“Samuel and Jesus” (1 Samuel 2:18-20,26; Luke 2:41-52)

1 Samuel 2:18-20,26
Luke 2:41-52

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Anna presenting her son Samuel to the priest Eli, Gerbrand van den Eeckhout  (1665) 

Pastor Tom Johnson, December 26, 2021

A few years ago, our Wednesday noon Bible study went through the whole book 1 Samuel. We were able to read through the whole story of the Prophet Samuel. Our Sunday morning lectionary has a very small portion of that story this morning. As we continue through the Gospel of Luke this year, it would be helpful to remember the resurrected Jesus in the last chapter of Luke who joins two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus. Jesus begins with Moses and all the prophets (which no doubt includes Samuel) and interprets to them all the things about himself.

Samuel’s story begins before he is born with his mother Hannah. Hannah is unable to conceive a child. Hannah and her husband travel to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple. Hannah makes a vow to the Lord: if God grants her a son, she will dedicate him to the priesthood all the days of his life. As she prays in the Temple, she moves her lips silently. A priest named Eli sees her and accuses her of being drunk. Hannah tells him her story and that she is under great stress and anxiety. Eli dismisses her with a blessing that God would grant her prayer request. Soon Hannah is pregnant and she names him Samuel which means “the Lord listens.”

As soon as Samuel begins to eat solid food for himself—probably three or four years old, Hannah brings Samuel to the Temple to grow up as a priest there under the care of Eli and the other priests. Hannah sings a song. Her song is similar to the Song of Moses and Miriam in Exodus chapter 15. The song of Hannah is even more similar to the Song of Mary in Luke chapter one what we often refer to as the Magnificat. Clearly Hannah expands on the song celebrating the Exodus and Mary expands on the song celebrating the birth of Samuel. What this does is draw a line of continuity throughout the whole Bible: God has a plan for these women and little children. He will use them to bring life and salvation to the whole world. In our text today, we see Hannah making a special robe for Samuel every year. My imagination has me thinking it was quite adorable sight to behold—a four year-old in a little robe that matched the adult priests towering over him.  Each year that Samuel grew, so did his robe size. So it was a joy for Hannah the seamstress and prophet’s mother to sew him an upgraded, tailor-made robe. It was a further joy for her to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem and hand-deliver her gift. Like Mary the Mother of Jesus, Hannah treasured in her heart God’s call upon her child. She certainly pondered in her heart what the Lord would do in and through Samuel as he grew into the person God called him to be just as Mary did with her Christ Child.

You could call the story thus far Samuel’s external call to ministry. Hannah and Eli work together to consecrate him for the Lord’s service. But soon that will change. The Lord himself will call Samuel both externally and internally. God’s still, small voice visits the child Samuel in the night. Rabbinical scholars believe he is 12 years-old. God not only calls him as a priest but now as a prophet. He is priest and prophet. And one day he will anoint David son of Jesse as king. And it will be from that line that Messiah will be born.  So Luke takes us through the story of the conception, birth, and adolescence of John the Baptist and Jesus. We see through the Christmas story that God has great plans for the unborn, newborns, and especially God’s eternal Son who is conceived by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary.

Mary and Joseph take the twelve year-old boy Jesus to the Temple. Like Hannah’s yearly pilgrimage to visit her son at the Temple, Jesus and his family travel yearly from Nazareth to Jerusalem. Like Samuel before him, Jesus has a clear external call to be Prophet and Priest. But he also has an external call to be King. The angel Gabriel spoke to Mary in a vision. An angel spoke to Joseph his stepfather. Angels sing to the shepherds. And the wise men from the East worship him as Prophet, Priest, and King. Like twelve year-old Samuel, twelve year-old Jesus amazes his parents and the priests. Jesus calls the Temple his home just as Samuel considered it his childhood home. Jesus speaks about his own call for the first time. His true home is with God the Father. We see what the Psalmist says in Psalm 8: “Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger.” And we see what the prophet Isaiah foretold: “a little child shall lead them” (11:6).

The Christmas story reminds us of what Jesus tells us many times: unless we embrace our identity as children of God, we will not understand our place in the Kingdom of God. God does mighty things through babies and young children. We look back to celebrate our own childhoods and see God’s hand at work long before we knew what he was up to and what he has in store for us. We live in community with the unborn, the newborn, and the little ones around us. They have no less potential in the Kingdom than those we consider adults. The children around us will not only hold the future, God has a hold on them. He has had a hold on all of us since before the foundation of the world. He has fully known us and loved us since before he knit us together in our mother’s womb. We have the joy of watching each other and ourselves grow in stature both before God and one another.

