02 — The Voice in the Wilderness
The hidden and the public desert: the child who “grew and became strong in spirit, and was in the wilderness till the day of his manifestation to Israel” (Luke 1:80); the ascetic life of camel’s hair, a leather girdle, and locusts and wild honey (Matt. 3:4; Mark 1:6); and the prophetic call by which John steps forward as “the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord” (Isa. 40:3; Matt. 3:3), the last of the prophets and the new Elijah.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Forerunner)
Between the infancy narrative and the Jordan stand the silent years of the desert. This section treats John’s ascetic formation — the wilderness as the place of his hidden growth and the form of his whole life — and his prophetic emergence: the preaching of repentance, the gathering of crowds and disciples, the confrontation with Pharisees and Sadducees, and the identity the Gospels assign him from Isaiah and Malachi as the herald who goes before the face of the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah.
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| The Wilderness Years | The hidden growth in the desert (Luke 1:80); the ascetic life and dress (Matt. 3:4; Mark 1:6); the wilderness as the place of prophecy and the form of John’s life; his place at the head of the Church’s desert ascetic tradition. |
| The Prophetic Call | “The voice of one crying in the wilderness” (Isa. 40:3 in Matt. 3:3; Mark 1:2–3; John 1:23); John as the last prophet and the promised Elijah (Mal. 3:1; 4:5; Matt. 11:14; 17:12–13); the preaching of repentance and the “brood of vipers” (Matt. 3:7–10). |
See Also
- Zacharias and Elizabeth — the prophet’s priestly origin
- The Baptism of John — the preaching of repentance enacted in baptism
- The Angel of the Desert — the wilderness ascetic in the Church’s iconography
- Monasticism — the desert vocation John prefigures
References
- The Gospel According to Matthew 3:1–12; Mark 1:1–8; Luke 1:80; 3:1–18. Revised Standard Version.
- Isaiah 40:3; Malachi 3:1; 4:5. Revised Standard Version.
- John Chrysostom. Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew, Homilies 10–11. Trans. in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series I, Vol. 10.