MARK 1.1-3: The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. (2) As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, (3) the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'” (ESV)
If a king in the ancient world was planning to go on a trip to some part of his kingdom, it was customary for that king to send messengers ahead of time so that the local area who was to receive the king’s visit could have adequate notice to get the area prepared for the king’s arrival. We see this in today’s world whenever a President or Prime Minister of a nation plans to visit some part of his or her nation, or travel abroad.
And so it is with this in mind that I believe the task of John the Baptist is arranged in God’s plan to get the people of Israel ready ahead of time for the revelation of Jesus the Messiah, who is to be their King and sit on David’s throne.
In the Gospel of Luke’s parallel account in chapter 3.4-6, he quotes more verses from Isaiah chapter 40 than Mark does, which shows the symbolic language of getting things ready for the coming of the Lord. Luke quotes the expressions of making paths straight, filling in valleys, lowering mountains and hills, and making crooked into straight. I believe these ideas make the appeal to us in today’s world to get our hearts, minds, and lives ready for the second coming of Christ.
The language of making crooked paths straight and lowering mountains and hills appear very naturally to refer to the concepts of calling us to live with integrity, and not yield to the temptation of pride and self reliance.
And so this appeal by the messenger to prepare the way of the Lord works in two ways. It is a call to people who don’t know Jesus as Savior to accept Him by faith, thus getting their lives straightened out with Jesus. And it is a call to people who have accepted Jesus as Savior to see to it that they live the way Jesus wants them to live, and to keep their lives devoted to Him.