“The Word made flesh” (John 1:1-14)

John 1:1-14

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Model of the tabernacle, Timna Park, Israel

Pastor Tom Johnson, December 25, 2021

At 6:20 this morning NASA launched a rocket with a $10 Billion space telescope called James Webb Space Telescope. They hope to see even farther into space and further into the past than the Hubble telescope to understand how the universe began. University of Oxford professor of theology Alister McGrath says the idea of the big bang is one of the most exciting developments for the Christian faith. For a long time the scientific community believed the universe was eternal. They have now caught up with Genesis and John who say, “In the beginning was the Word.”

John tells us that Jesus—the eternal Word—is the one who lit the fuse to ignite the Big Bang. The Word himself not only rides the storm of matter spreading throughout the universe but superintends the very fabric of the cosmos itself “sustaining the universe by the Word of his power.” The eternal Word is the one who wove the fabric of life together from the bottom up. “All things came into being through him and without him not one thing came into being.” He has no beginning. He dwells in reality outside time, space, and matter. He stands outside of creation. He is the Author of creation. Like the Psalmist whose intelligence can only grasp so much, we cry, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it” (Ps 139:6).

“And the Word became flesh and lived among us.” The word for “lived” in our translation is sometimes translated as “dwelt” or “made his dwelling.” The word literally means he tabernacled among us—the eternal Son of God pitched his tent among us. John is using imagery from the Old Testament to help us better understand this New Testament. You will remember that God entered the tabernacle and temple with his Shekinah or “dwelling” glory. The Lord appeared like a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. He would lead his people and shield his people. But instead of choosing to dwell in a tabernacle made mostly of fabric or a temple made mostly of stone, the Eternal Son of God now dwells in human flesh in this Christ Child born in Bethlehem.

You’ll remember that Jesus referred to his own physical body as a Temple. He reminds us again and again that the temple of his Body will be destroyed but rebuilt in three days—referring clearly to his death and resurrection. This Word “became flesh and pitched his tent among us” in our humanity. John brings three miraculous births together—the birth of the universe, the birth of a human child who is also the eternal Word, and the birth of Christ in and among us. And through this Word, God still gives birth to all things new. “All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.” That includes you. That includes me. That includes our new life in Christ.

The Christmas story begins outside the universe—transcending time and space. The eternal Word shows up throughout redemptive history beginning in Genesis and throughout the history of the people of God in the Old Testament. The Christmas story continues with the eternal Word taking on our humanity two thousand years ago in that little town of Bethlehem. The Christmas story continues with the same eternal Word taking up residence in our hearts.

We are not just born of blood, the will of the flesh, or the will of humans, but of God. This text is about the birth of the universe, the birth of the eternal Son of God, and the new birth we have through that same Word. “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” This same Word lives and fills our lives today. The great miracle of Christmas is ours in Christ. Scripture tells us in Colossians 3:16: “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.” And in Ephesians 3:17 Paul prays that “the Word of Christ will dwell in our hearts by faith.” Christ in you. The indwelling of the Spirit and of Christ dwells richly among us. God pitches us as tents—we are tabernacles and temples of the Holy Spirit and of Christ. By his strength and power the eternal Word spreads his light and love in us, among us, and through us. He is the true light which enlightens everyone.

This is He whom seers in old time

Chanted of with one accord,

Whom the voices of the prophets

Promised in their faithful word.

Now He shines, the long-expected;

Let creation praise its Lord

Evermore and evermore.

O ye heights of heav’n, adore Him;

Angel hosts, His praises sing,

Pow’rs, dominions, bow before Him

And extol our God and King.

Let no tongue on earth be silent,

Ev’ry voice in concert ring

Evermore and evermore.

             (“Of the Father’s Love Begotten,” LSB 384, vv. 3 & 4)

They laid him in a manger” (Luke 2.8-20)

Luke 2.8-20

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Pastor Tom Johnson, December 24, 2021

Tonight we celebrate the birth of Messiah—the eternal Son of God who becomes human—the Word made flesh. “This will be a sign for you,” the angel says, “you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” A manger is an area set apart to house and feed animals. It’s a stall or pen. Archeologists have discovered that mangers were often caves to keep animals out of the elements. Our earliest written reference to Jesus’ birth outside the Bible says that Jesus was born in a cave. The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem which is said to be built over Jesus’ place of birth is, in fact, a cave. That means that when Mary and Joseph could not find suitable housing, they had to find refuge in a place normally reserved for animals. It would be like Mary and Joseph going to an AirBnB, not finding a suitable room, and having to spend the night in a covered, animal pen.

