A voice calls out in the wilderness

Second Sunday of Advent Year C

Pope St Paul VI famously wrote: “The history of salvation is being accomplished in the midst of the history of the world." This is what we see in today’s gospel passage - the convergence between human history and salvation history - between man as a subject of time and God who is Master of time.

St Luke provides us with a list of historical and political luminaries at that material point in time, teasing the reader to think that he is about to provide us with another account of world history. But then the evangelist swiftly shifts our attention to a seeming nobody “John son of Zechariah”, whose ministry and teaching now provides us with the foundation for the climax of salvation history - the coming of the Messiah.

The reason why St Luke weaves both threads into his narrative is to show us that the story of salvation history does not take place in a vacuum, as something totally separated from human history, but as Pope St Paul VI asserts: “the history of salvation is being accomplished in the midst of the history of the world.” God who is not bound by time and space chooses to enter our time and space at this very moment and in this very spot – the unnamed wilderness in an insignificant part of the Roman empire, away from the centres of power and influence.

But the mention of these historical political figures also wishes to establish a context for St John’s preaching and ministry, which will subsequently lead to that of Jesus. This opening verse sets the scene for a world that has gone awry, a world where God’s people live as a conquered people in their own land, and where those in power would crucify the One God sent to save the world. The first verse sets forth a world ruled from Rome and rife with sin. In this world gone wrong, the Word of God came not to any of these political figures who often claim divine election to support their claim for legitimacy and authority, but to John the Baptist who “went through the whole Jordan district proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Notice that John was not calling for a political revolution or instigating his followers to start an insurrection. What was far more needed was a spiritual revolution.

We often blame our politicians for the problems we face in our country. We blame our parents for the influence they had in our upbringing. We blame the school system for the defective education that we have received. And finally, we blame the Church for her sanctimonious values and her penchant for making us feel guilty. But the real problem often evades us, especially when we can’t put our finger on it. Our world is falling apart and we cannot repair it until we honestly acknowledge the problem. The fact of the matter is that the root cause of the problems in our world is sin. Sin is spoken of in Genesis chapter 4 as something that is crouching at our door, desiring to consume us, and we are told that we must rule over it. Instead, we have allowed sin to rule over us.

And so, the ministry of calling God's people to repent is at the very heart of John the Baptist's ministry. And he called on the people not to give just lip repentance, but to give life repentance: to show the evidence of real gospel repentance by the way they lived - nothing short of a massive spiritual re-engineering and death-construction.

St Luke tells the reader that the ministry of St John calling the people to repentance is a fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah. Isaiah’s prophecy has in mind, building up a great road for the arrival of a majestic king. The idea is to fill in the holes and knock down the hills that are in the way. The idea is taken from the practice of eastern monarchs, who, whenever they entered upon an expedition, or took a journey through a desert country, sent harbingers before them, to prepare all things for their passage; and pioneers to open the passes, to level the ways, and to remove all impediments. The returning victorious King deserves a smooth highway, not some dirt road cutting through treacherous terrain.

The idea of preparing the way of the LORD is, therefore, a word picture, because the real preparation must take place in our hearts. Building a road is very much like the preparation God must do in our hearts. To flatten mountains and fill in valleys, is no easy task. Likewise, to remove the obstacles of sin from our hearts is not something which demands little effort on our part. Both enterprises are costly, both come at great effort, they both must deal with many different problems and environments, and they both take an expert engineer to clear the path of obstacles. God is that expert engineer whom you must allow into your heart.

What a contrast this vision of the construction of a great highway is to the voice of John the Baptist crying in the wilderness who announces its coming fulfilment. What a contrast it is to that scene of a helpless infant lying in a manger which is the focus of the great feast we prepare to celebrate during this Advent season. Other political rulers and celebrities of our modern times may occupy the front covers and headlines of our news, and yet we know that it is not them but that helpless infant, whose John’s voice heralds, is the salvation of God which all men shall see, the One in whom this prophecy is fulfilled.