When John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way for the Messiah, Jesus Himself bore testimony that there was no greater prophet in Israel than John the Baptist. (Luke 7:28.). Another Old Testament prophecy was fulfilled.
Isaiah 40:3-5 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
The Old Testament prophecies said that The Messiah would be preceded by a messenger.
Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.”
Malachi speaks of a messenger coming to prepare the way, while Isaiah speaks of preparing the way in the desert. One thing that is significant here, is that in Malachi, God says the messenger will “prepare the way before me,” whereas Matthew and its parallel in Luke have “before you,” referring to Jesus himself. In this passage in Matthew and in Luke, what applied to God in Malachi is applied to Jesus! (It was not uncommon to cite Scripture with variations, just as a modern preacher might paraphrase a bit in order to make a point.)
John the baptist
Luke 3:3-6 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord,[a]
make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
The angel Gabriel appeared to Zacharias while he served in the temple and told him that Elizabeth would bear a son, whom they would name John (Luke 1:11-13).
The angel also spoke of John's greatness, telling Zacharias that
Luke 1:14-17 "you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, 'to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,' and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
John brought unto the nation of Israel the message of repentance and the imminent establishment of the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 3:2).
As John preached in the region around the Jordan, he was preparing the way for Christ. Quoting from Isaiah, Luke tells us who John was and another prophecy of the Messiah was fulfilled.
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