The Shoot from Jesse
Text: Isaiah 11:1-10
Core Idea: Christmas reminds us that a King who is wise and powerful, just and gracious, will come to reverse the effects of the fall and restore all of creation to its original design. Then, don’t resist Him today. Look to Him. Listen to Him. Submit to Him. Wait for Him, for He will, one day, make everything new.
INTRODUCTION
Well, we’re looking at various passages in the Book of Isaiah this Advent. And last week, we learned that Christmas is about a light dawning in the land of deep darkness to expose the lies of sin, free us from the power of death, and shine the path to God so that we can make the journey back to the only One who can satisfy our hearts – for to us, a child is born; to us, a Son is given. He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. And in Him, we will find a reason to hope again and rejoice again – no wonder this is called the most wonderful time of the year. Well, today, Isaiah will show us that this child is not just the Savior of the world that we’ve all been waiting for – but also the perfect King we need, for He will come to reverse the effects of the fall and restore all of creation to its original design. Then, please turn your Bibles to Isaiah 11:1-10. Let me read this for us.
1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots, a Branch will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him – the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD – 3 and He will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what He sees with His eyes or decide by what He hears with His ears; 4 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. 5 Righteousness will be His belt and faithfulness the sash around His waist. 6 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. 7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. 9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. 10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to Him, and His resting place will be glorious.
Amen. This is the Word of God for you today.
Now, to better understand this passage, let me remind you of the context again. Last week, I shared that at the time of Isaiah, there was a rising power in the Middle East called Assyria, led by a ruler named Tiglath-Pileser III. He was ambitious and eager to expand his empire to the south. So, fearing for their safety, Israel and Aram came together to form an alliance to defend themselves. But when Ahaz, the King of Judah, refused to join them, the alliance decided to invade and destroy Judah to make an example out of them. Now, God assured Ahaz that there was no reason to be scared, for He was going to protect them – He simply wanted Ahaz to trust Him. But Ahaz wanted something more tangible – something he thought would for sure help him preserve his throne. So, he turned to Assyria. At first, it seemed like everything was working out for them – Assyria destroyed the alliance, and there was peace in the kingdom. But little did he know that this greatly angered God. Isaiah prophesied that because Ahaz refused to turn to God, God was going to let Judah have a taste of what life without Him was going to be like by plunging them into darkness. In fact, He was going to use Assyria (the very nation they turned to for help) to bring judgment against them. Now, this didn’t mean that God was going to overlook the wickedness and sin of Assyria, for they were very violent and proud. Then, listen to what Isaiah said in 10:12, “When the Lord has finished all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, ‘I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes.’” And in 10:33-34, the passage that comes just before ours, “See, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, will lop off the boughs with great power. The lofty trees will be felled, the tall ones will be brought low. He will cut down the forest thickets with an ax; Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.” Assyria is pictured as a forest of big, lofty trees. But God was going to cut them down completely – clear the field. So, both Judah and Assyria will be brought down – what’s left will be a vast forest of nothing but stumps. But God wasn’t going to give up on Judah, for they were His people. From this picture of utter hopelessness, God was going to usher in hope through a King who would come to restore life back to His people – which is exactly what we see at the beginning of our text today. Then, let me share three things about this King from this passage.
· HIS WISDOM
· HIS JUSTICE
· HIS KINGDOM
1) HIS WISDOM
Verse 1, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots, a Branch will bear fruit.” Where there was nothing but bare stumps (no branches waving in the wind, no birds, no movement, no sound), where there seemed to be no evidence of life, something new appeared in this scene – a green shoot coming up from one of the stumps. Just when it looked like all hope was lost in the aftermath of judgment, a shoot appeared from a stump – and with it, hope for His people. Now, this is clearly an act of God, for life is always a gift from God. No matter how much we try, no matter how much we want it, we can never produce life on our own, whether it be physical or spiritual because God alone is the source of life. Then, this picture we see here in our text is clear evidence of God’s faithfulness in preserving His people because, unlike Judah, Assyria never recovers from this judgment. We don’t hear about them ever again after God’s judgment falls upon them. But Judah, though they did receive God’s devastating judgment for their sin, didn’t remain bare – God was about to breathe life into them again. Here’s why this is important: Because it reminds us that the heart of the Christmas message is not that there’s a set of things we must do but that God has graciously done something for us. When you think about Christianity, if the first thing that comes to your mind is a set of rules, then I don’t think you really know what Christianity is all about because if you speak to anybody whose life has been truly transformed by the gospel, they will describe their encounter with Jesus as liberation and joy, not as restriction and killjoy. Charles Wesley wrote a beautiful hymn called, And Can It Be – and in it, he says, “My chains fell off, my heart was free; I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.” Have you experienced the gospel in this way? This is the heart of the Christian faith. Friends, salvation is always the gracious act of God alone. It’s not a joint effort – which is why the message of Christmas is good news, not good advice you need to follow. From a devastated landscape, new life will spring forth through a stump of Jesse – and it’s going to change everything.
