Isaiah 40:1-5 | Matthew 3:1-12
Reading through Isaiah during Advent: Isaiah 39-41
All four gospels quote from Isaiah 40:1-5. That is a rare thing, indeed.
And all four do so at the appearance of John the Baptist.
John the Baptist is a key person for the season in Advent in that his role was to prepare the way for the Christ. This is the prophetic role - to announce repentance, the purging of unrighteousness and injustice. That’s what makes way for Christ to come in the context of the whole world and in the context of our lives.
Isaiah 40:1-5
Comfort, comfort my people!
says your God.
Speak compassionately to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her that her compulsory service has ended,
that her penalty has been paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins!
A voice is crying out:
“Clear the Lord’s way in the desert!
Make a level highway in the wilderness for our God!
Every valley will be raised up,
and every mountain and hill will be flattened.
Uneven ground will become level,
and rough terrain a valley plain.
The Lord’s glory will appear,
and all humanity will see it together;
the Lord’s mouth has commanded it.”
Matthew 3:1-12
In those days John the Baptist appeared in the desert of Judea announcing, “Change your hearts and lives! Here comes the kingdom of heaven!” He was the one of whom Isaiah the prophet spoke when he said:
The voice of one shouting in the wilderness,
“Prepare the way for the Lord;
make his paths straight.”
John wore clothes made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey.
People from Jerusalem, throughout Judea, and all around the Jordan River came to him. As they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. Many Pharisees and Sadducees came to be baptized by John. He said to them, “You children of snakes! Who warned you to escape from the angry judgment that is coming soon? Produce fruit that shows you have changed your hearts and lives. And don’t even think about saying to yourselves, Abraham is our father. I tell you that God is able to raise up Abraham’s children from these stones. The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be chopped down and tossed into the fire. I baptize with water those of you who have changed your hearts and lives. The one who is coming after me is stronger than I am. I’m not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. The shovel he uses to sift the wheat from the husks is in his hands. He will clean out his threshing area and bring the wheat into his barn. But he will burn the husks with a fire that can’t be put out.”
Prayer
God,
Who or what is playing the role of John the Baptist today? It seems like he was a bit of a pariah by choice. He had his ways, almost a spectacle. And yet he was the one of use to prepare the way for Jesus.
So help us to see today the way of preparing for Christ in our time, our lives. Keep us from prim and proper religion and move us toward whatever it takes to bring your righteousness and justice.
(And honestly, thank you that the end is Jesus and not John!)
By your spirit & in Christ,
Amen.
I by no means am even able to carry John’s sandals, let alone Jesus’s, but I do feel like that is all our roles. I feel like it’s on us to make way for Jesus’s return. By spreading his message of love, not only with our mouths, but more importantly in our actions. I fail daily, anyone who knows me, knows I do, but I pray that we get better at it collectively. That’s the only way I will be able to, is with the people like you who I surround myself with. For that I am grateful as well!
Thanks and praise to our God!