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Isaiah 40:1-5
"Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. 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 Israelites expected a coming king and savior who would restore Israel to a great nation. Prophets throughout history foretold the event, and the Old Testament scriptures record many of these prophecies. The Jewish people were well-aware of these prophecies and looked for a coming Savior. They looked for someone who would come and become king and restore Israel to a mighty nation. What they did not know was that God’s plan was greater than anything they could imagine. The promised Messiah was nothing like they expected. He was much much greater! Jesus is King, but he is also Savior of all men who call upon His name. The comfort God was sending exceeds anything we could ever imagine.
Mark 1:4-8
"John [The Baptist] appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, ‘After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’”