So what does the manger tell us about this Child, Jesus—the Word made flesh? Why isn’t the King of kings and Lord of Lords born in a palace? Why would God allow his only begotten Son to be born under such extreme, humble circumstances? I believe it highlights the incarnation. God putts an exclamation mark on the humility of his Servant. This story enhances our understanding of just how radical of a change this is for the second Person of the Trinity to take on our humanity. God’s greatest gift is veiled by these humble circumstances. His truth is not revealed through spectacular sensationalism but through an ordinary and very earthy way. The angels tell us that there will be a sign. And that sign is not the blinding, angelic light or their heavenly song. The sign is a baby wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in an animal shelter. It’s the last place we would look for the long-awaited Messiah.

The eternal Son of God leaves his heavenly throne and is now lying in a lowly crib. The Lord of Glory leaves his heavenly feast to be placed in a feeding trough. The King of the universe leaves his mansion to be sheltered in pen reserved for livestock. This is how radical and mind-blowing the Christmas story is. God not only dwells with us. He becomes us—taking on our humanity. He so fully embraces his creatureliness that he takes up residence in a place set apart for domesticated animals. That is why cattle, sheep, and beasts of burden are part of the manger scene today. Creator becomes creature. And with him lying in a feeding trough, he appears to be exactly who he is—the Bread of Heaven—the one who feeds us body and soul and sustains us by the Word of his power.

Jesus is conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary. He is now born in the womb and heart of the earth. He is now Son of God, Son of Mary, and Son of all the earth—the new and greater Adam. And he gives himself for heavenly food. And so we come to receive the bread and wine. God assures us that we are his beloved children who receive the Body and Blood of Jesus by which this newborn will purchase a place for us in heaven, our eternal home. The manger and cave in which Jesus is born is foreshadows a time to come. Jesus will again be wrapped in bands of cloth. Look at the artwork at the top. Does Jesus not look like he is swaddled in burial cloth and on heads of grain for bread?

It will not be Mary and his stepfather Joseph who lay Jesus down for his first earthly rest but the priests Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea who will lay him down for his final earthly rest. They too will swaddle him in love and put him into a cave hewn by human hands—a tomb to lay him down to sleep only for him to rise once again. This is a virgin tomb—in which no one had been laid. And out of the heart and womb of the earth, Jesus will again be born from above and rise to newness of life for you and me. Jesus is born an infant Child. He is reborn the King of glory. He is the firstborn of all creation. He is the firstborn of the dead. He is born to set the captive free. He is reborn to raise us up with him in glory.

To you this night is born a child

Of Mary, chosen virgin mild;

This little Child of lowly birth

Shall be the joy of all the earth.

             (“From Heaven Above to Earth I Come,” LSB 358, v. 2)

“Fruit of the womb” (Luke 1:39-55)

Luke 1:39-55

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The Visitation, Jacques Daret  (1401–1468)

Pastor Tom Johnson, December 19, 2021

The angel Gabriel just told Mary that she will give birth to Messiah—the long-awaited Savior who will sit on the Davidic throne forever. She asks, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” Gabriel tells her she will conceive by the Holy Spirit. Gabriel tells her that her cousin Elizabeth is six months into her pregnancy even though Elizabeth was well into her old age. Earlier in Luke’s account, Elizabeth spends five of those six months hiding her pregnancy. Elizabeth finally has the courage to show that she is pregnant to her community. Elizabeth says that God has taken away her reproach—that is, she no longer has to endure the disgrace, disapproval, and scorn of her community because she was unable to get pregnant all those years. The years of her feeling like she may have done something wrong, or that something was wrong with her, are over. Perhaps that is why her younger cousin Mary leaves her hometown when she becomes pregnant. She is not yet married to Joseph. She will suffer even more disgrace.

