Mid-week Advent 2 Sermon
A Shoot From the
Stump
Isaiah 11:1-10
There shall come
forth a Shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall
bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the
Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit
of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And His delight shall be in the
fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what His eyes see, or decide
disputes by what His ears hear, but with righteousness He shall judge
the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and He
shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath
of His lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of His
waist, faithfulness the belt of His loins.
The wolf shall
dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and
the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall
lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down
together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall
play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the
adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain; for the
earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the
sea. In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal
for the peoples—of Him shall the nations inquire, and His resting place shall
be glorious.
This is a beautiful text for Advent. Advent, in the most simple terms means “coming.” As Christians the season of Advent is a season of expectant and penitential preparation to receive the One who has already come in our flesh as Savior. But it is also a season of expectant hope in penitential preparation for Christ’s second Advent on the last day.
God had moved
Isaiah to record this passage some seven hundred years before Christ’s first
Advent. In it, we see the expectant anticipation of His first Advent – but
Isaiah is also expressing the hopeful joy of the new creation in Christ’s
second advent.
Let us joyfully examine this Word of God to us, to keep us in His peace and in hopeful, anticipation.
Our text begins
looking forward to the first coming of God’s Christ.
There shall come
forth a Shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall
bear fruit.
David is the son of Jesse, and God has promised that an heir of David’s would sit on his throne, and his rule would never end. When we get to Gabriel’s speaking to Mary that she will bear a Son, it has been about four hundred years since a prophet has arisen in Israel. The kingdom is divided, the people have been dispersed, and it is a Roman curate who governs in Jerusalem.
So that you may see it? What had come from Jesse is, as Isaiah had prophesied, nothing more than a stump. Israel, according to what the eyes of people could see is no longer a kingdom. They are a people ruled over by others.
But we see the
beginning of this prophecy fulfilled, we heard the people of Jerusalem
rejoicing at Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem on the first Sunday of Advent, Ad
Te Levavi. They proclaimed, “Hosanna, to the Son of David.” Jesus is the shoot
that comes forth from Jesse’s stump.
Isaiah prophetic description of Him is beautifully descriptive of who He is and what He will do.
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
Jesus is perfect wisdom – Wisdom incarnate, God’s wisdom enfleshed. He understands all things. God’s counsel to save and the might to carry it out are enfleshed in Jesus. And He will accomplish it in our humanity. Jesus, God’s Christ, knows perfectly the will of the Father and in our flesh will accomplish that will in perfect fear of the Lord.
The shoot from the stump of Jesus will be conceived in the virgin, fulfilling all of Torah in our stead. And then sacrifice Himself to free us from our sins.
And His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what His eyes see, or decide disputes by what His ears hear, but with righteousness He shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
Righteousness will be His task. His righteousness will decide things in perfect judgement. Without His perfection and righteousness, we would need to stand before the righteous judge alone – all our sinfulness, the poverty and depravity of our nature exposed and laid bare. We would have nothing to plead before the judge except to claim our guilt and beg for mercy.
and He shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of His lips he shall kill the wicked.
Before the Word of God which goes forth from His mouth, nothing can stand. All wickedness is laid bare by that Word which goes forth from the mouth of God, and in that righteous breath it is burnt up like a consuming fire. But what is that breath from His lips that destroys wickedness?
We hear that Word from His mouth, the breath of His that kills the wicked, when He is in the upper room on the night of His resurrection. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
With His breath and the Word of forgiveness, the wicked – those unwilling to repent – will die eternally.
Righteousness shall be the belt of His waist, faithfulness the belt of His loins. The ancients would hitch up their robes under their belt in order to do work otherwise it would get in the way. We see here that righteousness and faithfulness are the work of Him Who comes to reign eternally.
And what will happen? What will that reign be like eternally? How will that manifest itself for eternity? That is where we are expectantly waiting for His reign in glory at His second Advent.
He girds Himself to accomplish righteousness and faithfulness upon the cross for you and me upon the cross. And what will we see? What will the creation be like when Christ returns and makes all things new?
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.
Can you imagine it? Wolf and lamb together? Nope! Leopard and a young goat? Calf and lion together? All while being led by a little child? In today’s world those combinations would be – menu and the diner – the one consuming and the consumer. But that is what the new creation will be like.
The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. This is amazing.
The nursing child
shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand
on the adder's den. Snakes
are to be avoided at all times.
They shall not
hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the
knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
The new creation,
as also all those who are raised and abiding in it, will know God’s in His
fulness and glory. That idyllic life as it was supposed to be in the garden
will be restored.
In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of Him shall the nations inquire, and His resting place shall be glorious.
Yes, we get ready to celebrate the first advent of our King. We prepare to rejoice in the Him whom we celebrate as the Babe of Bethlehem. But we must never forget that He was born to be our victorious King by His innocent suffering and death.
Nor must we get so
caught up in celebrating His birth that forgetting His crucifixion that we,
also forget His resurrection. His birth, His life, His death, and His
resurrection are all One in Christ Jesus.
Rejoicing in His first advent we look forward to His second Advent with hopeful expectation. On that day, you and I will be raised and perfected. We shall see Him as He is! Our Redeemer will stand at that latter day upon the earth and we shall behold Him in glory with our own eyes. My heart yearns within me.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
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