HOMILY III. ON THE COMING OF THE LORD.
MARK. XIV. At that time John was in the desert baptizing and preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
John, preceding the advent of the Lord's preaching, as you have heard from the reading of the holy Gospel, dearest brothers, was in the desert baptizing and preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Where we should attentively observe the distinction of the words where it is said that he was baptizing and preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. For he indeed baptized with the baptism of repentance for the confession and amendment of sins, and preached the baptism of repentance to come in Christ for the remission of sins: in whose Baptism alone the remission of sins is granted to us, as the Apostle testifies, who says: One Lord, one faith, one Baptism, one God (Eph. IV). It is rightly called the baptism of repentance because no one desires to be baptized in the fountain of life for any other reason than that he repents of being bound by the guilt of the first transgression with the death of both soul and body. But if we ask why John baptized, whose baptized could not have their sins forgiven; the reason is clear and open, because he was keeping the office of his precursor, just as he was to be born, preach, and die before the Lord; so he also ought to baptize: lest an envious contention of the Pharisees and scribes should carp at the Lord's dispensation, if he first gave baptism to men: but if they wanted to ask in what power he baptized, they would immediately hear: The baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven, or from men? (Mark II. ) Because when they did not dare to deny it was from heaven, they would be compelled to acknowledge the works of him whom John preached as done from heaven. Yet, the baptism of John, although it did not forgive sins, was not wholly fruitless for those receiving it, because it was given, if not for the remission of sins, for a sign of faith and repentance: so that surely all who were initiated in this might remember to abstain from sins, to insist on almsgiving, to believe in Christ, and to hasten to His Baptism wherein they would be cleansed for the remission of sins as soon as He appeared. But that John gave his baptism in the desert, and preached the baptism of Christ, indeed, he lived his whole life in the deserts from a boy: therefore, it is so that the highest teacher might confirm by example what he preached by words; and he who urged his listeners to depart from sins by repenting, might himself avoid the vices of sinners, not only by the purity of mind but also by the position of the body. Typically, however, the desert in which John dwelt signifies the life of the saints separated from the allurements of the world, who, whether they live alone or mixed among crowds, always entirely scorn the desires of the present age with a watchful mind, prefer to cling to God in the hiddenness of the heart, and delight to place their hope in Him: which the Prophet, desirous of reaching the solitude of the mind most cherished by God, with the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit, said: Who will give me wings like a dove? and I will fly and be at rest (Ps. LV); and having immediately attained it with God's help, rejoicing, as if mocking the common entanglements of earthly desires, he adds: Behold, I have fled far away and lodged in the wilderness (Ibid.). Finally, the Lord, having freed the people by the blood of the lamb from Egypt, and led them through the Red Sea, first instructed them in the desert for forty years, and then led them into the promised land: because indeed the faithful people cannot immediately after baptism enjoy the heavenly homeland’s joys, but first, having been exercised in the long struggles of virtues, must afterwards be rewarded with the perpetual gifts of heavenly beatitude. But the fruit with which John preached is shown by what follows, when it is said:
And all the region of Judea and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem went out to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. The sense of the letter is evident, for those who were closer or more learned were the first to abundantly accept the word of salvation. But since Judea means confession, and Jerusalem means vision of peace, we can understand mystically those who have learned the confession of true faith, who have loved the vision of heavenly peace, to be designated under the appellations of Judea and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. For such people are mostly to be believed to have gone out to John in the desert for receiving baptism. Such people also now, upon hearing the word of God, depart from their former way of life and undertake the solitude of a spiritual life after the example of faithful teachers; for evidently, chastised daily by the new way of life, as if daily baptized in the Jordan by the tears of their compunction, they are purified from every contagion of creeping vices, according to him who says: I will wash my bed every night, I will water my couch with my tears (Psalm VI). Hence rightly the stream of the Jordan is interpreted as judgment: for the elect, the more diligently they examine their conscience by scrutinizing it, the more they pour out broader streams of tears from the depths of their heart, so that, finding themselves to be less perfect, they wash away the filth of their frailty with the waves of repentance.
