A north-south ridge of mountains divides Israel. The eastern slope receives less than 12 inches of rain a year in the southern parts, east of Jerusalem and Hebron. Jericho, in the Jordan Valley, exists due to springs that make life possible. This is where John grew up and lived.

John might have spent his time in the desolate Judean Mountains dwelling in the deserted arid plains of Jordan north of the Dead Sea. He must have looked like a strange and lonely man clothed in camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, who ate locusts and honey for his meals.

In the desert, John came to know God better than other men. John did not care what society thought of him.

He did not live his life according to societal norms and expectations. His words were thus unrefined, blunt, and uncompromising.

The ordinary man and woman would have easily given in to the extreme religious and political pressures that John would come to bear.

Do you sometimes worry that you are “different”, that you don’t conform to the average, to the norm of society? How dependent are you upon what others think and say about you?

The list of rulers in this passage – men with power and authority, not only date John’s ministry to A.D. 28 or 29, it also contrasts human kingdoms with God’s reign. The authority of Tiberius or Herod or the high priests is not ultimate. God’s people owe allegiance to God and God alone. God’s word moved John to action. John had been commissioned to prepare the way not for Caesar or any earthly figure, but for the one true Lord.

 Are you loyal to the Lord?  Does your allegiance stand with God?

Like Moses (Isaiah 40), John challenges God’s people to see the wilderness as a place not of desolation, but of hope. God is calling them (us), like the Babylonian exiles, to leave their captors behind and head home through the wilderness. John’s message is simple and blunt. He, “a voice in the wilderness” preaches that the first step on this journey toward freedom is a baptism of repentance.

How many times have we ignored “the voice” to repent and turn from our old ways? Are you ready to step into the wilderness, to gain freedom?

John foretells the coming of the Messiah, to make our paths straight and prepare the way for the advent, the arrival of Jesus. It’s a call to return to the Lord. John’s invitation is to come to a place of ritual action and cleansing. This is symbolic of a turning away from sin and a returning to God. This, too, is something of a new “exodus.” We have to re-orient our lives towards God, and change our behaviour. Repentance is more than sorrow for getting caught or for doing something wrong. “Repentance” in Greek is known as metanoia: a change of mind and heart, the kind of inner transformation that bears visible fruit.

Has your behaviour visibly changed since your baptism? Are you willing to re-orient your lives towards God?

John, the last representative of the Old Testament prophets quotes the prophet Isaiah to describe the tremendous transformation that must take place. Preparing for God’s arrival means rethinking systems and structures that we see as normal but that which God condemns as oppressive and kinked. It means letting God humble everything that is proud in us and letting God heal what is broken. The claims that the world’s authorities make often conflict with God’s claims. John calls us to let God’s ways reshape the world’s social systems and the landscape of our own minds and hearts. God’s ways are not our ways. God’s ways lead to salvation. God’s promise is hope, a light to those who sit in darkness. This is the good news that John proclaims.

Are we eager to prepare the way for our King, while we await for his arrival this advent?

Hope and Joy,

Geraldine and Letitia

Questions for Reflection

How many times have we ignored “the voice” to repent and turn from our old ways?

Has your behaviour visibly changed since your baptism? Are you willing to re-orient your lives towards God?

Are we eager to prepare the way for our King, while we await for his arrival this advent?