Now, if you don’t know who Jesse is, he was the father of King David, the greatest king in Israel’s history – which means that the child that is to be born to us will be from the line of royalty. He will be a King. But this King will be different from other kings that have come before Him, for He is uniquely fit to rule. Here’s why – verse 2, “[Because] the Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him.” He will be filled with the power of the Spirit. In fact, Isaiah goes on to explain what this means by laying out the list of gifts that this King will possess – verse 2, “The Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD – and He will delight in the fear of the LORD.” Isaiah tells us that when this King comes, He will have this incredible insight to look into the problems of the world, into the realities of the world, and communicate the wisdom of God in all circumstances. He’ll have wisdom that is beyond human understanding – which means that He’ll always know what to do and rule with counsel people can trust. No wonder He’ll be called the Wonderful Counselor. But not only does He have this ability to see through reality and discern with wisdom, Isaiah tells us that this King also has the Spirit of counsel and might – which means that this King isn’t just wise but also powerful as well. He doesn’t just know what to do in a situation – He actually has the power and the authority to pull it off, to execute that plan so that a real change can happen. And if that wasn’t good enough, He’ll also delight in the fear of the Lord. Unlike Ahaz, this King will know God and be in awe of God. He’ll conform to the holiness of God and live for the glory of God alone. All that to say, this King will be wise in governing, mighty in war, and humble in His attitude.
What does this mean for us today? Well, the truth is that every single one of us is in need of wisdom and power from God. I’m sure we all have needs that weigh upon our souls – and we’re looking for His guidance. Then, let me ask you, “What are your needs today? What comes to your mind when I ask you this question? Do you need wisdom in your marriage, in parenting, in school, or in the workplace? Do you need wisdom to navigate through relational problems, financial problems, or career problems? Do you need wisdom to discern God’s purpose for your life? Do you need His counsel in discerning a situation so that you can make a decision that will honor God? Do you need His counsel to break the patterns of sin in your life? Do you need His power to fight against your desires to be selfish and entitled but be selfless and sacrificial in the way you interact with others in your life? Do you need His power to forgive someone who has hurt you? Do you need His power to persevere in holiness despite the challenges and temptations of your surroundings? Do you need His power to remain joyful even in your suffering? What is it that you need?” Brothers and sisters, regardless of what your needs may be, this Wonderful Counselor invites us to draw near to Him, to cast our cares upon Him, and to ask for wisdom from Him because He will generously offer us grace to help in our time of need. He’s like no other King – in Him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Now, let me actually share a story from 2 Chronicles 18 that I think will help us apply this text better to our lives. Here, we read that Ahab, the king of Israel, asked Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, to form an alliance to go out to war against some nation in the region. But considering that this was a big decision, Jehoshaphat asked Ahab if they could seek the counsel of the Lord. So, Ahab brought together 400 prophets to ask if they should go off to war or not – and all 400 of them said the same thing: “You’re good to go, King. Go out and fight because the Lord will give victory to your hand.” But Jehoshaphat, for some reason, wasn’t satisfied. So, he asked Ahab, “Is there any prophet of the Lord in Israel?” And listen to what Ahab said in 2 Chronicles 18:7, “There is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah, son of Imlah.” What this reveals is that Ahab really never cared about the truth – he just wanted to hear what he wanted to hear. The reason why I share this is because we could be like Ahab today. What Isaiah says about this King clearly tells us that He towers over every other king in history and every other leader that the world has ever produced. And what’s amazing is that this King wants to speak into our lives – He wants to guide us in our steps. Then, we really need to ask ourselves, “Am I really ready to receive this King? Am I ready to hear what He has to say? Or will I be so quick to reject Him if He doesn’t say anything I want to hear, just like Ahab?” The truth is that we all want to be affirmed in what we already think is right or good. So, in that sense, this King might be dangerous because His wisdom will penetrate the depths of our soul and confront what we find to be wise in life – but we can be sure that He’s also good, for He’ll lead us to see true wisdom. He doesn’t simply fine-tune the way we think – instead, He’ll put us on a completely new path. It’s easy to accept that He’s a wise and powerful King. But the real challenge is, “Am I ready to listen to Him, submit to Him, and embrace Him?”
