Luke recalls the rulers of the Roman republic and the rulers of Judea to indicate the time when our Redeemer’s forerunner received his mission to preach. . . .

Since John was coming to preach one who was to redeem some from Judea and many from among the Gentiles, the period of his preaching is indicated by naming the Gentiles’ ruler and those of the Jews. But because the Gentiles were to be gathered together and Judea dispersed on account of the error of its faithlessness, this description of earthly rule also shows us that in the Roman republic one person presided.

It is apparent, then, that Judea, which lay divided among so many kings, had reached the end of its sovereignty.

It was also appropriate to indicate not only under which kings but also under which high priests this occurred. Since John the Baptist preached one who was at once both king and priest, the evangelist Luke indicated the time of his preaching by referring to both the kingship and the high priesthood.

The Son of God, who is to gather the church, first works in a servant. Thus St. Luke fittingly says that the Word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness, so that the church would not begin from a man but from the Word. For she is a wilderness, because children of depravity outnumber hers, though she has a husband. Then it is said to her, Sing, O barren one,^[1] and, Break forth together into singing, you waste places,^[2] because the desert had not yet been cultivated by any work of a flock of people, nor had those trees which could bear fruit displayed the crown of their merits. The one who said, I am like a green olive tree in the house of the Lord,^[3] had not yet come, nor had that heavenly Vine borne fruit with its shoots of words on the trained branch of its own people.^[4] So the Word came that the desolate earth would bring forth fruit for us. The Word came, and the voice followed, for the Word first works within before the voice follows. Hence David too says, I believed, and then I spoke.^[5]

Jordan means descending. It is the descending river of God, one running with a vigorous force. It is the Lord our Savior. Into him we are baptized with true, saving water. Baptism is also preached for the remission of sins.

And he came into all the region of the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. It is apparent to all who read that John not only preached a baptism of repentance but also bestowed it on some. Yet he was not able to bestow a baptism for the forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness of sins is granted us only in the baptism of Christ. We must note the words preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. He preached a baptism that would take away sins, but he was unable to give it himself. By his word of preaching he was the forerunner of the Father’s Word incarnate. By his baptism, which could not of itself take away sin, he was to be the forerunner of that baptism of repentance by which sins are taken away. His words prepared the way for the Redeemer’s actual presence, and his preaching of baptism was a foreshadowing of the truth.

Moreover, the fruit of repentance is, in the highest degree, faith in Christ. Next to it is the evangelic mode of life, and in general terms the works of righteousness as opposed to sin, which the penitent must bring forth as fruits worthy of repentance.

The precursor of Christ—the voice of one crying in the wilderness—preaches in the desert of the soul that has known no peace. Not only then, but even now, a bright and burning lamp first comes and preaches the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Then the true Light follows, as John himself said: He must increase, but I must decrease.^[1] The word came in the desert and spread in all the countryside around the Jordan.

Thus the prophet wrote that he shall come saying, Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.^[1] And John himself said when he came, Bring forth fruits consistent with repentance, which corresponds with prepare the way of the Lord. See that both by the words of the prophet and by his own preaching, this one thing is manifested alone. John was to come, making a way and preparing beforehand, not bestowing the gift, which was the remission, but ordering in good time the souls of such as should receive the God of all.

John, being chosen for the apostleship, was also the last of the holy prophets. For this reason, as the Lord has not come yet, he says, Prepare the way of the Lord. What is the meaning of Prepare the way of the Lord? It means, Make ready for the reception of whatever Christ may wish to do. Withdraw your hearts from the shadow of the law, discard vague figures and no longer think perversely. Make the paths of our God straight. For every path that leads to good is straight and smooth and easy, but the one that is crooked leads down to wickedness those that walk in it.

Prepare a way for the Lord. What way are we to prepare for the Lord? Surely not a material way. Can the Word of God go on such a journey? Should not the way be prepared for the Lord within? Should not straight and level paths be built in our hearts? This is the way by which the Word of God has entered. That Word dwells in the spaces of the human heart.

