Week 2
The Promise of the Profits
“A voice of one calling in the desert prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
Isaiah 30:3-5
The prophets and prophesies of the coming Messiah were not only in the Old Testament. Isaiah tells of one coming to prepare the way for the coming LORD. This one spoken of is John the Baptist.
John’s first New Testament reference is the angelic announcement to Zechariah, that he and his aged, barren wife Elizabeth were to have a son, who they would name John, The shock of this unbelievable announcement made Zechariah unable to speak for months. The angel continued this birth announcement with regulations for John’s life (aka no alcohol drinking) and this :
“And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1:17)
He was to get people ready, to straighten the path for this coming Messiah.
I think that the most tender evidence of the bond between John and Jesus came when Mary entered the home of Zechariah and Elizabeth, who was about 5 months along.
“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit” (Luke 1:41).
Mary, not long pregnant, only spoke a greeting, yet Elizabeth’s child within (John) leapt in her womb. In that dark place where John was growing and developing, he saw the light …
And so, as a man, John the Baptist prepared the way for his cousin, his own redeemer, to fulfil the prophesies of old, with the message (that is still for us today) :
repent and be baptized
“I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come One more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Matthew 3:11
itsawonderfilledlife 