Make His paths straight

Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.

* * *

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.  And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

'Prepare the way of the LORD;

Make His paths straight. 

Every valley shall be filled

And every mountain and hill brought low;

The crooked places shall be made straight

And the rough ways smooth;

And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.' "

Then He said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?"  He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise."  Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?"  And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed for you."  Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?"  So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages."

- Luke 1:1-4; Luke 3:1-14

In yesterday's reading, we were in the Gospel of John, just as Passion Week begins.  Jesus has entered into Jerusalem, making His Triumphal Entry.  After that He begins a dialogue with the leadership, who by now seek to arrest Him and put Him to death.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus affirmed yet again the statement about Himself that they call blasphemy, His oneness with God the Father, and more, the Judgment implicit in His word:  "He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me.  And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.  I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.  And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.  He who rejects me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him -- the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.  For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.  And I know that His command is everlasting life.  Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak."  Today the lectionary moves to the Gospel of Luke.

Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.  The eyewitnesses and ministers of the word who delivered them to us are those who were direct disciples of Christ, immediate witnesses to His Good News and His miracles.  Luke was not one of these, but sets down to write an orderly account of the things which he's received.  Theophilus is, according to my study bible, "a prominent Gentile who has received Christian instruction, but is otherwise unknown to us.  The Gospel is written as an orderly account to provide greater certainty about the details of Jesus' ministry."  Theophilus means "friend of God" in Greek.

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.  Here is the "orderly account" of Luke, who is approaching the subject accurately historically, giving us many details.  He gives us these names in order to fix the date of these events.  My study bible notes that thus the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus began sometime between A.D. 26 and 28.  It says also, "Caiaphas was the sole official high priest (A.D. 18-36), but people recognized behind him the power of his father-in-law, Annas, a previous high priest deposed by the Romans.

And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the LORD; make His paths straight.  Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.' "  Luke has introduced John the Baptist in the sections skipped over in today's reading.  But here, we are introduced to his character and ministry.  The quotation from Isaiah "sets the record straight" as Luke is wont to do with His Gospel.  In John's quoting of Isaiah, we get the real sense of this ministry:  prepare for the One who will lay everything straight, even up all things, bringing Good News to the poor and defenseless.  The purpose is so "all flesh shall see the salvation of God."  For this is the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.  This repentance or "change of mind" is a part of making straight, laying all things level for the road of the Lord. 

Then He said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."  From the beginning, we have news of this ministry, and what is to come is characterized by John's preaching.  "Brood of vipers" has been said to be a term used against hypocrites.  This "evening up" includes straightening one's inner life, making the road smooth from the inside to the outward appearance.  This would be bearing a fruit worthy of repentance, of change of mind.  It's not enough that Abraham is an ancestor, one must do as Abraham did, to quote Jesus in a passage we found in Gospel of John.  John the Baptist also emphasizes God's power to create anything out of nothing, and reminds us never to set our own limits on God.  This image of stones will be used to symbolize the Gentile Christians who became children of God.  That the axe is laid to the root of the trees is a reminder about Judgment, and gives us the flavor of John's preaching.  This repentance or "change of mind," this making the roads straight and level and clearing a path, all of it comes with a certain context, a meaning, a purpose.  Every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?"  He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise."  Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?"  And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed for you."  Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?"  So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages."  Here are elaborated the fruits worthy of repentance.  The great leveling and making straight is in repenting of and reversing our own tendencies to self-centeredness and all the behaviors that result from it, including dishonesty and abuses of power of every kind - from the petty to the great.  Here we note that it is the individual tax collectors and soldiers who come to John and ask what shall they do, and the common people who prepare.

My study bible notes that "the call to repentance was typical of the Old Testament prophets, but John's baptism for the remission of sins sounds a deeper note:  a symbolic washing away of sins, prefiguring that which will come.  As Paul writes in Romans 6:1-6, those who come to Christ will be buried with Him in baptism, rising to new life."  It adds that "Isaiah the prophet foresaw the momentous significance of the period of the Messiah and the preparation necessary for it."  Let us keep in mind the messages in John's Gospel which we have just been through (up until the beginning of Passion Week).  Repeatedly the themes in John's Gospel emphasized the qualities of Christ, His oneness with the Father.  He is the true light that illumines us all; He is the water for those who thirst -- through Whom will come rivers of living water in the believer; He is the bread that comes down from heaven to nourish us all.  These themes are taken in light of the Gospels no matter what we read, at all times to be kept in mind.  So Isaiah's prediction of this time and the great leveling is to make His paths straight, that is for the One who brings His light, His living water, His true bread from heaven so that all may partake.  Repentance or "change of mind" is so that we may be able to receive when we hear His word, and recognize Him in our hearts.  This great leveling reminds us that we are all equal before God, that it is, in the words of John's Gospel which also quotes from Isaiah the prophet, the praise of God more than the praise of men we should love.  The great "evening out" and "laying straight" and change of mind (repentance, literally in the Greek) is so that we may receive what is coming, through the great love of God for the world.  No part of the Gospel exists as an isolated piece on its own, but all harmonize together, even through time, as Scripture writes and speaks to us even from the time of Isaiah. It is one harmonious message in which there is no barrier or time or space, and it all speaks to us alive today.  The living word tells us about who we are, from the Word who is Logos, for whom every path should be laid straight, including those inroads into our hearts, a pure straight path from the inside to the outside.  How do you make that path straight in your life?