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What the Fathers say
Eastern Fathers
John Chrysostom
Conceive, for example, how great a thing it was to see a man after thirty years coming down from the wilderness, being the son of a chief priest, who had never known the common wants of men, and was on every account venerable, and had Isaiah with him. …
Theophylact of Ohrid
For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight (Is. 40:3). "The way," that is, the highway, means the Gospel. The "paths" are the ordinances of the law, which are well-trodden and ancient. He is saying, therefore, "Prepare yourselves for the evangelic life, the life that is lived according to the Gospel, and make the commandments of the law straight, that is, make them spiritual." For the Spirit is straight and right. …
Western Saints
Augustine of Hippo
The other Evangelists omit these words of John. What follows, This is He, &c. it is not clear whether the Evangelist speaks them in his own person, or whether they are part of John's preaching, and the whole from Repent ye, to Esaias the prophet, is to be assigned to John. It is of no importance that he says, This is he, and not, I am he; for Matthew speaking of himself says, He found a man sitting at the toll-office; (Mat. 9:9.) not He found me. …
Jerome
For this is he who is spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: 'The voice of one crying out in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.' He was preparing the souls of the believers, in whom the Lord was going to walk, to walk in the purest ways, saying: 'I will dwell in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people' (Leviticus 26:12). …
Gregory the Dialogist
"I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord, as Isaiah the prophet said." You know, dearest brothers, that the only-begotten Son is called the Word of the Father, as John testifies when he says: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." And from your own manner of speaking you recognize that the voice sounds first, so that the word may afterward be heard. Therefore John asserts that he is the voice, because he precedes the Word. …
Translation