Prepare the Way Straight

The generations of Adam march on under the sentence, “and he died,” until one man stands out by obedience. As Clement says, “Let us take (for instance) Enoch, who, being found righteous in obedience, was translated, and death was never known to happen to him.” The genealogy is not bare record; it teaches what sort of life is fit for those made in God’s likeness while bearing Adam’s mortal line. If death reigns through our forefather, we must not live carelessly, as though judgment were far off.

David, pressed by many enemies, does not answer railing with railing, but turns his mouth to prayer: “With my voice I cried to the Lord, and He heard me out of His holy hill.” This same straightness of heart appears in John’s preaching. Repentance is not ornament but preparation. The axe is laid to the root; every tree is known by fruit. The One who comes after John is gentle enough to stand in the Jordan, yet mighty enough to baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Therefore no one should hide among ancestry, office, or outward privilege.

Isaiah joins this warning to a public sin: leaders flatter, mislead, and devour the poor. God does not overlook houses filled with the spoil of the needy, nor mouths that bless while feet are led into crooked paths. So let repentance be proved in deeds: prayer without pretense, truth without flattery, goods shared with the needy, and a life cleansed of proud display. To prepare the Lord’s way is to make the path straight in the tongue, the household, and the purse.