A Season of WaitingSample

Time to Prepare

Note that verse 2 quotes Malachi 3:1 and verse 3 quotes Isaiah 40:3.

Advent is about preparing for Jesus’ coming. Preparation is always a good place to start and the quote from Isaiah 40 is looking to John the Baptist. He is the one who prepared the way for Jesus, who told the people to get ready for the one who will baptise with the Holy Spirit (see context at Mark 1:1–8).

Interestingly and helpfully, the quote in Mark also leads us to Malachi 3:1, which is more fulsome about the one who is coming: ‘I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.’

Jesus is the one they’re seeking, and He appears before them in various settings. Yet those who knew the law and the prophets didn’t see Him for who He was, even as He revealed Himself in His life and ministry.

Yet we know who He is and what He came to do. In advent, we prepare our minds and our hearts, thinking about what’s coming and why, and what it means for me and you, our families, our communities, our nation, and our world. This is more than gifts and feeling good – this is about salvation.

Let us thank God for the gift of Jesus and pray for our world.

Written by David Barker