1. John prepare the path

Today is the second Lord’s day of the Advent. During this period, in accordance with the church calendar, we are reading the passage concerning John the Baptist. Thus we commemorate the role of John who opened the path for the ministry of Jesus. In historically terms we know that John began his activity of baptizement on the river side of the Jordan. His slogan was ” Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near ” (Matthew 3:2) and many persons were baptized by him to receive God’s forgiveness. And Jesus was among them. Peter and Andre did likewise as John’s followers but they became Jesus’ disciple afterwards.

It is significant that Jesus was one of John’s disciples then. Jesus commenced his own ministry after the arrest of John by Herod. Jesus’ starting appeal was this : - ” The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15)

We might say that Jesus took time beside John to be ready to preach with his own words.

Luke situated John’s activity in historical context; - In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar¡½when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene¡½ during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. (Luke 3:1-2)

Tiberius * was the second Roman Emperor. He had been adopted by Augustus *, the founder of the The Julio-Claudian dynasty of Roman Empire. Enthronement of Tiberius was in 14 CE. so John should begin his ministry in about 28 CE. And Luke considered it to be a very important and record-worthy historical event. But for what reason ?

Because he thought that it predicts the realization of the prophecy of Malachi :-"See, 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.(Malachi 3:1)

During the period from Kings till the end of Captivation in Babylon, many prophets were raised in the history of Israel. And Malachi was the last one of them. But after his prophecy 400 years had past without any event. Then John came. In short, God kept silence for so long time.

When John was raised as the Baptist Judea was a part of a Roman province and ruled by the Roman governor. Jewish people thought that such a situation was inadmissible and felt humiliated because they considered themselves to be the elite of God. Therefore they were awaiting the Messiah who must free the people from Roman domination. And they believed that his arrival should be preceded by a prophet, or ” the messenger of the covenant.”

Watching John’s activity, they believed that he would announce liberation of Israel. And they praised him enthusiastically as the very prophet. Because ;- He (John) went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Baptism is “¦Âά¦Ð¦Ó¦É¦Ò¦Ì¦Á” in Greek, which originally meant immersion or submersion ( in water ). Indeed John literally immersed people in the Jordan River. Immersion in the water and coming out of water allude to death and new life, which symbolioze repentance and forgiveness. And “Repentance” is “¦Ì¦Å¦Ó¦Á¦Í¦Ïί¦Á(metanoia)” in Greek, which signifies a change of mind. Thus John compelled them to change their sinful mind to come back to God. John promised this way forgiveness of God to those who were baptized.

Luke emphasizes importance of John’s arrival by referring to Isaiah 40 ;- As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all mankind will see God’s salvation.’ ” (Luke 3:4-6)

Now we need to see the back ground of the time of Isaiah to understand more profoundly Luke’s writing.

2. Good news of forgiveness

Today’s invocation verses are Isaiah 40:1-2 , which comes just before the part refered by Luke ; - Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.

The background of Isaiah 40 is the time of Babylonian captivity * in 6 century BC. Israel had been defeated by Babylonian army in 587 BC., and Jewish leaders are brought by force to Babylon. Besides Jerusalem, called the city of God, was burned and the Temple, the core of the faith, was destroyed. It means that Jewish people lost the base of worship and their God, too. Many of them were also scattered out from their mother country. They must have thought that God abandoned all Israelites.

But among those people Jeremiah and Ezekiel were raised as prophets, respectively in Israel and in Babylon.
The two prophets appealed to people that the harsh trial represented God’s judgement. However they also said that the people could be brought to Israel again is they repented. But 50 years passed without any special events after that time. The Temple was always in ruin and the majority of captivated persons were dead. New generations born in Babylon also were getting old. So much so almost nobody trusted in the prophecy of Isaiah and Jeremiah anymore. Under such crucial circumstances God voice came to them. It comforted and encouraged the people by saying,” Their hard service has been completed, that their sin has been paid for, that they has received from the LORD’s hand”

The distance between Babylon and Jerusalem is several thousands of kilometers through deserts. The returning journey must be also harsh. But the voice said that God would make their journey easy ;- A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (Isaiah 40:3-5)

