The Rough Places Plain

Continuing the theme of God's word coming through strange means, here's a familiar text set to familiar (to some) music presented in a most unusual way:



Wow. I'm pretty sure that doesn't live up to its own lyric "Speak ye comfortably..."

This text and its theme of straight paths have been brought to my mind repeatedly in the past two months or so, not the least by my cycling experiences. My first long ride after the crash set them before me once again. On Friday, September 30, Will Thompson and I rode south of Rock Hill to the place where I crashed on Strait Rd. Here's what we found:

The hole that caused my crash was filled in

 I don't know if my accident had anything to do with the filling of the hole; it's possible, because the man who gave Robert and me a ride back to town said he'd been requesting the repair for a while and that the hole had almost caused a car accident (whether for him or someone he knew I don't recall). Either way, I was reminded of the words of Isaiah, "The uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain" (Isaiah 40:4). Did Isaiah work in earth removal on a highway crew? Probably not, but his use of natural imagery suggests he probably spent a good deal of time outdoors.

What does this phrase mean, then? The context speaks of the Lord's comforting His people, forgiving the sins of Jerusalem, and revealing his glory to all flesh (Isaiah 40:1-2, 5). Isaiah 35 also connects the renewal of the wilderness with the revelation of the glory of the Lord and a "highway of holiness" for the redeemed to travel, with the added promise of healing for the blind, deaf, lame, and mute (Is 35:1-2, 5-6, 8-10). Isaiah 51 shares similar themes, echoing ch. 35 and its promise of God's redeemed people returning to Zion (Is 51:11; cf. 35:10), and tellingly speaks of "waste places," "wilderness," and "desert" as aspects of Zion which God will "comfort" (Is 51:3). This suggests that the geographical imagery in these texts is to be understood at least in part (it may have multiple senses, as the prophets often do) as referring to moral or spiritual qualities God sees in people's hearts and lives.

What kind of lives are like deserts and rough ground? Luke gives us confirmation as well as some guidance in this interpretation in applying this text to John the Baptist

the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall become straight,
and the rough places shall become level ways,
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

St. John the Baptist Preaching in the Wilderness, Pieter Bruegel the Younger

He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Luke 3:2-9, emphasis mine)

John's exhortation in the desert of Jordan to the people to repent and be baptized for forgiveness fulfills Isaiah's prophecy of a voice crying in the wilderness, and his instruction of how they should live, having repented, corresponds to the call to prepare the way of the Lord. That so many people heard and responded to John's message (cf Mark 1:5) seems to be the fulfillment of the promise of filled valleys, lowered mountains, straightened crooks, and leveled roughs. Or perhaps a fulfillment of the promise: the threatened judgment against the people's self-righteousness, spoken of as God "raising up" children of Abraham from stones and "cutting down" trees that don't bear fruit echoes the lowering and raising language of Isaiah.

This theme of "turning things upside down" continues as the kingdom of God arrives and advances in the person of Jesus and his words and deeds. So many of Jesus' teachings fit this pattern: the meek inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5), the one who exalts himself is humbled (Luke 18:14), and the one who seeks to save his life will lose it (Luke 9:24). Even the ongoing ministry of the apostles after Jesus' ascension is spoken of as "men who have turned the world upside down" (Acts 17:6). 

But perhaps Jesus' greatest work of leveling was his humiliation, suffering, and death. In these he walked through our uneven ground and rough places, indeed the "harshest terrain" any of us ever face in this life, and by walking in them, He made them smooth.

• he became poor so that we through his poverty might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9)
• he was rejected by his own people (Is 53:3; Jn 1:11), so that we who receive him might be received as his people (Jn 1:12; Rom 5:1-2; 9:25-26)
• he learned obedience through his suffering (Heb 5:8) so that we might experience suffering as the Father's loving discipline that makes us holy and leads to glory (Heb 12:3-14; Rom 8:16-18)
• he became sin, that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21)
• he died to destroy the devil who had the power of death and free us from our fear-of-death-induced lifelong slavery (Heb 2:14-15)

This last point is one to dwell on; I don't think we listen carefully, let alone believe, the amazing things the New Testament says about the transformation of death through Jesus. This was brought to my attention this week by the comment from Steve Jobs in his 2005 commencement speech at Stanford that "no one wants to die; even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there." Hmm. I may be speaking defensively of my beliefs as a Christian, but I don't think he's quite right. Paul wrote to the Philippians some of the most amazing words ever expressed by a person about death,

it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, (Philippians 1:20-25)

Paraphrase: "I don't care whether I live or die as long as Christ is glorified." The telling feature of this passage is that Paul speaks precisely the way someone speaks who is torn between two options: can't you hear someone speaking this way about which job to take, or where to go out to eat, or what bike to buy? "I can't decide; I'm hard pressed between them. I want to do this, but it would be better for them if I do that."

Paul, Archiepiscopal oratory of St. Andrew in Ravenna, Italy, late 5th century

Some would say Paul had lost his mind, to which he replies "I am not out of my mind . . . but I am speaking true and rational words" (Acts 26:25). Paul wrote more of the New Testament than any other human author, and is regarded as the most influential theologian (behind Jesus himself) in the history of Christianity; much of his moral teaching is regarded by people of all faiths as sublime; and his depth of insight into human nature and Scripture stretches the minds of the most brilliant scholars. He's not a lunatic. Rather, he had seen the risen Christ, and was so convinced that Jesus was risen that he said Christians were pitiable fools if he wasn't raised (1 Cor 15:12-19). But he also experienced more deeply than most the life-transforming power of the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus himself promises to give to those who ask for him (Lk 11:13). The Spirit is the Lord and giver of life who mediates Jesus' personal presence and gives assurance of regeneration and such confidence in Jesus' resurrection and our share in it that the heaviest burden of suffering becomes light in comparison to the eternal weight of glory it produces (2 Cor 4:17). Not only did Paul desire to depart and be with Christ, but he wanted to suffer for him and with him:

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ . . . and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:8, 10-11)

 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. (Col 1:24)

Paul's willingness, even desire, for suffering and death sound shockingly morbid to us, but in these statements, he's not suicidal or morbid, but rather exuberant and hopeful, out of love for Christ. The Spirit of God had sealed to his heart the full depth of Christ's death-defying death and these truths he wrote and God speaks to us:

• "the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." (Rom 8:18) 
• "Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." (Rom 8:34-35)
• "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:28-39)
• "For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's. (1 Cor 3:21-23)
• “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Cor 15:51-55)
• Those who have died in Christ are "asleep." (John 11:11 1 Cor 15:18; 1 Thess 4:13-15)

Like parents describing thunder as God rolling strikes in his heavenly bowling alley, Jesus and his apostles almost jokingly describe death like an afternoon nap; one day, Jesus will say to all of those who are part of his bride, "Honey, wake up" (Mk 5:41).

To believe Jesus' power over death is nothing less than to see the glory of God, as Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” (John 11:40, cf 11:4, 25-26) That our original text from Isaiah 40 also connects the leveling of uneven ground with the revelation of God's glory suggests that this interpretation is on the right track:

 Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (Isaiah 40:4-5) 

Isaiah's next words also support this:

All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.

The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever. (Isaiah 40:6b, 8) 

In light of this, John's familiar words come into sharper relief: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14). This is how we see the glory of the Lord in brightest color, that the eternal Word of God (Jn 1:1; Is 40:8), the second person of the Trinity, became flesh and was even cut down like grass, but was raised back to life, so that through him we might stand forever (cf Jn 12:23-24).

In the spirit of divine beauty expressed in an outwardly unattractive form, here's Schprockets meets Handel. The style is odd; the singing impeccable.