Deo Gloria
December 4+11, 2024
Midweek Advent Service
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: Isaiah 11:1-10
Theme: Christmas Trees
- The Tree of Promise
People often plant trees with a certain amount of hope. They plant an apple tree, for example, in hopes of getting some apples from it in a few years. They plant a pear tree in hopes of getting some nice, juicy pears some day. They plant an oak tree or a maple tree in hopes of having abundant shade for their yard or their home. I know one family that planted a hundred hardwood trees as an investment. In 30 or 40 years they planned to start harvesting those trees and sell them for their wood and that money would help support them in their retirement.
But who looks at an old rotting stump with hope? Who looks at the stump of the apple tree they just cut down and says, “Boy, I hope it grows back some day and I can pick some apples from it?” Who does that? Or who looks at the stump of the ash tree they just cut down—and we have plenty of those around Belle Plaine, don’t we? Who looks at the stump of their ash tree and says, “Boy, I hope it grows back some day and provides some shade for my house”? No one does that.
The royal family tree of Jesse had been cut down. Jesse, you may remember, was the father of King David, the second king of the nation of Israel. There had been some pretty impressive branches in Jesse’s family tree: kings like David and Solomon and Hezekiah and Josiah. In fact, all the kings that reigned over the southern kingdom of Judah after the time of Solomon were descendants of David, all members of Jesse’s family tree. But that all came to an end in 586 B.C. when the Babylonian army attacked and captured the city of Jerusalem and carried most of its inhabitants, including the king of Judah, away into captivity. The Babylonians cut down Jesse’s family tree. Yes, they destroyed the city of Jerusalem, which was awful. They looted and plundered the temple of the Lord and burned it to the ground, which was horrific. But perhaps worst of all, they brought an end to the royal line of David. They cut down the family tree of Jesse and reduced it to little more than an old, rotting stump. To us that may not seem like that big of a deal, but to God’s Old Testament people that was absolutely devastating. Why? Because the Savior was supposed to be a descendant of David. The Messiah, the Savior-King God had promised to his people, the one who would sit on David’s throne and rule over his kingdom forever was supposed to come from David’s royal line. But how could he if David’s royal line had been cut off? How could a glorious and majestic king come from David’s royal line if there were no more kings from David’s line?
But wait. Not so fast. Notice again what Isaiah says, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.” It doesn’t happen very often, but it does happen. Perhaps you’ve even seen it when you were walking out in the woods. You came across an old, rotting stump and you noticed that a shoot was growing up. A new tree was starting to grow in that very same spot, right from that old, rotting stump. That’s what Isaiah said would happen with the old, rotting stump of Jesse’s family tree. One day a shoot would spring up, a branch would start growing, a king would in fact come.
And what an amazing king he would be! Isaiah says that the Spirit of the LORD would rest on him, and not just a little bit either—the Spirit in all his fullness, the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. Do you know someone like that, someone who was filled with the Spirit of God, someone who was full of divine wisdom and understanding, full of divine counsel and power, full of divine knowledge and true fear and reverence for God? Do you know anyone like that? That’s Jesus, isn’t it? Yes, Jesus is the one that Isaiah is referring to here. Jesus is that very special shoot that one day would spring up from the stump of Jesse’s family tree. Jesus was a descendant of David—on both his dad and his mother’s side. And he was filled with the Spirit of God. Yes, the Messiah, the Savior-King God had promised to his people would indeed spring up from the stump of Jesse one day.
Notice what else Isaiah tells us about him:
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.(vv. 3-5)
Jesus would be a very different king, wouldn’t he? Most kings have to make decisions based on the testimony they hear or the evidence they see or maybe based on the counsel they receive from their advisors. Not this king, not Jesus. He doesn’t have to listen to any testimony or look at any evidence. He already knows the truth. He even knows people’s thoughts and the desires of their hearts. And he judges with righteousness. No favoritism here. No bribery here. No convicting the innocent or letting the guilty get off scot free. Oh no. This king judges with righteousness. This king sees to it that the guilty get what they have coming: punishment, everlasting punishment.
Does it make you a little nervous to know that Jesus is a king who can’t be fooled, who can’t be bribed or bought off, who knows the truth, who know your thoughts, who knows what’s in your heart, and who judges with righteousness? I know it makes me a little nervous at times because I know I haven’t always lived a godly and upright life, and Jesus knows it too. I know I’ve had sinful thoughts and evil desires, and Jesus knows it too. I can’t hide it from him. He knows the truth. And I can’t bribe him or sweet talk him into letting me off the hook and allowing me into heaven. I know that because of my sins I deserve to be condemned by him and banished from his presence forever. Is the same thing true of you?
But wait, that isn’t all we know about Jesus, is it? In a few weeks we’re going to be celebrating his birth in Bethlehem. So why did he come into this world of ours? To be our judge? No, to be our Savior. He became one of us so he could live for us, so he could live a righteous and godly life in our place, a life lived in the true fear of the LORD; and by faith he could give his righteousness to us. He also became one of us so he could die for us, so he could give his life on the cross to pay the penalty for all our sins so that we might be forgiven. So when Jesus judges you and me someday, we don’t have to be afraid—not at all. We stand before him as his forgiven children, covered in his own righteousness. So the only verdict he can give is “not guilty.” Whew! What a relief, huh? What a blessing it is to know the whole story about this special king named Jesus!
There is one more part, another amazing feature of this king that would come from the stump of Jesse’s tree. Listen again as Isaiah describes it in verses 6-10:
The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child will put his hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.
That’s a peace that is out of this world, isn’t it? That’s the kind of peace that Jesus brings, that Jesus establishes—a peace that is out of this world. A number of years ago my mother-in-law told me about a new petting zoo they had started in Sitka, AK on the site of the old wood pulp mill. They had sheep there and goats and deer and pigs and other farm animals too. And things went pretty well for a while—until the bears in the area figured out that the animals in the petting zoo would make a pretty good snack. So one night the bears broke into the zoo and ate all the animals. The bears don’t feed with the cows, do they? The wolves don’t live with the lambs. The lions don’t eat straw with the oxen—not in this life anyway.
But they will in the next, in the new heavens and the new earth, in that place where everything is perfect and everyone lives together in perfect harmony, including the lions and the bears and the sheep and the cows, and the people. They all get along together in perfect peace and harmony. There really is a place like that—a place called heaven, the place where Jesus rules as King of kings and Lord of lords, and all of creation dwells in perfect peace under his perfect rule. That’s what gives us hope in this world of ours where there isn’t a lot of peace at times, where the animals often don’t live together in harmony and the people don’t either. There is someplace better, a wonderful place that Jesus our King is preparing for us, a place where we will live with him in perfect peace forever.
But that wonderful peace isn’t just for heaven some day. In his grace and mercy Jesus allows us a little taste of it even now, even in this restless and peaceless world. Whenever we come to his house and listen to his Word, whenever we come to his table and receive his holy Supper, whenever we sit down with our Bibles and read a few verses for our own benefit or together with our families, Jesus gives us peace, that peace that surpasses all understanding, the peace and assurance of his love, the peace of knowing our sins are all forgiven, the peace of knowing that he is with us always, the peace of knowing that he is watching over us and will keep us safe in his care until he brings us to that land of eternal rest and peace in heaven. This is the peace and hope we have because of the tree of promise, that special shoot that would spring up from the stump of Jesse, that very special King who was born as a baby in Bethlehem. Amen.