Chapter 3 1. Mission, preaching and imprisonment of St. John the Baptist. Baptism and genealogy of Jesus. 1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert. 3 He went throughout (the) whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one crying out in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. 5 Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, 6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. 7 He said to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce good fruits as evidence of your repentance; and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father,' for I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 9 Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." 10 And the crowds asked him, "What then should we do?" 11 He said to them in reply, "Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise." 12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him, "Teacher, what should we do?" 13 He answered them, "Stop collecting more than what is prescribed." 14 Soldiers also asked him, "And what is it that we should do?" He told them, "Do not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages." 15 Now the people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, saying, "I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." 18 Exhorting them in many other ways, he preached good news to the people. 19 Now Herod the tetrarch, who had been censured by him because of Herodias, his brother's wife, and because of all the evil deeds Herod had committed, 20 added still another to these by (also) putting John in prison. 21 After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased." 23 When Jesus began his ministry he was about thirty years of age. He was the son, as was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli, 24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, 25 the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, 26 the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, 27 the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, 28 the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, 29 the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the 68
son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, 30 the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, 31 the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, 32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon, 33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, 34 the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, 35 the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, 36 the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, 37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, 38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. z 2. The political status of Palestine at the time of John the Baptist. St. Luke, as the accurate historian that he was, before writing on the apostolate of St. John the Baptist, sketches the political situation in Palestine, the people who ruled at the time, and the High Priests who oversaw the religious part. It is not by chance that the Holy Spirit made him do this, because it was the foreigners who ruled the region and the High Priesthood that was subjected to their political whims and deprived of power at their discretion, and further impoverished to the point of being dominated by pagan principles who gave evidence of the fullness of the time predicted for the advent of the Messiah, which was the complete ruin of the kingdom of Judah. Tiberius Cesar, son of Livia Drusilla and Tiberius Claudius Nero, adopted as son by the Emperor Augustus after he married Livia, his mother, was first associated with the government of the empire and installed as administrator of the provinces, and later, after the death of Augustus, became his successor and was the emperor of Rome from 767 to 791. [St. Luke refers to the years of the Roman calendar beginning with the foundation of Rome] St. Luke counts the years of the empire of Tiberius not from the death of Augustus but from his first ascent to the government of Rome in 764-765; since Jesus was born during the years 748-749, he was about 30 years old during the 15 th year of Tiberius reign as St. Luke says in verse 23. The government of Palestine was formed in this way: Judea, annexed to the province of Syria after the deposition and exile of Archelaus, had governors who depended on the chief of the province. The first governor was Coponius; the fifth was Pontius Pilate, who governed from 26 A.D until A.D. 36-37. At the death of Herod, called the great, his kingdom was divided in four parts, each called a tetrarchy, that is, four persons ruled it. Judea, Samaria and Indumea went to Archelaus, who later was removed, as we said before, and Galilee and Perea went to Herod Antipas, who ruled from 4 B.C. to A.D. 39-40. Philip, the tetrarch, son of Herod the Great, inherited from his father Iturea, that included Butanea, Trachonitis, Auranitis and others; he married his niece Salomé, daughter of Herodias, who was the wife of another brother on his father s side, also called Philip Herod. Herod Antipas would ultimately take away Herodias from him. Philip Herod was disinherited by his father and lived privately. His wife Herodias, an extremely ambitious woman, let herself be seduced by Herod Antipas and followed him in the kingdom, becoming his adulterous and incestuous wife; Philip the tetrarch 69
