Matthew 1

Matthew 1:1

JOHN THE BAPTIST, THE PRECURSOR OF CHRIST

[Matthew 1, 1-12. Mark 1, 1-8. Luke 3, 1-18. John 1, 19-27]

THE time was approaching when Jesus would show Himself publicly as the Redeemer of the world. Wherefore the word of the Lord¹ came to John, the son of Zachary, in the desert. Obedient to the divine will, John repaired to the country about the Jordan². He was clothed in camel’s hair³, with a leathern girdle round his loins, and his food was wild honey⁴ and locusts⁵.

¹ The word of the Lord. God commanded John, who, as you know, lived the life of a hermit in the desert, to leave his solitude, and enter upon his office of Precursor.

² About the Jordan. That is, at the southern end of the Jordan, in the neighbourhood of the Dead Sea, about twenty-five miles from Jerusalem.

³ Camel’s hair. A dark brown garment shaped like a sack, made of a rough material woven from camel’s hair. Instead of sleeves there were two holes for the arms, and the garment was kept together by a leather band round the loins.

⁴ Wild honey. The honey made by the wild bees which make their hives in the hollows of trees, or in holes in the rocks.

⁵ Locusts. Which (like crayfish) are either boiled or roasted. — XI. JOHN THE BAPTIST, THE PRECURSOR OF CHRIST.

He cried aloud to all the people: “Do penance¹, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!“² In order to excite his hearers more efficaciously to repentance, as also to prepare them for Christian Baptism, he baptized those who were sorry for their sins, in the waters of the Jordan. Then the multitudes came to him from Jerusalem and Judæa to listen to his preaching; and many people of all conditions, after hearing him, confessed their sins and were baptized.

Some of the Sadducees and Pharisees³ being present among the crowd, John addressed them sternly, saying: “Ye brood of vipers⁴, who hath shewed you to flee from the wrath to come?⁵ Bring forth, therefore, fruit worthy of penance⁶, and think not to say: ‘We have Abraham for our father’, for I tell you that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham⁷. For now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, that yieldeth not good fruit, shall be cut down and cast into the fire.‘⁸

¹ Do penance. Repent of and confess your sins, and amend your ways.

² At hand. The time has nearly arrived when the Messias will appear from heaven and will found His kingdom.

³ Sadducees and Pharisees. For more details about these sects see Old Test, LXXXVI.

⁴ Vipers. John called them by this name, because they were as full of evil as are poisonous snakes. They were, as a matter of fact, those very children of the infernal serpent, about whom, after the Fall, God foretold that there should be enmity between them and the Redeemer.

⁵ The wrath to come. Do not think that you can escape future condemnation, if you come here and are baptized for the sole purpose of winning praise from men.

⁶ Fruit worthy of penance. Namely, works corresponding with a real conversion. In other words St. John meant, “Repent really, and do not perform only outward, or seeming penance.”

⁷ Children to Abraham. Do not think that penance is unnecessary for you, because you are descended from Abraham, and belong, therefore, to the chosen people; for, if you prove unworthy of divine grace, God will reject you in spite of your descent from Abraham, and He will call others (the Gentiles) to His kingdom, who by their faith will become the spiritual children of Abraham. All those who, like Abraham, live by faith, are the spiritual children of him who is called the father of the faithful. If He so willed it, God could create men from stones, as He first created Adam and Eve of earth and make of them children of Abraham.

⁸ The fire. Men are signified by the trees; the tree which bears no fruit being the impenetent sinner. John meant to say: “Do not put off your conversion, for the hour has almost come when it will be decided whether you are to have a place in the kingdom of God, or not. He who does not do penance will be shut out from the kingdom of the Messias, and cast into the everlasting fire of hell.”

— XI. JOHN THE BAPTIST, THE PRECURSOR OF CHRIST.

And the people¹ asked him: “What then² shall we do?” He answered: “He that hath two coats, let him give to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do in like manner.” The soldiers³ also asked what they should do, and John said to them: “Do violence to no man, neither calumniate any man; and be content with your pay.” The Publicans⁴ too asked what they were to do, and he answered: “Do nothing more than that which is appointed you.”

