People have long used imagery to capture the essence of what they want to express. The prophet Isaiah uses many word pictures to creating an image in the minds of his hearers to help them grasp the message of the coming Messiah. Two of these images are a branch and a baby.
1.
The Branch bearing fruit
Isaiah 11:1 “A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.”
Isaiah 11:1 “A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.”
Trees often live so long,
that we imagine that they will always be there. But when for whatever reason a tree
is cut down and all that remains is the stump it looks as good as dead. That is what was said of the monarchy in Israel after King David had gone. In a few hundred years the “tree” that had been King David and his royal dynasty had fallen. It was but a stump and so was the nation of Israel.
There is a lesson here is pride, in what we trust in and in realising that every generation needs to find its own relationship with God.
The image of the stump is something that we can apply personally as a picture of those times when all our hopes and dreams have been destroyed or chopped down or for some people that feeling that the good times were in the past and now there is nothing but a stump to show for all that has gone before.
Collectively we must recognise too that the stump can speak of our fallen humanity. Sin cut down the glory of what mankind was meant to be and without a miracle the result is a dead stump.
But Isaiah comes with a message of hope. “A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.”
It should be noted that Isaiah refers to Jesse, David’s father rather than David himself. Using Jesse’s name rather than David’s was a testimony to how much had been lost. The line of David was now, so unimportant that is fallen to the level at which it stood when humble Jesse bore the honour of the family name long before David’s glory as king.
But even so a shoot shall come out from the tree stump. In this life, there are things in our lives that seemed to be almost beyond hope but somehow, almost unbelievably when we thought all was lost, there is a sign of life, a green shoot. In contrast to the dead wood, a small shoot seems insignificant, however it has life and therefore it has the potential to grow. It is almost unnoticeable at first and only those who are looking really see the possibilities that the shoot will become a branch.
Isaiah goes on to say, “from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.”
The reference to the Branch is not just referring to good times coming again but is about a person. The Branch became a proper name, for a Saviour, a Messiah who would restore the fortunes of God’s people.
For years this did not look like being fulfilled. By the time of the New Testament Israel royal family was a joke. Herod the Great was not a descendent of David and he was a puppet of Rome. Yet it is revealed that the baby born to an obscure peasant woman and her carpenter husband is the One who will save his people from their sins. Yet despite incredible danger a baby born to an obscure peasant woman and her carpenter husband is the new shoot of the stump of Jesse, who survives and grows to become the Branch.
Isaiah 4:2 “In that day the Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and glory of the survivors of Israel.”
He might not start off
looking like much but don’t be fooled, he will be beautiful and glorious. Isaiah goes on to describe this beautiful
life of the Branch in chapter 11 :2-3
It is easy to see Jesus in
the words we have just read. Jesus himself takes up the idea of himself being like a tree bearing fruit when he referred to himself as a vine and also when he talks about his kingdom being like a mustard seed that grows into an enormous tree where all kinds of people can find refuge and shelter.
Jesus is a branch that will bear fruit. “from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.”
“Here is the most radical aspect of God. This Branch growing out of the stump of Jesse’s shredded family tree would be put on another dead tree, a cross and from that dead tree blossomed salvation full and free. God can take a sinner like me, dead in my trespasses and sins, dead in spirit, dead to the divine and put a new nature in me, making new what was shrivelled, making alive what was dead, making time enter all eternity with rejoicing and weeping for joy.” (unknown author)
The question is what are you looking at, the stump or the shoot?
A new baby Isaiah 7:14/Isaiah 9:6
We find the first in Isaiah 7:14-15 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. The virgin shall be with child and will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel. He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right.”
Watching and waiting are a common advent theme.
Waiting includes watching, looking out for an indication that something is happening that you need to respond to.
The child, in Isaiah was to be a continual sign as he grows up. During those difficult times his name Immanuel will remain as an assurance that God will be with them. V15 says that the child will eat milk and honey. Milk and honey, in the Bible is the food that is associated with the Promised Land and is a sign that there is a future beyond this desert experience. The situation is bad but God is the great Redeemer. And that is true for us all as we face the tough times. God is with us and he can turn anything to serve our ultimate good.
Isaiah returns to speak about a child in his prophecies again and develops the idea. In Isaiah 9:6 Isaiah speaks about a child who will be born who will not just be a reminder of God’s presence but who will actually lead and govern for God, in a way never seen before.
We know because Matthew tells us that we can directly link the prophecies in Isaiah to the birth of Jesus. Matthew 1:23 records that the message that the angel delivered to Joseph included a direct quotation of Isaiah 7:14.
Once again God was going to demonstrate to the world that He was with them. This time however the baby wasn’t just any ordinary baby, who was being used to demonstrate a point, as a sign that God was with them but the baby himself actually was Immanuel, God with them.
As John puts it, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:1 & 14)
When the shepherds were told, “This will be a sign to you, you will find
the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger, it wasn’t the baby
that was the sign. The swaddling clothes and the manger were the sign that they
had the right baby.
Jesus isn’t pointing to something else, he is the destination. The
shepherds didn’t get excited about the manger or the swaddling bands but about
the fact that they were witnesses to the truth that the longed for Saviour was
here. When Simeon saw the 8 day old baby Jesus in the temple, in his spirit he didn’t sense that this baby was a signpost that the Messiah was on his way, he declared, “Now let you servant depart in peace for my eyes have seen your salvation.”
Jesus at Bethlehem is not symbolic, he is a real person who we can meet and know. Jesus at Bethlehem is not a metaphor of God’s presence, this really is God come to earth.
Bramwell Booth “The nature of the whole work of our
redemption is made manifest by the one fact- he really came. His everlasting love, his infinite compassion, his
all embracing purpose were from eternity; but we only to to know of it all because
he came.”
Branch and baby were signs
that became reality when Jesus came to earth.
The further reality is to follow the signs to meet with Jesus
personally.
God bless
Carol
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