Part 1: Scene i, no. 2b Recitative: Isaiah 40:3
“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”
The voice crying in the wilderness is John the Baptist. John knew Jesus from the womb. When Mary became pregnant as an unwed teen, the first place she went was to John’s mother, and Elizabeth believed the unbelievable. She had been prepared for it, by receiving her own miracle.
John preached repentance in the desert and people thronged to him. He prepared the way for Jesus’ ministry by exhorting people to repent and baptizing them. He baptized Jesus himself and was witness to the Spirit and voice proclaiming Jesus as the Beloved Son.
But for all his preparation, John was not without his doubts. At the end of his life, imprisoned by Herod for speaking truth and facing execution, he sends a message to Jesus: Are you the one? (Luke 7:18-31) The preparer is faltering, and Jesus reassures him, comforts him: “Go tell John what you have seen…Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.” He then names John to the crowd as the voice crying in the wilderness.
This is a season of preparation. I’ve scrubbed the house, set out all the decorations. I’m planning and purchasing gifts, and making cookies. Every evening in the stillness, we light a candle on the advent wreath for a few minutes. I have to ask myself, though, what am I preparing for? And is this the right kind of preparation? The bustle and scurry can make me crazy and unkind and impatient. Instead of preparing my heart, I’m preparing my house. It is not without good reason, I want to create a place of warmth and welcome for my family. I want to point to Christmas as the prologue of the best story. I want to make straight in the desert of chaos a highway to my God.
But that’s not the point, is it? Shouldn’t I be making straight a highway FOR my God? Because He is coming to me, not the other way around. The time of preparation should be of contemplation, reflection, and repentance.
He is coming again. It is so easy to forget that in the distraction of everyday life.
Lord, help me prepare the way for you.
Handel sets this text in a very straight forward recitative. Generally this kind of recit would be set with just basso continuo, or harpsichord and cello. Handel heightens the declamatory effect by using the full orchestra, adding to the importance of what the voice has to say. This is a directive to get ready, and ends with a very strong cadence – the use of the dominant-tonic relationship – which I teach my students is the “The End” or authentic cadence. It’s the “no arguing” or “we are done” cadence. Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. The. End.
