Luke 3:15

And as the people were in expectation, and all men questioned in their hearts concerning John, whether he was the Christ, or not;

Verse 14 Read Chapter 3 Verse 16

Ambrose of Milan

AD 397

Now what could be more absurd than that he who was fancied to be in another should not be believed in his own person? He whom they thought to have come by a woman, is not believed to have come by a virgin; while in fact the sign of the Divine coming was placed in tile childbearing of a virgin, not of a woman. Or: John saw into the secrets of the heart; but let us remember by whose grace, for it is of the gift of God to reveal things to man, not of the virtue of man, which is assisted by the Divine blessing, rather than capable of perceiving by any natural power of its own. But quickly answering them, he proved that he was not the Christ, for his works were by visible operations. For as man is compounded of two natures, i.e. soul and body, the visible mysteryis made holy by the visible, the invisible by the invisible; for by water the body is washed, bythe Spirit the soul is cleansed of its stains. It is permitted to us also in the very water to have the sanctifying influence of the Dei... Read More

3 mins1/13

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Augustine of Hippo

AD 430

Matthew says, Whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. If therefore it is worth while to understand any difference in these expressions, wecan only suppose that John said one at one time, another at another, or both together, To bear his shoes, and to loose the latchet of his shoes, so that though one Evangelist may have related this, the others that, yet all have related the truth. But if John intended no more when he spoke of the shoes of our Lord but His excellence and his own humility, whether he said loosing the latchet of the shoes, or bearing them, they have still kept the same sense who bythe mention of shoes have in their own words expressed the same signification of humility.

1 min2/13

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Basil the Great

AD 379

But because he says, He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit, let no one admit that baptism to be valid in which the name of His Spirit only has been invoked, for we must ever keep undiminished that tradition which has' been sealed to us in quickening grace. To add or take away ought thereof excludes from eternal life. But they are mixed up with those who are worthy of the kingdom of heaven, as the chaff with the wheat. This is not however from consideration of their love of God and their neighbor, nor from their spiritual gifts or temporal blessings.

1 min3/13

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Bede

AD 735

But how could he answer them who in secret thought that he was Christ, except it was that they not only thought, but also (as another Evangelist declares) sending Priests and Levites to him asked him whether he was the Christ or not?. The Holy Spirit also may be understood by the word fire, for He kindles with love and enlightens with wisdom the hearts which He fills. Hence also the Apostles received the baptism of the Spirit in the appearance of fire. There are some who explain it, that now we are baptized with the Spirit, hereafter we shall be with fire, that as in truth we are now born again to the remission of our sins by water and the Spirit, so then we shall be cleansed from certain lighter sins by the baptism of purifying fire. For by the floor is represented the present Church, in which many are called but few are chosen. The purging of which flooris even now carried on individually, when every perverse offender is either cast out of the Church for his open sins, (by the hands ... Read More

1 min4/13

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Cornelius a Lapide

AD 1637

And as the people were in expectation (in the Greek Ï€Î¶Î¿ÏƒÎ´Î¿ÎºÎ¿Ï…ÌƒÎ½Ï„ÎµÏ‚, suspecting, expecting, as Vatablus renders it—when the people were hoping, or were in suspense with hope, desire, and expectation), and all men mused in their hearts of John , whether he were the Christ, or not—the Messiah promised to the fathers, and so eagerly expected by all the Jews at this particular time when the sceptre had passed from Judah, and Daniel"s seventy weeks, the sign of Christ"s coming, were fulfilled. As the people, then, were spreading this report about John , the chief men of the Jews at length sent messengers to him to ask him whether he were Christ ( John 1:19). Such was the holiness of John. So S. Ambrose, Bede, and others explain.

