Chapter 3
[Luke 3:1] -- 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.
[Luke 3:2] -- 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.
[Luke 3:3] -- 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.
[Luke 3:4] -- 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.
[Luke 3:5] -- 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.
[Luke 3:5] -- 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.
[Luke 3:6] -- 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.
[Luke 3:7] -- 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.
[Luke 3:8] -- 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:
[Luke 3:8] -- 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' (Psalm 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.
[Luke 3:9] -- 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.
[Luke 3:9] -- 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:
[Luke 3:10] -- And the crowds asked him, saying: What then shall we do? For they were struck with terror, seeking advice.
[Luke 3:11] -- 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.
[Luke 3:12] -- 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.
[Luke 3:14] -- 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.
[Luke 3:15] -- 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.
[Luke 3:16] -- 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.
[Luke 3:16] -- 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.
[Luke 3:17] -- 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.
[Luke 3:17] -- 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.
[Luke 3:19] -- 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.
[Luke 3:21] -- 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.
[Luke 3:22] -- 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.
[Luke 3:22] -- 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 (Psalm 110).
[Luke 3:23] -- 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.
[Luke 3:23] -- 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.
[Luke 3:23] -- 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.
[Luke 3:32] -- 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.
[Luke 3:36] -- 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.
[Luke 3:37] -- 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.
[Luke 3:38] -- 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.