Anchor My Faith

The Voice in the Wilderness

Scripture: Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:2-3; Luke 3:5-6

The gospel narrative we are following continues with: “For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said” (Matthew 3:3 ESV). The entrance of John into public ministry fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah 40:3 (NKJV): “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” He also fulfills the prophecy of Malachi 3:1 (ESV): “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.” John, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, speaks out, challenging the people to prepare their hearts for the coming Messiah.

Our single line thread now goes from Matthew to Mark 1:2 (ESV) where we read: “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way.” This is God speaking through Isaiah that Mark is drawing from. In time God will send forth one who will deliver a strong message of repentance. That time has come with the arrival of John the Baptist. What he says will prepare the way for the arrival of Jesus Christ.

John is “the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight’” (Mark 1:3 ESV). John did not come into the towns and villages, but stayed out near the Jordan River where people came to hear him. He was indeed a voice of one crying in the wilderness. To “prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” is imagery drawn from the great strategical works of the conquerors of the East. These conquerors would send people ahead of them to the countries through which the army would march through, to prepare a “king’s highway” through a wilderness by filling in the valleys and leveling the hills, making the movement of soldiers and supplies easier. In this way John is preparing the people’s hearts to more easily receive the message Jesus will bring.

What was just said about the “king’s highway” is now referred to by Luke: “Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways” (Luke 3:5 ESV). The crooked and the rough are obstacles to be overcome. They are metaphors that have ethical overtones. The mountains and hills to be made low would refer to one’s pride being replaced with humility and the humble and lowly to be exalted. The crooked would refer to this crooked generation given in Acts 2:40, from which we are to be saved.

With the coming of Jesus, which John is speaking of, is the salvation that all flesh shall see: “and all flesh shall see the salvation of God” (Luke 3:6 ESV). This “all flesh” indicates that this salvation that will be obtained through Jesus Christ will be for all people; both the Jew and the Gentile. Luke mentions this in Luke 2:30 – 32 (ESV): “for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”

Prayer

Father, you promised to send John to prepare the way for Jesus; to prepare the hearts of the people to receive the message of salvation to be delivered by Jesus. Father, today each one of us as believers have a message like John had, to deliver to the people, to help prepare the lost to receive Jesus as their savior. We have the gospel of Jesus Christ, the way of salvation that the world needs to hear. Father, encourage us to deliver that message.