“And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways.” Luke 1:76
In the book of Isaiah, we have the prophetic words describing the coming of John the Baptist, “…in the spirit and power of Elias (Elijah).” (Luke 1:17) Isaiah’s account describes the centerpiece of John’s message to the world of Christ’s day, the same message that reverberates down the centuries and millenia to this present time. The intensity of the message and the messenger, filled with the Spirit, is expressed by the words: “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness.” (Is.40:3) That cry is the call of God to all men everywhere to prepare their hearts to receive the coming Messiah. The Messiah of Isaiah’s vision, and the One that John the Baptist knew and baptized, is the same today. But who will hear and believe this message? Isaiah describes the problem like this: “Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” (53:1) With respect to Isaiah’s presentation of this one who is crying in the wilderness, speaking of the preparation of the heart and mind of all men, the message is couched in a humbling reality that is essential to see, grasp, and embrace, if there would be the proper response to the call of God. Again, we see the answer communicated in the form of a cry, a message specifically given by God: “All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand forever.” (Is. 40:6,7,8) Why is this declaration of such monumental importance? The answer lies in a choice to truly believe.
When John the Baptist came onto the scene of history in Jesus’ day, he appears as a very unusual man, clothed with garments of camel’s hair, living in the wilderness, whose food was locusts and honey. John was a message in and of himself, a man filled with the Spirit, who came at a specific time, with a specific verbal message from God. It was two-fold: “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” and “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.” (Matt. 2:2,3) The person who would hear the voice of the Spirit of God through John the Baptist was the one who made a choice? That choice was first and foremost to repent, or change his mind, towards God. If all his hope and expectation would be in the everlasting God, then he must submit to the truth. He is faced with a Supreme Authority, and His word. Those who would truly believe in the God of Israel, faithful and merciful, would commit themselves to Him who alone possesses the power to forgive and cleanse from sin, and give eternal Life by the Spirit. In addition to repentance comes the admonition: “Prepare ye the way of the Lord.” This way of the Lord is a “highway for our God,” a straight way into the heart. How is it to be prepared?
The preparation begins with valleys, those low, darker places, which are “less than fully receptive to the sun’s rays.” These valleys must be elevated with the great and eternal truths of Life and power. It is by the preaching of the truth, quickened by the Spirit, that the valleys are exalted, and the dimness of shadows is left behind. The obstacles of mountains and hills, these imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, are to be cast down. How? Again, it is as the eternal word of God is preached that the mountains and hills are threshed and made as chaff. Crooked paths of deceit and ignorance are made straight by the power of the Gospel of truth. The straight and plain path is finally prepared by the removal of the small rocks of faithless attitudes and acts.
Dear Father, Give us grace to hear Thy voice, preparing Thy Son’s way. In Jesus’ name, Amen.