And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it. – Isaiah 35:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 8, 2013): Isaiah 35

We take good roads for granted. In fact, we expect our roads to be good. I live in a colder part of the world – at least in the winter months – and the cycle of hot and cold has some very real effects on the roads that I travel. Cracks are produced in the hard asphalt covering of the road, and then moisture gets down into the cracks and the repeated process every winter of heat from the sun and yet cold, cold days and nights works that moisture (essentially an ice – water – ice – water cycle) and breaks apart the hard surface even further. And in the spring, often what is left is huge holes in the road – sometimes leaving the road impassable. And then the complaints start hitting the city offices. We want the road to be fixed, but more than that, we expect the road to be fixed.

In the ancient world there was no such expectation. To have a road, any kind of a road, was gift and a blessing. A good road made travel between two places much easier than it would have been normally. Part of what the Roman Empire at the time of Christ had done so well was to build a system of roads. The Roman roads were used by business men throughout the empire, and because of them business and economic conditions flourished. It was really this system of roads that allowed early Christian missionaries to be so successful in the spreading of the Gospel. Because if the roads, these men (and women) were able to travel from place to place with relative ease. But the main effect of the Roman roads was to make the Roman borders secure. The Roads allowed the military to quickly move from one place to another. But the roads were far from an expectation, they were a privilege for those who needed to travel on them.

Isaiah speaks of a road he calls the “Highway of Holiness.” Essentially it is a promise of a path to God. The road Isaiah describes is very literally a high way – it is a raised road. And like some of the other roads of the day, it is a restricted road. People who want to travel on the “Highway of Holiness” will travel it very purposefully. The road has a toll booth – and only some will agree to pay to toll. But for those who pay the toll, the road will take them right into the presence of God.

It is with this thought in mind that Jesus declared that he was “The Way.” In essence, Jesus was really declaring that he was the toll booth. The only ones who would be allowed on the Highway of Holiness would have to go through him.

Not surprisingly, the early Christian church picked up on the same imagery. They characterized themselves as “People of the Way.” They were the ones that Isaiah spoke of that had decided to travel the “Highway of Holiness.” It was never an expectation of the early church to travel that Highway. But it was a privilege that they had received only because they had heard and believed the message of Jesus Christ. And Jesus said that that belief was the price of admission to begin a journey toward God.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 36