Chapter VI.—On the Position Given to the Preaching of John the Baptist in All the Four Evangelists.

18. Now at this point commences the account of the preaching of John, which is presented by all the four. For after the words which I have placed last in the order of his narrative thus far,—the words with which he introduces the testimony from the prophet, namely, He shall be called a Nazarene,—Matthew proceeds immediately to give us this recital: “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judæa,” 266    Matt. iii. 1. etc. And Mark, who has told us nothing of the nativity or infancy or youth of the Lord, has made his Gospel begin with the same event,—that is to say, with the preaching of John. For it is thus that he sets out: The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; as it is written in the prophet Isaiah,267    In Isaia propheta. [So the Greek text, according to the best mss. Comp. Revised Version—R.] Behold, I send a messenger268    Angelum. before Thy face, which shall prepare Thy way before Thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight. John was in the wilderness baptizing, and preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins,269    Mark i. 1–4. etc. Luke, again, follows up the passage in which he says, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and age,270    Ætate. and in favour with God and man,” by a section in which he speaks of the preaching of John in these terms: Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cæsar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judæa, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituræa and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness, 271    Luke iii. 1, 2. etc. The Apostle John, too, the most eminent of the four evangelists, after discoursing of the Word of God, who is also the Son, antecedent to all the ages of creaturely existence, inasmuch as all things were made by Him, has introduced in the immediate context his account of the preaching and testimony of John, and proceeds thus: There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.272    John i. 6. This will be enough at once to make it plain that the narratives concerning John the Baptist given by the four evangelists are not at variance with one another. And there will be no occasion for requiring or demanding that to be done in all detail in this instance which we have already done in the case of the genealogies of the Christ who was born of Mary, to the effect of proving how Matthew and Luke are in harmony with each other, of showing how we might construct one consistent narrative out of the two, and of demonstrating on behoof of those of less acute perception, that although one of these evangelists may mention what the other omits, or omit what the other mentions, he does not thereby make it in any sense difficult to accept the veracity of the account given by the other. For when a single example [of this method of harmonizing] has been set before us, whether in the way in which it has been presented by me, or in some other method in which it may more satisfactorily be exhibited, every man can understand that, in all other similar passages, what he has seen done here may be done again.

19. Accordingly, let us now study, as I have said, the harmony of the four evangelists in the narratives regarding John the Baptist. Matthew proceeds in these terms: In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judæa.273    Matt. iii. 1. Mark has not used the phrase “In those days,” because he has given no recital of any series of events at the head of his Gospel immediately before this narrative, so that he might be understood to speak in reference to the dates of such events under the terms, “In those days.”274    Mark i. 4. Luke, on the other hand, with greater precision has defined those times of the preaching or baptism of John, by means of the notes of the temporal power. For he says: Now, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cæsar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judæa, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.275    Luke iii. 1–3. We ought not, however, to understand that what was actually meant by Matthew when He said, “In those days,” was simply the space of days literally limited to the specified period of these powers. On the contrary, it is apparent that he intended the note of time which was conveyed in the phrase “In those days,” to be taken to refer to a much longer period. For he first gives us the account of the return of Christ from Egypt after the death of Herod,—an incident, indeed, which took place at the time of His infancy or childhood, and with which, consequently, Luke’s statement of what befell Him in the temple when He was twelve years of age is quite consistent.276    Luke ii. 42–50. Then, immediately after this narrative of the recall of the infant or boy out of Egypt, Matthew continues thus in due order: “Now, in those days came John the Baptist.” And thus under that phrase he certainly covers not merely the days of His childhood, but all the days intervening between His nativity and this period at which John began to preach and to baptize. At this period, moreover, Christ is found already to have attained to man’s estate; 277    Juvenilis ætas. For juvenilis ætas, the mss. give regularly juvenalis ætas. for John and he were of the same age;278    Coævi. and it is stated that He was about279    Ferme. thirty years of age when He was baptized by the former.

CAPUT VI. De ordine praedicationis Joannis Baptistae inter omnes quatuor.