1 min5/13

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Cyril of Alexandria

AD 444

IT is written, that "a just father will bring up (his children) excellently." For those who are clad in the glory of the righteousness that is by Christ, and are acquainted with His sacred commands, will train up excellently and piously those who are their sons in the faith, giving them not the material bread of earth, but that which is from above, even from heaven. Of which bread the admirable Psalmist also makes mention, where he says, "Bread establisheth man's heart, and wine rejoiceth man's heart." Let us therefore now also establish our hearts: let our faith in Christ be assured, as we correctly understand the meaning of those evangelic writings now read unto us. "For when the people, it says, were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts of John, whether he were not the Christ, he answered them in the words which we have just heard read." They had beheld with admiration the incomparable beauty of John's mode of life: the splendour of his conduct: the unparalleled and sur... Read More

8 mins6/13

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Cyril of Alexandria

AD 444

By the following words, And he shall thoroughly purge his floor, the Baptist signifies that the Church belongs to Christ as her Lord. But the chaff signifies the trifling and empty blown about and liable to be carried away by every blast of sin.

< 1 min7/13

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George Leo Haydock

AD 1849

Many reasons might have induced the people to think that John was the Christ: 1. The wonders that took place at his birth and conception, his mother being very old, and without any prospect of offspring: 2. the excellence of his preaching, his mortified life, and the novelty of his baptism; and thirdly, the report which then generally prevailed among the Jews, that the Messias was already come; on account of the coming of the magi, and the murder of the infants by Herod: both which circumstances were probably fresh in their memory; and several perhaps, who witnessed them, were still living. (Denis the Carthusian)

1 min8/13

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Greek Expositor

AD 1000

And hence, John gloried not in the estimation in which all held him, norin any way seemed to desire the deference of others, but embraced the lowest humility. Hence it follows, John answered. By these words then, He shall baptize with the Holy Spirit, He signifies the abundance of His grace, the plenteousness of His mercy; but lest any should suppose that while to bestow abundantly is both in the power and will of the Creator, He will have no occasion to punish the disobedient, he adds, whose fan is in his hand, showing that He is not only the rewarder of the righteous, but the avenger of them that speak lies. But the fan expresses the promptitude of His judgment. For not with the process of passing sentence on trial, but in an instant and without any interval he separates those that are to be condemned from the company of those that are to be saved.

1 min9/13

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Gregory The Dialogist

AD 604

But John denounces himself as unworthy to loose the latchet of Christ's shoes: as if he openly said, I am not able to disclose the footsteps of my Redeemer, who do not presume unworthily to take unto myself the name of bridegroom, for it was an ancient custom that when a man refused to take to wife her whom he ought, whoever should come to her betrothed by right ofkin, was to loose his shoe. Or because shoes are made from the skins of dead animals, our Lord being made flesh appeared as it were with shoes, as taking upon Himself the carcass ofour corruption. The latchet of the shoe is the connection of the mystery. John therefore cannot loose the latchet of the shoe, because neither is he able to fathom the mystery of the Incarnation, though he acknowledged it by the Spirit of prophecy. The fire of hell is here wonderfully expressed, for our earthly fire is kept up by heaping wood upon it, and cannot live unless supplied with fuel, but on the contrary the fire of hell, though a bodily f... Read More

1 min10/13

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Gregory The Dialogist

AD 604

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.” 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.”

1 min11/13

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Gregory of Nyssa

AD 394

But it is well to know, that the treasure which according to the promises are laid up for those who live honestly, are such as the words of man cannot express, as eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man to conceive. And the punishments which await sinners bear no proportion to any of those things which now affect the senses. And although some of those punishments are called by our names, yet their difference is very great. For when you hear of fire, you are taught to understand something else from the expression which follows, that is not quenched, beyond what comes into the idea of other fire.

1 min12/13

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John Chrysostom

AD 407

And having said that his own baptism was only with water, he next shows the excellence of that baptism which was brought by Christ, adding, He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and fire, signifying by the very metaphor which he uses the abundance of grace. For he says not, “ He shall give you the Holy Spirit,” but He shall baptize you. And again, bythe addition of fire, he shows the power of grace. And as Christ calls the grace of the Spirit, water, meaning by water the purity resulting from it, and the abundant consolation which is brought to minds which are capable of receiving Him; so also John, by the word fire, expresses the fervor and uprightness of grace, as well as the consuming of sins.

1 min13/13

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