Before Jesus there was a voice Luke 3:1-6

In the book of the prophet Isaiah there are great words of comfort to the lost and hurting in the nation of Israel. The book tells of a day when a voice would cried out in the wilderness (read Isaiah 40 to hear it all).

Prepare the way. Make ready, Prepare ye; prepare ye the way of the Lord.

The writer of these words of comfort in Isaiah wasn't the one to make the promise. He was just a prophet: a messenger on God's behalf. God's intended to keep the promise and made good on it when the time was right. Isaiah wouldn't be the one to anounce the coming of the Lord. When the time was right for the promise to be kept another would come on God's behalf.

Just about 800 years later (give or take, even the best scholars can only guesstimate) a man showed up proclaiming a baptism of repentence all around the region of the Jordan (Read Luke 3:1-6 to hear how his ministry started).

Prepare the way; make it ready and straight.

John was the one who cried out. He announced that the Lord would be coming. He announced this word not in the city of Jerusalem but in the country. People from all Judea and even people from the city came out to hear him, to lay down their burdens, and be baptized in the River Jordan.

Part of the church's proclamation of the Lord's coming is John's message of repentence in preparation for meeting the Lord. No Christian will ever be entirely ready to meet Jesus. There's always something hidden in some back room or attack that we think is out of reach but that is holding us hostage. There's always some burdern that holds us sinners bound. We keep them hidden deep in the basement or the rafters above the garage. John says that the Lord is coming. It's time to let go of the false gods and follow in the way of the Lord.