In today’s gospel, Luke sets the scene for the Messiah to come into the world. He lists out the Roman and Jewish political leaders of the time, ending with the Jewish temple officials. He then abruptly switches tracks to talking about John the Baptist, a man that the readers of the time Luke’s writing would have considered a prophet (maybe even more so than Jesus). John was indeed a prophet, and he believed himself to be one. This is evident in his quoting from the book of Isaiah a famous Messianic prophesy:
A voice of one crying out in the desert:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.
Every valley shall be filled
and every mountain and hill shall be made low.
The winding roads shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth,
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”
The 21st century lens of this passage does injustice to what Isaiah and John the Baptist are trying to communicate. Because of our various modes of transportation, deserts, valleys, mountains, and hills do not create much of a problem for our trains, planes, and automobiles. Yet during the lives of Isaiah and John the Baptist, deserts, valleys, mountains, and hills were extreme obstacles for a person to traverse. If we put into context the idea of “the Lord” who was the Messiah as a king with a vast army, then we see these geographical obstacles as nearly impossible to cross without significant delay or loss of life. These obstacles would have been a problem for anyone trying to conquer. In fact many civilizations relied on the protection of their geographical features to secure them from neighboring kingdoms. Every one of the leaders that Luke mentions at the beginning of the Gospel would struggle to navigate these obstacles to the point that they may not even try to conquer certain regions.
But the voice in the desert is calling for all the paths to be made straight. The mountains, hills, and valleys are to be made level, because all will see the Messiah, the salvation of God. In order for this reshaping of the earth to happen, it would take the act of someone who played with the monsters of the deep and breathed out stars – a power that no human had possessed until the time of John the Baptist. Yet it happened, and it will happen again in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus, the Word made Flesh, the complete revelation of God’s love, the descent of God into His creation, brings salvation to mankind as He takes on our humanity in God’s divine condescension to us.
At His first coming, Jesus was expected to be a conquering hero. But he comes as the Lamb of God who tears down the mountains and fills in the chasms between us and God that had been created by our sin. John the Baptist initiates this work by preaching and baptizing in the spirit of repentance which is the first step of eradicating sin. Jesus continues this work by His preaching, healing, sacrifice, and resurrection which gives efficacy to the sacraments. In this way Jesus came, and continues to come to this earth, making the mountains low and filling in the valleys.
In the second coming of Jesus that we particularly focus on at the beginning of this season, we know that every eye will see Him when He comes and every knee will bow at His name. No one will be able to escape the judgement, wrath, glory, and love of the Lion of Judah. How and when this will happen remains a mystery, but the focus of this season is vigilance and hopeful anticipation for Him to be All in All. If we who have accepted the mercy of God from His first coming, remain in Him until His second coming, then we will reign with Him as His Body in the new heaven and new earth. This is our hope, and this is our focus during this advent season. We are to prepare the way, taking up the mantle of John the Baptist, for He is coming. May God give us the grace to endure any trials and tribulations as He has done for the saints and angels who have come before us until He comes in all His glory.
