THE PREPARERS











The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’ ”

John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

When little John was born, Scripture says that “his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him” (Luke 1:67,76). This had been prophesied many times before. Isaiah had said, “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (Isaiah 40:3). Much later, the prophet Malachi would say: “See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me” (Malachi 3:1)

He was a “preparer”. This is a word I really like. It describes somebody who is setting up something for someone else. It is a word that should describe all of us. Unfortunately, most of us don’t like the idea of being “preparers” because “preparers” are never in the spotlight. And we all want to be recognized, right? We think: “Why do so much work if nobody knows that I am the one who did it?” But consider what would have happened if John the Baptist felt like this and said he didn’t want to do the job of the “preparer” because nobody would give him any importance. (That he became famous is another matter!) 

Jesus would have come on the scene and HE would have had to do John the Baptist’s job of drawing people to repentance and a baptism for the forgiveness of sins before starting his own job. But thanks to John preparing the hearts of the people, Jesus could get right into his message of salvation. We need to become “preparers” even if nobody ever notices it. Because the “preparers” are indispensable to God’s work on this earth. Besides there is greater honor that awaits those who don’t get recognition on earth. Jesus says this repeatedly. 

So let us all become preparers. John prepared a way for the coming of the Lord. Let us prepare a way for the return of the Lord. In many ways our job is more vital than his was. When Jesus came two thousand years ago, he came as the “lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). When he returns, it will be to judge. “He will sit on his glorious throne and all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” (Matthew 25:31-32).

Let us try to ensure that as many of us as possible are counted among the sheep. It’s a huge responsibility, but I think we are up to it. Yes?

Watch a video of this reflection by Aneel Aranha here:  https://youtu.be/tgVaQwavmMA

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