2) HIS JUSTICE
Verse 3, “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.” Isaiah tells us that this King will be righteous in all He does – in that He’ll faithfully exercise His justice over all people. He won’t be influenced by what He sees or hears but will discern with wisdom and truth in all situations. Now, we could easily misunderstand the phrase, “He will judge the needy” in verse 4 because the word “judge” in English has the connotation to condemn – but the Hebrew word that’s used here literally means “to govern.” Then, it might be better to understand this phrase to mean that under His rule, the poor and the meek will not be taken advantage of. No one will suffer from a miscarriage of justice. He’ll always be fair and perfect in His decisions, and He’ll use His power to make things right for them even if it costs Him everything. In fact, verse 5 says, “Righteousness will be His belt and faithfulness the sash around His waist.” This is how the King dresses – which means that He’ll always be right in all He does. He won’t be manipulated by what He sees, but He’ll faithfully carry out His justice and slay the wicked. Then, here, Isaiah is telling the Israelites, “You can depend on Him, for He will rule with perfect righteousness and justice.”
Then, let me ask you, “Have you experienced injustice of different kinds in your life? Have you been treated unfairly or oppressed unjustly by others? Have you ever been wrongly accused of the things that you did not do? Have you been deeply wounded by the pain of betrayal? Have you been sinned against by the people that you love?” If so, this truth is meant to comfort you this morning by reminding you that justice belongs to the Lord. He calls us not to repay evil with evil but evil with good (Rom. 12:21), for He tells us that He will deal with evil Himself. Isaiah 30:18-19 says, “The LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him! People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious He will be when you cry for help! As soon as He hears, He will answer you.” And Paul says in Romans 12:19, “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.” Brothers and sisters, this passage reminds us that God will stand up for us. He will punish the wicked and carry out justice on our behalf. And this is why we can overcome evil with good. This is why we can let go. This is why we can forgive rather than be tormented by bitterness of heart. Now, if you’re still having a hard time with this, look to Christ and ask Him to make you more like Him, for this is how He responded to injustice as well – 1 Peter 2:23, “When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.” Then, I invite you to entrust yourself to Him who judges justly, for one day, He will come to slay the wicked and destroy evil once and for all. When this King comes, every wrong will be righted. No one will escape His righteous justice.
Now, this sounds absolutely amazing. But what if we are the violators of justice? What if we’re the cause, the instigators of injustice? What if we have sinned against others? Because the truth is that we are all guilty of unjustly treating others – which means that others may be crying out for justice against us. Then, how can this be good news for us? Shouldn’t we be frightened by the fact that this King will come to judge the living and the dead? Well, the coming of this King is still good news for us because of what Isaiah says later in the book. Listen to how this King is described in Isaiah 53:2-6, “He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces, He was despised, and we held Him in low esteem. Surely, He took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered Him punished by God, stricken by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds, we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on Him, the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah tells us that this King won’t just bring judgment but bear judgment on our behalf. Isn’t that what Isaiah was saying? The fullness of God’s righteous and just wrath will be poured out on Him – and because He does that, we will be healed. Because He pays the payment of our injustice with His own death, we will be set free. That’s the prophecy that Isaiah makes. Now, this is really important for us to think through because it actually demonstrates the reason why Christmas is so category-breaking for the world. The world understands two kinds of religion very well. On one side, there’s the religion of wrath. It says that if you’re good, God will bless you and take you to paradise. But if you’re bad, His wrath will come upon you. Your future depends on your actions. On the other hand, there’s the religion of unrestricted acceptance. What I mean by that is that this religion says God will accept everyone regardless of how you live or who you believe in. As long as you’re genuine, God will honor that and bring you into His paradise. There’s no absolute standard – absolute truth. It just tells you to be true to yourself. But Christmas shows that Christianity is neither because this is not a religion of wrath or unrestricted acceptance – rather, it’s a religion of grace. The gospel tells us that all of us do deserve God’s wrath because of our sins – but because He is loving, He made a way for us by sending His Son into the world to die on our behalf so that whoever who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. It’s a radically different paradigm – it doesn’t say, “Put yourself together and find God” or “Look within yourself and find God.” Instead, it tells us that God Himself came to find you. That’s what Christmas is about – a King coming to die for us so we can have life and life to the full. We don’t have to live in fear of God’s judgment, for this promised King will satisfy the wrath of God.
