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Gospel • Lk 3:1-6

The final book in the Old Testament, the last book in the Hebrew Neviim or Prophets, is the book of Malachi. In Hebrew, the word comes from a word meaning “messenger,” which points to Malachi as a prophet of the Lord tasked to deliver God’s message to the people. 

His message is of judgment to the people of Judah who had turned away from the true worship of the Lord, leaving themselves under judgment and in need of salvation. Judah is given the last opportunity to turn to the Lord: the Lord will send a “messenger”—a new Elijah the Prophet. He will turn the hearts of fathers to their sons, and the hearts of sons to their fathers (Mal 3:24). 
The last word in the Hebrew Bible is a call for metanoia, a change of heart that leads to reconciliation. If unheeded, the Lord will come and strike the land with destruction. For a long time after the return of the Jews from their Babylonian exile, no voice of the prophet could be heard in the land. Israel was suffering a “silent treatment” from the Lord. 

Then a voice was heard in the desert and by the River Jordan, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths” (v 4). Once this was uttered by the prophet Isaiah, calling out to the Jewish exiles to prepare the way of the Lord who would come and lead them out of Babylon back to the land of their fathers (Israel), just as Moses did in leading the Israelites out of Egypt. 

This is similar to the call of the prophet Baruch in the First Reading. John, the son of the priest Zechariah, the “new Elijah,” calls for repentance, a repentance shown in concrete acts of sharing and righteousness. This is going back to the stipulations of the Covenant, following the way of the commandments. “Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight” (v 5). 

These preparations were being done in ancient times whenever the ruler—king, emperor, or victorious general—would visit a city. The leveling called for by John is the straightening of moral life by the practice of repentance, humility, and righteousness. Underneath this righteousness are mercy and compassion, as shown when one shares his tunic and food to those who have none, when one is fair in collecting taxes (addressed to tax collectors), and when one does not extort and is content with one’s wages (for soldiers). 

All flesh shall see the salvation of God (v 6). The salvation wrought by God is not only for the people of Israel. God will show his splendor to all the earth. In Jesus Christ, the “Lord” whose path John the Baptist will prepare, Gentiles will be gathered to Israel. They will no longer be Lo-Ammi (“Not my people”); they, instead, will own the song of Ruth, “Your people shall be my people and your God, my God” (1:16). 

In the Second Reading, St. Paul writes to the Philippians, Gentiles whom he converted to Christ. He considers them “partners” for the Gospel, his collaborators in sharing the faith in Christ. The Philippians have been helping him in his collection for the poor Christians in Jerusalem and, more personally, attending to him in his imprisonment, sending him financial help and even a helper in the person of Epaphroditus. He prays that their love may increase more and more.

Source: “366 Days with the Lord 2024,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.