“And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”
And all people will see God's salvation — the extension of the Isaiah citation to include all people (pasa sarx, all flesh) is Luke's most distinctive element of the quotation. The universalism is Luke's consistent emphasis: the salvation that arrives through John's preparation is not for Israel alone but for every human being. The salvation that Simeon held in his arms (2:30) is now announced as the universal vision.
Church Fathers on Luke 3:6
The Word came, and the voice followed. For the Word first works inward, then follows the office of the voice, as it is said, And he went into all the country about Jordan.
Jordan is the same as descending, for there descends from God a river of healing water. But what parts would John be traversing but the country lying about Jordan, that the penitent sinner might soon arrive at the flowing stream, humbling himself to receive the baptism of repentance. For it is added, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
It is plain to every reader that John not only preached the baptism of repentance, but to some also he gave it, yet his own baptism he could not give for the remission of sins.
Read all 13 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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