And John was clothed with camel's hair, and a leather girdle around his loins, and he ate locusts and wild honey. As for the literal meaning of his garment and food, the humility fitting for a solitary and a herald of penance is shown. But figuratively, the camel's hair, from which sackcloth is made, represents penance or continence, which he himself practiced and taught others. The leather girdle, taken from a dead animal, signifies that he mortified his earthly members and taught his hearers to do the same. It is well known that loins often signify lust: hence the Lord's command concerning this and for acquiring the glory of chastity is: "Let your loins be girded, and lamps burning in your hands" (Luke 12). He who has utterly vanquished lustful desires has surely girded his loins with a leather girdle. By the locusts, which quickly fly from the ground but soon return to it, and the wild honey which he ate with them, the brevity and sweetness of his preaching are intimated, for he was listened to gladly by the people when he preached, and quickly ended his preaching and baptizing with the coming of the Lord. If anyone wishes to interpret John's attire and diet as prefiguring the Lord Savior, believing it is appropriate that he signified by his life what he proclaimed by prophecy, this intention is to be gladly followed; understanding that camel's hair, on account of sackcloth, signifies those who cleanse their sins by penance, fasting, and weeping; the leather girdle, on account of the death of the animal from which it is made, signifies those who have crucified their flesh with its vices and desires. And because it is written: "As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Galatians 3), when such people adhere to Christ with diligent love, they are clothed as it were with camel's hair and girded with a leather belt around their loins. The locust, because of its brief flight, suggests the fickle mind of the Jewish people, who wavered between the Lord and idols. Wild honey signifies the sweetness of natural talent by which the uncultivated people of foreign nations were refreshed. And while the Lord selects from both peoples those whom he teaches to join into the unity of his body, which is the Church, he is indeed fed by locusts and wild honey; for from those who eagerly sought heavenly things despite their instability, and those who only knew the taste of earthly philosophy, he converted many into his members. After describing John's place, ministry, attire, and food, the form of his preaching is immediately added.
And he preached saying: There comes one mightier than I after me. Indeed, he is very strong who confesses sins, stronger who baptizes in forgiveness; strong, who is worthy to have the Holy Spirit; strong, who bestows: strong, in whom no one born of women is greater; stronger, to whom a little lower than the angels, all things are subjected under his feet: strong, who first came to preach the kingdom of heaven; stronger, who alone could give it: Whose shoe latchet I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose (Mark I). And if he confessed himself worthy of this only ministry whereby he stoops to unloose the shoe latchet, it would indeed be an indication of great devotion; but now, because of the virtue of remarkable humility, he testifies that he is not even worthy to perform this ministry. But if we intend this in mystery, the decree of the law is clear: because he who, by the right of kinship, did not wish to take his owed wife himself, but allowed another to take her, was commanded to give his shoe loosed from his foot to the one who would take her as a sign of permission. And since the people rightly believed John to be Christ by his virtues, they believed him to be the bridegroom of the Church. But John himself, to show who he is, says: He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and listens to him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice (John III). Therefore he does not suffer himself to be believed the bridegroom, lest he lose the friendship of the bridegroom, which is to testify that he is not worthy to unloose his shoe latchets. Finally, when Moses and Joshua were set as leaders of the synagogue, they were commanded to loose their shoes, that they might understand that he who commanded these things should be believed to be the bridegroom, that is, the Lord of the synagogue, but themselves to be friends of the bridegroom, in that they were set over the same synagogue, they both should be called and should be.
I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. According to the evangelist Matthew, it is said that John said: "I indeed baptize you in water for repentance" (Mt. III). Therefore, John baptized with water so that all whom he could persuade to repent and believe in Christ, he might separate from the crowd of unbelievers and unrepentant with the mark of his Baptism: so that they would not think that this martyrdom would suffice for salvation, but rather hasten to the Baptism of Christ, he added: "But he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." Indeed, he baptizes with the Holy Spirit who forgives sins by the gift of the Holy Spirit; and upon receiving the remission of sins, he also bestows the grace of the same Spirit. For the very giving of the charismata in the baptism of the Spirit is rightly called the baptism of the Spirit, as testified by him who, about to ascend into heaven, promises his disciples, saying: "John indeed baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence" (Acts I), signifying that the Holy Spirit would come down upon them on the tenth day of his ascension in flaming tongues. It is rightly asked whether the Lord, who baptizes all believers with the Spirit, also baptized anyone with water. Neither should the ministry of baptizing be deemed unworthy of such majesty, which he might have exhibited through some of his disciples, by whom he propagated the gifts of baptism to the rest of his members, since he did not disdain the memorable office of washing the disciples' feet. But whether he then baptized with water personally or subsequently through his own, he alone baptizes with the Holy Spirit, who gives us the Spirit and works virtues in us. Let us always strive to keep his grace in us intact and uncorrupted, my brothers, always persisting in good works, but especially now when we must soon celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, being more diligent than usual, so that whatever negligence we find creeping into us, we may quickly strive to remove; whatever virtue we lack, we may more quickly seek to acquire, uprooting the thorns of discord, reproach, quarrels, murmuring, and other vices; and plant in ourselves charity, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faith, gentleness, self-control, and other fruits of the Spirit, so that on that day we may approach the Lord's altar with pure bodies and clear consciences and be deemed worthy to partake of his holy mysteries, who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.