Spiritual Contemplations for those who serve the Lord |
This was actually a prophecy about St. John the Baptist whose main mission was to make God’s paths straight and prepare His way. In order to understand this passage, we must first understand the customs of that time when the book of Isaiah was written. In these days, when a king wanted to go into a journey with his procession or army through an uninhabited unpassed desert, he used to send before him a group of harbingers to pass through the way first and work on its paving. They did this by filling the valleys up, leveling hills, passing through the jungles to purify them and the crooked ways to straighten them. As soon as they finished their work, the way which was uninhabited before became paved and ready for the passage of the king with his procession or with his army. In case the way was inhabited, then the harbingers would pass before the king calling people to step aside and evacuate the path before him. May be this reminds us with Joshua’s order to the priests on crossing the Jordan to enter the promised land saying, “Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over before the people.” So, they took up the Ark of the Covenant and went before the people” (Joshua 3:6). They passed in a way about which the officers said, “That you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before” (Joshua 3:4). In fact, this is the essence of a servant’s ministry to cross before his children preparing the way for them, considering them as a king and himself as a humble servant of the king that passes before him to pave his way. - A servant preparing the way means that he is the forerunner of his children or youth in the courage of facing the dangers of thieves and beasts. He may, many times, sacrifice himself in order to save his children. This is what St. Peter the Seal of Martyrs did when he faced martyrdom, and what St. Athanasius and St. Dioscorus did by accepting persecution and exile while facing heretics and keeping faith. - A servant preparing the way means that he experiences the different stages of spiritual struggle on a personal level first before guiding and teaching. His teaching then comes not as theories coming from a high tower but as from a scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven who is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old. - A servant preparing the way means that he must work first on flattening every hill and mound by casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God whether in himself or in his children. - A servant preparing the way means that he exalts every valley by encouraging the fainthearted, caring for the rejected and despised people who are considered to be the base people of that world. - A servant preparing the way means that he takes thorns away which are the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things that choke the word making it unfruitful. - A servant preparing the way means that he digs and fertilizes until the barren tree brings fruits. - A servant preparing the way means that he watches over his flock lest Satan comes, while he is a sleep, and plants tares among wheat. - A servant preparing the way means that he toils a lot in order for his children to get rest; he becomes fool for Christ’s sake in order for his children to be wise in Christ; he becomes weak in order for them to be strong; and becomes dishonored in order for them to be distinguished. *Adapted from HGBY monthly Clergical letters
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