The angel Gabriel says, “Nothing will be impossible with God.” Both Elizabeth and Mary’s pregnancies are miracles. Both had to deal with living in a judgmental community. Mary goes with haste to seek refuge with her cousin. They have a special relationship. They now have a special bond. Mary hurries to Elizabeth because they have a shared story and, perhaps more importantly, Elizabeth is a safe place of refuge for this young, unmarried woman. Just as God told Mary that Elizabeth is pregnant, Elizabeth also miraculously knows that Mary is pregnant. When Mary enters Elizabeth’s house and greets her, the unborn child John the Baptist leaps for joy in Elizabeth’s womb. Elizabeth “exclaims with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.’” She calls Mary “the mother of her Lord.” She believes the fruit of Mary’s womb is the Lord himself. Elizabeth experiences the fruit of her own womb when the unborn John the Baptist hears Mary’s voice. John the Baptist is already full of the Holy Spirit in the womb, Scripture says. 

Both Elizabeth and Mary carry unborn children in their wombs. Elizabeth is carrying a prophet. Mary is carrying the King. Elizabeth and her child are full with the Holy Spirit. Mary is filled with both the Holy Spirit and the Word made flesh. These two remarkable women were the first to listen to the prophet John and the first to praise Immanuel, God with us. It could be said that Elizabeth was the first to listen to the prophet John and the first to preach a Christian message. Mary and Elizabeth praise and worship God together. This is the first Christian gathering. Mary sings the first Christian hymn. 

Mary and Elizabeth are the Church. The fruit of their wombs is also the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22,23). They love the Lord. They love their yet-to-be-born prophet and Messiah. They are filled with joy. They celebrate each other’s blessings. They direct their praise to God most high. They find peaceful refuge together. Elizabeth patiently waited for decades. The pregnant women are kind to one another. Elizabeth opens her home in hospitality and generosity. They have faith and trust in God to do the impossible. With gentleness and self-control they quietly support one another for the next three months. You could say that Elizabeth, John, and Mary’s advent season together was not four weeks but three months. All three eagerly awaited the birth of Messiah. All three believed God’s promises. All three were already filled with joy. Elizabeth shouts with a loud cry. John does a back-flip, and Mary sings a hymn. 

Together they bear the fruit of the Spirit because of the fruit of Mary’s womb. And so it should be for us. For we are the Bride of Christ. We too are pregnant with God’s promises. We too are great with the Christ Child.  There is now a stirring in our womb. The Fruit of Mary’s womb brings nourishment and life to God’s people and to all creation. The same Holy Spirit is born into our hearts through faith, the Word, the water, and the fire of Holy Baptism. God calls our gathering together this morning to be like the reunion of those cousins generations ago—Christ-centered, a safe refuge from the disgrace and reproach of this world, full of shouts of praise, leaps of joy, and the singing of hymns, psalms, and spiritual songs. Like Elizabeth and Mary’s three month sabbatical together, so our gathering together should always be a place of acceptance, affirmation, encouragement, support, and unconditional love.

In John’s vision in the book of Revelation, he sees the Tree of Life in renewed heaven and earth. A river flows through the roots of the tree with its twelve kinds of fruit—and the leaves are for the healing of the nations (Rev 22: 1,2). As in Christ’s first coming we awaited the Fruit of the Womb to be born among us and we now enjoy that fruit in this life; so we await the Fruit of the Tree of Life—Christ who died and rose again who gives himself for heavenly food. And here is the really good news: we enjoy this fruit now. In a few moments we come with haste to this Table to eat from the Tree of Life and drink from the River of Life. We gather together—not as supportive cousins—but as sisters and brothers—as a safe, secure, and nurturing family of God. We go out from here to bear our own fruit—the fruit of the Holy Spirit sent out by the Fruit of Mary’s womb for the healing of the nations.

“Hope and Joy” (Philippians 4:4-7)

Philippians 4:4-7

Pastor Tom Johnson, December 12, 2021

Today is Gaudete Sunday. It from the first word in our Scripture from Philippians: Rejoice! It’s a command that’s repeated: “…and again I will say, Rejoice!” Some churches have a rose-colored candle on the wreath for this Sunday of rejoicing. It seems a little premature, doesn’t it? We still have one more advent candle to light before we celebrate the coming of Christ. That’s when we will light the middle one for Christmas. But our Scripture does exhort us to rejoice today. And so this Sunday of rejoicing, it is especially fitting that we would return here today at 4:00 for our Christmas concert to fulfill this call on our lives to rejoice, be glad, and give God all the praise and glory for the gift of his Son through music and song.