Now the austere appearance of the Baptist and his startling exhortation led the people to believe that he was the Messias⁵. John, perceiving this, told them that he was not the Messias, but that there was One coming, mightier than he, the latchet of whose shoes he was not worthy to loose⁶.

He told them, moreover, that he, indeed, baptized with water⁷, but that the Saviour who was to come after him, would baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire⁸. “Whose fan is in His hand,

¹ The people. The rich and proud Pharisees and Sadducees were not at all moved by St. John’s severe words: but the common people were deeply moved, and ready to obey the precepts of the holy prophet.

² What then. Why did they say “then”? They meant: “If the case stands as you say it does, and the moment has arrived when we must decide what to do, so as not to be cast into hell, what are we to do?”

³ The soldiers. The soldiers were principally pagans, for the Jews were exempt from military service. As the soldiers, in time of peace, were employed as police, and supported the publicans in their collection of taxes, they had many opportunities of being oppressive and violent.

⁴ The Publicans. These were collectors who gathered the taxes claimed by the Roman rulers. They were for the most part pagans, and were hated and despised by the Jews, partly because they were dishonest and demanded more than was due, and partly because all taxes paid to the Roman emperors were detestable in the eyes of the Jews. In reply to their inquiry, St. John told them to demand no more money than was required, the amount of the taxes being exactly and precisely laid down.

⁵ The Messias. The Messias was at this time generally looked for. The deep impression made by John’s power and holiness, which indicated him to be a prophet of God, very naturally gave rise to the thought that he might perhaps be the expected Messias.

⁶ To loose. To loosen the straps of his master’s sandals was the duty of a servant; therefore John meant to say: The Messias who will come after me is so high above me that I am not worthy to be even His servant.

⁷ With water. That is, washing outwardly with water only, in token of internal penance.

⁸ With fire. He will purify you inwardly, even as fire purifies metal, and He will sanctify you by the Holy Ghost.

— XI. JOHN THE BAPTIST, THE PRECURSOR OF CHRIST.

and He will thoroughly cleanse His floor¹, and gather the wheat into His barn, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Then the High Priest and the Council sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask John: “Who art thou?” He answered: “I am not the Christ.” They continued: “Art thou Elias?” He replied: “I am not.” They spoke again: “Art thou the great prophet?” He said: “No!” At last they exclaimed: “Why, then, dost thou baptize, if thou be not Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet?” John answered that he was the forerunner ‘a voice crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord’ of the Messias who would soon appear in their midst, preaching penance and announcing the good tidings of salvation.

COMMENTARY. The virtues of St. John the Baptist.

1. His self-denial. He lived far from the world in the solitude of the desert, wearing one single, coarse, rough garment, and his food was of the poorest description.

2. His obedience. It was a hard task to preach penance to the sensual and worldly-minded Jews, but John promptly undertook the task, because God commanded it.

3. His courage. He did not hesitate to speak out the truth boldly to the Pharisees and Sadducees, although he knew that they would hate him for it.

4. His humility. “I am not the Christ. I am not worthy to loose the latchlet of His shoes.”

John’s mission was twofold: 1. to preach penance to the Jews by word and example, and thus make them ready to receive the grace of Redemption; 2. to herald the Redeemer, and bear testimony to Him. The holy prophet fulfilled both missions most perfectly. His preaching was so persuasive that even the hard-hearted publicans and rude soldiers were moved by it. He especially pointed out:

a) the necessity of good works: “Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire”: — “He that hath two coats, let him give to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do in like manner”:

¹ Cleanse His floor. This simile is taken from the manner of threshing corn on open threshing floors in vogue among the Jews. The grain was cleansed by being thrown up into the air with a shovel, the heavy grain fell back on to the ground, while the light chaff floated away. Thus will the Messias do with the Israelites (and all men): He will gather the good grain into His barn, but the evil and worthless chaff will be thrown into the unquenchable fire of hell.

