Jesus Drives a Backhoe

While reading Isaiah 40 this week my mind wandered onto the idea of topography.  Perhaps it's because I use RunKeeper when I run, so I'm hypersensitive to how changes in elevation affect speed and pace.  Or maybe I was exposed to an inordinate amount of road construction in my neighborhood these past few months.  Whatever.


Consider...

‘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.' 

Jesus is coming to flatten everything.  


For me, the implications are clear: God, in the form of Jesus, is coming to level the playing field.  He's coming in with a sociological and theological backhoe to move some dirt around and gather us all to the same place.  


   ...a place where we stare into the face of both neighbor and stranger and call them "friend". 
   ...a place where we encounter the divine tragedy of humanity.  
   ...a place where Christ promises to be present.  
   ...a place where we are redeemed and made whole.


Jesus is driving a backhoe, and, by the grace of God, the world will never be the same.