shewing - 163 - forth, to Israel, yes, and his raiment was made of camels' hair, and his food locusts and wild honey.

How, then, should they not have been naturally alarmed, when they saw a man, with the hair of a Nazarite of God, (c) and a divine face, suddenly appearing from the lonely wilderness clothed in a strange kind of dress, and after preaching to them going back again into the wilderness, without eating or drinking or mingling with the people, and must they not have suspected that he was more than human? For how could a man not need food? And so they understood him to be an angel, the very angel foretold by the prophet, in the words, "Behold, I send my angel before (d) thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee," a passage of Scripture which is quoted by the Evangelist Mark. And the Saviour also bears witness in the words, "John came neither eating nor drinking, and you say, He hath a devil." For it was just as natural that unbelievers, with minds hardened and shut against the truth, should thus blaspheme John because of his living as he did, as that those who were in accord with his noble character should reckon him an angel. Such, then, I understand to be the reasons why John was a marvel to those who saw him; and therefore they hastened from all sides to the cleansing of the soul, of which he preached.

Josephus, too, records his story in the Eighteenth Book (431) of the Jewish Archeology, writing as follows:

"Now. some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod's army ¹ came from God, and that very justly as a punishment of what he did against John, that was called the Baptist; for Herod slew him, who was a good man, and commanded the Jews to exercise righteousness towards one another, and piety towards God, and so to come to baptism. For so the washing would be (b) acceptable to Him."²