Do you perceive how the prophet anticipated all by his words—the concourse of the people? Thus, when he says, Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the rough ways shall be made smooth, he is signifying the exaltation of the lowly, the humiliation of the self-willed, the hardness of the law changed into easiness of faith. For it is no longer toils and labors, says he, but grace and forgiveness of sins, affording the way to salvation. Next he states the cause of these things, saying, All flesh shall see the salvation of God. No longer Jews and proselytes only, but also all earth and sea and the whole race of people may be saved. By the crooked things he signified our whole corrupt life, publicans, harlots, robbers and magicians, as many as having been perverted before, afterward walk in the right way. As Jesus himself likewise said, Tax collectors and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you,^[1] because they believed.

As messenger of God, who was about to come,

He faithfully observed this law, constructing well,

That every hill might low become and tough ways plain,

Lest when the truth should glide from heaven down to earth

It then would find a barrier to its swift approach. HYMNS

I believe that the mystery of John is still being achieved in the world today. If anyone is going to believe in Christ Jesus, John’s spirit and power first come to his soul and prepare a perfect people for the Lord. It makes the ways in the heart’s rough places smooth and straightens out its paths.

Consider the text And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. There is no difficulty at all in taking this to mean And all flesh shall see the Christ of God. After all, Christ was seen in the body and will be seen in the body when he comes again to judge the living and the dead. Scripture has many texts showing that he is the salvation of God, particularly the words of the venerable old man, Simeon, who took the child in his arms and said, Now let your servant go in peace, O Lord, according to your word, because my eyes have seen your salvation.^[1]

To you who are coming to baptism, Scripture says, Bear fruits that befit repentance. Do you want to know what fruits befit repentance? Love is a fruit of the Spirit. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. So are peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control,^[1] and the others of this sort. If we have all of these virtues, we have produced fruits that befit repentance. . . . John, the last of the prophets, prophesies the expulsion of the first nation and the call of the Gentiles. To those who were boasting about Abraham he says, Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for a father.’ And again he speaks about the Gentiles, For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.

From what stones? Surely he was not pointing to irrational, material stones but to people who were uncomprehending and sometimes hard.

In a word, therefore, let us all listen, and seriously reflect what great merit there is in having fed Christ when he was hungry—and what sort of a crime it is to have ignored Christ when he was hungry. Repentance for our sins does indeed change us for the better. But even repentance will not appear to be of much use to us if works of mercy do not accompany it. Truth bears witness to this through John, who said to those who came to him, Bear fruits that befit repentance. And so those who haven’t produced such fruits have no reason to suppose that by a barren repentance they will earn pardon for their sins.

Can you see how most skillfully he humbles their foolish pride and shows that their being born of Abraham according to the flesh brings them no profit? Of what benefit is nobility of birth, if people’s deeds are not accordingly earnest and they fail to imitate the virtue of their ancestors? The Savior says to them, If you were Abraham’s children, you would do what Abraham did.^[1] The relationship that God requires is one of character and manners. Thus it is useless to boast of holy and good parents, while we fall short of their virtue.

But, says the Jew, if it is so, how is the seed of Abraham still to be multiplied? How can God’s promise to him hold true, according to which he will multiply his seed as the stars of heaven? By the calling of the Gentiles, O Jew! God said to Abraham himself, Through Isaac shall your descendants be named,^[2] adding that he has set Abraham as a father of many nations. But the phrase through Isaac means according to promise. He is set, therefore, as a father of many nations by faith, that is to say, in Christ.

As can be seen, the blessed Baptist called them stones, because they as yet did not know the one who is by nature God. They were in error and in their great folly worshiped the creation instead of the Creator. But they were called and became the sons of Abraham and, by believing in Christ, acknowledged him who is by nature God.