— 428 XII. JESUS IS BAPTIZED BY JOHN AND TEMPTED BY THE DEVIL.

b) the duty of justice: “Do nothing more than that which is appointed you”; - “Do violence to no man, neither calumniate any man; and be content with your pay”.

The testimony to Christ borne by St. John is very striking. He testified that the Messias was much higher and greater than himself; and he testified to His divine nature, for if the Christ could baptize with the Holy Ghost, and had the right to judge and condemn, He must be God.

Confession of sins. Those who were baptized by John openly confessed their sins. They did this, because, being seized with a deep compunction, they hoped to obtain pardon of their sins by a sincere confession. He who is truly contrite, is always willing to confess his sins. In the Old Testament, a confession of sins was an obligatory part of a sin-offering; and in the New Testament, confession is a necessary condition for the Sacrament of Penance.

The Baptism of John was not a Sacrament, and could not effect any purification or sanctification. It was only designed to admonish men that they needed inward purifying from sins, and must prepare themselves for it by true contrition. It was at the same time a type of Christian Baptism, by which men are cleansed and sanctified through the Holy Ghost.

APPLICATION. You too must bring forth fruits worthy of penance. Have you had true contrition and made firm purposes of amendment each time you have been to confession? Have you always confessed your sins sincerely and fully? And do you think you have really improved since your last confession? In what way have you improved?

JESUS FORETELLS THE TREASON OF JUDAS

[Matthew 1$^(r)$, 21—25. Mark 12, 13—21. Luke 24, 21—23. John 1$^(r)$, 21—30]

WHILST they were eating, He told the apostles: “Amen, I say to you, that one of you$^(1)$ who eateth with Me shall betray Me."$^(2)$ They, being much troubled, asked Him with one

$^(1)$ One of you. He was. Scripture says, “troubled in spirit”, thinking of the base ingratitude with which Judas would repay His love, and of the traitor’s eternal doom. He, therefore, full of love, tried to save the wretched disciple by warning and threatening him, without mentioning his name.

$^(2)$ Betray Me. Satan had put it into the heart of Judas to betray his Master. Before the Pasch he had gone to the chief priests who, ever since the raising of Lazarus, had resolved to kill Jesus, and offered to betray Him into their hands. Our Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem and the woes which He pronounced on the Pharisees had confirmed them in this resolution, and all they waited for was an opportunity to secretly seize and condemn Him. They did not dare to use open force, for they feared that the people would rise and defend Jesus. The longed-for opportunity was given to them by Judas. “What will you give me”,

— LXVI. JESUS FORETELLS THE TREASON OF JUDAS.

voice: “Is it I, Lord?” He answered and said: “One of the twelve¹, who dippeth² his hand with Me in the dish.” Then He added: “The Son of Man goeth, indeed, as it is written of Him³, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man shall be betrayed. It were better⁴ for that man if he had not been born!”

Then Judas, who betrayed Him, said: “Is it I⁵, Rabbi?” But Jesus replied⁶: “Thou hast said it.“⁷ Then Judas rose from the table and went out⁸, and, going immediately to the High Priest, sold His Master for thirty pieces of silver, and promised to betray Him into the hands of the High Priest’s servants. When he was gone Jesus said to His disciples: “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him.”

said he, “and I will deliver Him to you”—for if I help you, you can do the deed quite secretly. They promised to give him thirty pieces of silver. This sum was the price or compensation money given, according to the Old Law (Ex. 21, 32), for a slave who had been killed, and probably the chief priests fixed on this sum to show their contempt for Jesus, whom they professed to esteem of no greater value than a slave. And for this paltry sum Judas consented to betray his Master!

¹ One of the twelve. It grieved them to think that anyone of their number could act so wickedly and ungratefully towards their beloved Master: in fact they could not conceive such wickedness possible. Then Jesus indicated the traitor more directly, saying: “One of the twelve &c.”

