Scripture Daily

Context No. 2195 of 4322 · Luke

Context · Reflection

Luke 3:1-6: in context

1Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. 3He came into all the region around the Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for remission of sins. 4As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight. 5Every valley will be filled. Every mountain and hill will be brought low. The crooked will become straight, and the rough ways smooth. 6All flesh will see God’s salvation.’”

Luke situates the beginning of John the Baptist's ministry precisely in history, naming the rulers of the time, and then describes John's work: he came preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And Luke identifies John with the prophecy of Isaiah: the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, every mountain and hill brought low, the crooked made straight and the rough ways smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. John's task was to prepare people for the coming of the Lord.

John's role was to prepare the way of the Lord, and the image Isaiah gives is of clearing and leveling a road for a coming king. Valleys are filled, mountains brought low, crooked places straightened, rough ways made smooth, so that the way is ready for the Lord to come. And John's means of preparing this way was a baptism of repentance: the road that must be made ready is the human heart, and the way is prepared by repentance, by removing the obstacles that block the Lord's coming. To prepare for the Lord is to make the paths of the heart straight, clearing away what stands in his way. This speaks to how we prepare our own hearts for the Lord. The obstacles Isaiah names have their counterparts in us. The mountains and hills to be brought low are the pride and self-exaltation that block the Lord's coming; they must be humbled. The valleys to be filled are the low places, the discouragement and despair, that must be lifted. The crooked ways to be straightened are the dishonesty and waywardness that must be made straight. The rough places to be smoothed are the harshness and resistance that must be softened. Preparing the way of the Lord means dealing with these, through repentance, so that the way of our hearts is made ready for him. This is not a one-time task but an ongoing one. The Lord comes to us again and again, and each coming calls for preparation, for the clearing of the obstacles that have accumulated, the humbling of pride that has risen up, the straightening of ways that have grown crooked. Prepare the way of the Lord, John cries; and the preparation is the repentance that removes what blocks his coming. This searches how we make ready for the Lord. Are the paths of our hearts straight for him, or are they blocked by the mountains of pride, the crooked ways of dishonesty, the rough places of resistance? John's call is to prepare the way of the Lord, to make his paths straight, removing through repentance the obstacles that stand in his way. And the promise attached is glorious: all flesh shall see the salvation of God. The way prepared is the way by which the Lord comes to save. This calls us to prepare our hearts for the Lord, clearing the obstacles that block his coming, humbling our pride, straightening our ways, so that the paths of our hearts are made ready for the One who comes, and we see the salvation of God.

Are the paths of my heart straight and ready for the Lord, or are they blocked by the mountains of pride, the low places of despair, the crooked ways of dishonesty, and the rough places of resistance, and can John's call to prepare the way of the Lord and make his paths straight move me to the repentance that removes these obstacles, clearing my heart for the coming of the One who comes to save, that I might see the salvation of God?

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