The King of Righteousness is born to reign.

 

Sermon for Christmas 1, December 27, 2020

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.  The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.  Amen.

Isaiah 11:1-5  A shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.  ²The Spirit of the Lord will 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.  ³He will be delighted with the fear of the Lord.  He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, nor will he render decisions based on what he hears with his ears, ⁴but with righteousness he will judge the poor, and he will render fair decisions in favor of the oppressed on the earth.  He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath from his lips he will put the wicked to death.  ⁵Righteousness will be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his hips. (EHV)

The King of Righteousness is born to reign.

Dear friends in Christ,

            Looks can be deceiving.  That neighbor with the big house, fancy cars, boats, recreational vehicles, and other toys might be struggling under a load of debt, while another neighbor without all the trappings of the moneyed class, might just be worth millions. 

The world is often in awe of those people who make large donations to charity even when it might be just a tiny fraction of their accumulated wealth.  The world also likes to look down on ordinary individuals who do the less glamorous jobs for low pay and miniscule prestige, yet those humble people greatly benefit their families and perform valuable, God-pleasing service for their neighbors.

There are despised and hated individuals and even people in jail who now stand justified before the Lord, and there are upstanding citizens and even some people attending churches who will hear the Lord’s condemnation come Judgment Day.  Looks can be deceiving.

The once mighty house of Jesse from whom generations of rulers had once reigned over Israel and Judah now looked like a dead dynasty that would never rise again.  The first king from that line had looked like the least likely candidate when Samuel was sent to anoint one of Jesse’s sons to replace King Saul.  Each of the boys was rejected as Jesse brought them out before the prophet, until Samuel had to ask if he had any others, and Jesse sent for the youngest son, still an adolescent, just a boy tending his father’s sheep in the hills around Bethlehem.  David had no training yet for military or governance, yet he proved to be Israel’s greatest king.

Two thousand years ago, a young peasant couple travelled from their home in Nazareth to their ancestral village, the little town of Bethlehem, at the command of the Roman governor so that they might be taxed.  Inconveniently, I suppose, while away from their modest home, a Baby was born to them in makeshift quarters arranged for a family that was far from wealthy, and the baby was laid in a manger.  To the outside world, that baby didn’t look like anything special.  In fact, when it was reported to Herod that a future king had been born in Bethlehem, Herod didn’t try to identify the child, he just had all the baby boys in the area destroyed as if they were all the same, but One was of the house and lineage of David, son of Jesse.  Thus, The King of Righteousness is born to reign.

Seven hundred years before Jesus was laid in that manger, and before He was protected from Herod’s deranged rampage by the family’s midnight escape to Egypt, Isaiah prophesied, “A shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.”  The Lord had promised King David, Israel’s most faithful king, that from his seed, God would raise up a King who would reign on David’s throne forever.  There, in that humble manger lay the King who will reign long past the day this world is ended.  To the world, that Baby Jesus is often mistaken for just an ordinary baby boy.  Some call Him a prophet, some a teacher, some doubt He ever lived.  But, now and forever, The King of Righteousness is born to reign.

Looks can be deceiving.  Isaiah also foretold, “He had no attractiveness and no majesty.  When we saw him, nothing about his appearance made us desire him.” (Isaiah 53:2)  To mortal eyes, Jesus looked like any other child.  To mortal eyes, even as an adult, there was nothing about His appearance that would make us call Jesus God.  But within that human body is the Son of God with all the wisdom and holiness of His Father, and all the power and authority available in the universe.

Here, in our sermon text, Isaiah wrote, “The Spirit of the Lord will 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.  He will be delighted with the fear of the Lord.”  For our sakes, and for our salvation, Jesus laid aside His divine majesty so that He could live as a Man in our place, but don’t be deceived by Jesus’ humble appearance.  Even in that manger bed, Jesus possessed all the power and authority that His Father granted to Him for ruling the world.  The baby Jesus, born of Mary, was also the Son of God in full union with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  By that true God and true Man lineage, Jesus could live as one of us, even as that infant in a manger, while also maintaining the whole of creation.

So that a man might live in perfect obedience, the Man, Christ Jesus, desired only to do His Father’s will.  No sin interfered with His desire to honor and serve His Father.  None of the things of this world, not even Satan and his minions, could distract Jesus from His mission to save.  Even as a twelve-year-old boy, Jesus astonished the teachers with His eagerness to grow in God’s Word and the depth of His understanding.  So we see that The King of Righteousness is born to reign.

