Eighteen years have passed since Jesus came to his Father’s.
Forgotten by Israel is the promise of Moses, written 1,400 years ago:
“’The Lord will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers – it is to him you shall listen” (Deuteronomy 18:15, ESV).
Forgotten by Israel is the vision of Isaiah, written 700 years ago:
“A voice cries: In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (Isaiah 40:3).
Forgotten by Israel is the vision of the prophet Daniel, written more than 500 years ago:
“’…behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, …And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14).
And forgotten by Israel is the vision of Malachi, written more than 400 years ago:
“’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…he is coming, says the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 3:1).
There has been 400 years of silence from God, who has judged his children who insisted on worshiping foreign gods in disobedience and disunity from God.
But although Israel has forgotten, God has not – his never-ending love has endured the centuries, awaiting repentance after his devastating judgment, which continues to this day (30 A.D.) under harsh Roman rule.
Suddenly, John the Baptist appears in the wilderness. Nothing will ever be the same again.
When looking at the Gospels in parallel, I love to consider them in the order they were written, and then stir in the point of view each Gospel writer has.
First was Mark, 25 years after John the Baptist appears. Mark is about action and drama, like a Greek tragedy writer. He takes Isaiah’s vision, adding a fascinating phrase to capture attention:
“Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, …prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight’” (1:2-3).
A slap in the face: “Wake up! This is important!”
Luke, writing five years after Mark, wants to delve into every detail not reported by Mark:
“Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain …shall be made low…the crooked shall become straight…rough places shall become level…and all flesh shall see the salvation of God” (3:4-6).
Luke says that there is much more than simply saying path will be straight – consider what it will take to make that happen to this rough country! Salvation can only come by way of God.
Matthew, ten years after Luke, quotes Mark very closely, but it is the verse before that which is so very powerful for his audience – the Jews who have sinned against God for centuries. Matthew nails down where Israel stands on the Cycle:
“’Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (3:2)
This is how John started his cries in the desert, not how he finished them. Without repentance there is no salvation of God as described by Luke!
The apostle John, not to be confused with John the Baptist, writing fifteen years after Matthew, makes it clear that John the Baptist was believed by so many people that the Jewish leaders challenged him openly:
“’Who are you’? He confessed, ‘I am not the Christ’ …’What then? Are you Elijah? ... Are you the Prophet?’ He said, ‘No … I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord,” as the prophet Isaiah said’” (John 1: 19-23).
So, what had been forgotten by Israel in the fog of abject disobedience has come to their doorsteps, before their faces, straight as an arrow, warning that repentance is the only path to restoration.
You cannot say you were not warned, Israel.
Neither can we today – as individual people, as a nation, and as the church of Jesus living in disunity.
The stage is set for God to act.