God’s children have peace in the Root of Jesse.

 

Sermon for Advent 2, December 4, 2022

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Isaiah 11:1-10  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.  ⁶The wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, the calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf together, and a little child will lead them.  ⁷The cow and the bear will graze together, and their young ones will lie down together.  The lion will eat straw like the cattle.  ⁸The nursing child will play near a cobra’s hole, and the weaned child will put his hand into a viper’s den.  ⁹They will not hurt or destroy anywhere on my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.  ¹⁰This is what will take place on that day.  The peoples will seek the Root of Jesse, who will be standing like a banner for the peoples, and his resting place will be glorious. (EHV)

God’s children have peace in the Root of Jesse.

Dear children of the heavenly Father,

            What do you tell people who have no hope?  The answer to that question is what the Lord has in mind with this message from the prophet Isaiah.  In Isaiah’s day, most of the people of Israel and Judah were hopeless, though some of them didn’t yet realize it.  You will find a lot of people in a similar situation in our world today.  Therefore, the answer to hopelessness in our times is the same as it was when Isaiah was sent to proclaim God’s Word to Judah: God’s children have peace in the Root of Jesse.

Isaiah had a long career as God’s spokesman.  During his lifetime, the northern kingdom of Israel was annihilated and many of its people were carted off into exile, and that part of the Children of Israel was lost in the mists of history.  The people of that powerful segment of Jacob’s descendants were hopeless, because after Solomon’s death, they put their hope in earthly prosperity, political alliances, and idols of their own and their neighbors’ imaginations.  They were hopeless, not because they recognized their lack of a future, but because the things they put their hopes in had no real power.

Now, Isaiah’s ministry was primarily focused on the southern tribes of Judah and particularly the city of Jerusalem.  Though the southern kingdom was somewhat more faithful than the northern tribes, it too was becoming more and more influenced by the things of the world and the idolatries of its neighbors.  Isaiah warned of the disasters that were coming to Judah for abandoning the God of their forefathers.

In our times, Christianity is more and more regarded as an obsolete religion soon to fade from importance.  Even among many who still claim to be Christians, there is great weakness of faith, and far too little knowledge of what God’s Word says.  Worse yet, there are many who simply don’t care what God has declared.  The selfishness of the heart has taken over.  Convenience, immediate prosperity, and the ways of the world too often drive even many who were baptized into and raised in the Christian faith.  Individuals thus influenced by the world around us are, in fact, often quite hopeless.

It is to people who never yet knew Jesus and to those who have let their faith slide that the message of Isaiah is critical, for the prophet writes of the Lord of glory who would enter this world to win salvation for all who would believe: “A shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.  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.”

By the words given to Isaiah, we know where to look to find the Savior.  He would come from the lineage of Jesse, King David’s father.  And, though that line would appear to be a dead stump in the history of the world, from that root, life would spring up.  A Man from King David’s descendants would grow up to rule the world.  He will rule a kingdom like no other.  He rules with power, wisdom, and might, and His reign will never end.  Of course, I am applying additional prophecies to Isaiah’s words, here, but the truth remains that this prophecy can only speak of Jesus of Nazareth.

This Root of Jesse shows us the greatness of our Savior.  Jesus is a great King, because He is both true God and true Man.  His wisdom and understanding far exceeds that which ordinary kings could possibly possess.  More important than political causes, however, is that Jesus delighted in the fear of the Lord.  Isaiah was prophesying that this one Man would do what we cannot do, which is live in perfect submission to God’s will, with perfect love, obedience, humility, and trust.

Now, all of this wouldn’t really do us much good if this was a contest to see who was most holy before God.  Only Jesus could win, and the rest of us would still be subject to destruction for our guilt.  Yet, look what the prophet says: “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.”  If the King of God’s promise ruled with vengeance, brutal justice, and anger, our future would also be hopeless.  In the past, that threat drove many to fear Jesus.  However, the righteousness Jesus uses to judge the world is not ours, but that righteousness which He has lived for us.  You see, God knows all our sins.  Nothing escapes His notice.  However, in His mercy, our Savior King judges the world innocent because of the sacrifice He made on our behalf.  Therefore, those of us who have sinned but acknowledge that sin before God have our sins forgiven for Jesus’ sake.

