Luke 3:3 And he [John] came into all the region surrounding the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, (4) As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, "A voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight His paths. (5) Every ravine shall be filled up, and every mountain and hill shall be leveled; and the crooked places shall become a straight way, and the rough ways smooth. (6) And all flesh shall see the salvation of God."
In 3:3-14 we see that John the Baptist came preaching the baptism of repentance. Repentance is a matter of changing the mind, of turning the mind to the Man-Savior. Baptism is a matter of burying the repenting people, terminating them so that the Man-Savior may germinate them by regeneration (John 3:3, 5-6). In 3:4 to prepare the way of the Lord and to make His paths straight means to change people's minds, turning their minds toward the Man-Savior. It also means to make their hearts right, to straighten every part of their hearts through repentance, so that the Man-Savior may enter into them to be their life and take possession of them. In 3:5 ravine, mountain, crooked places, and rough places are figures of speech describing the condition of men's hearts toward God and toward each other and the relationships among men (1:16- 17). Both the condition of men's hearts and their relationships need to be dealt with for the way to be prepared for the Savior's coming. Verse 6 says that all flesh will see the salvation of God. Here "flesh" refers to fallen men, and "salvation" denotes the Savior as the salvation of God.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Luke, pp. 57-58. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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