Luke 3:1-6 (New International Version)

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

1In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. 3He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: "A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. 5Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. 6And all mankind will see God's salvation.' "

In a discussion about the church year, someone once asked me “What’s the season of Advent all about?”

A simple answer is that Advent has to do with preparations. That is true, isn’t it? Think of the preparations you make at home--Christmas decorations, Christmas cookies, Christmas cards and letters, Christmas shopping lists, and planning for Christmas parties, family gatherings, and Christmas meals. Or think of the preparations here at church! A lot of work went into decorating the church. It takes a lot of work to prepare special music for the Advent and Christmas services. I know again from first hand experience, it takes a lot of work & preparation to serve an Advent services. These are just a few of the many things we do during Advent to get prepared for Christmas.

Did you ever stop to think that God had things to prepare for Christmas too? He did and he does. In our sermon text for today we are going to hear about God’s Advent Preparations! I. God prepared the world II. God prepares his people

GOD HAS ADVENT PREPARATIONS!

I. He prepared the world

II. He prepares his people

At the breakfast Bible class on Wednesday morning during which we study the sermon text for the coming Sunday, I told the class that this reading is a sermon text I have often avoided. The reason I have avoided it is because what are you suppose to do with the opening verses where we read about Tiberus, Pilate, Herod, Philip, Lysanias, Annas, and Caiphas? What is one preach on regarding this list of men? As I contemplated choosing this text for our sermon today, I recall what one of my seminary professors told us. “Brothers, the Holy Spirit never swaffled.” Swaffle is a German word that has to do with wasting words! The point of his comment was simply this: when the Holy Spirit directed the writers of the Bible, he didn’t give them words to put down just for filler. Nor was he doing some kind of divine doodling on sacred scrolls or papyrus. “Everything that was written down in the Bible was written down for our learning.” So I chose this text on which to preach and we begin today by asking that nagging question, “What are we to learn from this cast of wicked characters?

First of all, it’s a reminder that it was under the authority of these political and religious leaders that Jesus suffered and died for our salvation. Tiberius was the emperor of the Roman Empire. The 15th year of his reign would put us right about 30 A.D., which helps us estimate the date of Jesus’ birth. We also know that Herod and Philip were sons of wicked King Herod. Wicked Herod was ruling when Jesus was born and he is the one who tried to kill the baby Jesus by murdering all the baby boys in Bethlehem. We know that his son, Herod the Tetrarch, was the one who stole his brother Philip’s wife Herodias and who had John the Baptist’s head cut off because in a drunken stupor at his birthday party he made a foolish promise to give Herodias’ daughter Salome whatever she wanted up to half his kingdom because she tickled his fancy with sensual dancing. This is also the Herod to whom Pilate sent Jesus on Good Friday in trying to pass the buck. Recall that Herod wanted Jesus to entertain him by doing some miracles. Perhaps he was still in a drunken stupor. Of course we know who Pilate is. We mention his name every week in church. He was the one who, under pressure from the Jewish mob, sentenced Jesus to die even though he knew that Jesus was innocent. Anna and Caiaphas were the high priests who should have known better but led the conspiracy of the Jews to hand Jesus over to Pilate to be crucified. These are all things we know and learn from the Bible and are reminded of as we read these verses.

But as we get ready this Advent to celebrate the birth of Jesus, there is more we can learn. Recall that in his letter to the Galatians Paul wrote, “When the time had fully come, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those under the law.” In other words, at just the right time, when things in the world were just as God wanted them to be he sent the Savior whom he had promised. No, that doesn’t mean that God caused the wickedness of these men who have the Savior’s blood on their hands, even though Pilate tried to wash it away. It means that for whatever reason God had, it was the right time to send the forerunner to prepare the way for Jesus in the 15th year of reign of Tiberius, when Herod, Philip, and Lysanias were ruling the Holy Land, Pilate was governor, and Annas and Caiphas were the high priests. And we are grateful that it was so. Because in the sending of his Son at just that time, the right time, God allowed these evil men to carry out their wicked plots so that he could fulfill his plan to save us all from the wicked things of which we are guilty.

If God knew just the right time in history to send his Son the first time to save the world, shouldn’t we also trust that God has set just the right time when our Savior will come again to judge the world? Certainly that’s something we can take from this text. On that day, those earthly kings and rulers before whom the innocent Son of God was tried and condemn will have reason to be afraid. On that day they will have to stand before the judgment throne of the King of kings, and Lord of lords and be judged by him! But for those who believe in Jesus, that day which God has set will be a day of joy. On that day, finally, all God’s enemies will be destroyed. Yes, God prepared things in the world for Jesus to come the first time. God will get things ready for Jesus to come the second time. God has had and still has Advent preparations.

II. But what about us? Will we be prepared for that day when Jesus comes back whenever that might be?

God is the one who prepared his people to receive Jesus when he came the first time and he will prepare his people to receive him the second time.

As you may well know, the second Sunday in Advent is often called “John the Baptist Sunday.” On this day we are reminded that God had promised a forerunner to the Savior. Our Old Testament lesson was one of those prophecies. The job of this forerunner was to get people ready for the coming Savior. And how was John to do that work? His work was calling people to repentance. Do you recall what repentance is? The basic definition the Bible gives us is sorrow over sin, trust in God’s promise to forgive sins, and then a desire to turn away from sinful ways. Through the prophet Isaiah’s words God explained John’s work by using a picture of getting a highway ready on which someone special could travel. “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. 5Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth.”

We have a good illustration of his work with all the work being done for the new highway 26 by pass. High places are being leveled by big bulldozers. Low places are being filled in with piles of dirt being dump by huge earthmovers. And then it is all being leveled out and made smooth.

That’s exactly the kind of Advent preparations to be done in our hearts and lives. Where there are high places of sinful pride and arrogance, those are to be knocked down. The Lord won’t enter such a heart! Where there are low places of fear and doubt, those are to be filled in with love and faith in Jesus. And how is that work to be done? God is the one who does that work. He does it through the power of his Word. Through the Law, God knocks down those high places. Through his gospel promise to love and forgive us God fills our hearts with the comfort of salvation and with faith in Jesus by which we are saved! And only by his Word does God the Holy Spirit empower us to straighten out the things which sin has made crooked in our harts and lives. Godly repentance is how God prepared people to receive Jesus then and Godly repentance is how Go will prepare for when Jesus comes again.

So let me ask you: “Do you have all your preparations done?” No, I’m not talking about all the baking, shopping, and decorating. I’m talking about spiritual things. Are you prepared to receive and worship your Savior this Christmas? Are you prepared for Judgment Day when Jesus will come back again? Let me ask you: Do you confess that you are a sinner deserving of God’s eternal punishment? Are you sorry for your sins? If so, answer “yes.” Do you believe that Jesus came to be your Savior and that on the basis of his death God has forgiven you? Do you believe that in your baptism, which brought you the same forgiveness that John’s baptism brought God’s people back then, God marked you as his redeemed? Having tasted of God’s love do you desire to put away sinful thoughts, words, and actions in your life? If you sincerely answered “yes” to all those questions, guess what? God has prepared you for the Savior’s coming. Let’s thank him for that by using his Word this Advent season and getting his word out to all the country side just like John so that all the world will see the salvation of our God! Amen.