The beginning of the good news
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.
More literally, we might say “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ the Son of God.”
What is the beginning of the good news?
God has sent a messenger to prepare us for God’s coming. The messenger invites us to repent, and to look forward to the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.
I don’t know about you, but this is indeed good news for me.
Our God is not waiting to catch us messing up.
On the contrary, our God is patient, and does not want any of us to perish. God wants each and all of us to come to repentance.
So, God sends a messenger to prepare us.
In ancient times, the roads were often terrible. The local governors were expected to maintain good roads for the benefit of their citizens and regional trade. Often, the local governors took the resources intended to maintain those roads, and used them to enrich themselves. When they anticipated a visit from the king, the local governors would scramble to fix up the roads where the king would travel. They’d fill in the muddy holes and ruts with rocks, repair the bridges, and roll giant stones on the road to press down the bumps.
The king knew this, of course, so if the king liked the governor, they’d send a messenger ahead to announce their upcoming visit. If the king didn’t like the governor, he’d show up and depose the governor, seizing the governor’s wealth for himself.
Our God likes us.
Indeed, our God loves us.
That’s why our God sends a messenger ahead.
John the Baptizer was the last messenger before the coming of our Lord. John’s voice was silenced by Herod, but his voice still cries out to us to prepare the way of the Lord. The church continues to repeat his message through her scriptures and her liturgy.
“Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” “One mightier than I is coming…”
And the one who is coming is mighty indeed. A king might come and expect the low spots in the road to be filled. A queen might expect the steep spots to be leveled, and the ruts to be filled in. But our king is looking for the valleys to be filled in, the mountains to be made low, the rugged land to be made a smooth plain, and the rough country into a broad valley. It’s not just roads, but the entire landscape that changes in anticipation of our Lord. And it is not only the physical landscape, but our hearts. Because our king is the Son of God.
The beginning of the good news is that God isn’t trying to surprise us. But the good news is itself a person – the Son of God, who gives us his Holy Spirit.
We have received the gift of the Holy Spirit through the sacraments. We are called first to listen to the good news, and then to be the messenger of that good news. Through the Holy Spirit, we receive the power to do the impossible – to raise the valleys and lower the mountains in our own hearts.
The Son of God invites us to participate in the work of the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit from his birth, but he disciplined himself and practiced extreme self-denial as he followed the path of holiness. How will we participate with the work of God this Advent? How will we cooperate with the work of God to prepare our hearts? How will we participate in sharing the good news of Jesus Christ to a world desperately in need of good news?
