“He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.”
John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, 'I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, Make straight the way for the Lord' — the Baptist answers through Scripture (Isaiah 40:3), positioning himself within the prophetic tradition of forerunner preparation. "Voice" (phōnē) emphasizes instrumentality; the Baptist is a temporary herald, not the Word himself. The wilderness setting evokes Israel's desert wandering and preparation for God's covenant presence.
Church Fathers on John 1:23
This is the second testimony of John the Baptist to Christ, the first began with, This is He of Whom I spoke; and ended with, He has declared Him.
Or, after the introduction above of John’s testimony to Christ, is preferred before me, the Evangelist now adds when the above testimony was given, And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem.
Such confidence had they in John, that they were ready to believe him on his own words: witness how it is said, To ask him, Who are you?
Read all 22 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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