The tree is the entire human race in this world. The axe is our Redeemer. His humanity is like the axe’s handle and iron head. It is his divinity that cuts. The axe is now laid at the root of the tree because, although he is waiting patiently, what he will do is nonetheless apparent.

Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Every wicked person, refusing to bear the fruit of good works in this life, will find the conflagration of Gehenna all the more swiftly prepared for him or her. We must note that he says that the axe is laid not at the branches but at the root. When the children of evil persons are destroyed, what else does this mean but that the branches of the tree that bears no fruit are being cut off? When an entire progeny is destroyed, as well as its parents, the tree that bears no fruit is being cut down from its root. Then nothing will be left from which descendants might sprout again.

What he means by the axe in this passage is the sharp wrath which God the Father brought on the Jews for their wickedness towards Christ and brazen violence. The wrath was brought on them like an axe. To this you may also add the parable in the Gospels about the fig tree. As an unfruitful plant, no longer of the generous kind, it was cut down by God. John does not say, however, that the axe was laid into the root, but at the root, that is, near the root. The branches were cut off, but the plant was not dug up by its root. Thus the remnant of Israel was saved and did not perish utterly.

St. Luke has introduced three groups of people that ask John questions—the multitudes, the tax collectors and the soldiers. Just as a skillful physician applies to each sickness a suitable and fitting remedy, so also the Baptist gave to each group, representing a mode of life, useful and appropriate advice. He told the multitudes to practice mutual kindness as they strive for repentance. In the case of the tax collectors, he put an end to unrestrained taxation. Then, very wisely, he told the soldiers to oppress no one but be content with their wages.

To say that the person who has two coats should give one to someone who has none fits the apostles better than the crowd. To understand that this command fits the apostles more than the people, listen to what the Savior says to the apostles, Do not take two coats on a journey.^[1] Therefore, there are two garments with which each one is clothed. The command is to share with him who has none. This denotes an alternate meaning: just as we may not serve two masters, the Savior does not want us to have two coats, or to be clothed with a double garment. Otherwise, one would be the garment of the old man, the other of the new man. On the contrary, he desires that we strip ourselves of the old man and put on the new man.^[2] Up to this point, the explanation is easy.

Tax collectors also came to be baptized. According to the simple interpretation, he teaches the tax collectors to seek no more than the law commands. Those who exact more transgress not John’s commandment but that of the Holy Spirit, who spoke through John. . . .

We said all this to show that John taught the tax collectors. Among them there were not only those who collected revenue for the state, but also those who were coming for repentance and were not literally tax collectors. And others were soldiers who were going out to the baptism of repentance.

If Christian practice condemned war in general, then the soldiers in the Gospel who asked how they were to be saved should have been given the advice to throw down their arms and give up military service entirely. Instead, they were told, Rob no one by violence or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.

The Baptist gave a fitting response to each kind of people. To the tax collectors he said that they should not exact payment beyond what was appointed. To the soldiers, that they should not make false accusations or rob anyone, by which he meant that their pay was fixed, so that wanting to have more, they could not resort to plunder. These and other precepts are appropriate for all occupations, and the practice of compassion is shared. Thus it is a common precept that the basic necessities of life must be provided for all occupations, all ages and all people. Neither the tax collector nor the soldier is exempted, neither the farmer nor the townsman, neither the rich man nor the pauper—all are commanded in common to give to the one who does not have. Compassion is the fullness of the virtues and therefore the form of the perfect virtue is placed before all. Neither should they spare their own food and clothing. Yet the measure of compassion is maintained in relation to the capacity of the human condition, so that each does not take all for himself but shares what he has with the poor.

