When the church goes through a difficult time God sent somebody to lead to the correct way.
Today ‘s gospel we see how God sent john the Baptist to bring them back to him.
The Jews were remarkable people . They had gone through many kinds of experiences. And these experience actually made them strong as it is today. The Jews were once slaves. They were no people. they were just wretched and miserable slaves in the land of the pharaoh until God took pity on them. He revealed himself to Moses and raised him up to lead them out of slavery in Egypt. Led by Moses, the people eventually left Egypt and crossed the waters of the Red Sea.
God sent leaders like Saul, David to bring them to unity and peace among themselves. But the people sin against God. Whenever the people wondered away from God and fell consequently into the hands of their enemies –the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians , the Greeks ,God will sent somebody to save them. And now the Romans conquered Palestine and were reduced again to slavery.
We see the beginning of the gospel there are a list of names. Most of them a Roman power. The high priest, Abilene were puppets.
Now God is intervening again. This coming of the word of God to John in the desert and his proclamation of the baptism or repentance for the forgiveness of sins is the intervention of God in their lives.
Through John the Baptist God remind the people e who they are, what they used to be, what God did for them in the past, and what He can and will for them again. Through John the Baptist God is going to initiating a new beginning with is people. God also wanted to make them realize that the cause of their misery goes back to their ancestors’ unfaithfulness to God and to His covenant with them. Now with John the Baptist, God came once again trying to reach out to the people to Israel his beloved children. John the Baptist is actually asking the people to what the ancestors did long ago to leave slavery and cross the Red sea into the promised land.
Today God through John the Baptist is inviting us to leave a life of slavery, sin to the true life of freedom. God wants to free us from our sins and give us new life. Prepare the way for the Lord ………..Every hill and mountain must be made low. The winding roads must be made straight. Rectification of the old ways of the people themselves. Old habits, immoral attitudes , their evil conduct, their wicked way of life.
This is talking about ourselves. Our hearts. Today is coming to save us from sin.
Valleys to be filled are sins that create a hollow or lacuna in the life of the Christian. They point to broken relationships, lying, gossip, and lack of prayer that eat up from within and leave the believer very empty & weak and create a gulf between the believer and God.
Mountains and hills to be made low refer to the egoistic and selfish ambitious tendencies which do not give place to God, viz. sins of pride, arrogance, fighting, anger, lack of forgiveness, hatred and the like that make the path to relationship with God and humanity very hilly and difficult.
Winding roads and rough ways are the sins that disfigure the Christian personality. They point to the sins of double standard living, drunkenness, drug addiction, stealing, cheating and unfaithfulness in marriage. These and the like do not only lead to crooked personality but at the same time tarnish the dignity of those involved.
word of GOD 