Shroro

The Syriac Orthodox Christian Digest - February, 2005

Bible Study - Commentaries
The Dress and Lifestyle of St. John the Baptist

from Kaniyamparmabil Achen, the Great Teacher of Malankara

Verse - Matthew 3:4
“his raiment was of camel's hair, and a girdle of skin was upon his loins; and his food was locusts and wild honey”

The clothing of John recalls the ascetic dress of the prophet Elijah (2 Kings 1,8). The expectation of the return of Elijah from heaven to prepare Israel for the final manifestation of God’s Kingdom was widespread. This was fulfilled by John’s ministry (Mat 11:14; 17:11-13). According to St. Jerome raiment of camel’s hair show his extreme ascetic life. The girdle of skin shows patience. Locust is could be an edible root or a small creature that is allowed for Jews to eat.

The crowd who listened to him:

“Nevertheless, "Jerusalem and all Judea, and all the country about Jordan" (Matt 3:5), by his strong and winning personality. “(Mat 3:5) Even Pharisees and Sadducees were there. Why so much big crowd?

1. People were expecting the arrival of Messiah. From the arrival of the Magi’s they heard that Messiah was born. Because of uniqueness of John that perhaps he might be the Christ". They asked him if he was Messiah.
2. John denied he was Elias, whom the Jews were looking for (Matt., xvii, 10; Mark, ix, 10). It was quite a while that Jews did not had a prophet. So they were attracted to the new prophet. Their prophets before talked about the wars with Babylonians and Persians. But this new prophet talks about heavenly kingdom.
3. His teaching “ that baptism was good, not so much to free one from certain sins” attracted public attention to such an extent that he was surnamed "the Baptist" (I. e. Baptizer) even during his lifetime.