Homilies on Luke

Homily 27. Luke 3.18-22

HOMILY 27 Luke 3.I8-22 On the passagefrom, "He was also proclaiming many other things [to the people] and encouraging them, " up to the point where it says, "The Holy Spirit came down upon him. " NE WHO TEACHES the word ofthe Gospel proclaims not one thing, but many. Scripture indicates this when it says, "He was also proclaiming many other things [to the people] and encouraging [them]."! Therefore,John also preached "other things" to the people, which have not been recorded. But consider how many things there are that have been recorded. He proclaimed Christ. He pointed him out. He preached the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He taught the tax collectors salvation and the soldiers discipline. He taught that the threshing floor was being cleansed, trees cut down, and the rest, which the account in the Gospel narrates. Hence, apart from these things that have been written down, he is shown to have proclaimed other things, which are not written down. For the Scripture says, "He was also proclaiming many other things to the people and encouraging them.'" 2. The Gospel According toJohn reports about Christ that he said many other things "that are not written in this book";' "if they were written down, I do not think that the world itself would be able to hold the books thatwould have to be written. " 4 Thus too, in the present instance, understand that perhaps Luke was unwilling to record those things explicitly, because John proclaimed some things thatwere too great to be committed to writing. He only indicated that they were said. For this reason he wrote, "He was also proclaiming many other things 1. Lk 3.1 8. 3·]n 20.30. 112 2. Lk 3.18. +]n 21.25. HOMILY 27 113 to the people and encouraging them."5We should also admire John because ofthosewords thatcome later, especiallybecause there was "no one among the sons ofwomen greater thanJohn the Baptist."6 By merit of his virtue, he rose to such a high estimate that many thought he was the Christ.7 3. But this is even more remarkable: Herod the Tetrarch had royal powerand was enabled to kill him when hewished. Herod had committed an unjust act and, against the law of Moses, taken his brother's wife. She had a daughter from her previous husband.John did not fear Herod nor respect his person. He did not think, as I said, of his royal power. He did not fear death. For, he knew, even if he were not a prophet, that if Herod were provoked he could kill him. He knew all of this. But with prophetic freedoms he rebuked Herod and condemned his incestuous marriage. For this reason he was confined in prison.John was not anxious about death or about an uncertain sentence. When he was in chains, he was thinking about Christ, whom he had proclaimed. He himselfcould not go to Christ, so he sent his disciples to ask a question: "Are you he who is to come, or do we wait for another?"g 4. Notice that even while in prison he is teaching. For, he also had his disciples in that place. Why did they stay there, unlessJohn exercised the office ofteacher even in prison and taught them with divine words? In the course of these words, a question aboutJesus arose. John sends some of his disciples and asks, "Are you he who is to come or do we waitfor another?" The disciples return and announce to the teacher what the Savior had bidden them to say. With Jesus' words, John was armed for battle. He died confidently, and was beheaded without resistance, strengthened by the words of the Lord himself and believing that he in whom he believed was truly the Son ofGod. This iswhatwe have to sayaboutJohn, and his freedom, and about Herod's madness. To his many other crimes he also added this one: he first shutJohn up in prison and afterwards beheaded him. 5. Lk 3.18. 7· Lk 3· 15· 9. Mt 11.3· 6. Lk 7.28. 8. Cf. Commentary on Matthew 10.22. 114 ORIGEN 5. The Lord was baptized. The heavens were opened and "the Holy Spirit came down upon him." A voice from the heavens thundered and said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am pleased."IO We should say that heaven was opened at the baptism...