The Promised Messenger

By Barnabas Piper

The movie Aladdin came out when I was nine years-old, which is to say, the perfect time for me to be totally smitten with it. Many of you will remember the scene where the genie concocts a massive parade procession for “Prince Ali”—actually Aladdin in disguise—in an attempt to impress Princess Jasmine. It was all show to announce no actual royalty. What we find in Isaiah 40:1–5 and Luke 1:5–25 is just the opposite, almost no show to announce the greatest King in all eternity.

These passages introduce the messenger, the one who will make a way in Israel for their King and Messiah. He prepared the way in the wilderness, not the palaces. He made straight the road in the desert, not in houses of comfort.

When the angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah, he was talking to a childless old man about the great things a son he didn’t even have would accomplish. And the angel did this in private, not as a great display. Then, to top it off, Zechariah was not even able to tell the tale of his encounter with the angel because he was struck speechless for disbelief in the sanctuary. None of this is marked by glory or notoriety or showiness.

Yet the substance of the prophecy, both in Isaiah and Luke, shows us just how significant the work of the messenger was to prepare a way for this glorious King. He was not conjuring up a show, he was declaring the good news of Jesus to transform lives and even the world. This messenger promised pardon for sins, the leveling of mountains and the raising of valleys, and above all that “the glory of the LORD [would] appear, and all humanity together [would] see it.” (Isaiah 40:5)

But this messenger did not merely declare that a king would be coming. He prepared the way by preaching a message that changed hearts. He paved the way in souls, not in politics. “He will be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother’s womb. He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God” (Luke 1:15–16). God sent His messenger, John the Baptist, to stir up the hearts of the people to receive Jesus.

So while the genie in Aladdin made a big deal out of what was ultimately nothing, God subtly sent His messenger who was massively important to prepare souls to receive their Savior. God empowered His messenger to preach with power so that people were transformed. God packaged His messenger in humble trappings to do great things in preparation for the true eternal King who would save the world.