Preparing
the Way of the Lord
Today we begin the second week of
Advent. And as we prepare for the
Christmas holiday, I thought I’d throw a little Bible trivia out that might
surprise you. Did you know?
Just two Gospels describe the birth of
Jesus. Matthew’s version includes
shepherds, angels, the stable and manger, but no wise men. And Luke’s version of the birth story includes
visits from the wise men but says nothing about the shepherds, angels, stable,
or manger. To take that a step further,
the wise men came from the Far East (Asia) on camels and Biblical scholars
believe Jesus may have been nearly 2 years old by the time they arrived. Luke says the wise men came to the ‘house’,
not a stable. So there are just 2
Gospels that describe the birth story, and they are very different from one
another.
Mark’s Gospel begins with the
arrival of John the Baptist and his baptism of Jesus (at this point, Jesus was
approx. 30 years old!). The Gospel of
John opens with several verses related to the idea that ‘The Word became flesh’
before it transitions into the description of John the Baptist and is followed
by the baptism of Jesus.
Prepare the way of the Lord is
today’s sermon title. John the Baptist is
described as a ‘forerunner’ to Jesus and was predicted in the Old Testament. This is the first story that all four Gospels
agree upon. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “A
voice cries out: In the wilderness
prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our
God.”
What does Isaiah meant when he wrote,
“Prepare the way of the Lord”. How is
John the Baptist preparing the way of the Lord?
We are not told that John has been teaching the masses about Christ’s
coming until this event, where Jesus is about 30 years old. But even in today’s text, we are not given
specifics to who Jesus is and John does not call Jesus by name.
In those days, John appeared in the
wilderness proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” That sounds like a statement of
preparation. But what does that mean to
the population who is expecting the Messiah to come down from heaven in the
clouds? How is John preparing the way of
the Lord?
A clue is found in verse 4. “Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with
a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.” Why did Matthew find that verse important to
insert in this text? Couldn’t God have
sent someone a little more convincing to prepare the way of Jesus than the
description of this guy? And yet all the
people of Judea came to listen! Interestingly
in Jewish faith, it is believed that the prophet Elijah (who was taken into
heaven without death) will return just before the Messiah. John’s clothing and food were similar to that
of the prophet and many thought John was Elijah. So in Jewish faith, John’s presence was
already a potential sign of the Messiah’s arrival.
But there are 2 main points in John
the Baptist’s proclamation. First is
that of repentance. The reason for
baptism was the symbolic washing away of sins after repentance. Repent means ‘to turn around’ or ‘to change
direction’. When we repent, we are
turning away from the practice of sin.
The second point is that the kingdom
of heaven is near. No god previous to
the Jesus story of any religion would have stepped down to become human. Such a move would have been heretical for a
Deity. When John said the kingdom was
near, nobody had a clue that it meant God had become human in Jesus to live
with us. Even today, it is difficult to
grasp that the Holy Spirit is in our midst at ALL times, rather than
disconnected in some distant heavenly place.
Then John addresses the righteous
Pharisees and Sadducees as a ‘brood of vipers’, or in other words, poisonous
snakes. Their emphasis on living right
as the ticket to eternal life was not based on a foundation of love. They didn’t care about relationships, loving
others, or showing mercy. Their main desire
was to prove themselves better than others in order to be worthy. These righteous people judged and pointed out
flaws in others while building themselves up.
John’s preparation for the way of
the Lord was to preach the new kingdom ushered in by God. In Christ’s new kingdom, our worth is not
determined by accomplishments or lack of them.
Jesus loves us so much that he would die for us
while we were yet sinners. Not when we
were good enough, but while we were unworthy.
In God’s new kingdom that came with the birth of Jesus, love and
forgiveness replaced division and judgment.
It is impossible to live ‘good enough’ to earn God’s love and
salvation. He gives it to us freely.
There is nothing more freeing than confession
and repentance. When we don’t feel
strong enough, smart enough, thin enough, attractive enough, and on and on, we
can confess our insecurities and imperfections and feel God’s arms wrap us in
his love and peace. We are loved because
we are his creation, not because of what we have done.
On the other hand, divine love is fierce in its
judgment for those who resist love’s demands; those who tear others down in
order to make themselves look and feel better about themselves, those who think
they are better than others because of their accomplishments, and those whose
pride and ego are more important than anyone else.
The kingdom that John proclaimed provides us
the opportunity to get real with ourselves.
We can stand in the mirror, warts and all, and know that we are
imperfect children created by a perfect God.
We have nothing to prove to him.
No expectations to fulfill. He
knows us inside and out and still loves us and forgives us. As we prepare for Christmas, let’s remember
the most valuable gift that has ever been given and rejoice with thankful
hearts. Amen.