The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
Isaiah 11:2
Monday, December 23, 2024
Isaiah 11:1-9
Revelation 20:1-10
John 5:30-47
This reading from the prophet Isaiah has become interpreted Christologically to foretell the coming of the Savior.
There is hope in this reading.
First, the image of the stump itself. A tree stump may look dead, but it is extremely hard to kill it off completely. That is the picture offered to us by the prophet, of the promise of God.
Secondly, if you’ve ever observed a tree stump, you’ll notice that it most likely has shoots of fresh growth coming out of it from nearly everywhere. Possibly because the roots below are embedded so deep, they are next to impossible to totally eliminate.
The stump of Jesse tells a story about the resilience of hope.
Hope lives on no matter how bleak things may appear. New beginnings are possible even when we seem to be out of strength. New life can emerge even out of our failures.
In Isaiah’s day, judgment had come upon the people of Israel in the form of Babylonians who’d put siege to Jerusalem and waited outside for three years, until finally the people who saw themselves as God’s chosen could hold out no longer.
Isaiah promised a shoot from the chopped-down dynasty of David who would come to start life anew for Israel. That one would rule justly, not selfishly, and by his breath alone he’d smite the wicked, beginning with the Babylonians. Then would come the perfect world, the peaceable kingdom.
Obviously, we are not there yet. Some would venture to guess we are far from there. Take a look around us.
Gun violence continues to plague our school buildings, the most recent incident taking place in Madison, Wisconsin. We can’t forget that it was in December that the Sandy Hook tragedy took place in 2012.
We are almost numb to the daily struggles in the Middle East and Ukraine.
Our imperfection doesn’t always manifest itself in violent action. Often it takes the form of political debate, or governmental corruption.
It is so easy to draw parallels between what is going on in today’s society and the society of Isaiah’s day.
Yet even then, under the intense pressures of dislocation and assimilation, the dream of a peaceable kingdom didn’t die, but grew even more fervent.
The world that Isaiah is describing is not one ruled by politicians and tough generals. It is a world ruled by a little child.
So how do we get ready for this world? How do we prepare to receive God’s gift? How do we hurry up the process of receiving what God wants to give us?
God’s gifts of forgiveness, peace and freedom come to us as gifts of grace, freely given in Jesus; the Jesus who fulfils Isaiah’s prophecy of the shoot from the stump of Jesse; Jesus, the tender baby born at Christmas.
This Jesus is the Son of God, Immanuel, God with us, the one on whom the spirit of the Lord rests in such abundance – the spirit of wisdom and understanding; the spirit of counsel and might; the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
Jesus is fully equipped by God’s Spirit to provide everything that you need.
Let us pray.
Eternal God, in whose perfect kingdom no sword is drawn but the sword of righteousness, no strength known but the strength of love: So mightily spread abroad your Spirit, that all peoples may be gathered under the banner of the Prince of Peace, as children of one Father; to whom be dominion and glory, now and for ever. Amen.
(Book of Common Prayer, p. 815)
Walking Together in Faith 