Origen's homily on Luke 3:1-4, reading the elaborate dating formula that introduces John the Baptist as proof the gospel's spread from Israel to the nations, then allegorizing the desert and the heart.
This homily works through the opening verses of Luke 3, the famous chronological formula that dates John the Baptist's appearance by naming Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Herod, Philip, Lysanias, and the high priests Annas and Caiaphas. Origen asks why Luke bothers piling up so many rulers when earlier prophets were dated only by the kings of Judah or Israel. His answer: the multiplication of political titles signals that the gospel, unlike prophecy addressed only to Jews, was going out to many nations at once, so many kingdoms had to be named in the header.
From there Origen moves to the phrase "the word of the Lord came to John... in the desert," contrasting it with Jeremiah, to whom the word came in Judah under a king. He reads the desert first literally, then insists it makes better sense read mystically: the true desert is a soul with no peace, and a herald preaching to no one physically present is pointless unless the desert is understood as the desolate condition of the hearer's own soul. He works through etymologies in the same spirit, taking "Jordan" to mean "one who descends," and identifying the descending river with Christ, in whom people are baptized with saving water.
The homily's other main thread is baptism and repentance: John's baptism is for people who have already stopped sinning, not a magic remission granted regardless of conduct, and Origen urges catechumens to produce "fruits worthy of repentance" before seeking the washing. He closes with an extended reflection on the human heart as spacious enough to hold vast knowledge "of the beginning and the end and the midpoint of the ages," of the elements, stars, and seasons, arguing from ordinary memory (we retain whole cities and sea-voyages in the mind) that the heart is fit to become the road on which the word of God travels, if only it is kept clean and made straight.
“But because many were also going to believe both from Judea and from Galilee, for that reason these kingdoms too are set in the title”
— Homily on Luke 21 · read this chapter →
“The forerunner of Christ, therefore, and "the voice of one crying in the desert," preaches "in the desert" of a soul that has no peace.”
— Homily on Luke 21 · read this chapter →
“For if anyone who is sinning comes to the washing, no remission of sins is granted to him.”
— Homily on Luke 21 · read this chapter →
“The heart of man is great and spacious and capacious, provided only it be clean.”
— Homily on Luke 21 · read this chapter →
“Whatever cities we have passed through, we hold them in the mind, and the character and layout of streets and walls and buildings are turned over in our heart.”
— Homily on Luke 21 · read this chapter →
It is a sermon on Luke 3:1-4, the passage that introduces John the Baptist by dating him against a list of Roman and local rulers. Origen explains why so many rulers are named, then allegorizes the desert of John's preaching and the heart of the hearer.
Origen argues that earlier prophets were dated only by kings of Judah or Israel because their message was for Jews alone. Luke names Tiberius, Pilate, Herod, Philip, Lysanias, and the high priests because the gospel was going out to many nations and kingdoms simultaneously, so all had to be listed.
He first notes that preaching in a literal, uninhabited desert would be pointless since no one would hear it. He concludes the desert must be understood mystically as the desolate state of a soul without peace, which John's message addresses.
He teaches that baptism grants remission of sins only to those who have already ceased sinning and shown "fruits worthy of repentance." Coming to the water while still sinning brings no forgiveness, so he urges catechumens to reform their conduct first.
He argues the heart is spacious enough to hold vast knowledge of the world, the elements, the ages, and the stars, using the ordinary fact that people retain memories of whole cities and sea voyages as proof. A clean heart, so understood, becomes the road prepared for the word of God to travel.
Commentary on John, Book 1 · Commentary on John, Book 10 · Commentary on John, Book 2 · Commentary on John, Book 4 · Commentary on John, Book 5 · Commentary on John, Book 6 · Commentary on Matthew, Book 10 · Commentary on Matthew, Book 11 · Commentary on Matthew, Book 12 · Commentary on Matthew, Book 13 · Commentary on Matthew, Book 14 · Commentary on Matthew, Book 15