Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 33:1-24; Revelation 5:1-14
”'Comfort, yes, comfort My people!' says your God. 'Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received from the LORD'S hand double for all her sins.'” (Isaiah 40:1-2)
In case there are any lingering doubts about John's message, what he cried out in the wilderness, Isaiah clears it up: John cried out the forgiveness of all our sins. How? With water and the Word. That's how. John cried out in the dry desert, a Water that ends all our warfare with God, that brings with it peace with God, and pardon, and comfort. Better, God Himself was crying out in the Water: “Comfort, yes comfort My people! Cry out to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” That's what the voice cried out in the wilderness. That's what the Voice still cries out from the Font. No matter how dry the desert, there's always your Baptism.
John is often thought of as a scary, fiery preacher. He certainly was that to the self-righteous, who needed no repentance. But to sinners, John was so much more. For here, in the water, the scary fires of God's wrath were all doused. Here, they were given repentance (Acts 5:31). For here, in the Water, the old man was drowned with all of his sins and evil desires, and a new man emerged to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.
Washed, clothed in Christ — that's making straight in the desert a highway for our God. That's the valleys being exalted, and the mountains and hills brought low. That's the crooked places being made straight, and the rough places smooth. We don't prepare the way for the Lord. He prepares it for us. And He prepares it for us in the Water.
You say, “My ways are so crooked! God can't possibly love me.” “My ways are low, too far beneath the dignity and worth of God.” “My ways are too rough to ever smooth things out with God.” Or, you say, “I can do it! My ways will be just right, high enough to land me in heaven.”
Your Baptism says to stop that! Stop all your warfare with God. God Himself ended it for you, once and for all, in the Water. Your salvation is not in the balance, awaiting the outcome of your struggle with sin. It's right here, in the water, awaiting the outcome of His Word and promise to you. So, trust your Baptism. God's Word can never lie or deceive.
To help you trust His Baptismal Word, God places His spoken Word in your ears, and Jesus' Body and Blood Word in your mouth. That's double for all your sins. Got sins? Do John and Jesus have a message for you!