"Prepare the Way for the Lord"

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Text: Luke 3:4b-6

Theme: “Prepare the Way for the Lord”

Date: December 7, 2003

Day: 2nd Sunday in Advent

The text for our consideration this morning is taken from the Gospel read earlier. We call your devout Christian attention to these words of God:

4“A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. 5 Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. 6 And all mankind will see God’s salvation.’” a [1] This is our text.

Dear Friends in Christ: I bring you greetings from God our Father who is so kind to you and who gives you peace through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen!

Not only was it the age of worldwide peace, it was also the age of super-highways. There was much to boast about in that age that Luke describes at the beginning of this chapter 3 of his version of the Gospel. In fact, he is purposely setting the stage by mentioning so many facts at the beginning of his orderly historical account of the Gospel. What a breath-taking beginning: “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas…the WORD OF GOD came to John son of Zechariah in the desert (vv. 1-2). Luke is carefully pointing out to this God-loving reader Theophilus, that God’s Word came at such a time as that.

Yes, it was the age of Roman peace, when the empire could boast of peace from shore to shore. The Romans had subdued all their enemies, and instead of making them slaves of Rome, they allowed these people to keep their customs and allowed them to lead their lives, yet always under the supervision of Rome. And with the coming of Roman peace, there was a mingling of ideas and peoples and cultures…and religions. And with the coming of Roman peace there was a great desire to link the empire with great roads that would connect all parts of the empire to the capital, so that the emperor could send out his armies with great speed to smother any rebeillions,. Should they occur. Yes, it was an age of organization and good government and good laws, Roman laws, Roman peace and Roman Empire, with its many rulers in various places. And it was an age of Roman achievements with their great super-highways and magnificent building projects: bridges and aqueducts that exist some 2000 years later—all this to link together and keep together the huge Roman Empire. Into this situation, writes the historian St. Luke, the Word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah…in the wilderness.

In the wilderness…far away from the crowds, the hustle and bustle, the soldiers marching up and down streets, far away from the cities with all the splendid buildings, and nicely paved roads: in the wilderness, in the desert, in the lonely quiet, barren, uninhabited, rocky wasteland, the wilderness. In this setting: where there was no civilization, where there was no life, the Word of God came to John, and His message was:

Amen! God’s peace which goes beyond anything we can imagine will guard your thoughts and emotions through Christ Jesus. Amen.

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a Isaiah 40:3-5