And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;
All Commentaries on Luke 3:3 Go To Luke 3
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
To all who read, it is plain, that St. John not only preached baptism, but likewise conferred it upon many; yet, he could not give baptism to the remission of sins. (St. Gregory, hom. xx.)
When the victim was not yet immolated, how could they obtain remission of sins? How could St. Luke say, preaching the baptism of penance, for the remission of sins? The ignorant Jews not considering the greatness of their transgressions, St. John came exhorting them to acknowledge their sins, and do penance for them; that being converted, and truly contrite, they might seek after their Redeemer, and thus obtain remission of their offences. (St. Chrysostom, hom. x. in Matt.)
From these words originated an opinion, that the baptism of John remitted sins. Thus Prudentius, in his hymn on St. John: Hortatur ille primus, et Doctor novæ Fuit salutis, nam sancto in flumine Veterum pictas lavit errorum notas. The fallacy of this sentiment, now universally exploded, may be detected from two passages of Scripture: 1. Where John himself declares that he does not baptize with the Holy Spirit; and secondly, in the Acts, (Chap. xix) where St. Paul orders those who had only been baptized by John, and had not heard of the Holy Spirit, to be rebaptized. We must then conclude, that St. John's baptism was only a ceremony or initiation, by which they enrolled themselves as his disciples, to do penance, as a preparation for the remission of sins by means of the second baptism, viz. of Jesus Christ. (Jansenius, Evan. Conc.)