The hopeless need to learn about all Jesus has done to save sinners.  The prophet wrote, “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.  Righteousness will be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his hips.”  Speaking through His prophet, the Lord said, “My word that goes out from my mouth will not return to me empty.  Rather, it will accomplish whatever I please, and it will succeed in the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)  Jesus, likewise, declared, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.” (John 6:63)  The message of the Bible is a two-edged sword bringing death to those who reject it, but giving life and hope to all who the Spirit moves to believe.  That, dear friends, is what God has done for you and me.  By the hearing of the Gospel, by the washing and Word of Baptism, and by the power of the Holy Spirit in God’s word, we were rescued from hopelessness and given faith in Jesus, forgiveness of all sin, and life everlasting in the kingdom of our Savior.

So, now that we know the hopeless need to hear about the Savior King who springs from Jesse’s line, what do you tell those who hope in the Lord?  The answer is pretty much the same thing that Isaiah told to the hopeless, plus you continue with the promise of peace that those who have hope in Jesus will certainly enjoy.  The picture painted in the second part of our text is that God’s children have peace in the Root of Jesse.

Here, Isaiah paints us a graphic vision of the new heaven and new earth which will be established when Jesus returns in glory.  Having won salvation for all through His life, death, and resurrection before ascending to His Father’s side, Jesus will return to judge, and as we already saw, those who reject Him will suffer eternally.  Yet, those who believe will enjoy a peace we can hardly imagine.  The prophet painted in imagery of his day: “The wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, the calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf together, and a little child will lead them.  The cow and the bear will graze together, and their young ones will lie down together.  The lion will eat straw like the cattle.  The nursing child will play near a cobra’s hole, and the weaned child will put his hand into a viper’s den.”

None of these things seem possible in our world, but that’s because our world is tainted by sin.  However, in the kingdom of heaven, sin is removed, death is destroyed, and peace reigns over all things.  Paradise is reestablished, and the peace Adam and Eve enjoyed in the Garden before sin is restored.  Now, how exactly will heaven look?  The various pictures the Bible gives show that it is far more fantastic than we can currently imagine.  Still, the picture painted here tells us we will never again have to worry or fear any part on our new home.  In the picture, the things that sin corrupted have been restored so that they never hurt, or hurt us, again.

Through His prophet, the Lord declared, “They will not hurt or destroy anywhere on my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.  This is what will take place on that day.  The peoples will seek the Root of Jesse, who will be standing like a banner for the peoples, and his resting place will be glorious.”  Jesus’ resting place is not the tomb in which they laid His body when He died for you and me.  It is, rather, the throne of His Father in heaven, from which He rules all things in heaven and on earth.  There, all believers from every time and every place will be gathered to praise our Savior and enjoy true peace.  Death and dying will be finished.  Sin will no longer be part of our experience, all those difficulties that trouble us now will be solved, and all the questions we might ponder will be answered.

So, what do you tell the hopeless and those who have hope?  You tell them about Jesus.  You tell them how Jesus fulfilled every prophecy God had given about a Savior from sin and death.  You tell them what Jesus has done for you to absolve all your sins and heal your spiritual wounds.  You tell them how in Jesus, we have the peace of knowing that the King who gave His life so that we might live also rose from the grave to live and never die again.  You tell them that Jesus lives and reigns on high, so that all things now work for our everlasting welfare. 

Whether those who hear you tell them this good news believe you, or not, the message doesn’t change, and the truth continues to be true.  Jesus is both true God and true Man.  Jesus surely suffered all the punishment you deserved for your sins, including death and separation from God, but Jesus did that so that by believing in Him, you will enjoy the peace of heaven, and the joy of seeing God face to face without fear.

Let this be our hope and our message: God’s children have peace in the Root of Jesse.  Amen. 

May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, both soul and body, be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.  Amen.