10 Dec Advent: Prepare the Way for the Lord

10 December 2023

ADVENT: PREPARE THE WAY FOR THE LORD

the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight,’ (Mark 1:3, Recommend reading full text, 1:1-8)

A precious guest is coming to your house. What will you prepare? The news that the guest is coming is the prelude to the meeting. You will be the first to start cleaning when you hear this news. You will prepare and cook fresh ingredients for the meal and prepare the most fragrant coffee and sweet desserts. When everything is ready, you will dress neatly and wait for your guest to arrive. When all these processes are completed, the preparations to receive the guest will be complete, and a pleasant fellowship will begin with the guest’s arrival. However, if you hear the news of a guest’s visit and make no preparations, the guest will perceive that you are unprepared, and the guest is unwelcomed. However, a beautiful fellowship can be established when the host is well-prepared to welcome guests.

According to the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL), the Gospel message for the second Sunday of Advent is the preparation of the way of the Lord. Before Jesus Christ began his public ministry, John the Baptist prepared his way as a “crying voice in the wilderness.” But his message was not just that the Lord was coming. Anyone who greets him should be adequately prepared for it, he says.

Jesus Christ was born 2,000 years ago in a small manger in Bethlehem. He said that although he came to his land, people did not recognise it and did not treat him as he deserved. Many people heard the message of Jesus Christ through the cry of John the Baptist, but only some were ready with their preparations. John the Baptist says that preparation is repentance.

Repentance is not just a change of state of mind. I am taking pills every day due to high blood pressure. High blood pressure is a family history, but it may also mean poor health care. Family history is related to the eating habits and lifestyle of the family. If you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure, you should recognise it and change your eating habits and lifestyle that cause high blood pressure. Instead of living the way you have always been, hearing the news, and making changes—that is the path toward health/repentance.

Repentance is bound to produce good fruit. However, there is a complicated process to bear fruit. And the Bible speaks of those who have not produced the fruit of repentance as “children of vipers.” However, the Bible also offers hope. It is in the words of John the Baptist, “After me will come one more powerful than I”. The Bible gives promises and hopes in this way.

The message of Advent is in the tension between maranatha, “Our Lord has come,” and maranatha “, Come, our Lord!” The Lord had already come 2,000 years ago. And he will come again. Do you want this good news to relate to you? Now is the time to begin preparing for His return.

prayer

God of hope, you are the one who gives strength to those who wish to walk in your path. Help us turn back from our path against you and begin our journey toward you so that we may welcome you with the fruit of repentance when you come again. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen!

for further thought

What does the news of Jesus Christ’s coming and coming again mean to you? How should you prepare to meet him?

An-Wei Nehemiah Tan

The Presbyterian Church of Korea