Because people had seen that John the Baptist was endowed with astonishing holiness, they believed . . . that he was the Christ, as is said in the Gospel. The people were deliberating, all questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he might be the Christ, and they asked him, Are you the Christ? If John had not been a valley in his own eyes, he would not have been full of the grace of the Spirit. To make clear what he was, he answered, There comes after me one who is stronger than I, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.^[1] Again he said, He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. This joy of mine is now full. He must increase, but I must decrease.^[2]

After this, John brings forward a second argument, saying, I indeed baptize you in water. He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire. This too is of great importance for the proof and demonstration that Jesus is God and Lord. For it is the sole and peculiar property of the Substance that transcends all, to be able to bestow on people the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and make those that draw near unto it partakers of the divine nature. But this exists in Christ, not as a thing received, nor by communication from another, but as his own and as belonging to his substance. He baptizes in the Holy Spirit.

John, filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb, was sanctified for the purpose of baptizing the Lord. John himself did not impart the Spirit but preached the glad tidings of him who does. He says, I indeed baptize you with water, for repentance. But he who is coming after me, he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.^[1] Why fire? Because the descent of the Holy Spirit was in fiery tongues. Concerning this the Lord says with joy, I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish that it would be kindled!^[2]

What happened in the case of our Master’s body also happens in the case of your own. Although John appeared to be holding his body by the head, it was the divine Word that led his body down into the streams of Jordan and baptized him. The Master’s body was baptized by the Word, by the voice of his Father from heaven which said, This is my beloved Son, and by the manifestation of the Holy Spirit which descended upon him. This also happens in the case of your body. The baptism is given in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Therefore John the Baptist told us, for our instruction, that man does not baptize us but God: There comes after me one who is mightier than I, and I am not worthy to loose the strap of his sandal. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

For this reason, when the priest is baptizing he does not say, I baptize so-and-so, but So-and-so is baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. In this way he shows that it is not he who baptizes but those whose names have been invoked, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Through the sign of the fan, the Lord is said to have the right to distinguish merits. When the grain is winnowed on the threshing floor, the full grain is separated from the empty, the fruitful is separated from the worthless, as if by a weighing of a blowing breeze. So through this comparison, the Lord is manifest, because on the day of judgment, he separates the merits and fruits of solid virtue from the unfruitful shallowness of worthless ostentation and inadequate deeds, before he establishes the people of perfect merit in a heavenly home. For he who has deserved to be like him is the perfect fruit. The Lord is like the grain of wheat that has died.^[1] So he confers very many fruits on us, hated by chaff and no friend to worthless merits. And therefore, a fire that is not harmful by its nature will burn before him.^[2] For he who burns up the evils of wickedness adds to the radiance of goodness.

One who teaches the word of the gospel proclaims not just one thing but many. . . . 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 also proclaimed many other things to the people and encouraged them.

Notice that even while in prison he is teaching. For he also had his disciples in that place. Why did they stay there, unless John exercised the office of teacher even in prison and taught them with divine words? In the course of these words, a question about Jesus arose. John sends some of his disciples and asks, Are you he who is to come, or do we wait for 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 of God. This is what we have to say about John, and his freedom, and about Herod’s madness. To his many other crimes he also added this one: he first shut John in prison and afterward beheaded him.

Luke too, before beginning the acts of Jesus, makes a similar observation, saying that Herod added one more offense to his other crimes by shutting up John in jail.

Today, then, is another kind of birth of the Savior. We see him born with the same sort of signs, the same sort of wonders, but with greater mystery. The Holy Spirit, who was present to him then in the womb, now pours out upon him in the torrent. He who then purified Mary for him now sanctifies the running waters for him. The Father who then overshadowed in power now cries out with his voice. He who then, as if choosing the more prudent course, manifested himself as a cloud at the nativity now bears witness to the truth. So God says, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear him. Clearly the second birth is more excellent than the first. The one brought forth Christ in silence and without a witness. The other baptized the Lord gloriously with a profession of divinity. From the one, Joseph, thought to be the father, absents himself. At the other, God the Father, not believed in, manifests himself. In the one the mother labors under suspicion because in her condition she lacked a father. In the other she is honored because God attests to his Son.

