Prepare the Way

“Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” [Isaiah 40:3]

What is the largest public works program since the pyramids in Egypt? It is probably the National Highway System in the United States. This project was named after President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who brought about its formation. Construction began in 1956 and was completed 35 years later. It has been extended over the years and now covers 47,182 miles. About 25 percent of vehicles on the road use the interstate system. The cost for construction has been estimated at $425 billion.

Several interesting milestones were reached during construction of this massive system. On October 17, 1974, Nebraska was the first state to complete all of its mainline interstate highways. On October 14, 1992, the original interstate highway system was completed with the opening of Interstate 70 through Glenwood Canyon in Colorado, which is an engineering marvel with a 12-mile section featuring 40 bridges and many tunnels, making it the most expensive rural highway per mile. Three states actually claim to be the first to lay pavement for the highway: Kansas, Missouri, and Pennsylvania.

President Eisenhower, who was lobbied by major U.S. automobile manufacturers, helped push forward the highway system. After his experience of crossing the country in the 1919 Army convoy on the Lincoln Highway, he was convinced of its value. An interesting urban legend still persists that one out of every five miles of the interstate highway system must be built straight and flat so as to be usable by aircraft during times of war. The highways were never designed to serve as airstrips. The longest interstate route is I-90 (3,020.54 miles) going from Seattle, Washington, to Boston, Massachusetts. Texas has the most interstate miles (3,233.45 miles). The entire highway system has a total of 14,750 interchanges, 55,512 bridges, and 82 tunnels.

Did you know a highway was to be created to welcome and introduce Jesus Christ to the world? When religious leaders came asking John the Baptist who he was, the prophet responded, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord” (John 1:23). As the forerunner of Jesus, the Baptist prepared people for the coming of the Messiah. The roadway John made ready was not with bulldozers and steamrollers, but through preaching that opened pathways in the hearts of people.