This paper argues that the Synoptic Gospels’ application of Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 3:1 to Jesus reflects a theological claim of his equality with God. Both passages in their original context anticipate the coming of YHWH, preceded by a forerunner who prepares the way for God’s arrival.
In Mark 1:2–3, these passages are blended and applied to John the Baptist as the forerunner and to Jesus as the one for whom the way is prepared. Although the text shifts the possessive pronoun from “my way” (μου) to “your way” (σου), and replaces “our God” (τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν) with “his” (αὐτοῦ), these modifications do not diminish the divine implications. On the contrary, the application of texts that explicitly refer to the coming of YHWH to the arrival of Jesus suggests a functional and ontological identification between Jesus and God.
Daniel Kirk argues that the Synoptic writers altered these texts to avoid equating Jesus with God by introducing ambiguity into the referents (Kirk, A Man Attested by God, 2016). However, this paper challenges that reading by showing that other elements—such as the application of the title κύριος/YHWH of Isa 40:3 to Jesus, the direct address to Jesus as the one coming, and Luke 1:16–17’s depiction of John preparing the way for “the Lord their God”—reinforce the divine identity of Jesus.
Further, the application of these prophetic texts to Jesus cannot be dismissed as merely pesher-like reinterpretation (e.g., Davies and Allison, Matthew, 1:293–94). Thus, the Synoptic Gospels’ alignment of Jesus with YHWH, by portraying him as the one whose way is prepared, almost certainly reflects their intention to equate Jesus with God in both function and identity.