a shoot will grow from his roots.
2 The Spirit of Adonai will rest on him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and power,
the Spirit of knowledge and fearing Adonai —
3 he will be inspired by fearing Adonai.
He will not judge by what his eyes see
or decide by what his ears hear,
4 but he will judge the impoverished justly;
he will decide fairly for the humble of the land.
He will strike the land with a rod from his mouth
and slay the wicked with a breath from his lips.
5 Justice will be the belt around his waist,
faithfulness the sash around his hips.
6 The wolf will live with the lamb;
the leopard lie down with the kid;
calf, young lion and fattened lamb together,
with a little child to lead them.
7 Cow and bear will feed together,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 An infant will play on a cobra’s hole,
a toddler put his hand in a viper’s nest.
9 They will not hurt or destroy
anywhere on my holy mountain,
for the earth will be as full
of the knowledge of Adonai
as water covering the sea.
10 On that day the root of Yishai,
which stands as a banner for the peoples —
the Goyim will seek him out,
and the place where he rests will be glorious.
1st Week of AdventA shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. (Isaiah 11:1)
An old stump lies forgotten in the woods. The great tree it once supported was chopped down generations ago, and whoever cut it down left the stump alone, expecting that it would just die and rot. But that didn’t happen. After many, many years, it is showing signs of life. A tiny new shoot is growing on that ancient stump. It is green and vulnerable, barely noticed, but it’s there—a quiet miracle if ever there was one.
Though its strong branches may one day provide shade and shelter, today it’s just a twig. Cartloads of fruit may come from it later, but for now, a single gentle bud blossoms.
This is the picture that the prophet Isaiah paints as he describes a future king of Israel, who will bring righteousness and justice back to God’s people. For Isaiah, that king was likely Hezekiah, the infant son of the current king, Ahab. This child would become a “greater David” springing from the same root, establishing peace and justice.
By invoking the image of a once majestic tree beginning to regain, and eventually surpass, its former glory, Isaiah tells the people that God has not abandoned them. The “stump” of their nation has not been left to rot! An age of renewal and redemption is coming, even though it begins as inconspicuously as a twig sprouting deep in a forest.
This is how God wants us to look at the birth of his Son. He wants us to see that this little child, who looks so weak and helpless, is the One destined to change the world. It must have been hard for most people to see the child Jesus in this way, but some did. Mary and Joseph, as well as Simeon and Anna and maybe a handful of others, saw it. And what these few people saw changed their lives. Simeon was filled with peace because his eyes had finally seen God’s salvation. Anna was so excited that she couldn’t stop talking about him.
So what do you see when you look at the baby in the manger?
“Lord, open my eyes so that I can see who you are.” Amen!
Psalm 72:(0) By Shlomo:
(1) God, give the king your fairness in judgment,
endow this son of kings with your righteousness,
2 so that he can govern your people rightly
and your poor with justice.
7 In his days, let the righteous flourish
and peace abound, till the moon is no more.
8 May his empire stretch from sea to sea,
from the [Euphrates] River to the ends of the earth.
12 For he will rescue the needy when they cry,
the poor too and those with none to help them.
13 He will have pity on the poor and needy;
and the lives of the needy he will save.
17 May his name endure forever,
his name, Yinnon, as long as the sun.[Psalm 72:17 Or: “May his name flourish/propagate as long as the sun.” Jewish tradition considers Yinnon a name of the Messiah.]
May people bless themselves in him,
may all nations call him happy.
Luke 10:21 At that moment he was filled with joy by the Ruach HaKodesh and said, “Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I thank you because you concealed these things from the sophisticated and educated, yet revealed them to ordinary people. Yes, Father, I thank you that it pleased you to do this.
22 “My Father has handed over everything to me. Indeed, no one fully knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.” 23 Then, turning to the talmidim, he said, privately, “How blessed are the eyes that see what you are seeing! 24 Indeed, I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see the things you are seeing but did not see them, and to hear the things you are hearing but did not hear them.”
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