December 11th - Hiley Welker

Hey y'all! My name is Hiley Welker, I am a junior studying agricultural economics; serving on the publicity team this year. Anyways let's dive into the Word.

Today we will be talking about how John the Baptist paved the way for Jesus to come. 

3 Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear the way through the wilderness for the Lord! Make a straight highway through the wasteland

for our God! 4 Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills.

Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places. 5Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The Lord has spoken!”

(Isaiah 40:3-5)

1In those days John the Baptist came to the Judean wilderness and began preaching. His message was, 2“Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” 3 The prophet Isaiah was speaking about John when he said, “He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming! Clear the road for him!’” 

(Matthew 3:1-3) 

3 Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. 4 Isaiah had spoken of John when he said, “He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming! Clear the road for him! 5The valleys will be filled,and the mountains and hills made level. The curves will be straightened, and the rough places made smooth. 6 And then all people will see

the salvation sent from God.’” (Luke 3:3-6) 

In Isaiah this is the prophecy that the Jews (God’s chosen people) had been waiting for to be fulfilled. When it says “straight highway” this makes me think of a straight road that has no twists and turns and the road seems perfect. So ‘the straight highway’ is perfect just like the savor that came. As it is written in the book of Isaiah the prophet: Luke connected John the Baptist with the one prophesied by Isaiah (Isaiah 40:3-5).  In both Matthew and Luke shows the prophecy being fulfilled this was what started Jesus ministry.  In these passages it’s talking about how John the Baptist is paving the way for Christ coming.  John ( later called the baptizer) born to Zacharias and Elisabeth, in their old age. John’s message was a call to repentance. Repentance is an expression of change of the heart. 

Since John was there to pave the way and Jesus came to start His ministry and live perfectly we have hope in a perfect savior. 

Discussion Questions:

• Do you think John knew what he was meant to do? 

• What can we learn from John’s boldness?

• What do you think Isaiah meant when he said “the glory of the Lord will be revealed”?

• What can we do to prepare the world for Jesus coming (again) like John did?