“Prepare the Way for the Lord…”
Sunday Before Theophany
2 Timothy 4:5-8; Mark 1:1-8
“Prepare the way for the Lord; make His paths straight.”
John the Baptist addressed the Jewish people with these words of the Old Testament prophet (Isaiah 40:3) (Mark 1:3).
He spoke in clear figurative language: Before an important guest, a king, tsar, or governor, arrived in a certain neighborhood, people would level the roads, fill in the potholes, clear away bumps, and gather the stones. They could tolerate all these obstacles in their daily lives, but when a high dignitary arrived in their area, everything had to be cleared, leveled, and the road had to be in the highest order.
The prophet John the Baptist, knowing that the king of the universe, whose kingdom is the kingdom of the Spirit, was about to come, was concerned that people would level all the hills and potholes of their souls, purify their souls through repentance before the coming of the Lord, and that is why he preached “a baptism of repentance, for the remission of sins” (Mark 1:4).
John the Baptist called on people to repent of all their sins, even before the Lord's coming, to cast out from their souls the stones of pride, hatred, envy, and malice, so that the path of their hearts would be made straight. After all, it would not be an earthly king or emperor coming to them, for whom external order is important, but [of greater significance was] the inner state of their souls, for from human hearts “come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immorality, thefts, false witness, blasphemies,” as Christ later affirmed. (Matthew 15:19).
The purification of human souls through repentance, the straightening of the paths of their hearts — this was the mission of John the Baptist, this was a task entrusted to him by God, which he was to fulfill.
So that people would understand the greatness of the Messiah-Christ who was to come, John warned, saying:
“There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.”
(Mark 1:7).
And again, this figurative expression was completely understandable to John's listeners: according to the etiquette of the Middle East at that time, kings, rulers in general, had their shoes untied and removed by some high-ranking persons, not just servants. People had already recognized that John was a prophet of God and honored him accordingly. When John said that he was not worthy to untie the strap on the shoes of God's messenger, Christ, he was testifying to the incomparable greatness and dignity of Christ.
John did not yet call Jesus Christ by name; he had not yet seen Him personally, but he knew from God the high spiritual position of the One who was coming after him. God was to come after him in human form, the One who would "baptize you with the Holy Spirit" (Mark 1:8).
With such images and preaching, John the Baptist prepared people for the coming, for the meeting of the Son of God on earth. The Church calls the very coming of Jesus Christ, his baptism in the Jordan, the Epiphany, that is, the appearance of God to people.
Sometimes we hear questions: Why was the coming to the Jordan the [time of the] appearance of God among men, and hadn’t He already appeared among people 30 years before?
- It is true that Jesus Christ was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary 30 years before. But let us keep in mind that only a very limited number of people knew about His birth: shepherds near Bethlehem, three wise men, and, later revealed to the righteous Simeon when the child was brought to the temple. After that, there was an escape to Egypt, and then a quiet, unnoticed return to Nazareth, where Jesus grew up as an ordinary person.
No one in His environment knew about Jesus' divinity. If we were to assume that everyone around knew about it, then Herod and his ilk would not have allowed Him to grow; they would have killed Him a long time ago, even in childhood.
God wanted His Son to attain normal human maturity so that people could hear Him preach the Gospel, the message of salvation in God. According to a long-standing tradition in Israel, no one could teach about the faith until he was thirty years old. Following this rule, the prophet John the Baptist did not begin his sermon of repentance until he was 30 years old, and, following the same tradition, Jesus did not reveal his divinity, nor did not teach publicly about God and God's instructions until he was 30 years old.
When He was thirty years old, Jesus appeared to John at the Jordan River. We must understand this correctly: Jesus Christ did not need the baptism of repentance performed by the prophet John, and it was not Christ who was sanctified in the Jordan, but rather, the waters of the Jordan were sanctified when he entered them.
At the same time, by Jesus' coming to the waters of the Jordan, we understand that at that time, as witnessed in The Gospel (Mark 1:8-11), the fullness of God in the Holy Trinity was revealed: the voice of the Father from heaven testified about His Son, and the Holy Spirit descended on the Son of God in the form of a dove.
But Jesus Christ's acceptance of baptism is also an indication to us that our spiritual life, our spiritual birth, must begin with baptism in the name of God, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, with the assumption of the garment of Christ, for our baptism is not John's "for repentance", but for salvation and eternal life in God.
From the above explanation of why Jesus waited until he was 30 to appear to people in divine glory and to teach them about faith in God, it is quite clear that it is simplistic to think that people should not be baptized, imitating Jesus Christ, until they are 30. By doing so, people condemn themselves to the possibility of spiritual death, having refused birth in Christ:
“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5).
As we approach the Feast of the Theophany (Epiphany ), the Church of Christ reminds us that when we meet Christ in the Theophany, we should also level the path of our hearts. That we also rid ourselves of hatred, envy, pride, and be filled with love for our neighbours, so that by this love Christ may know that we are His disciples, His followers (John 13:35).
How should we show love to our neighbours? The Apostle Paul gives us advice:
“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (Galatians 6:10).
It is from showing love to our brothers and sisters in faith that we should begin to practise love for our neighbours, gradually extending it further and wider, because there is no limit to showing love to our neighbors. In manifesting this virtue, we must imitate Christ our God, as He calls us to do.
But let there be no hypocrisy among us, for those who claim that they love God, that they love all people in general, yet hate their brothers and sisters in faith or of their own nationality, they commit an untruth. When love is not shown to real, recognizable people, then to speak of abstract love is to speak a lie.
And to meet and receive our Saviour, just as at the time of His first coming to people, just as at the time of John the Baptist, we need to make the paths of our hearts straight, so that in our faith, aspirations, and actions there is demonstrated purity and truth. Only in the purity of heart will we feel and know our God; for the Lord testified:
“Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8).
Amen.
Very Rev. Fr. Taras Slavchenko
Taras Slavchenko was born on March 8, 1918 in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region in Ukraine. After graduating from school and the Pedagogical College, he entered the language and literature faculty of the Scientific Pedagogical Institute. Having successfully completed it in 1938, he served as a teacher in a secondary school.
