“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.” (Isaiah 40:3-5.)

These words are a prophecy of John, the forerunner of Jesus. When a king traveled, men were sent ahead of him to make the path smooth. John was no literal road construction worker, but in a spiritual way he prepared hearts for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 3:3 quotes the above passage in Isaiah regarding John. The two preceding verses describe his work thus, “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, and saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt. 3:1, 2). John had a message from God to deliver. The Holy Spirit said of John in prophecy “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me…” (Mal. 3:1).

John was preparing hearts by preaching repentance. Repentance is one of the most difficult charges God asks of us; it involves a change of the will regarding sin that results in a changed life. John told the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to him in the wilderness to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance (Mt. 3:8). People who repented would become merciful in their giving (Lk. 3:10, 11). Tax collectors would no longer exact more than what was appointed (Lk. 3:12, 13). Soldiers would be content with their wages and no longer do violence nor falsely accuse (Lk. 3:14). Self-righteous religious leaders would not humble themselves; therefore, they would not truly repent. John told people what they needed to change in their life in order to please God. This takes courage. John had enough courage to tell Herod that it was not lawful for him to have his brother Philip’s wife; as a result of his courageously speaking the truth, he was thrown into prison and eventually beheaded (Mt. 14:3-12).

While John is often called “the Baptist,” this was not his name, but rather describes his work. He immersed people in water for the remission of sins. “John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins” (Mk. 1:4). Baptism is a burial, an immersion (Rom. 6:3,4; Col. 2:12). The purpose of John’s baptism was the same as the baptism the Lord later commanded in the Great Commission (Mt. 28:19; Mk. 16:16; Lk. 24:47); it was “for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). Today, we are to administer the Lord’s baptism for the remission of sins to those who will repent at the preaching of the gospel.

John pointed the way to Jesus. When he saw Him, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water” (Jn. 1:29-31). John was willing to point his disciples away from himself to the greater one: the Lord Jesus Christ (Jn. 3:23-29). John said of Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (Jn. 3:30). We too need to point others to Jesus instead of ourselves. We too must preach God’s message, even the unpopular message of repentance. By your words and actions, you can prepare the way for those around you to receive the Lord Jesus and submit to His commandments.

As another year passes, we should think about how we are using our time. We need to redeem the time (Eph. 5:16; Col. 4:5). Redeem means “buying up” or “buying out.”  Every opportunity must be snapped up as if we have found a bargain. We should make the best of our opportunities while supplies last. Life appears for a little while, then vanishes away (James 4:14).

Time Management

David prayed, “LORD, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am. Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor” (Psa. 39:4, 5). Think of how much David accomplished in his life—from his youth as a lowly shepherd boy to his ascension as the great king of Israel. His name is one of the most mentioned in the Bible. His accomplishments are retold today, thousands of years later. However, he was mortal and frail. At his best, he was only vapor. His son, Solomon, commented on the meaninglessness of accomplishing great works and accumulating wealth that will only be left to someone else (Ecc. 2:17-23). No matter how great some people look or how much they seem to have it all together, everyone is fragile. Each person’s life on this earth has an expiration date.

In desiring that the life God had given him would be meaningful, Moses prayed, “establish the work of our hands for us” (Psalm 90:17). In Psalm 90, Moses is speaking on behalf of the Israelite community. God’s is beyond time. He is from everlasting to everlasting (Psa. 90:2). In light of God’s immorality, Moses reflected on man’s mortality and the fragility of life (Psa. 90:3-6). Moses and Israel faced various trials throughout their earthly lives. Israel brought some of the suffering on themselves through their disobedience. His desire was to not waste time in sin that brings on the wrath of God, but rather to please Him who is eternal, to whom we must give an account. God’s people in all subsequent ages can identify with the request of Psalm 90:10-12: “The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knows the power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath. So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

Numbering our days means evaluating how we spend our time. We will be judged by how we use what God has given us (Matt. 25:14-30). If we are too busy with other pursuits to spend time pleasing God, then we must reconsider and repent. Do you take time for God’s word at the time of day when you are at your best mentally to take it in? When you spend time with family, are you distracted? Are you present with them so that you can be the kind of family member God wants you to be? When you attend church services, is your heart into what you are doing? Or is your mind somewhere else? Make the most of the little time you have left.

The New Testament shows that Jesus took the Scriptures very seriously. When tempted by the devil to turn stones into bread, Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’ ” (Matthew 4:4). In His great Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:17-19). Jesus would not compromise even one stroke of a letter of the law of Moses.

With this background, consider what Jesus said in response to the question of divorce in Matthew 19 and Mark 10. Jesus acknowledged that Moses wrote the precept of Deuteronomy 24:1-4 because of the hardness of the people’s hearts (Matthew 19:8; Mark 10:3-5); however, He then went back to the beginning to show God’s intention for marriage. In contrast to what different teachers were saying in His day, Jesus said, “But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female’” (Mark 10:6). Jesus referred to the statements made in Genesis 1:27 and Genesis 5:2, which say God made Mankind in His image, male and female. Jesus followed this up with a quotation from Genesis 2:24: “‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh” (Mark 10:7, 8). The underlying Hebrew translated to be joined to, or “cleave,” is covenantal language. Notice the word “cleave” in the KJV in Deuteronomy 4:4; 10:20; and 30:20. Thus, marriage is a covenant into which a man and woman enter requiring fidelity (Malachi 2:13-15). “One flesh” also refers to sexual intercourse (1 Corinthians 6:16).

Jesus interpreted these passages of the Torah as not merely descriptive of what happened at creation, but as a divine order for all time. While gender seems to be a confusing subject in today’s world, the Bible from the very beginning equates gender to biological sex. Jesus recognized this. The statement in Genesis 1:27 of both male and female being made in the image of God is followed by God blessing them, the male and female, and giving them the command to, “Be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). Male and female are defined according to their complementary anatomical features that make reproduction possible. How else could reproduction occur in the ancient world?

In regard to marriage, did Jesus understand the decree that a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife in one flesh as the general rule to be followed by all generations? Yes. Exceptions exist, such as the choice to remain single (1 Corinthians 7:8). However, Jesus is referring to the ordinary practice that a biological male, the offspring of his father and mother, finds a biological female, enters into a covenant with her, and becomes “one flesh” so reproduction may occur. If Genesis 2:24 is a decree for future generations, as Jesus interpreted it, then it is His original formula for how the reproduction of Genesis 1:28 should occur.

God could have created only one gender that was able to reproduce itself. He could have created three genders, or any number for that matter. However, God created them male and female. Jesus recognized two genders based on the two biological sexes: male and female.

Jesus emphasized the permanence of the marriage covenant that a male and female enter into by saying, “Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate” (Mark 10:9). The decrees of humans may say a lot of things, but God’s word still stands. Jesus would not compromise the word of God, and neither should we.