The opening verse of our
Scripture reading for Sunday is a word of hope from Isaiah:
A shoot shall come
out from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his
roots. (Isaiah 11:1)
Odd words, aren’t
they? There’s a lot of hidden metaphor
in that verse. Jesse was King David’s
father. His “family tree” had come to an
end. Jesse’s clan was no longer the
“royal family” – David was gone, his sons were dead or disgraced – and the
prophet Isaiah likens his once-great family tree to a stump.
But Isaiah is saying that
the longed for Messiah – God’s special chosen one who would lead Israel back to
glory – would be a descendant of David nonetheless. He would come from this
stunted family tree. The dead stump would send out a shoot. Hope would peek out like a small bud or a
twig or tendril. This tentative growth
would develop into a branch, and that branch become the lineage of the
unexpected Messiah.
Notice the littleness of
this new beginning. A small shoot of new
growth. A tender bud. Fragile, barely noticeable, easily overlooked. These are
the ways of God. The world of commerce constantly shouts and screams; it tries
to shock or dazzle or outrage. But God
enters quietly. Jesus is born in a hidden
stable, far away from the royal power brokers of the capital city.
That’s why Jesus
constantly says, “Watch.” Hope will be born in your midst.
You just have to think
small.
Pastor Larry
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