Christmas for most people involves a tree. There are many historic reasons for the inclusion of the evergreen tree in the Christmas season, and I may share one or two of them as the season goes along. Perhaps the most basic idea is that in Autumn (in the Northern Hemisphere that is) the leaves fall from the deciduous trees and the days of light grow shorter, darkness more and more invades the earth, and the cold weather drives us indoors. I personally love winter, but the symbolic part of "life" retreating can't be missed. Along comes the evergreen tree and reminds us that life continues in the midst of the darkness, the cold, the winter season.
2800 years ago a prophet looked all around the land of Israel, and all he saw was "darkness, gloom", a foreboding sense of trouble that would lead to war, captivity, exile for his people, Israel. Isaiah prophesied faithfully to a nation that had lost hope, and forgotten it's heritage. He spoke truth into the situation and also hope for the Messiah to come.
A favorite Messianic Hebrew Bible passage comes from Isaiah 11:1-10. In the NASB...
1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 And He will delight in the fear of the Lord, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;
4 But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.
5 Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist.
6 And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them.
7 Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper's den.
9 They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea.
10 Then in that day The nations will resort to the root of Jesse, Who will stand as a signal for the peoples; And His resting place will be glorious.
The passage speaks of a different day in the future when "shalom", the peace of God's Kingdom will cover the whole of the earth. Where does this begin? It begins with the "root of Jesse...a branch" that speaks of Jesus' coming in the future.
Remember that Jesus' family line comes from David, who was a son of Jesse.
Psalms 72:18-20 (NASB)
18 Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who alone works wonders.
19 And blessed be His glorious name forever; And may the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen, and Amen.
20 The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.
When the angel visited Mary to tell her of the miraculous birth she was to have, he said to her,
31 "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.
32 "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;
33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end." Luke 1:31-33 (NASB)
The tree, the tree of life from God has continued to grow, to survive even when chopped down, and all that remains is a root, and a branch from a stump.
The image from Isaiah of the Messiah is full of wonder. "The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And He will delight in the fear of the Lord"
We do not live in a day where it's popular to embrace "the fear of the Lord". We live in a culture that is centered on "me". The selfish aspect of that hearkens back to the reminder of what the Jesse tree is all about...that our roots are roots of faith that are linked to God's creation and his ultimate purposes, and the means for all of that is in His Son, our Savior, the branch, the Son of David, Jesus.
2800 years ago a prophet looked all around the land of Israel, and all he saw was "darkness, gloom", a foreboding sense of trouble that would lead to war, captivity, exile for his people, Israel. Isaiah prophesied faithfully to a nation that had lost hope, and forgotten it's heritage. He spoke truth into the situation and also hope for the Messiah to come.
A favorite Messianic Hebrew Bible passage comes from Isaiah 11:1-10. In the NASB...
1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 And He will delight in the fear of the Lord, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;
4 But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.
5 Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist.
6 And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them.
7 Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper's den.
9 They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea.
10 Then in that day The nations will resort to the root of Jesse, Who will stand as a signal for the peoples; And His resting place will be glorious.
The passage speaks of a different day in the future when "shalom", the peace of God's Kingdom will cover the whole of the earth. Where does this begin? It begins with the "root of Jesse...a branch" that speaks of Jesus' coming in the future.
Remember that Jesus' family line comes from David, who was a son of Jesse.
Psalms 72:18-20 (NASB)
18 Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who alone works wonders.
19 And blessed be His glorious name forever; And may the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen, and Amen.
20 The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.
When the angel visited Mary to tell her of the miraculous birth she was to have, he said to her,
31 "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.
32 "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;
33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end." Luke 1:31-33 (NASB)
The tree, the tree of life from God has continued to grow, to survive even when chopped down, and all that remains is a root, and a branch from a stump.
The image from Isaiah of the Messiah is full of wonder. "The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And He will delight in the fear of the Lord"
We do not live in a day where it's popular to embrace "the fear of the Lord". We live in a culture that is centered on "me". The selfish aspect of that hearkens back to the reminder of what the Jesse tree is all about...that our roots are roots of faith that are linked to God's creation and his ultimate purposes, and the means for all of that is in His Son, our Savior, the branch, the Son of David, Jesus.
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