governed rather fairly, and he was the one who built Caesarea Philippi at the foot of the Mount Hermon and Bethsaida Julias on the north shore of the Lake Tiberias. A certain Lysanias, of whom little is known, governed Abilene, the region between Lebanon and Mount Hermon, northwest of Damascus. An inscription recently found at Abila, capital of the region, confirms the words of St. Luke, referring clearly to a tetrarch Lysanias at the time of Tiberius. With regard to religion, the Sacred Text notes that at the apex of Judaism were the High Priests Annas and Caiaphas. The Jews had only one High Priest who ruled for life; but the Romans did not tolerate this and wanted a pontiff that would answer to their own authorities, both in being nominated as well for the length of their pontificate. Annas had obtained supreme religious power from the legate governor of Syria, Quirinius, in the year A.D. 7 but was removed in the year A.D. 14 by Valerius Gratus. However Annas nevertheless continued to be prominent and he was considered High Priest together with Caiaphas, his son in law, who was named High Priest in the year 18 and remained as such until A. D 36. The preaching of St. John the Baptist This hence was the religious and political climate in Palestine when the voice of God was heard with a particular revelation to St. John, son of Zechariah, who lived in the desert of Judea, following a life of penance and prayer. The Lord spoke to him in his heart, and motivated him by His grace to confront boldly the people, and gave force to his words so that they would conquer hearts. For about 400 years no Prophet had ever been in Israel, and so the sudden appearance of John, raggedly dressed in a coarse camel hair cloak and a leather belt, made a profound impact. His voice seemed like a cry from beyond the grave, his life seemed to recall the old glory and the sanctity of the patriarchs, his zeal and his courage emulated that of Elijah against the evildoers and the perverse princes of the people; he seemed a man who transcended human nature, and his mere presence was imposing. The grace of God, and especially the grace of God, gave him a sharp tone of authority that conquered hearts and paralyzed, so to speak, the evildoers and the powerful that could have stopped his apostolate. Nobody opposed him: even those who endured him reluctantly but would have liked to eliminate him. This is the defining characteristic of the great divine manifestations on earth, because when God wants, He makes Himself heard through those He selects and act according to His will. John went through the entire region of the Jordan River, wherever he could find abundant waters, and he preached penance, starting with those who believed in him, with baptism, that is a washing; a symbol of internal purification and the only act that could prepare one for coming of the Redeemer. To receive water from John s hands was the same as confessing that one was a sinner, and one received it with interior remorse; the water, thus poured, was a beneficial humiliation and, its pouring announcing the Savior, renewed the hope in his coming and was beneficial for the remission of sins. 70
The souls John found were like wretched impenetrable deserts precluding the salvific passage of the Redeemer to go through them, triumphantly, over their sins. As in a desert there are valleys that block the way, mountains and hills that obstruct, and barren and crooked roads that hold back, so too in the souls there were abysses of moral misery, obstacles of pride and arrogance, a complete lack of righteousness of heart, the first condition for receiving the Lord. St. John with his baptism of penance and his austere, harsh life was like a voice crying in this moral desert, eliminating miseries, humiliating pride, renewing the hope of salvation and rectifying the intentions and the aspirations of the heart; thus he accomplished in the soul, deprived of graces and virtues, the prediction of Isaiah (40:4-5) that the Sacred Text cites freely from the version of the Seventies. The crowds ran in great numbers on the banks of the river Jordan, moved by a desire of renewal and redemption. They came from all social classes, and they looked for direction as to what they should do to hasten the ways of God. In their subconscious, they felt that something great was going to happen; they hoped to escape the foreign domination that oppressed them, hoping in a new time of glory for the nation, and they ran to John like to a new light of hope. The proud Pharisees were also among those who went, but with the worst disposition; they only desired their own glory, their intentions were evil, their criticism poisonous; they only went because they did not want to be perceived as being less righteous than the others, and to watch over the works of the Baptist. They were proud, believing to have no need of penance, they watched how things progressed, but they did not participate