In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth,
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ” (New Revised Standard Bible)
In this Christian season of Advent, we are reminded that God is not only high above us, transcendent, far away; God is also close to us, immanent, and with us.
We remember at this time of year that God does not remain distant, but entered our time and space at a particular moment in history, for a distinct purpose.
The Roman Empire was powerful, large, and very much in control of every place where it existed. The litany of imperial rulers and authorities which the Gospel writer Luke listed is meant to give us a feel of the Roman weight, and how much Roman might was ensconced in Judea.
The world at the turn of the common era was under the dominion of powerful people with lots of influence. But God did not come to any of them. Instead, God came to a loner – a man who spent his time out in the wilderness. His name was John, the son of Zechariah. We know him as John the Baptist.
With God coming to John at a precise point of time in a particular place, that made John a prophet with a singular message. John was born for this. (Luke 1:76)
It is fitting that a man hanging out on the fringes of society all by himself would be the one to prepare the way for Messiah.
After all, Messiah’s message would be one of bringing good news to the poor, proclaiming release to prisoners, and freeing those who are oppressed. (Luke 4:18-19; Isaiah 61:1-2)
God’s prophetic calling for John was one of preparation. John was to prepare the way of the Lord. He was to get the people ready to receive Messiah.
John went about his ministry of preparation by calling folks to repent, to change their minds and amend their ways, so that there might be forgiveness.
In a reference from the prophet Isaiah, Luke alluded to Jewish exiles returning from their Babylonian captivity. The actual physical road from Babylon to Jerusalem was a hard journey due to the distance and topography.
The “road” or the “way” in Holy Scripture is also a metaphor for the spiritual journey we take in this life. And that road has a lot of challenges to it. The very act of walking as a pilgrim over a long arduous journey changes a person.
It is rarely the destination that makes a person; it’s the journey itself which leads one to a changed life of thinking differently, and seeing things from a perspective we’ve never seen before.
The smoothing out of the road is a way of saying God is making it easier for people to return to the Lord, to get them ready for a new life with promises fulfilled and unexpected joy.
In other words, valleys raised and mountains flattened represent God’s efforts at helping us experience a complete transformation of life. The Lord will do everything possible to make renewal and restoration happen for us.
The Lord will set things right. In our contemporary world that is now largely controlled by powerful oligarchs and the super-rich, God will turn it upside-down. All of the world’s current powerful people will find themselves looking up, not down.
It would be nice and reassuring if I could give you certainty about the journey ahead. But I cannot do that. Yet, what I can do is assure us of what is at the end of the road. Look beyond the current days of self-centered leadership and popular ignorance, and understand that all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
Prepare the way of the Lord. We do that by how we go about walking the road. Each step we take every day is important and makes a difference. And when we stumble, there is plenty of grace to help get us back on our feet and moving forward.
We are all collectively journeying together to Bethlehem. And as we daily move and walk, at the end of our journey, Jesus is there.
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. (Galatians 4:4, NRSV)
And nothing can stop us or separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ our Lord.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39, NRSV)
The journey may be arduous. You might feel like giving up. But Jesus is our Immanuel, God with us. In him, is our hope and our joy.
O Holy One of Israel, out of the embrace of mercy and righteousness, you have brought forth joy and dignity for your people. Remember now your ancient promise; make straight the paths that lead to you, and smooth the rough ways, so that in our day we might bring forth your compassion for all humanity. Amen.
Rev. Tim Ehrhardt 