Prepare the Way

Prepare.  What does the word mean?

As we begin a series leading up to Easter, to the celebration of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, let's prepare ourselves for the familiar story by diving into the context in which the story is told.

• 66 books, written by over 40 authors, over a span of about 1500 years.  The last book of the Old Testament was written 400 years before Jesus was born.

• The Old Testament contains over 300 prophecies of the Messiah to come.  The book of Matthew alone contains 57 prophecies which were fulfilled in Jesus.  We will be touching upon these over the next few weeks.

• Why is it important that we know this?  One reason is because this one story is the center of everything that we believe, and are, as Christians.  It is the central message of the Bible.  Everything before the Gospels points to them; everything after them expound upon them.  It is the epicenter of history, and is every bit as relevant today as it was 2000 years ago.

• The Jews of the 1st century living in a time of the Roman occupation of Israel, and were anticipating the Messiah who would come to overthrow the Romans and restore Israel to its former glory.  The 300+ prophecies were like mountain ranges in the distance, viewed as one big picture from their vantage point in history.

Isaiah 40:3-5 

• Written about 700 years before Jesus

Matthew 3:1-3 

• Matthew points his readers to John as being the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy.

• How did John call people to "prepare the way?"  By way of repentance and of turning to God.  (also see Acts 3:19-20)

John 1:19-23 

• John used Isaiah's prophecy to answer the Jewish leaders regarding himself.

Malachi 3:1  

Malachi 4:5-6

• Written about 450-500 years before Jesus.

• If you continue reading in Malachi, you can see an example of the "mountain range" view of the Messiah.

Matthew 11:7

• It had been about 400 years since God had last spoken to the Israelites.  Prophets of God were a distant memory, stories handed down through generations; yet, the news quickly spread that a new prophet was in their midst.

• By announcing that John was the fulfillment of the prophecy in Malachi, it is easy to see why people began to build up an expectation of Jesus as being the warrior Messiah.

Psalm 77:16-20 -  Parting the Sea

• God prepared a way of deliverance through the sea.

Daniel 3 - The Fiery Furnace

• God prepared a way of deliverance through the fire.

Isaiah 43:1-2,12-13,18-19 

• "The Way" of deliverance through Jesus Christ was foreshadowed in God's previous physical acts of deliverance.  He did not spare His people from the danger, but led them safely through it.

Preparing the way…

• The Old Testament prepared the way for the New Testament.

• The prophets prepared the way for the fulfillment of their promises (Isaiah 43:12).

• John the Baptist "prepared the way" for Jesus, preaching the need to repent and to turn to God, spurring people to think and talk about God, and to anticipate His deliverance.

• Jesus MADE a way, and IS the Way (John 14:6), and prepares a place for us in God's presence (John 14:2).

So, WHY is it important that we revisit these subjects?

• As "followers of the Way" (throughout the book of Acts), our job is to prepare the way of the Lord by repenting of our sin, turning to the Lord, and, like John the Baptist, pointing to Jesus as the Way to God (1 Peter 3:15-16).  Easter is one of the few seasons of the year in which people's hearts are especially open to the Gospel.

• The news of the day increasingly bear witness to the shortness of the hour.

Let's be prepared for what the Lord will do through us, if we are ready, willing, and yielded.