in them, because they believed to be the true children of Abraham and believed that this glory was enough for them. United with the Pharisees were also the Sadducees (Mt 3:7); they were people frozen in their unbelief and indifference. John spoke to them sternly in order to shake them, and they dared not react; he called them a brood of vipers for their sly and poisonous malice; he asked them: Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? That meant: Who assured you that your false justice and your errors will justify you before God, thus to escape the punishment you deserve? On what solid facts do you base your belief of being righteous and to not be included in my threats to the people? It is not enough to come; it is necessary to do worthy acts of penance! What does it avail you to be children of Abraham? What does it avail to you to be his descendants and be part of the chosen people, almost if this simple descendants could give you the right to grace? God does not need to shed his mercy on you, to have a faithful people, because He can arouse even from the stones, that is from the gentiles, the true children of Abraham, his spiritual descendants, able to receive and make fruitful their redemption. This is not anymore a privilege of race, but a gift of mercy; the Lord will cut off completely from his new people those who, like barren trees, do not bear fruit. The speech of John, as we see, was extraordinarily severe; it cut off with a single blow any illusion of a false justice. The expression brood of vipers could seem harsh and even uncharitable, but the Pharisees and the Sadducees, arriving on the esplanade where God was performing miracles of grace, with the sly and subtle ways that characterized them, truly gave the impression of poisonous vipers, trying to stop the rush of the people to conversion with their cutting words of derision or diffidence. 71
John surely did not speak to them in this way out of animosity but out of zeal, and so in front of the people that could have been influenced by them, he humiliated them, that they may finally open their eyes. As the Pharisees and the Sadducees were trying to push the people into ruin and away from the ways of God, John was justified in using such harsh language. His sternness was like a last bolt of light of the Old Covenant because John was at the boundary between the two Testaments, and it was also an act of mercy for the proud and hardened hearts not able to hear gentle words because of their arrogance and contemptuousness. St. Luke gives us some brief examples of the preaching of St. John to various categories of people, to show the awe that he inspired in all the classes. The multitudes, hearing his menacing words to the Pharisees and the Sadducees, were terrified by the judgment of God, and anxiously asked what they had to do to avoid it. The words of the Precursor, in fact, vivified by the grace, had a power that deeply penetrated hearts. He answered them, exhorting them to do charity through the two works of bodily mercy: dressing the naked and feeding the hungry. It was like an anticipation of the great law of charity that, for divine clemency, covers a multitude of sins. The Pharisees drained the people by oppressing them, and in doing so distanced from them the mercy of God; now the way to merit His mercy was just the opposite: to dress and not strip the poor; to feed and not starve them. The appeal to charity made the publicans concerned, because they, being tax collectors, could not stop collecting taxes; they asked therefore how they should go about it, and John told them not to ask more than what was required by law. The tax collectors, in fact, were used to the most exorbitant abuse of power, they cleverly stole as much as they could and thus were not worthy of the kingdom of God. The publicans were aided in their work by the forces of public order and in talking with the soldiers, awakened in them the desire to better themselves; they too went to John and asked him how they should deal in their work; he answered that they should be careful not to do any unjust violence to anyone, not to slander and also to be satisfied with their pay. Most likely among the multitude there were also law enforcers sent by Herod to spy on the Baptist or to keep public order, considering of the throngs of people. 3. The insignificance of human greatness. The true greatness that is humility. When St. Luke talks of the preaching of the Precursor, he paints two pictures that are in striking contrast: the greats of the world who ruled Palestine and the humble penitent sent by God, who prepared the people for the coming of the Redeemer; the first is a picture of short-lived greatness, of which there are not even minimal traces anymore, and the second, a picture of humility that remains immortal in the centuries and in eternity. The pompous names of these great figures have vanished in a whirlwind of empty vanity that surrounds all it touches with nothingness; instead the humble name of the great saint has remained as light shining on all people. Gone is the imperial and tyrannical Rome, gone are even the names of the countries over which she ruled. Who can remember anything about Tiberius Cesar? And even if those enamored with ancient history could remember something about him, what would be the reason to remember 72