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.” Let the joy of the Lord be your strength all day and every day—no breaks to sulk—no days to throw pity-parties—no week-long vacations in the land of gloom. As Psalm 118:24 reminds us, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!”  What I love about this Scripture is the context. We are not just told to rejoice. This is not just a joy hit-and-run. The Apostle Paul gives us all the tools we need nurture joy, sustain joy, and grow our joy. He begins by urging us to publicize our gentleness along with our joy in the Lord. “Let your gentleness be known to everyone.” The word gentleness can mean reasonableness, consideration, kindness, meekness. This is an attitude that brings authenticity to our joy—joy that is rooted in God, not ourselves. 

Rejoice in everything—do not worry about anything. The worries and anxieties of this world are a very real threat to joy. This helps us understand the difference between happiness and joy. Happiness that’s rooted in the things of this world can be so easily taken away. Joy transcends this world because it is rooted in him “who is, who was, and who is to come.” The joy of the Lord will not be stopped by the little speed bumps of worry. Do not worry about anything, but pray about everything with thanksgiving. Prayer and gratitude will help us sustain joy and a joyful attitude. When we are worried about something, we only need to remember something we are grateful for. In that moment of thanksgiving, we remember that God indeed has a plan for us—not to harm us—not to abandon us—but to prosper our spirits and souls.

Recently I heard about the research of psychologist Dr. Rick Hanson. He says studies suggest that all of our brains have a “negativity bias.” He says negative things stick to our brains like velcro. It’s like our brains are made up of that wooly material that receives the negative material with its hooks and burrs. He says positive things hit our brains like teflon. Just like water rolling off the back of a duck, positive things seem not to stick no matter how many of them hit us. He says it takes at least 15 seconds of intentional focus to make something positive have a lasting impact on our brains. That is why we can receive a hundred positive messages, affirmations, emails, or likes on social media—but it only takes one negative one to cause us to stay up all night and steal our joy. It’s why we can allow one grumpy person to cast a shadow over us so that the light of 100 smiles the same day passes us by.

Rejoicing is a form of contemplation and meditation on the goodness of God—the goodness of who he is and his goodness toward us. Prayer and thanksgiving are the velcro that will make joy stick. Prayer and thanksgiving are also the teflon that will make negativity bounce off our brains like water off a duck. This is not living in denial of the challenges and negativity of this world. It is not to look at the world through rose-colored glasses. It is rather the reality and truth of God’s goodness which far exceeds and outweighs anything and everything. 

We should remember that the Apostle Paul is in prison in Rome when he is writing this letter to the Philippians. Later in chapter 4 (v. 10) he rejoices greatly because of their concern for him. At the very end of the letter Paul sends greets from the saints “especially those of the emperor’s household.” Paul is rejoicing even while in chains because of the love of this community of faith and he is again rejoicing because God is building a community of faith right where he is—in prison in Caesar’s household.

And so we should take heart. There will be days when anxiety and negativity will get the best of us, things to be grateful for may seem few and far between, and joy may seem out of reach. But we can make this Scripture into prayer crying out for what God commands and promises: joy that transcends our earthly circumstances. As Scripture says: “Weeping may tarry for the night but joy comes in the morning” (Ps 30:5). As another Apostle, John, says in his first letter (1 Jn 4:4), “Little children, you are from God, and have conquered [evil]; for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” These Scriptures and more remind us that we do not need to surrender to the anxiety, negativity, and ingratitude that threaten to rob our joy.

In the middle of this empowering message Paul says, “The Lord is near.” Jesus is near us and with us in the hearing of his Word and ministry of his Spirit. He is near us in the washing of water with the Word and Holy Spirit. He is near us in the breaking of the bread—in our Holy Communion here and now.The joy of the Lord fills our cups to overflowing. We look back with confidence on the Christ who was born for us. We look forward to his promise to never leave us nor forsake us—but to be with us always even to the end of the age. There is a constant flow of joy from heaven to earth. And so we rejoice now with that same confidence as the psalmist does, “Surely goodness and mercy shall pursue me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23).