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. We should say that heaven was opened at the baptism of Jesus and for the plan of forgiving sins. These are not the sins of him who had committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth.^[1] The heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit came down for the forgiveness of the whole world’s sins. After the Lord ascended on high, leading captivity captive,^[2] he gave them the Spirit. The Spirit had come to him, and he gave the Spirit at the time of his resurrection, when he said, Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they will be forgiven him. If you retain them for anyone, they will be retained.^[3] But the Holy Spirit came down upon the Savior in the form of a dove. The dove is a gentle bird, innocent and simple. Hence we too are commanded to imitate the innocence of doves.^[4] Such is the Holy Spirit: pure, swift, and rising up to the heights.

Now let us consider the mystery of the Trinity. We say, one God, but we confess the Father, and we confess the Son. For although it is written, You shall love the Lord thy God and serve him alone,^[1] the Son denied that he is alone, saying, I am not alone, for the Father is with me.^[2] Nor is he alone now, for the Father bears witness that he is present. The Holy Spirit is present, because the Trinity can never be separated from Itself. Then heaven was opened, the Holy Spirit descended in bodily shape like a dove.

But how then, they object, was he baptized and received the Spirit? We reply that he had no need of holy baptism. He was wholly pure and spotless, and the holiest of the holy. He did not need the Holy Spirit, for the Spirit that proceeds from God the Father is from him and equal to him in substance. Now, at last, we must explain God’s plan of salvation. God, in his love of humankind, provided for us a way of salvation and of life. Believing in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and making this confession before many witnesses, we wash away all the filth of sin. The communication of the Holy Spirit enriched us, made us partakers of the divine nature and gained for us the grace of adoption as God’s children. It was necessary, therefore, that the Word of the Father become for our sakes the pattern and way of every good work when he humbled himself to emptiness and deigned to assume our likeness. For it follows that he who is first in everything must set the example in this too. He commences the work himself in order that we may learn about the power of holy baptism and learn how much we gain by approaching so great a grace. Having been baptized, he prays that you, my beloved, may learn that never-ceasing prayer is a thing most fitting for those who have once been counted worthy of holy baptism.

Christ is born; the Spirit is his forerunner.^[1] Christ is baptized; the Spirit bears him witness. Christ is tempted. The Spirit leads him up.^[2] Christ performs miracles. The Spirit accompanies him.^[3] Christ ascends. The Spirit fills his place.^[4]

From the first moment of his descent from the glories of heaven to earthly things, he did not disdain to put on man’s flesh although he was the Son of God. Although he himself was not a sinner, he did not disdain to bear the sins of others. Having put aside his immortality for a time, he suffered himself to become mortal, in order that though innocent he might be slain for the salvation of the guilty. The Lord was baptized by his servant, and he, although destined to grant the remission of sins, did not disdain to have his body cleansed with the water of regeneration.

Today, then, he is baptized in the Jordan. What sort of baptism is this, when the one who is dipped is purer than the font, and where the water that soaks the one whom it has received is not dirtied but honored with blessings? What sort of baptism is this of the Savior, I ask, in which the streams are made pure more than they purify? For by a new kind of consecration the water does not so much wash Christ as submit to being washed. Since the Savior plunged into the waters, he sanctified the outpouring of every flood and the course of every stream by the mystery of his baptism. When someone wishes to be baptized in the name of the Lord, it is not so much the water of this world that covers him but the water of Christ that purifies him. Yet the Savior willed to be baptized for this reason—not that he might cleanse himself but that he might cleanse the waters for our sake.