him? Not even his ashes are kept, and if his body had been kept like those of the Egyptian rulers, it would be merely a lurid mummy. The names of the great Romans, in the Sacred Text that is always full of fresh images of life, are less than decaying bones strewn on fertile soil. In contrast to those holy names in the Sacred Text, these either have no meaning or have a useless and evil meaning. Even in this simple context the material world is truly empty and its temporal greatness is nothing. The name Tiberius means son of the (river) Tiber, a name without any reference to true greatness; the etymology of Cesar is from slaughter, wound, and so has a very sorrowful meaning because the power of the conquerors, in fact is only to slaughter and bring death; it signifies murder and not life. Pontius Pilate means man of the sea, armed with javelin: a hollow name, just as hollow as his power; Herod, firedragon, Lysanias, destruction, sorrow, all names that are stamped with the empty seal of the world, servants of satan, belligerents, lovers of foolishness, destroyers of good and sowers of sorrow. Opposite to these pompous names, remembrance of deadly miseries, are the names of John, grace, the mercy of God, son of Zachary, which means the Lord who remembers. Tiberius Cesar had the power of the army but ultimately this gave him nothing and he died; John had in himself the grace of God and spread the first seeds of an eternal kingdom that shall never end. Pilate was at the service of Cesar; John was at the service of the Savior. Herod was cruel like a dragon, John was full of goodness, sanctified in his mother s womb as the precursor of the Eternal Truth. Lysanias did not leave traces of himself; John is a blessed memory in the Church. How many laws were issued by the greats in Palestine? They are numberless, because it is characteristic of the miserable power of the world to feed its impotence with laws, decrees, instructions, threats and sanctions that are always oppressive in nature. John with few precepts, inspired by the divine law that never changes, led souls who were sincere and who had good will, to the ways of Heaven. The powerful of every age create deep abysses of misery and John filled them; the powerful created obstacles to the spreading of goodness, and John demolished them; the powerful make rough the ways to freedom, and he made them smooth. O why do we let ourselves to be more fascinated by the things of the world than of God s? Why does what is miserable seem great, what perishes immortal, and what makes us sad seem to be a source of goodness? We marvel at tall buildings, for instance, and we admire those who build them and yet if we were to rise to one thousand meters (3000 ft) how impressive would they seem? And if a tremor, a simple seismic wave shook the earth to what would that greatness be reduced? O if we only knew to appreciate what comes from God, if we could truly value the Church, how little the things of the world and the kingdoms of the world would appear to us! 4. John bears witness to Jesus. The life of John the Baptist was viewed prodigiously by the Hebrew people, and even though he did not perform any miracle, many thought that he was the Christ, the awaited Savior. 73
This suggestion, instead of being an honor for John, was sorrowful to him and he immediately rushed to dispel this misunderstanding with all his might, telling the truth in clear terms. He was baptizing with water, that is, with a simple symbol of penance and humiliation. The Savior, infinitely more powerful than he because He was God, and of whom John declared to be unworthy even to unloosen the strap of His sandals, would baptize pouring forth the graces of the Holy Spirit and the fire of love. Hence His Baptism would be a true rebirth. John could threaten the punishments of God, but he had no power over souls. The Savior, instead, would have the candelabra in His Hand, that is, He would be the Judge of souls, He would purify his people, saving the righteous and condemning the reprobates as useless chaff for the eternal fire of hell. Thus it was important that the symbol was not mistaken for the reality, nor that the servant be confused with the Master. The witness of the Father and the Holy Spirit God Himself took care to confirm John s witness. Therefore, Jesus Christ also, went to be baptized, and in the moment when, he received the water, covering himself in all our sins, the sky opened, and there appeared an intense brilliance, almost as if the sky were rent asunder, projecting eternal light. In that splendor the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus like a halo of light, almost like a shining dove, and the voice of the Father could be heard, saying: Thou are my beloved Son, in You I am well pleased. The white shining dove and the voice of the Father revealed the sanctity of Jesus Christ and His Divinity. The Holy Spirit consecrated His Humanity in the fullness of grace touching the infinite, and the voice of the Father declared him clearly