Isaiah Gleanings
Isaiah Gleanings
The 40th chapter of Isaiah is very beautiful. It is a poem about the time and coming of Christ (Isa 40:1-11), followed by an exhortation to recognize him as the likeness and true image of Almighty God (Isa 40:12-31, Col 1:15, Heb 1:3). The first part foretells a "voice calling" to prepare the way for the coming of Christ the Lord. (Isa 40:3). This will occupy our attention in this lesson.
Isaiah 40:3 refers to the great John the Baptizer. He was the "voice calling in the wilderness". This is made clear by Matthew who interprets this verse for us (Mtt 3:1-3).
The same interpretation is given by the writers of the other gospel accounts (Mrk 1:2-4, Lke 3:2-6, Jhn 1:19-23).
We note that in the gospel of John it is John the Baptizer himself who bears witness that he is the "voice crying in the wilderness" of whom Isaiah spoke.
John the Baptizer was a special herald of Christ the Lord. His preaching in the wilderness paved the way for the ministry of Jesus Christ. Jesus was of much higher rank than John. John's ministry was to prepare people for Christ, and lead them to Christ. John himself was clear about this (Jhn 1:15,19-23,29-36).
The story of John the Baptizer is of great encouragement to us. He was a voice quite literally crying in the wilderness, since he preached in the wilderness of Judea (Mtt 3:1). However it is evident that there was in his time a religious or spiritual wilderness too. The people were in confusion much as people are today.
All who preach the gospel of Christ are voices crying in the wilderness preaching the word "in season and out of season" (2Tm 4:2). John preached with great spirit and power despite all that was against him. He lost his head (Mtt 13:1-12), but he never lost heart.
You might think it arrogant to compare ourselves to such a great light as John the Baptizer. However, did you not read what Jesus said? We do not compare ourselves in any spirit of arrogance, but with the awe-inspiring understanding that Jesus gives us when he says, "Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen one greater than John the Baptizer, yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he" (Mtt 11:11).
John the Batist’s preaching turned many sinners to righteousness and made "a people prepared for the Lord" (Lke 1:16-17). He prepared the people for Christ's first coming. It is our job to prepare the world for Christ's second coming (Mtt 28:18-20).