Why like a dove? For the grace of the washing requires simplicity, so that we may be innocent like doves.^[1] The grace of the washing requires peace, as in an earlier image the dove brought to the ark that which alone was inviolable by the flood.^[2] He of whom the dove was the image, who now deigned to descend in the form of a dove, taught me that in that branch, in that ark, was the image of peace and of the church. In the midst of the floods of the world the Holy Spirit brings its fruitful peace to its church. David too taught, he who perceived the sacrament of baptism and said with the Spirit of prophecy, Who will give me wings like a dove?^[3]

We saw the Spirit, but in bodily form, let us also see the Father.^[1] Because we cannot see, let us hear. Our merciful God is present. He will not forsake his temple. He wishes to build up every soul, he wishes to mold it for salvation, he wishes to convey living stones from earth to heaven.^[2] He loves his temple. Let us love him. If we love God, let us keep his commandments.^[3] If we love him, we shall know him. He who says that he knows him and keeps not his commandments is a liar.^[4] For how can he who does not love Truth love God, for God is Truth?^[5] Therefore let us hear the Father, for the Father is invisible.^[6] Yet the Son is invisible according to his divinity, for no one has seen God at any time.^[7] So, while the Son is God, he is not seen as the Son, insofar as he is God. Yet he wished to show himself in the body. Because the Father did not wear a body, therefore the Father wished to prove to us that he is present in the Son, saying, You are my beloved Son. In you I am well pleased. If you wish to learn that the Son is always present with the Father, read the voice of the Son saying, If I go up into heaven, you are there. If I go down into the grave, you are present there.^[8] If you seek evidence of the Father, you have heard it from John. Believe him by whom Christ believed he must be baptized, to whom the Father entrusted his Son, saying with a heavenly voice, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.^[9]

But also if you who hear these words direct your thoughts to the holy Scriptures in your leisure, you will discover many great events to be comprised under the number thirty or fifty. Joseph was thirty years old when he was led out of prison and received the rule of all Egypt that he might divert the calamity of an imminent famine by divine provision.^[1] Jesus is reported to have been thirty years old when he came to baptism.

It benefits no one to change what is written: Who was thought to be the son of Joseph. For it was right that he was thought so, because he was not the Joseph’s son by nature but was thought to be his Son, because he was born of Mary, who was engaged to Joseph, her husband. So you have: Is not this Joseph the carpenter’s son?^[1]

What do you say about the sacred words of Luke

When he the genealogy repeats,

The fleshly line retracing through old sires?

Up generations seventy-two

Christ mounts—so many teachers into the world

He sent—and by the steps down to his birth

Goes back to Adam, head of earthly flesh.

The Father then receives his Son and us,

And Adam son of God becomes through Christ.

Nothing now remains but that you deem this race

Unreal, Levi, Judah, Simeon,

King David, other mighty kings, unreal,

The virgin’s swelling womb itself grown big

With lying vapor, flimsy clouds and mist.

That airy blood dissolves, the bones grow soft

And melt, the trembling muscles disappear.

That every deed the idle wind dispels,

The breezes scatter, all an empty tale. THE

You see that the description of descent is connected by the old custom from the fathers to the sons and from the sons to the fathers. You see that the family is everywhere listed through the generations of the husband. Do not marvel if Matthew reports the order of the generations from Abraham to Joseph, and Luke from Joseph to Adam and to God. Do not marvel that Joseph’s lineage is described. Indeed, being born according to the flesh, he must follow the usage of the flesh, and he who came into the world must be described in the custom of the world, particularly as the lineage of Mary is also in the lineage of Joseph. For since Joseph was a righteous man, he took a wife from his own tribe and his own country, nor could a righteous man contravene what is prescribed in the law.^[1] The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another. For every one of the people of Israel shall cleave to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. Every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, so that every one of the people of Israel may possess the inheritance of his fathers.^[2] Therefore, also at the time of the enrollment, Joseph went up from his house and the country of David to be enrolled with Mary his wife.^[3] She who enrolls from the same house and the same country surely signifies that she is of this same tribe and this same country.

