Luke 3:4-6 The Crooked Made Straight
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘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 people will see God’s salvation’” (NIV).
This is taken from the beginning of the ministry of John the Baptist. He went throughout the countryside preaching a “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” The Scripture quoted above speaks of John’s reason for ministry—prepare people for the coming of the Messiah. The implication of the verse is that when Jesus arrives, things will get better. Moving through life is to become easier with valleys and mountains made level, crooked roads made straight, and the rough ways made smooth. Did that happen, even after Jesus was baptized by John? No, it didn’t because the leaders of the time saw Jesus as a threat to their authority because they feared that His message would upset the Romans and cause them to crack down and take away the powers the religious leaders had. Their selfishness and lust for power made them rouse the people against Jesus, accuse Him of sedition against the Romans, and demand that He be crucified.
So the church began in a time and place of criticism and antagonistic actions by the religious leaders of the day. It seems to have been a foretaste of what was to come for millenia after the crucifixion of Christ. Throughout history, the church seems to grow best when its members are driven to defend themselves and their beliefs in Jesus Christ. The opposition makes for tougher, more determined believers. For the past two thousand years, those who truly accepted Christ as Savior have proven to be willing to undergo hardship, punishment, and even death to declare that Jesus is the Messiah, the one and only way to God.
If you follow the lines in the picture above from left to right, the swirls, whorls, and bumps are easily seen, but as the view continues to the right, the lines smooth out and go forward in a strength proven by the earlier difficulties in the growth of the tree. Yes, valleys will be filled, mountains will be made low, crooked roads will be made straight, and the rough places will be made smooth. But a look at the center of the picture above shows the difficulties and hard times that the tree survived before it got to the smooth times. So in our lives as Christians, we will encounter tough times, difficult times, and, perhaps, even dangerous times before we attain peace and rest with Christ in eternity. I haven’t been in eternity with Jesus, but I am convinced that eternity with Him will be worth any difficulties we encounter here. So hang in there—it will be worth it.