18. Jam hinc de praedicatione Joannis narrari incipit, quam omnes quatuor commemorant. Nam et Matthaeus post illa verba, quae ultima ejus posui, ubi commemoravit ex propheta testimonium, Quoniam Nazaraeus vocabitur, sequitur et adjungit: In diebus autem illis venit Joannes Baptista praedicans in deserto Judaeae, etc. (Matth. III, 1). Et Marcus qui nihil de nativitate vel infantia vel pueritia Domini narravit, hinc Evangelii sumpsit initium, id est, a Joannis praedicatione. Sic enim exorsus est: Initium Evangelii Jesu 1085 Christi filii Dei: sicut scriptum est in Isaia propheta, Ecce mitto angelum meum ante faciem tuam, qui praeparabit viam tuam ante te. Vox clamantis in deserto, Parate viam Domini, rectas facite semitas ejus. Fuit Joannes in deserto baptizans et praedicans baptismum poenitentiae in remissionem peccatorum, etc. (Marc. I, 1-4). Et Lucas post verba ubi ait, Et Jesus proficiebat sapientia, et aetate, et gratia apud Deum et homines, de Joannis praedicatione jam sequitur dicens: Anno autem quinto decimo imperii Tiberii Caesaris, procurante Pontio Pilato Judaeam, tetrarcha autem Galilaeae Herode, Philippo autem fratre ejus tetrarcha Ituraeae et Trachonitidis regionis, et Lysania Abilinae tetrarcha, sub principibus sacerdotum Anna et Caipha, factum est verbum Domini super Joannem Zahariae filium in deserto, etc. (Luc. III, 1, 2). Joannes quoque apostolus in Evangelistis quatuor eminentissimus, posteaquam dixit de Verbo Dei, qui est ipse Filius ante omnia saecula creaturae, quia omnia per ipsum facta sunt, intulit continuo de Joannis praedicatione ac testimonio dicens: Fuit homo missus a Deo, cui nomen erat Joannes (Joan. I, 6). Unde jam videndum est, de ipso Joanne Baptista quatuor Evangelistarum narrationes quemadmodum inter se non discordent: non ut hoc a nobis per omnia requiratur aut exigatur, quod modo fecimus de primordiis pati ex Maria Christi, quemadmodum inter se Matthaeus Lucasque consentiant, ut ex utriusque narratione unam faceremus, demonstrantes tardioribus quemlibet eorum commemorando quod alter tacet, vel tacendo quod alter commemorat, non impedire intellectum veracis narrationis alterius; ut hoc exemplo, sive ut a me factum est, sive alio modo commodius fieri possit, videat unusquisque et in caeteris talibus locis fieri posse quod hic factum esse perspexerit.

19. Jam ergo, ut dixi, videamus quatuor Evangegelistarum de Baptista Joanne consensum. Matthaeus ita sequitur: In diebus autem illis venit Joannes Baptista praedicans in deserto Judaeae. Marcus non dixit, In diebus illis; quia nullam seriem rerum ante praemiserat, in quarum rerum diebus intelligeretur dicere, si diceret, In illis diebus. Lucas autem per potestates terrenas signantius ipsa tempora expressit praedicationis vel baptismi Joannis dicens: Anno autem quinto decimo imperii Tiberii Caesaris, procurante Pontio Pilato Judaeam, tetrarcha autem Galilaeae Herode, Philippo autem fratre ejus tetrarcha Ituraeae et Trachonitidis regionis, et Lysania Abilinae tetrarcha, sub principibus sacerdotum Anna et Caipha, factum est verbum Domini super Joannem Zachariae filium in deserto. Nec tamen intelligere debemus hos dies, id est hoc tempus harum potestatum, significasse Matthaeum cum diceret, In diebus illis; sed in multo longioris temporis spatio voluisse accipi, quod ait, In diebus illis. Mox enim ut narravit reversum de Aegypto Christum mortuo Herode; quod utique tempore infantiae vel pueritiae ejus factum est, ut possit constare quod Lucas de illo, cum duodecim annorum esset, gestum narravit in templo Jerusalem (Luc. II, 42-50): cum ergo infantem vel puerum ex Aegypto revocatum commemorasset 1086 Matthaeus, continuo intulit, In diebus autem illis venit Joannes Baptista, non utique tantummodo pueritiae illius dies insinuans, sed omnes dies ab ejus nativitate usque ad tempus quo praedicare ac baptizare coepit Joannes, quo jam tempore Christi juvenilis aetas invenitur; quia coaevi erant ipse et Joannes, et triginta ferme annorum narratur fuisse cum ab illo baptizatus esset.