Here too some . . . raise issues: that Matthew counted forty-two generations from Abraham to Christ,^[1] but Luke fifty, and that Matthew reported that the generation descended through some persons, and Luke mentioned others. In this matter, you can test what we said. Although Matthew wove some forefathers of the divine lineage, but Luke others, into the order of generation, nevertheless each indicated that the remaining ancestors were from the race of Abraham and David. Matthew thought the generation should be derived through Solomon,^[2] but Luke through Nathan. This fact seems to show both a royal and a priestly family of Christ. We should not consider one account truer than the other, but that the one agrees with the other in equal faith and truth. According to the flesh, Jesus was truly of a royal and priestly family, King from kings, Priest from priests. Although the prophecy pertains not to the carnal but the celestial, since a King exults in the power of God,^[3] to whom judgment is committed by the King, his Father,^[4] and a Priest is forever. Accordingly it is written, You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.^[5] Then, each fittingly kept faith, so that Matthew established his origin led through kings, and Luke, by deriving the lineage of his race transmitted through priests from God to Christ, declared his very descent the more holy. At the same time, the image of a calf is indicated, in so much as he thinks the priestly mystery must be preserved.

Therefore Luke also thought that his origin should be traced back to God. Because God is the true Father of Christ, either the Father according to the true generation or the Author of the mystical gift—according to the regeneration of baptism. Furthermore, he did not start by describing his generation but first set forth his baptism. He desired to show him as God, the Author of all, weaving everything together through baptism. He also stated that Christ derived from God in the order of succession, in order to prove him the Son of God according to nature, according to grace and according to the flesh. Then what clearer evidence is there of divine generation than that before speaking of Jesus’ generation, Luke has the Father himself saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased?^[1]

He could not include more sons of Jacob, lest he seem to digress outside the generations in an irrelevant series. Of course, in the case of other, that is, distant, descendants of the patriarchs, Luke did not think the names should be omitted, but that those of Joseph, Judah, Simeon and Levi should be preferred beyond the rest. We know that there were four kinds of virtues in those from whom they were descended. In Judah, the mystery of the Lord’s passion was prefigured.^[1] In Joseph, an example of chastity went before.^[2] In Simeon, the payment for violated virginity was represented.^[3] In Levi, the office of a priest was symbolized.^[4] We observe the dignity of prophecy manifested also through Nathan so that because Christ Jesus is one and all,^[5] diverse kinds of virtues went before also in individual forefathers.

Matthew, who makes him descend from the heavenly regions, mentions women—not any women at all, but sinners, and those whom Scripture had reproved. But Luke, who tells of Jesus at his baptism, mentions no woman. Matthew, as we said, names Tamar, who by deception lay with her father-in-law. Ruth was not from the race of Israel. I cannot discover where Rahab was taken from. The wife of Uriah violated her husband’s bed. For our Lord and Savior had come for this end, to take upon himself humankind’s sins. God made him who had committed no sin to be sin for our sake.^[1] For this reason, he came down into the world and took on the person of sinners and depraved people. He willed to be born from the stock of Solomon, whose sins have been recorded,^[2] and from Rehoboam, whose transgressions are reported,^[3]and from the rest of them, many of whom did evil in the sight of the Lord.^[4]

Yet it seems needful to explain why St. Matthew began to enumerate the descent of Christ from Abraham but St. Luke led it from Christ up to God. But first I think we should not set aside by any means the question why St. Matthew, when he began the order of descent from Abraham, did not say, The Book of the Generation of Abraham, but The Book of the Generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.^[1] Why he named these two in particular. . . .

The Evangelist selected those two authors of the race, the one who received the promise concerning the congregation of the nations, the other who obtained the prophecy of the generation of Christ. Although he is later in the order of the succession, yet he is described before Abraham in the generation of the Lord, because it is more to have received the promise concerning Christ than that concerning the church, since the church itself is through Christ. Then there is one prince of the race according to the flesh, and another according to the spirit. The one is a prince by grace of children, the other through the faith of the peoples. For greater is he who saves than he who is saved. Hence he is called the Son of David, the Book of the Generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David.^[2]