The Tree of Jesse--The Tree of Joy; Isaiah 11:1-11, Romans 15:7-13

This Advent I have been doing a series on the theme of trees. If you are interested, you can find prior messages on my blog: pastorparato.blogspot.com. One is an audio recording and the other is a manuscript version. And I will be posting today’s message on there as well, and will provide a link for you on your Facebook page. I started with the Tree of Life as a symbol of hope. The Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden shows us that it was God’s plan from the beginning to give eternal life to people. The Tree of Life in the New Jerusalem, in the new heavens and new earth, shows us that God’s plan has not changed, that our hope of eternal life is a sure hope. It’s just now been given to us by a different means, which brings us to last Sunday, in which I shared that the cross is the tree of our peace. Instead of eating from the tree of life, God sent Jesus to die for us to make peace and to give us eternal life. Colossians 1 says that we have peace through the blood of the cross of Jesus. This peace isn’t just between us and God but broke the curse over all creation. God is reconciling all things to Godself through Christ, and Jesus’s death also helps us to have peace with each other. The beams of the cross point to our reconciliation—the vertical beam, our peace with God, the horizontal beam, our peace with other people. Today, on this Sunday of joy, we will see that the tree of Jesse is the tree of joy. The Jesse tree I shared with the children this morning is a great tool for learning the metanarrative of Scripture—the one big story that Scripture tells. All those pictures point to one person, who is the main character of the story. That person is Jesus. In our readings today, we hear that Jesus is the tree that grows from the root of Jesse. And if there were any doubt at all that these passages are talking about Jesus, we can go to Revelation 22:16, where Jesus Himself says, “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these thing for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star.” Our Romans passage tells us that we are to rejoice because the Ruler of the Gentiles has come Root of Jesse and that God will give us peace and joy when we believe in Jesus. So today we see that the source of our joy is in this Tree of Jesse. The source of our joy is in a person—Jesus Christ. We heard it this morning in our Advent lesson—when Jesus is born in us, we have joy. I’ve been doing a Bible study this fall with some other ladies on the topic of joy, particularly as it is described in the book of Philippians. Each week, we are given a joy builder idea or two to practice because we allow so much to steal our joy, but when we realize that joy is in a Person, a Person who is always with us, Jesus, Immanuel, our joy remains despite our circumstances, even in our circumstances, regardless of our circumstances. We might not be happy, but we can have a joy that cannot be quenched, that can be revived when we remember what we have been given, WHOM we have been given. Let’s take a closer look at this tree that grows from the root of Jesse. At the time our Isaiah passage was written, Israel had been obliterated by Assyria and Judah had been reduced to a remnant by Babylon. The small leftover part was the stump the root of Jesse, but sometimes stumps grow back. My parents recently dug up a stump in their yard because it kept growing back in a place where they did not want a tree to grow. This root of Jesse was still alive, even though it had been cut down. God promised it would grow again. What had been growing in Israel and Judah was not healthy. God allowed it to be cut down. But the roots of the tree never stop growing, and God was going to keep God’s promise to God’s people by allowing something new to spring up from that root. Sometimes we have to undergo a severe pruning in order to grow back healthy. That’s a good thing to keep in mind as we look at things happening in our world right now. We ought to ask God, “What needs to be removed? What do you want to grow back, Lord?” Last week, I shared how Jesus had to die to bring us peace and to break the curse brought about when Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. In order to receive that peace and life that Jesus gives, we have to die to sin and self and be raised with Christ to new life. Christ then bears fruit in our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faith, and self-control. Roots anchor a tree. They absorb water and nutrients from the soil that help the tree to grow. The Root of Jesse symbolizes permanence, firmness, source, and cause. God is the giver and sustainer of life. In the Scriptures, Jesus is not only called the Root of Jesse, but also the Righteous Branch. Jesus as the Root, shows us that He is the Giver and Sustainer of Life. He is fully God. The shoot that grows from the stump is an extension from the trunk. They are the same. Jesus as the shoot from the stump of Jesse represents Jesus’s humanity. He is the same as His people. He is of the people. He is one of them. He can identify with them. The Messiah foretold is both fully God and fully human. Our Isaiah passage tells us that the shoot that grows out of the stem of Jesse will rule the world. He is qualified to do so because He has the fullness of the Spirit of God resting upon Him. For the Spirit to rest is to remain, it’s not a temporary filling. Verse 3 says that the Messiah has eyes to see beyond the way they appear to be. Christ sees things the way they are. He can see through and into. He see into our hearts and minds. Verse 5 says that righteousness and faithfulness are the Messiah’s belt. This reminds me of the NT descriptions of the armor of God which we are called to put on. When we put on our spiritual armor, we are putting on Christ—His righteousness, His faithfulness. In Isaiah 11:6-9, we have these images of the peaceable kingdom. These images aren’t necessarily meant to be taken literally. For example, many scholars believe that wolves, lambs, snakes, calves, and lions represent different types of people all getting along. With Christ as King, there will be no more cutthroat, utilitarian relationships. The sons of the snake will become saints. We won’t be eating at each other, tearing one another apart with our words and actions. Divisions of inferior and superior will be erased because all will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord. There will be no more war, evil, or even the fear of evil. In our Romans passage, Paul tells us that we are to accept each other because Christ has accepted us. In other words, we are to live as if we are in the peaceable kingdom because Christ has come. Therefore the peaceable kingdom has begun. Instead of letting others steal our joy, we can bring joy to others. Some of the joy builder ideas from the Bible study I’m doing are being conscious to say “thank you” when someone helps you—be intentional about finding at least one person to thank every day, and then say a prayer of blessing for that person. Another is to thank God daily for your spouse. For some people, that’s very easy. For others, it can be a challenge. Another is to confess sin daily and be as specific as you can and to say a prayer of thanksgiving for God’s mercy, and to ask for wisdom to make reparation if you have wronged another person. Also to consciously forgive anyone who has wronged you that day and to thank God for God’s grace. This is accepting others as Christ has accepted us. And of course, we rejoice in Jesus. Praise the Lord for who He is. Name the attributes of God and praise God for them. Name the actions of Christ, and thank Him for them. I love how this last verse we read, this benediction Paul gives us sums up the first 3 Sundays of Advent, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Hope, peace, and joy are all here. Brothers and sisters, I pray that you may be filled with the joy that is found in the Tree of Jesse—that wonderful shoot that grew up from a stump that was cut down, but from a root that would not die, the promised Messiah, who has now come and is coming again, Immanuel who is always with you. I pray you are filled with the joy of Jesus, joy that no one and no circumstances can take away. May you be those who spread that joy to others, so that they may even ask you about the hope that is in you!