His Eternal Son, object of His satisfaction. In this way the testimony of John was confirmed and his mission could be said to have come to an end with the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus. For this reason St. Luke mentions the imprisonment of St. John before the solemn testimony of the Father and of the Holy Spirit. Chronologically it happened later on, but St. Luke mentions this before in order to bring to a closure to the public ministry of the Baptist. It is possible that the precursor himself, very much loved by the people, desired and asked God to disappear in prison in order to not hamper the ministry of the Redeemer. What a great example he is for us, when Providence calls us to make the Redeemer known in the lay or in the priestly apostolate! We must not find our reward in our glory, but rather all our attention must turn to the glory of God. What is the value of our personal effort in this regard? Less than pouring a drop of water on hearts to make them less hard. What is needed, instead, is the grace of the Holy Spirit and the fire of divine love to instill zeal for the glory of God. The Holy Spirit cannot live in souls who impede His action with our arrogance and our pride. When we confess our nothingness, the Heavens open; declaring our unworthiness, we call for Divine graces to be poured on souls and which now hear the voice of God and therefore are changed into objects of divine delight. To suppress what is ours, this is the true secret of the apostolate; humbling ourselves and confessing to be unable, unworthy, incapable, this is the secret to making it fruitful. 74
Genealogy of Jesus and the ascending genealogy of the soul. St. Luke reports the genealogy of Jesus Christ ascending from Him to God; we have already commented on this genealogy in our book on the Gospel of St. Matthew, and we refer the reader to it; here we only remind the reader that from Jesus Christ we all must ascend to God, and He is the marvelous ladder that brings us from our poor exile into the arms of our Celestial Father. To rise, to rise, this is our life; ascending breathlessly as we breathlessly read this genealogy. We cannot remain stagnant like in a ditch in the earth, never even in the most common things of life, but rather we must ascend from one activity to another until we reach God, and His infinite glory must dominate each of our actions. Here, for instance, is the ascending genealogy of the food required for our life on earth, our daily bread. The land belongs to an owner. His steward is told to cultivate the land by sowing the wheat. The wheat grows, and the steward harvests it and stores it in the barn; later on the wheat is sent to the mill, sieved, kneaded, cooked, sold; having become bread it goes to the table and sustains life so it may grow, become active, and become instrument of the soul that works to gain the eternal recompense of belonging entirely to God. Here is another example: the genealogy of the studying. A young child is the son of his father and mother; he grows up and develops reason; he has his first ideas in kindergarten, begins to draw lines, then writes small letters, then syllables, then words, then numbers; he reads, learns the first truths and makes sense of them in his next class; he studies first grade, second, third, forth, fifth, sixth; he leaves for middle school and then for secondary school; he then perfects himself in college, he learn a profession, deepens his knowledge of the truths to know more still; the more he rises the more he finds darkness, like someone who rises into the stratosphere; he holds on to faith and because of his good studies, he can arrive better prepared to the heights; he rises to ponder the divine science from which all sciences come from, he reaches the eternal light, and finally knows God, the eternal Truth, Wisdom and Love. Man works to live, but he lives to give room to the spirit; he cultivates his spirit for a more beautiful life; he passes from play to virtue, from virtue to heroism, to the love that gives of itself, to God. Nothing should stop or remain mired, nothing should descend; rather it is necessary to rise, to rise from one intention to the next, from matter to the spirit, from the spirit to sanctity, from sanctity to God. This is what St. Paul says: To do everything for the glory of God, nothing excluded, and to work for the glory of God, in order to save oneself and reach God. The intentions of life, then, must all be as many ascending genealogies; one nobler than the other until at last one reaches God, crown and prize of all our intentions and our activities. In order to ascend it is necessary to start with Christ and end with God, because Jesus Christ gives us life and then He changes our life in a constant ascension to the Father. If we remove Jesus from our life, our life does not rise, it becomes ruined, and if we remove God, our life does not rest and becomes lost. This is the marvelous secret of the entire spiritual life, the true life: to become united with the Redeemer, to rise from Him to the Father, and for the merit of his death and passion, to repose in eternal happiness, in the full possession of God. 75
76