I did my quiet time this morning…it was short. My reading was Luke 3:1-6 which tells of John’s call in the wilderness by God to start to prepare the way for the Messiah.
…the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
Luke 3:2-3 [NKJV]
What jumped out at me was this “the word of God came to John in the wilderness”. The words used here are very similar to the words used in the Old Testament in the way the prophets got their message from God. So, it is probably meant to place John in the true prophetic succession.
What follows is a recollection of the prophesy from Isaiah ->
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
Luke 3:4-6 [NKJV]
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make His paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough ways smooth;
And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”
What a huge job John the Baptist had – preparing the way by essentially greasing the skids of the ministry of Jesus! Amazing!