Chapter Three

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor in Judea, Herod was tetrarch in Galilee, Philip his brother was tetrarch in Ituraea and the region of Trachonite, and Lysanias was tetrarch in Abilene, under the high priests Annas and Caiaphas, was the word of God to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. And he went through all the country round about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

The time and the rulers are justly mentioned, in order to show that under Christ the succession of the leaders of the Jews ceased; since the hegemon was Pilate, a man of another people, the tetrarchs were the sons of Herod the Ascalonite, and therefore it would be taken as true that Christ had come, according to the prophecy of Jacob (Gen. 49:10)! "There was," it is said, "the word of God to John," so that you may know that he came to bear witness to Christ, not as an impostor, but because he was moved by the Spirit of God. By "word" you mean either the Holy Spirit, or the command of God. The Word of God to John was "in the wilderness." Since the children of the abandoned church (in Church Slavonic, empty), that is, the church of the Gentiles, were more numerous than the children of the church with a husband (Isaiah 54:1), that is, the church of the Jews, the word and command of God was appropriate for John when he was in the wilderness. He preached to people the baptism of repentance, that is, confession. And this baptism helped them to forgive their sins, which is granted through the baptism of Christ. For the baptism of John did not have the remission of sins, but led to remission, that is, it prepared people to receive Christ's baptism, which has the remission of sins.

As it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, who says: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths; let every valley be filled, and every mountain and hill be made low, the crookedness straightened, and the rough paths made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

The "way" that commands to be prepared is a way of life according to the teaching of Christ; for the Lord soon had to preach. "Paths" are commandments of the Law, as if already worn out. It is commanded to make them "straight" because the Pharisees corrupted the commandments. By "path" one can also understand the soul, and by "paths" thoughts and deeds. Therefore, we must prepare our souls and make our deeds and thoughts right. Then, as if someone asked: how are we going to do this? For virtue is not easy to fulfill, and encounters many intrigues and obstacles, both from evil forces and from the passions that dwell in us? He replies that nothing will be difficult, but everything is comfortable. For the valleys will be "filled," that is, our natural strengths, weakened for good and reduced to a low state, will be replenished; "every mountain and hill," that is, the opposing forces and desires that seem to us to be invested with nature, have truly weakened: and everything has become even, and the crooked has changed to a straight one. For Christ abolished the opposing forces, which are here called mountains and hills, and revived our natural impulses to good, which the Evangelist called the valleys that are filled. For He became incarnate in order to restore our nature to its own form. "All flesh shall see," it is said, "the salvation of God," not only the Jews and sojourners, but all flesh, for the Gospel has been carried throughout the whole earth. Much more could be said, but let it be said more clearly.

[John] said to the people who came to be baptized by him, "Offspring of vipers! Who inspired you to flee from the wrath to come? Produce therefore worthy fruits of repentance, and do not think to say in yourselves, 'Our father is Abraham,' for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. Already the axe lies at the root of the trees: every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

He calls the Jews "the offspring of vipers," because they insulted their fathers and mothers; for this animal, they say, devours the womb of its mother, and is thus born. Moreover, they killed prophets and teachers. "Future wrath" is called eternal punishment. "The worthy fruits of repentance" are not only a departure from evil, but also an exercise in good; for the accomplishment of good is truly the fruit and offspring of repentance. Do not begin to say in yourselves that you are of good lineage, and, trusting in your fathers, do not abandon virtue. God will be able to give children to the patriarch from these stones; for he had done much like this before. Sarah's womb, though harder than stones, yet she received the grace of childbirth. The "axe" is the divine judgment that plucks the unworthy from among the living. If, he says, you do not repent, you will be deprived of life. The axe lies "at the root" of your trees. By "root" we mean life, as we have said. But by "root" we can also understand kinship with Abraham. From this kinship with Abraham, according to the Apostle (Romans 11:19-21), those are cut off who are unworthy to be his branches. The punishment is twofold, for the sinful and barren one is not only cut off from kinship with the righteous, but is also cast into the fire.