² Who dippeth. On the table at the pasch there stood dishes containing a mess of cooked fruit, such as dates, figs &c. In this mess each person dipped his bread before eating it. Among those who were dipping their bread into the same dish with Jesus, was Judas; but as several of the other apostles were also dipping into the same dish, our Lord did not make it plain that He meant Judas. To obtain certainty in the matter, St. Peter beckoned to St. John, who was next to Jesus, and whom our Lord especially loved on account of his virginal purity, bidding him ask who it was of whom our Lord spoke. John, “leaning on the breast of Jesus”, saith to Him: “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered. “He it is to whom I shall give bread dipped.” And when He had dipped the bread He gave it to Judas. And after the morsel Satan entered into Judas.

³ Written of Him. In the prophecies relating to His sufferings and death (Old Test. LV and LXXII).

⁴ It were better. Rather than suffer the everlasting punishment which will be his on account of his wickedness.

⁵ Is it I. He saw that he was unmasked, but instead of repenting and giving up his evil project, he became more wicked and more obstinate, and fell completely under the dominion of Satan.

⁶ Replied. In a low tone so that the other apostles could not hear what He said.

⁷ Thou hast said it. i. e. “it is thou”, and He added: “That which thou dost, do quickly”, i. e. it you still persist in doing this wicked deed, do not put it off.

⁸ Went out. “And it was night”, says St. John (13, 30)—night, dark night in the street outside, dark night in the soul of Judas, from which the grace of God had departed.

— INVI. JESUS FORETELLS THE TREASON OF JUDAS. COMMENTARY.

The devil, and the avarice of Judas. Satan hated Jesus, the Most Holy One, and had been trying to outwit God ever since the creation of man. The covetousness of Judas gave him the apparent means of attaining his end. The bad apostle, by resisting grace and indulging his ruling passion, gave the devil an increasing influence over him; till at last, blinded by avarice, and disappointed in his hopes of an earthly Messias, he listened to the suggestions of the spirit of evil, and decided to sell his Lord and Master for a paltry sum. Covetousness is a capital sin. “There is”, says the Son of Sirach, “no more wicked thing than to love money, for such an one setteth even his own soul to sale” (Ecclus. 10, 10). Judas set even his God and Saviour to sale! See how sin grows! Our Blessed Lord, who knew the wicked purpose of Judas’ heart, tried to win him back from the road to hell. He washed the feet of him, the most unworthy of men; but in spite of his Master’s love and humility, the heart of Judas remained untouched, and he persisted in his fiendish purpose of delivering up his Lord into the hands of His bitterest enemies! Oh, what wickedness and hardness of heart!

Jesus suffered death of His Own Will. “The Son of Man, indeed, goeth, as it is written of Him.”

God can bring good out of evil. Although our Lord died of His own will, still Judas was guilty of His Death, and on that account Jesus pronounced “woe” on him. But even as once God turned the crime of Joseph’s brethren to good account, so did He suffer the wickedness of Judas and of the unbelieving Jews to enter into the plan of Redemption, and allow their sin to be the cause of that Death which brought salvation to the world.

Unworthy Communion. Judas received the Body and Blood of our Lord as well as the other apostles, for according to the Gospel of St. Luke he did not go out till after the institution of the Holy Eucharist. He made an unworthy Communion, for he had, in his heart, already agreed to betray his Master, and neither the humility with which Jesus had washed his feet, nor the love which made Him give His own self to be the Food of the disciples, had served to turn him from his vile purpose. After his unworthy Communion his heart became hardened. The love of Jesus did not move him: the threat of everlasting punishment did not deter him: our Lord’s solemn words of warning made no impression on him; he remained obstinate, and gave himself over to the dominion of Satan, who drove him to commit a crime so terrible that a man could not have committed it unaided. See the consequences of an unworthy Communion! To this day, alas, unworthy Communions lead very many to blindness and hardness of heart!

— LXVII. JESUS FORETELLS THE DENIAL OF PETER.

APPLICATION. You can see by the case of Judas how low a man can fall who despises warnings and resists the inspirations of grace. By degrees he becomes so hardened and indifferent, that he is capable of any sin. Examine yourself! Do you take good advice to heart, and act on it? or do you prefer listening to the suggestions of bad companions rather than to the inspirations of the Holy Ghost, and the advice of those set over you? Do not harden your heart and follow the example of Judas!