Israelites are the people chosed by God in order that all human world should be saved through them. Once, God saved and freed them from Egypt to into the fertile land. Nonetheless, by living in the new land which was very fatal, everyone became arrogant and faithless and said ; - “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” (Deuteronomy 8:17)

Therefore God warned them repeatedly through the mouth of prophets. ; - But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today. If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.(Deuteronomy 8:18-19)

Nonetheless, the Bible tells us that they did not change their mind to be destroyed. The event gives us too the lesson. As long as we live without problem we easily forget God. Because we think we can get what we want by our own efforts, , high education degrees, job or, comfortable social state, for example. And when we forget God we forget neighbors too. We become pompous and look down those who are not as successful as us. We consider those persons to be lazy losers. But if we lose thankful feeling toward God he judges and condemns us severely to make us repent. Then we acknowledge, through the repentance, that we can live only thanks to God.
Life under captivity was very hard and harsh experience for Israelites. And the very experience changed their way of belief fundamentally. At first they asked themselves why God abandoned them, his chosen people, and destroyed Jerusalem, the city of God. Therefore, in order to find the reason, they tried to retrace their relationship with God from the beginning of their history. In that way, they achieved the Hebrew Bible, or the Old Testaments, by compiling legends told by their ancestors. Defeat and destruction changed arrogant and sinful people into those of the Bible. Thus the time of forgiveness has come. They were about to start the journey to their home land.

From their case we must learn the signification of trials. They are lessons given by God. Only by losing happiness, we recognize that we were happy. We acknowledge that we were under God’s protection only when we are thrown out of it. Those recognition make us to admit our sinful existence then we repent. Trials are the door which opens the path to God.

3. Aspiring to forgiveness

Referencing Isaiah’s prophecy, Luke appealed that the upcoming event must be as important as Jewish return back from Babylon. Because, he think, it predicts that Jesus, the Savior, will come on the earth to make all humans look up God and be saved. However majority of the people of his time ignored the birth of a baby. So nobody noted down the day of the arrival of Jesus in the human world. As a result, we don’t know yet the very date of his birth. We ignore also when he commenced the ministry exactly. In contrast, historians recorded Roman Emperors’ birthdays, that of Augustus*, for example.

The word “euangelion(gospel)” in Greek literally meant “good news.” And the Greeks used the term especially for news of victory came from battlefields. BesidesRoman emperor was Augustus (63 BC. - CE. 14) and his birthday was called also euangelion, during the period of Jesus birth. Peoples of the time thought that the world could enjoy “Pax Romana (peaceful world of Rome)” thanks to Augustus. They considered Augustus as god and savior.

According to the Mr.Hiroishi Nozomu, Japanese scholar of the New Testament, an inscription, which represents an edict concerning the new calendar issued in 9 BC., was excavated in a small city Priene* in Anatoria. The inscription reads :
– Providence of God which dominates human lives accorded Augustus to human beings as the most beautiful ornament of the world¡ÄHe ended wars and created peace as the savior of humans ¡Ä The day of his birth is the beginning of “euvangelion” because he is our god.* –

Augustus was called Kyrie (Lord) and his edicts also are considered to be “euvangelion ( good news).” But the New Testament points out Jesus as the savior, who was born under Augustus reign and executed during the time of Tiberius. And the Bible takes Jesus’ words as “Euvangelion.” For persons of common sense of the time, christians must seem stupid or even rebellious against Roman Empire. Therefore believers were segregated from the society, furthermore persecuted.

Now we are also facing two types of “good news” or two types of savior. And between the two we should choose one of them to orient our life : looking for secular success, or appreciation from God. If we take the latter we should sometimes accept social disadvantages. However we must keep in our mind that almost nobody of today’s world worships Roman Emperors anymore. In contrast, hundreds of millions of people all over the world celebrate Jesus’ birthday every year as Christmas. The fact shows clearly that all earthy things pass away but Jesus’ love and God’s words remain eternally.

Advent is the period not only to prepare Christmas but also to grasp the signification of Jesus’ arrival. It indicates three facts : the first is the birth of Jesus, which occurred about 2000 years ago. The second is his second arrival in the future. The third and the most important one is that he is with us as Immanuel, now and forever. Therefore we must give thanks to him every day, every time and ]live by following in his footsteps.
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* Tiberius http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberius
Augustus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus
*Babylonian captivity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_captivity
* Priene http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priene