Mark 1:6 — Community Reflections

MARK 1:6 — KING JAMES VERSION 0

“And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey;”

John was clothed in camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey — every detail of John's description deliberately evokes Elijah. Second Kings 1:8 describes Elijah as a hairy man with a leather belt around his waist; the same description applies to John. Malachi 4:5 promised that Elijah would be sent before the great day of the Lord. Jesus will later explicitly confirm that John is the promised Elijah (Mark 9:13). The camel's hair and leather belt are not ascetic affectations but prophetic uniform — John presents himself as the returning Elijah whose appearance signals that the day of the Lord has arrived.

Church Fathers on Mark 1:6

According to the above-mentioned prophecy of Isaiah, the way of the Lord is prepared by John, through faith, baptism, and penitence; the paths are made straight by the rough marks of the hair-cloth garment, the girdle of skin, the feeding on locusts and wild honey, and the most lowly voice; whence it is said, 'John was in the wilderness.'
Pseudo-Jerome · 5th century

It is evident that John not only preached, but also gave to some the baptism of repentance; but he could not give baptism for the remission of sins [ed. note: vol 1, p. 97, note A]. For the remission of sins is only given to us by the baptism of Christ. It is therefore only said, 'Preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;' for he 'preached' a baptism which could remit sins, since he could not give it.
Bede · 8th century

The baptism of John had not remission of sins, but only brought men to penitence. He preached therefore the baptism of repentance, that is, he preached that to which the baptism of penitence led, namely, remission of sins, that they who in penitence received Christ, might receive Him to the remission of their sins.
Theophylact · 11th century

Read all 17 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain

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