One of the longest lasting achievements of the Romans was their road system. Many major highways in Europe still follow the routes of Roman roads. Their engineering skills were not matched until the Eighteenth Century and we still don’t fully understand how they built some of their tunnels given the limited surveying techniques they had.
Building roads was hugely important in ancient times and a major demonstration of imperial strength. Even in modern times such engineering remains highly significant, as reflected in frequent references to the original construction of the US Interstate highway system, and the challenges in maintaining and updating it.
So it’s hardly surprising that when the Jewish people thought about how the power of God would be demonstrated, one clear example was by making straight and level roads. And the context in which God would create these engineering wonders was to enable the return of the people exiled from Jerusalem. This imagery was very familiar in the time of Jesus. It is found in Isaiah (Is 40:3–5), and quoted by Luke as he describes the mission of John the Baptist (Lk 3:1-6). The prophet Baruch, in our first reading (Bar 5:1-9), uses the same images.
But John the Baptist, in Luke’s telling, is not simply repeating a familiar story. Isaiah’s words about making paths straight and level are used by John not to demonstrate God’s power in bringing captives home, but to “proclaim a baptism of repentance”. This is something different. The straightening out is now going on inside of people. God may be making paths through the wilderness, but the wilderness is now in human hearts. The salvation that is then made visible is not that people return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple, rather it is that people change. They are “filled with the fruit of righteousness” as Paul describes it (Phil 1:4-11). The light of God’s glory, with its accompanying mercy and justice, described by Baruch, is now visible in the lives of those that follow Jesus.
As Paul explains it to the Christians in Philippi, we come to understand what is of value and how to behave based on our love. Just as God’s love for his people provided straight and level paths for them to return to Jerusalem, so our love can provide the pathway for us to return to Him. And we will return to Him not in Jerusalem, not in a temple, but in a stable.