“In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, 

when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, 

and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee,

and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region

of Ituraea and Trachonitis, 

and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, 

during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, 

the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert.

John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, 

proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 

as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah:

   A voice of one crying out in the desert:

   ‘Prepare the way of the Lord,

      make straight his paths.

   Every valley shall be filled

      and every mountain and hill shall be made low.

   The winding roads shall be made straight,

      and the rough ways made smooth,

   and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

John the Baptist is a bridge. In today’s gospel, Luke clearly cements John’s credentials as a prophet. He situates him in the historical and political reality of his time (all the civic leaders mentioned), like the prophets before him. Luke situates John in the religious reality of his time (with the high priests Annas and Caiaphas), like the prophets before him. He situates him in his family (son of Zechariah), like the prophets before him. The key phrase, however, and one only used in the Gospel of Luke, is that “the word of God came to John.” This is most clearly and unequivocally the indication that John is a prophet according to Luke. As with all the other prophets, the word of God impels action on John’s part: he begins to preach a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. According to Luke, this is a fulfillment of the Prophet Isaiah (not bad company for John to be in). Preparing the way for the Lord, smoothing everything out, for the salvation of all. In its original context, Isaiah was prophesying about the return of the people of Israel from the Babylonian exile to the land of Judah. Luke elevates that to the realm of human salvation in Jesus Christ. Prepare the way!

John the Baptist is a bridge. As a prophet, John is charged with the memory of what God has done for his people: out of slavery in Egypt, through the desert, to the promised land and from captivity in Babylon returning to the land of Judah. He is also charged with all the promises of God: namely, a messiah who will save his people from their sins. The pattern of God saving his people is to be writ large, leading all of humanity from slavery to sin to freedom in Christ. In the seventh chapter of his gospel, Luke will have Jesus proclaim about John, “Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom scripture says: ‘Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, he will prepare your way before you.’ I tell you, among those born of women, no one is greater than John; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” John is a prophet, but he is more: John is a bridge. He connects all that has gone before with its fulfillment in Christ. On the Second and Third Sundays of Advent every year, we always hear about John the Baptist. He is the herald of the Messiah that has come! May we each and all heed his voice in our own hearts and prepare the way!