This prophecy has some amazing and gracious promises for us.  Isaiah foretold, “He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, nor will he render decisions based on what he hears with his ears, but with righteousness he will judge the poor, and he will render fair decisions in favor of the oppressed on the earth.”  When we look honestly into the mirror of God’s Law, all we can see is our shortcomings, our failures to be perfect, our weakness in trusting God’s guidance and decisions.  When the devil and our consciences get hold of us, all we really hear is the accusations of all we do wrong.  Even when the devil is behind the temptations that cause us to fall, he is right there needling us for our failures to love God as we should.  None of this will sway Jesus’ judgment when He determines our eternal destination.

Dear friends, the poor and oppressed Isaiah described are those who fall before the Lord in humble sorrow for their sins, who recognize and confess their failures to love God and neighbor as we should, but who also trust in that Babe in the manger for their righteousness and salvation.  The whole human population fails to be holy before God.  Even one sin makes us unworthy to enter God’s presence, ineligible to enter the kingdom of heaven, but the Good News for us is that the King, who will reign over God’s people forever, does not look at what is in us or what He hears about our wicked deeds.  When we stand before our eternal Judge and recognize Him as the one who was laid in that manger bed, the Lord, our King, will not be judging us based on our deeds or intentions, but on what He has done for us. 

“With righteousness he will judge the poor, and he will render fair decisions in favor of the oppressed on the earth.”  As poor, humble sinners, the faithful Christians will be judged by Christ’s righteousness, that which He lived on our behalf in perfect submission, trust, obedience, and love for His Father in heaven, for the robes of Jesus’ righteousness were put on us at Baptism where the Spirit washed away our sins and granted us forgiveness through faith in the Son of God in that manger bed. 

Furthermore, we can look forward to Jesus’ verdict, because He will be judging fairly when He announces us forgiven and holy, for that little shoot from Jesse’s root grew up to be the Lamb of God who suffered and died on a cross in full payment for the sins of the world.  The debt for the sins of the whole human race was paid in full by the blood of the God-Man when He died on the cross for you and me.

In our times, much of the world is worried about the future.  Scientists and environmentalists agonize over various schemes to save the planet.  Here too, looks can be deceiving, for no matter what the deep thinkers of our times intend to do to save the world, they will accomplish nothing in the end.  Isaiah said, “He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath from his lips he will put the wicked to death.”  The day is coming when our King will return to end this corrupt and deceitful place.  Jesus declared, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” (Matthew 24:35)  While we should indeed be good stewards of all God has put into our hands, this world is doomed, and the devil and all who follow in his rebellion will be repaid for their rejection of God’s love with an eternity in the prison of hell.

In the Revelation, St. John saw the Son of God and Man dressed in all His glory, with a two-edged sword proceeding from His mouth, symbolizing that Jesus’ words will both kill and make alive.  The Gospel of all that Christ has done for us, believed, brings us eternal life.  On the other hand, those who do not believe will hear from the same mouth of God, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the Devil and his angels.” (Matthew 25:41) This judgment for their unbelief will be final, resulting in everlasting death—the eternal separation of those souls from God’s love.

That little Child in the manger at Bethlehem, praised by the angels and feared by Herod as a threat to his reign, is often viewed with contempt by the world.  That is a horrible mistake, for in that little Child is the God of all creation, fully equipped and fully prepared to win salvation for the world.  The prophet wrote, “Righteousness will be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his hips.”  Holiness and righteousness are the tools Jesus used to win our release from the devil’s chains.  His faithfulness is our everlasting dress, covering our sins, and making us perfectly clothed to celebrate at the wedding banquet of heaven. 

Do not be deceived by the humble appearance of Jesus’ birth, nor by the wretched scene of His shameful death.  Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise to David that his descendant would rule God’s people forever.  With His perfect life, innocent death, and glorious resurrection from the grave, Jesus has established His kingdom of grace for all eternity.  He has prepared a place in it for you and me.  Though the world cannot see Jesus working for His kingdom, all authority over heaven and earth is in His hands, and He works all things for our everlasting good.  The King of Righteousness is born to reign.  Jesus reigns to give you eternal peace.  Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.  Amen.