Origen, COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW Complete

Translated by John Patrick.

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Page 37

20. Different Conceptions of John the Baptist.

"At that season Herod the tetrarch heard the report concerning Jesus and said unto his own servants, This is John the Baptist." [5299] In Mark [5300] it is the same, and also in Luke. [5301] The Jews had different opinions, some false, such as the Sadducees held about the resurrection of the dead, that they do not rise, and in regard to angels that they do not exist, but that those things which were written about them were only to be interpreted figuratively, but had no reality in point of fact; and some true opinions, such as were taught by the Pharisees about the resurrection of the dead that they rise. We must therefore here inquire, whether the opinion regarding the soul, mistakenly held by Herod and some from among the people, was somewhat like this--that John, who a little before had been slain by him, had risen from the dead after he had been beheaded, and was the same person under a different name, and being now called Jesus was possessed of the same powers which formerly wrought in John. For what credibility is there in the idea that One, who was so widely known to the whole people, and whose name was noised abroad in the whole of Judaea, whom they declared to be the son of the carpenter and Mary, and to have such and such for brothers and sisters, was thought to be not different from [5302] John whose father was Zacharias, and whose mother was Elisabeth, who were themselves not undistinguished among the people? But it is probable that the fact of his being the Son of Zacharias was not unknown to the people, who thought with regard to John that he was truly a prophet, and were so numerous that the Pharisees, in order to avoid the appearance of saying that which was displeasing to the people, were afraid to answer the question, "Was his baptism from heaven or from men?" [5303] And perhaps, also, to some of them had come the knowledge of the incident of the vision which was seen in the temple, when Gabriel appeared to Zacharias.

[5299] Matt. xiv. 1.

[5300] Mark vi. 14.

[5301] Luke ix. 7.

[5302] Or, none other than.

[5303] Matt. xxi. 25.

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