"Comfort, give comfort to my people,
says your God.
Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her servitude has ended
...
In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord!
Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
Every valley shall be lifted up,
every mountain and hill made low;
The rugged land shall be a plain,
the rough country, a broad valley.
Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed"
These are the words of one of the prophets of Israel, Isaiah. Who were these "prophets"? Quite simply, they were people who, often against their will, followed the irresistible call to speak out to the chosen people, and to convey to them - to remind them of - "the truth;" which often meant pointing out how they have strayed from the path of truth - from God. The "prophets," therefore, by being mouthpieces of this inner truth, acted as the conscience of the people of Israel - along the long road to, and awaiting of, the Messiah.
The so-called "Old Testament" is the collection of historical, prophetic, legislative, philosophical and poetic texts that (overall) expresses the story of the relationship between the twelve tribes of Israel, and the God of the universe with whom they had entered into a covenant (thus becoming His "chosen people"). This relationship was not static, however, but happened in time, and was thus historical, and had a direction; it was in fact the historical-spiritual road that Israel followed, through history, toward the goal (which was the advent of the Messiah who would remake and redeem Israel - and everything else).
This is why the "New Testament" (which is made of narratives and of letters that cover the birth, life, death and resurrection of the Messiah, and then the beginnings of the community of those who will follow him) only makes sense if one truly understands that it is the fulfilment of that long road of Israel (covered in the "Old Testament").
The words of the prophets, therefore, while addressing the people of Israel at a particular historical moment (as described in the Old Testament), also connect with and talk about the events of the like of Christ (described in the "New Testament"). And this is why the narratives of the "evangelists" (the four writers who tell the story of the life of Christ in the New Testament) are replete with references to, and quotes from, the "Old Testament."
Isaiah's words, mentioned above, are thus quoted by several of the evangelists, in connection with the mission and work of John the Baptist; as in Luke, who talks about how
"during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert. He went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah: 'A voice of one crying out in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God."
This is said by Luke in connection with John the Baptist, whose public activity took place just before Jesus of Nazareth began his public work - and whose mission (John's) was to prepare that public mission of Christ, by asking the people to get ready for it, internally - to make ready their souls to receive (the words of) the Christ.
And the same words from Isaiah are also read during the period of Advent. Once again, it seems, we are like the people of Israel, grasping through the darkness of time, in expectation of the advent of the Messiah, an expectation that is guided by faith and hope.
At the same time, we also have the benefit of hindsight (because we have the New Testament) - and thus we can look at, and understand, the Birth of Christ from the perspective of what happened thereafter: his life, words, death and resurrection. The Birth of Christ is thus, for us, imbued with meanings both from the Old and from the New Testament. We are thus addressed both by the prophets of old (Isaiah), and by the voice calling in the desert (John); their message being, essentially, the same - that (contrary to expectations) the arrival of the Messiah, while a visible event, in the shape of the birth of a child, will only become understandable and accessible as an internal event. Because he will not be born to become the ruler of any worldly, visible kingdom - but of a spiritual kingdom, the kingdom of the truth - the Kingdom of God.
Accordingly, preparing to receive this "king," although expressed by the prophets through "external images" - mountain, road, valley - is actually a matter of inner preparations,. Of making straight the crooked path, levelling the mountains, of filling up the valleys - of our souls, within our hearts. Thus the only way to access and make sense of the birth of the Messiah, of this strange child who is supposed to be King - is by readying for him the realm that he truly comes to rule - that is, our souls. Because it is there - in the inner realm - that the spiritual kingdom for which Christ came, to be its king - is to be established.
These prophets, therefore, old and new, are the voices of conscience for us, as well - just like they were that for the people of Israel, and for the contemporaries of Christ; reminding us unceasingly of the truth, and of our straying from that path of truth - and calling us "to prepare." And this is the meaning of Advent - to be a period, or opportunity, for that necessary inner preparation - without which the Birth celebrated at Christmas remains only an external, passing event.
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