On that day,
A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,
and from his roots a bud shall blossom.
The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him:
a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
A Spirit of counsel and of strength,
a Spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD,
and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD.
Not by appearance shall he judge,
nor by hearsay shall he decide,
But he shall judge the poor with justice,
and decide aright for the land’s afflicted.
He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips, he shall slay the wicked.
Justice shall be the band around his waist,
and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.
Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
The calf and the young lion shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them.
The cow and the bear shall be neighbors,
together their young shall rest;
the lion shall eat hay like the ox.
The baby shall play by the cobra’s den,
and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair.
There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD,
as water covers the sea.
On that day,
The root of Jesse,
set up as a signal for the nations,
The Gentiles shall seek out,
for his dwelling shall be glorious.
There are many prophecies in the Old Testament that are fulfilled in the New Testament. Some of these prophesies are in our Advent readings from Isaiah. We read about a shoot that “shall sprout from the stump of Jesse.” What does this mean? Though the tree of Jesse seemed dead and was cut down, from that stump came many generations of new life, including Jesus the Messiah.
Jesse was the father of King David and Jesus came from the family line of David. God constantly surprises us by bringing life out of something that seems dead, or by calling people who are not the likely candidates to be leaders. David was the youngest of Jesse’s sons and least likely to be chosen king. St. John the Baptist was born to an elderly couple beyond child-bearing years. Jesus was born of a young virgin in a manger. God uses the humble and lowly to do great things in His name.
Isaiah says that this “sprout” from Jesse will be blessed with wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge and fear of the Lord. Jesus possesses all these gifts and bestows these same gifts upon anyone He wishes through the Holy Spirit. The Spirit will guide Him to raise the lowly, the poor and afflicted, while striking the proud, ruthless and wicked.
His kingdom will be full of paradoxes and surprises. Things will happen in that kingdom that seem impossible in our fallen world. The following pairs will get along well with each other – the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the kid, the calf and the lion, the cow and the bear, the lion and the ox, and the baby and the cobra. There will be no more war; all will be at peace. How beautiful does that sound!
In a time when we are surrounded by war and violence, death and destruction, hatred and bullying, we pray for this kingdom to come. Come Lord Jesus. We ask you to transform our hearts this Advent season. We pray for peace in our world, in our homes and in our hearts. Help us to make a change one person at a time, beginning with ourselves.
Do I believe that God can bring life to places that seem dead? Do I believe that Jesus can bring about peace in relationships that are terribly broken? Have I opened my heart this Advent for the Lord to radically change me?
May God Bless You and Grant You His Peace!