Sunday June 4, 2006 | Scott Boren
In 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— during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As 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.
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
the rough ways smooth.
And all mankind will see God's salvation.'
The message of John the Baptist came into a chaotic period of history. In the middle of this chaos were the people of Israel. They did not know what their future would hold. To these people, John the Baptist proclaimed a message of repentance, an invitation to change one’s focus from the chaotic nature of circumstance to the God who was coming to bring salvation. Hope is only found in the saving actions of God, the faithful one who completes what he started. Modern life is characterized by chaos. In the midst of this chaos we need hope, solid ground on which to stand. Jesus is our only hope; he is the only consistent factor in this crazy world.
The message of John the Baptist came into a chaotic period of history. The first two verses of the focus scripture reveal the various rulers of the time, all of whom were vying for power and control, trying to deal with the unpredictable nature of transition. In the middle of this chaos were the people of Israel. They did not know what their future would hold. Every step seemed uncertain.
To these people, John the Baptist proclaimed a message of repentance, an invitation to change one’s focus from the chaotic nature of circumstance to the God who was coming to bring salvation. Hope is only found in the saving actions of God, the faithful one who completes what he started (Phil 1:6). True hope is not found in our circumstances; it is only found in the coming action of God in our lives (see Romans 8:24-25).
Modern life is characterized by chaos. In fact we live in probably the most circumstantially volatile time in history. Tomorrow is not a logical extension of today. Tomorrow is unpredictable. With this comes more than a few interesting advances and opportunities. However, the stress involved with the overwhelming change that we experience can eat away at the core of our being from the inside out.
In the midst of this chaos we need hope, solid ground on which to stand. Jesus is our only hope; he is the only consistent factor in this crazy world.