Church Fathers Commentary Mark 1:2-3

"Even as it is written in Isaiah the prophet, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, Who shall prepare thy way. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make ye ready the way of the Lord, Make his paths straight;" — Mark 1:2-3 (ASV)

The Venerable Bede: In preparing to write his Gospel, Mark rightly begins with the testimonies of the Prophets. He did this to show everyone that what he was about to write should be received without any doubt, by demonstrating that these things were foretold beforehand by the Prophets.

By this same opening, he simultaneously prepared the Jews, who had received the Law and the Prophets, to receive the grace of the Gospel and the mysteries their own prophecies had foretold. He also called upon the Gentiles, who came to the Lord through the proclamation of the Gospel, to receive and venerate the authority of the Law and the Prophets. This is why he says, As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, Behold...

St. Jerome: (From a letter to Pammachius, Epistle 57): But this is not written in Isaiah, but in Malachi, the last of the twelve prophets.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: It could be said that this is a writer's mistake. Alternatively, it could be said that he has combined two prophecies, delivered in different places by two prophets, into one. For in the prophet Isaiah, it is written after the story of Hezekiah, The voice of one crying in the wilderness; but in Malachi, Behold, I send my angel. ¹

The Evangelist, therefore, taking parts of two prophecies, has attributed them to Isaiah and refers to them here as one passage, without mentioning, however, who said, Behold, I send my angel.

Pseudo-Augustine: For knowing that all things should be referred to their originator, he traced these sayings back to Isaiah, who was the first to express the idea. ²

Finally, after the words of Malachi, he immediately adds, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, in order to connect the words of each prophet—since they belong to one meaning—under the name of the more ancient prophet.

The Venerable Bede: Alternatively, we must understand that although these specific words are not found in Isaiah, their meaning is found in many other places, and most clearly in the passage he added: The voice of one crying in the wilderness. For what Malachi called the angel to be sent before the face of the Lord to prepare His way is the same thing that Isaiah said was to be heard: the voice of one crying in the wilderness, saying, Prepare the way of the Lord.

In both sentences, the preparation of the Lord's way is proclaimed. It may also be that Isaiah came to Mark's mind instead of Malachi while writing his Gospel, as often happens. He would, however, have undoubtedly corrected this if reminded by others who read his work while he was still alive, unless he thought that, since his memory was guided by the Holy Spirit, the name of one prophet came to him instead of another for a specific reason. For in this way, whatever the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophets is understood to belong to all of them, and all of it to each one.

St. Jerome: Through Malachi, therefore, the voice of the Holy Spirit speaks to the Father concerning the Son, who is the face of the Father by which He is known.

The Venerable Bede: But John is called an angel not because he shares their nature—according to the heresy of Origenⁱ—but because of the dignity of his office. For "angel" in Greek is nuntius in Latin (meaning, messenger), and by this name that man is rightly called who was sent by God to bear witness to the light and to announce to the world the Lord's coming in the flesh.

Indeed, it is evident that all priests, by their office of preaching the Gospel, may be called angels, as the prophet Malachi says, The lips of the priest keep knowledge, and they seek the law at his mouth, because he is the Angel of the Lord of hosts (Malachi 2:7).

Theophylact of Ohrid: The Forerunner of Christ, therefore, is called an angel on account of his angelic life and profound reverence. Again, when he says, Before your face, it is as if he said, "Your messenger is near you." From this, the intimate connection of the Forerunner with Christ is shown, for those who walk next to kings are their greatest friends.

Then follows, Who will prepare your way before you.

For by baptism he prepared the minds of the Jews to receive Christ.

Pseudo-Jerome: Or, "the way of the Lord" is repentance, by which He comes into people, and by which God comes down to us and we ascend to Him. For this reason, the beginning of John's preaching was, Repent.

The Venerable Bede: But just as John could be called an angel because he went before the face of the Lord with his preaching, so too he could rightly be called a voice, because his sound preceded the Word of the Lord.

Therefore, what follows is, The voice of one crying...

For it is an acknowledged fact that the Only-Begotten Son is called the Word of the Father. Even we, from our own experience of speaking, know that the voice sounds first so that the word may then be heard.

Pseudo-Jerome: It is called "the voice of one crying" because we are accustomed to shout at people who are deaf or far away, or when we are indignant—all of which we know applied to the Jews. For salvation is far from the wicked, and they stopped their ears like deaf adders, and deserved to hear of indignation, and wrath, and tribulation from Christ.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: But the prophecy, by saying, In the wilderness, plainly shows that the divine teaching was not in Jerusalem but in the wilderness. This was fulfilled literally by John the Baptist in the wilderness of the Jordan, preaching the healing appearance of the Word of God. ³

The word of prophecy also shows that besides the wilderness indicated by Moses, where he made paths, there was another wilderness in which the salvation of Christ was proclaimed to be present.

Pseudo-Jerome: Alternatively, the voice and the cry are in the desert because the people were deserted by the Spirit of God—like a house, empty and swept clean—and also deserted by prophet, priest, and king.

The Venerable Bede: What he cried is revealed in what follows: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. For whoever preaches right faith and good works, what else is he doing but preparing the way for the Lord to come into the hearts of his hearers, so that the power of grace might penetrate their hearts and the light of truth shine in them? And he makes the paths straight when he forms pure thoughts in the soul through the word of preaching.

Pseudo-Jerome: Alternatively, Prepare the way of the Lord means to practice repentance and preach it. Make his paths straight means that, walking on the royal road, we should love our neighbors as ourselves, and ourselves as our neighbors. For he who loves himself but not his neighbor turns aside to the right; for many act well but do not correct their neighbor well, like Eli.

He, on the other hand, who hates himself but loves his neighbor, turns aside to the left. For many, for instance, rebuke well but do not act well themselves, as the Scribes and Pharisees did.

"Paths" are mentioned after the "way" because moral commands are revealed after repentance.

Theophylact of Ohrid: Or, the "way" is the New Testament, and the "paths" are the Old, because it is a well-trodden path. For it was necessary to be prepared for the way—that is, for the New Testament—but it was right that the paths of the Old Testament should be made straight.

1. Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.
2. Quaest. nov. et vet. Test. lvii
3. Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.