“The highway for our God” Luke 3:1-6

Luke 3:1-6

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The King's Highway near Madaba, Jordan

Pastor Tom Johnson, December 5, 2021

John the Baptizer is in the wilderness. He is preaching and baptizing around the Jordan River. Those coming out to him must go out on the well-established highways that go across the Jordan, through the wilderness, and to foreign lands. At this time there are two international highways or paths that go through Israel. Each river goes back thousands of years, before the time of Abraham. One follows the contour of the Mediterranean coast and is called “the Way of the Sea.” It goes from Egypt, through Israel, and all the way around the Mediterranean into Europe.  The other international highway is called the way of the king—or the King’s Highway. This path connected Egypt, Israel, and Europe to the Silk Road which went all the way to east Asia to present day China.

The Magi or the wise men who gave the newborn King Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh would have certainly come right through where John was baptizing 30 years before. It was the same path Abraham journeyed when God first called him. And it was the same road Moses and Joshua used to bring the people of God out of slavery in Egypt to the promised land. The King’s Highway was the way of kings because the pharaohs of Egypt, kings of Persia, Babylon, even Alexander the Great, and now the emperor of Rome used this highway to lead their armies to conquer the known world. The King’s Highway is mentioned in the book of Genesis and over 30 times throughout the Old Testament.  The Isaiah 40 quotation in our Gospel reading is a promise of—not the King’s Highway but the Lord’s highway. The way of Yahweh.

Indianapolis calls itself the crossroads of America because of all the interstates that intersect there. Chicago was and is America’s railroad capital. Israel was the crossroads of the ancient world. Their location put them into the crosshairs of conquering kings. The Israelites lived in fear of the next king to come down that highway as seemed to happen over and over again in its history. Now the prophet Isaiah and John the Baptizer talk about a new King coming—who is the Lord. He does not come to conquer and subdue nations but to conquer and subdue our hearts and minds.

John is a construction worker. The Word of God is the bulldozer, backhoe, excavator, and earthmover that levels mountains and fills valleys. The Lord’s highway does not follow the contours of the landscape—his Word transforms the landscape. His Word softens hearts, enlightens minds, and prepares us for the true and living Messiah. It is a powerful illustration of what true repentance is—a transformation of the landscape of our minds and hearts. God is making new neural pathways and connections by his holy Word. We have renewed minds and renewed hearts. This is exactly what we see in the ministry of John the Baptist. It’s through the washing of water and the Word that people not only receive forgiveness of sins but they are set on a right path and a restored relationship with God and their neighbors.  When Messiah Jesus shows up on the King’s Highway, John has already paved the way for it to be the Lord’s Highway—to expedite and ease the path of Messiah into our lives, minds, and hearts.

This highway meets us where we are—whether we are enslaved in Egypt or enslaved by our sins—whether we are wandering in the wilderness 40 years with Moses or a lifetime in the wilderness of this world—whether we are crossing the Jordan into the promised land or crossing over into the life of the world to come. It’s no accident that the earliest name for the Christian faith was “the way”—the same word for highway in our text. It is proverbially said that all roads lead to Rome. God has now paved his way into every heart throughout the world. 

Scottish historian Stephen Neill believes it is no accident that Jesus was born at the time when the ancient world was most connected. Alexander the Great spread the Greek language throughout the whole region. And then the Emperors of Rome built roads connecting Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and the Far East. The Gospel could now go out on the highways and byways of the ancient world unhindered. Christian women and men not only traveled these roads and spoke in the Greek language to do their business but they and the apostles were also able to tell the world about Jesus and the what they called “The Way.” As our Scripture promises, “All flesh shall see the salvation of God”—all flesh—every carbon-based life-form—every living thing—everything that has breath— humanity from every nation, all tribes, peoples, and languages. 

Jesus does not just meet us at the crossroads. He does not just come with the power of water and the Word. Jesus comes in the power of the Holy Spirit and his refining fire. The Lord’s highway gives us the assurance that Jesus will make a way to every heart and every life. Jesus comes—no matter how far we believe we have strayed or feel we are out of reach. Jesus comes to us on his highway no matter how isolated we feel or how alone we think we are. Just as John the Baptist prepared a way along the margins and at the borders of Israel, so Jesus still meets us in the margins and transcends human borders of this world. God is moving mountains, boulders, earth. He is raising up dark valleys and making a way in the light for the King of kings to reach you and me.

On Jordan's bank the Baptist’s cry
Announces that the Lord is nigh;
Awake and hearken, for he brings
Glad tidings of the King of kings!

Then cleansed be ev’ry life from sin;
Make straight the way for God within,
And let us all our hearts prepare
For Christ to come and enter there.
      (“On Jordan's bank the Baptist’s cry,” LSB 344 vv. 1 & 2)