“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” Isaiah 40:3
When John the Baptist came, preceding the unveiling of Christ the Son of God, the Savior of the world, he came with both a commission and a message. His commission was to be what is called the “precursor” of Christ, the one preparing the way for Christ, His appearance and His ministry. His message was that which was declared in the book of Isaiah about seven hundred years before. In Isaiah we read of “the voice of one crying in the wilderness.” (Is. 40:3) In the Gospel of John, we discover the very words of John the Baptist, who came filled with the Spirit of God, declaring: “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord.” (Jn. 1:23) For seven hundred years the announcing of the coming of John the Baptist remained unrealized, and hidden. Then in God’s time, again confirming that He is the God of History, sovereign and perfect in all of His ways and purposes, John the Baptist comes on the scene of history, a very unique and remarkable individual. He is singular as there is none like him, roughly dressed, living in the wilderness, living on locusts and honey, and yet being described by Christ: “…among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist.” (Matt. 11:11) How could this be? It must be because of the fact that from a baby in his mother’s womb he was filled with the Spirit of God. Added to that fact was another. To John the Baptist was entrusted a message at a certain point in history which would change the world, for it would be a message of preparation in the hearts of men to receive the revelation of the Messiah, the Savior of the world. The messenger would come “crying in the wilderness,” in the “…spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1:17) But what was his message, that which God had given him, and which God would bless, awakening the souls of men to the reality and truth that God had chosen that moment in history to reveal the identity, and mission of the Son of God, the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world?
John the Baptist began his ministry ultimately because of a singular event. Scripture tells us that, “…the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.” (Luke 3:3) So powerful and convicting was this word of the Lord, that John came in all the region around Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” (3:3) His message was first and foremost a call to all who would hear that each one was to turn from their own ways of independence from God, in order to turn to Him with the whole heart. Why was such a call to repentance so singularly important? It was because of the One who was coming, the One whose ways are everlasting, and eternally true. John would say, “One mightier that I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (3:16) With the gradual revelation of the soon coming Messiah, comes with it the message of the imperative call to the people to turn from all that is not of God concerning their sins, to turn wholly to God, and His way. The straight path of God is singular, but not complicated, for it is a Person, Christ the Messiah. To turn to this path is to leave all others which do not lead to God. The path is straight because there is no crookedness or deceit in it. It is a highway, of God’s choosing, by which anyone can come to truly live.
Dear Father, Grant us true repentance. In Jesus’ name, Amen.