The Great Gathering

In the opening chapter of the Gospel of John, John the Baptist identifies himself as the "voice of one calling:  In the desert prepare the way of the Lord; make  straight in the wilderness a highway for our God."

Few of us realize that this, the second part of the book of Isaiah, was spoken to the Jewish captives in Babylon (540BC).  This part of Isaiah is called the "Book of Consolation," as the second Isaiah was promising the captives return to their homeland of Israel.

All through the prophetic books, the expectation was the Messiah, when he came, would gather in the lost and forsaken, those who had been scattered, taken captive, and exiled from their homeland.  He would reunite the lost tribes of Israel. So, when John the Baptist quotes Isaiah here, he is identifying Jesus as the One Who would gather back those who had wondered away from the Father.  In fact, the same chapter of Isaiah (40) speaks of the Shepherd who "gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart..."

In many images of the resurrection, Jesus is pictured emerging from the tomb with a tall banner, the kind armies traditionally carry in battle.  Once the troops are scattered on the battlefield, they know to search for their banner -- the one with the distinctive mark of their regiment -- to find their way "home."  Jesus, overcoming the enemies of God and the forces that scatter us to the ends of the earth, including death, now carries the banner that calls us back together.

The older I get, the more I begin to feel the longing of Jesus to "gather us in" to the heart of the Father.  The night before He died, He said, "Now this is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent" (Jn. 17:3).  And He says that He has been given authority over all people "that he might give eternal life" to all those he has been given.

More and more, when I come to pray, I find myself opening my arms and my heart to gather in all those who do not know the love of the Father, given to us in Jesus.  I pray for my children, for my brothers and sisters, all the next generation, for my friends, for the members of my church, for my neighbors, for the Jehovah's Witnesses who come to my door, and for all my former students.  I just want them to know intimately the God Who has been my God all the days of my life.  I want them to know Jesus Christ, that He might lead them to the Father.  And I want them to recognize the action of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

There is nothing greater in this life than intimacy with God; there is nothing that can compare to walking in His Presence daily.  If I could, I would scatter this richness to everyone I know.