To Prepare the Way of the Lord

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke:

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar,
when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea,
and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee,
and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region
of Ituraea and Trachonitis,
and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene,
during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,
the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert.
John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan,
proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,
as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah:
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 stage is set for us from the very beginning of Christ’s public ministry: Tiberius is Caesar, and he will remain Caesar until he dies and we get another Caesar. Annas and Caiaphas are high priests, and they’ll go on being priests after they turn Jesus over to Pilate. Pilate is tetrarch, and will remain so before and after he murders the Son of God. Herod, the son of the Herod who murdered all those babies to try and get to Jesus, is governor. In about three years he will ask Jesus to do a magic trick for him, and Jesus will refuse, and Herod will go on being governor. Christ did not come to depose an earthly king and take his place. Christ is something else entirely.

John the Baptist, the only son of the priest Zechariah, the cousin of Jesus and six months His senior, hears the voice of the Lord. The Lord doesn’t tell him what you’d expect. He’s not supposed to remain in town and do priestly things. He’s supposed to go out into the desert, wear camel hair, eat grasshoppers and yell at people. And John the Baptist does. He doesn’t stay and do what he’s supposed to do. He leaves, and follows the call of the Lord.

Nobody in the Advent readings ever does what they’re supposed to do– at least not the good guys, not the servants of God. Tiberius, Annas and Caiaphas, Pilate and Herod will go on doing all the things that earthly leaders do. They follow a script, but the families of John and Jesus don’t. They all follow the Lord instead.

Zechariah receives a visit from the angel Gabriel and asks impertinent questions. Gabriel, in turn, is impertinent with Zechariah and strikes him dumb. Miriam, a young girl already betrothed, doesn’t wait for her husband’s permission to get pregnant. The angel who was so disrespectful to the high priest is gentle and reassuring with the young servant of the Lord. Saint Joseph ought to divorce Miriam quietly and let her marry whoever it was that got her pregnant, but he takes her into his home. Elizabeth prophesies while her husband can’t speak. Miriam proclaims the Magnificat to her older mentor when she ought to keep quiet and listen.  Zechariah’s son is named John and not Zechariah. No one who is good fulfills their expected role. They all do something else.

And now we have John the Baptist, proclaiming a baptism for the forgiveness of sins. Repent and change your ways, for the Kingdom of God is at hand. Come get into the Jordan. Remember how the Jordan dried up so your ancestors could carry the Ark across without trouble and massacre the people of Jericho? It’s not going to dry up for you. You’re going to wade into it waist deep. This madman clad in camel hair will dunk you in the dirty brown river, and you’ll get good and muddy and spoil your good clothes, and that will symbolize your cleansing from the stain of sin.

Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight His paths. Nature itself is about to stop doing what it’s supposed to do and do the will of God instead. Mountains will be made low and valleys filled in, and all flesh will see the Salvation of the Lord.

Everything is going to be turned on its head, because that is what happens when God comes to make things right.

The earthly rulers will go on being earthly rulers. They will lord it over us and capture and torture and kill. They will go through the motions of being in charge, and make and follow the rules, murder the Son of God and go on ruling after He rises from the dead. God will do something else, because God is not that kind of king.

God is the one who calls you out of your slumber, to stop going through the motions of what’s expected of you and live a life of grace instead.

God is the one who says, “Stop following the rules somebody taught you and live a life of grace instead. Stop going through the motions you think you’re supposed to perform and look around you instead. Stop persisting in the old way and let me teach you something new.”

God is the one who says, “Prepare the way of the Lord and make straight My path. If you do that, I will bring down the mountains and raise up the valleys and come to you, and all flesh shall see My salvation in your life.”

God is the one who sends His angel to strike the High Priest dumb on the holiest of days. Then the angel goes and finds the girl who was serving in the temple, and tells her, “Hail, Full of Grace, the Lord is with you.” The girl begins to prophesy. The wife of the priest calls her blessed.

The son of the priest goes out into the desert, to prepare the way of the Lord.

Nothing is ever the same after that.