Make straight the way of the LORD

 

 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"  He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."  And they asked him, "What then?  Are you Elijah?"  He said, "I am not."  "Are you the Prophet?"  And he answered, "No."  Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may given an answer to those who sent us?  What do you say about yourself?"  He said: "I am

'The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

"Make straight the way of the LORD,"'

as the prophet Isaiah said."  

 

Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.  And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"  John answered them saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.  It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."  These things were done in Bathabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

 

- John 1:19-28 

 

Yesterday we read what is called the Prologue to John's Gospel:   In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.  There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.  That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.  He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.  He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:  who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.  John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.'"  And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.  For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  No one has seen God at any time.  The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

 

  Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"   He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."  The theological Prologue to John's Gospel was in our previous reading (see above), and in today's reading the focus shifts to the beginnings of the ministry of Christ.  Just as the Gospel began with the words "In the beginning," evoking Genesis 1:1, so Genesis is paralleled in this beginning of the story of the ministry of Christ, which covers seven consecutive days.  In today's reading we're given the first day, the witness of John the Baptist.  

And they asked him, "What then?  Are you Elijah?"  He said, "I am not."  "Are you the Prophet?"  And he answered, "No."  Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may given an answer to those who sent us?  What do you say about yourself?"  He said: "I am 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Make straight the way of the LORD,"' as the prophet Isaiah said."  John the Baptist is a prophet (indeed, he is considered to be the last and greatest of the Old Testament prophets), but he is not the Prophet, the Messiah, whose coming was foretold by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-19).  John quotes from Isaiah 40:3.

Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.  And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"  John answered them saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.  It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."  These things were done in Bathabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.  On this first day given in John's Gospel, John the Baptist bears witness to the Light -- the Christ -- in the presence of authorities sent from the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem.  My study Bible suggests that this parallels the creation of light on the first day in Genesis 1:3-5.  John baptizes with water for repentance, a traditional call for prophets.  His baptism did not grant remission of sins once and for all, but was a prefiguration and preparation for the baptism of Christ, which he indicates here to those sent from the Pharisees.  My study Bible comments that John is a figure of the Law in that, like the Law, he denounced sin but could not remit ("put away") sin.  Both John and the Law point to the One who can remit sin.

John points to the Light, as my study Bible explains, and he indicates that he baptizes to prepare people for the coming of the Light, the Christ.  This is the work of a prophet, to prepare people for the Lord.  The traditional call of the prophets, as my study Bible explains, is to repentance.  If we consider carefully what this means, it's a reminder to all of us of what we need to do throughout our lives, to orient ourselves toward God, even a sense of a meeting with God.  Repentance is, in a sense, a declaration that, as the Psalmist declares, "Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight— that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge" (Psalm 51:4).  In other words, it is the Lord to whom we turn to set our steps straight, even when our errors concern others.  We look to God to find the ways we need to lead our lives, and to come to terms with whatever we need to do to set things right.  John echoes the word of Isaiah when he declares that he is the voice of one crying in the wilderness:  "Make straight the way of the LORD."  The call to repentance, the call to make straight the way of the LORD, is a call to communion in some sense; both are figuratively calls to turn to face the Lord, in communion and relationship -- and to the righteousness necessary to do so.  It is a call to us that, no matter where we are in our lives, whatever it is that we are in the midst of doing or whatever concerns us, to turn toward the Lord and to consider this our primary need that sets all else in place, in righteous order.  This is because righteousness means "right relatedness."  So the sense in which the prophets call to repentance, in which John the Baptist calls on the people to make the paths of the Lord straight, is a call to righteous order, to set ourselves in right relatedness to God, and by extension to neighbor, for as Christ said, the two are inseparable (Matthew 22:34-40).  While John the Baptist's call is given to us as the "first day" of Christ's ministry, let us note that it should be a reminder to us that we need to do this all the time:  when we pause for prayer, we take time to "make His paths straight" and orient ourselves toward God so that we set our own lives in order.  John reminds us of Christ's words given to us at the end of Matthew's Gospel (Saturday's reading):  "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."   We should know that the Lord is with us always, so that we turn to Him and make straight His way in our hearts.