Luke 1:76-79
“Prepare ye the way of the Lord …” are the opening words of the Broadway musical Godspell, that was released in 1971. The lyrics pick up the theme of John the Baptist’s preaching some two millennia ago as he prepared people for the coming of God’s promised Messiah or King. All four Gospels record John’s ministry.
John the Baptist was a great preacher. He drew thousands from the cities and towns to the wilderness region near the Jordan River. In his preaching John used the symbolism of the exodus from Egypt. God’s people Israel had endured the wilderness for forty years because they had not listened to Moses. Now God in his mercy, had sent John whose role was to prepare the way for God’s Messiah. John’s mission was to call Israel back to God through preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
We men and women fail to honor God in our lives. This is our real sin. And we need to change. ‘Repentance and baptism’, said John, ‘were signs of a change of heart towards God and a renewed relationship with God’s people.’
The preaching of John the Baptist was a wake-up call for all of God’s people. ‘God is about to do a new thing; there will be a new exodus,’ John was saying. ‘He is going to fulfil his promises that prophets like Isaiah spoke about: God is about to send his Messiah who will offer comfort and hope to a broken world. My task,’ said John, is ‘to prepare you.’ ‘You need to repent – to turn back to God – and, as a sign of your changed hearts, be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins’ (Luke 3:3).
Luke is telling us that God is about to do a new thing. It was going to be the dawn of a new day. He is about to provide the means of the rescue of a lost world and with it, offer the comfort and hope the world longs for. All flesh shall see the salvation of God, we read in Luke 3:6. Like freeway or highway construction, cutting through mountains and filling valleys, John’s ministry was to make the way ready for the Lord.
‘The time is critical,’ John insisted: “Even now the axe is laid at the root of the tree” (3:9). The true children of God are not those who have the right credentials (physical descendants of Abraham, 3:8), but those who bear fruits that befit repentance (3:8). ‘Do not be complacent or self-satisfied about your lives,’ John declared, ‘for you do not bear the marks of godly living. Like the very desert you are standing in,’ he implied, ‘you are barren; be warned of God’s coming judgment’ (3:9).
Godspell dramatized the first coming of the Messiah. The words prepare ye now serve as a reminder of his return. The season of Advent, which began on Sunday December 1, focuses on the second coming of the Lord Jesus.
The return of the King one day will surprise us all. We need to be prepared. We also have the task of preparing others for that great and glorious day. Will you join me in praying that all of us will look for and take up opportunities to introduce family and friends to Jesus, the Christ, especially over the Advent and Christmas seasons?
I hope you can join us this third week of Advent as we rejoice that Jesus is the dawning of a new day (Luke 1:76-79), which opens the way to heaven through the forgiveness of our sins. His mercy reaches as ‘far as the curse is found.’ Thanks be to God!
Joy to the World,
Pastor Wayne
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