Now, it’s one thing to know this in our heads, but it’s another to experience it in our hearts because the truth is that the guilt and shame we carry make everyday life feel really heavy. We do hate our sins, and we did make a great deal of efforts to be done with those sins, but we continue to find ourselves painfully making the same confessions over and over again because we can’t seem to eradicate them from our lives. And we can’t help but ask, “Could God really forgive and love someone like me? There must be a limit to His grace. He can’t forgive forever. Can He? Will He?” The answer, of course, is an emphatic yes, for Hebrews 9:26-28 says, “Otherwise [in that, if there was a limit to His grace] Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But He has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.” In other words, we can be confident that He’ll forgive us over and over again because Jesus’ death is truly sufficient to pay the penalty of all our sins. Then, let me ask you, “Do you believe that Jesus’ death is enough to make you righteous? Do you trust in the completeness of His work?” If so, you can be sure that He will forgive you again and again. You can let go of your guilt and shame because this King has paid it all.
3) HIS KINGDOM
Verse 6, “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 cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.” Here, Isaiah depicts a world that is radically different from the one that has been devastated by sin. In fact, at first glance, this sounds like a world that we would find in a children’s book. We read that a wolf and a lamb are friends, a leopard and a goat are resting together, a bear and a calf are sitting around the table together, a lion and an ox are eating straw together, an infant is playing near the cobra’s den, and to top it off, a little child is leading the whole animal world. It honestly sounds like a world of make-believe. But this is not a reflection of Isaiah’s creativity but a reality that the King will usher in at the culmination of the world. In fact, what does this remind you of? The Garden of Eden – the world before the fall. In other words, when this King comes, He’ll fully restore what was lost at Eden before Adam and Eve thrust the world into sin. He’ll transform the world by establishing peace over all creation. The curse of the fall will be reversed – and the fear of death will be gone. No wonder children can put their hands into the viper’s nest. They’re not scared of what could happen, for the enmity between man and serpent is no more. In the new heavens and the new earth, everything will be as God intended it to be again.
Then, we can’t help but ask, “Who is this King? Who can bring an end to death from our lives?” Verse 10, “In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to Him, and His resting place will be glorious.” Now, did you notice anything strange? In verse 1, this coming King is described as a Shoot coming up from the stump of Jesse – in that He’ll be a descendant of Jesse. But here in verse 10, He’s described as the Root of Jesse – in that Jesse comes from Him. What is going on here? How can He be both the shoot and the root? But that’s the point. The King who is coming is no ordinary king. He’s the source of all life who became flesh for us. Now, Isaiah and his original audience would’ve had no idea who this was – but we do. I’ve been hinting at it already here and there, but Revelation 22:16 reveals exactly who this refers to – “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David and the bright Morning Star.” Jesus makes it absolutely clear that He is the One that Isaiah prophesied about. He’s the shoot from the family of Jesse, the root of life not just for Jesse but for all living creatures, the wise King, the righteous King, the just King, the Giver of peace, the King that we all desperately need, for He won’t just bring judgment, but also bear judgment for us – and next time He comes, He’ll complete His work of transforming the world and restoring it according to the way it was supposed to be. And there, He’ll reign forever and ever. Nothing will oppose Him – every knee will bow before Him.
Friends, all of us have a vision of what a good life may look like. And tomorrow morning, many of us will be in pursuit of that good life again – to reach that “paradise.” Now, if you’re not sure what you may be pursuing, try finishing this sentence: “If only...” “If only I had this. If only this had happened. If only that was removed from my life. If only I was in that person’s position.” And so on. The way you answer that question would be a pretty good window into the view of your good life. But what Isaiah wants us to see is that the paradise Jesus will bring is better than the paradise we have in mind – which is why he’s inviting us to gather around this King. He’s basically saying, “Fix your eyes on Him, for He is our banner. Follow Him, for He will lead us to taste life and life to the full.”
CONCLUSION
Lighthouse family, Christmas reminds us that a King who is wise and powerful, just and gracious, will come to reverse the effects of the fall and restore all of creation to its original design. Then, don’t resist Him today. Look to Him. Listen to Him. Submit to Him. Wait for Him, for He will, one day, come and make everything new again.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1) What is the significance of the “shoot from the stump of Jesse” in the prophecy? How does this imagery convey hope?
2) How do the King’s qualities of wisdom and power offer guidance and comfort in your personal life? What needs in your life require His wisdom or strength?
3) Have you experienced injustice? How does the promise of God’s ultimate justice bring comfort to you?
4) How does the description of the King in Isaiah 53 deepen your understanding of Christmas as a celebration of grace?