Be Surprised by the Branch!
A sermon based on Isaiah 11:1-10
December 5, 2010 – Advent 2A
Have you ever been walking behind someone in the woods when all of a sudden they let go of the branch they had been pushing aside and it bounces right into your face as you step forward? Becky's pretty familiar with that experience since I do it to her all the time. But that branch catches you by surprise, doesn't it? Smack! Out of nowhere!
Sometimes you can also be surprised by a branch in a good way. Like, when it's still winter and the branch on the tree starts to bloom! Or when you think winter's still going to last another month and you see those buds form early! Surprise! Spring is early this year!
This morning we're surprised by a branch. But this branch is a person. This branch is the Savior. As we proceed on our journey with Isaiah to the manger, the journey we began last week at the Mountain of the Lord, we now continue through the forest of history, to see Jesse's family tree and the Branch, the Root of Jesse.
This morning as we examine another of Isaiah's advent prophecies describing how the promised Messiah would come, be surprised by the Branch. Be surprised by the way he would accomplish his mission and be surprised by the results of his mission accomplished. Listen again to Isaiah 11…
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord— 3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; 4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. 5 Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
I. Be Surprised by How He Accomplished His Mission
To understand the tree, stump, root analogy Isaiah's making, maybe we should back up a bit in his book. In chapter nine Isaiah writes of the people of Israel, "The people have not… sought the LORD Almighty. So the LORD will cut off from Israel both head and tail, both palm branch and reed in a single day; the elders and prominent men are the head, the prophets who teach lies are the tail." (Isaiah 9:13-15) Because of the wickedness of his people, because of the crooked leadership and false prophets, because they put their trust in the alliances they'd made and not in God, God said he would soon cut them down. And he would use the Assyrians as the axe. The royal family—the descendants of Jesse and of his son, King David—would be cut down like a forest that's been clear cut with not much left.
But God's wrath against his people wouldn't last forever. In the end of chapter 10, God said of the Assyrians, "See, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, will lop off the boughs with great power. The lofty trees will be felled, the tall ones will be brought low. He will cut down the forest thickets with an ax; Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One." (Isaiah 10:33-34) And God cut those Assyrians down in a pretty surprising way. Here's what he did: When the Israelites were surrounded by the Assyrian army with no chance of escape, "the angel of the LORD went out and put to death 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!" And the king of Assyria tucked his tail between his legs and ran! God delivered his people.
You know, we are a lot like those Israelite kings. We deserve to be cut down. Ever since Adam and Eve ate from that Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, everyone else in their family tree (us included) have rebelled against God ever since. Just like the Kings of Israel we put our trust in the alliances we make—the supposed security we have with our jobs, with our savings, with our families, with our own resourcefulness.
But in one swift motion God could swing an axe in our direction and cut all of that out of our lives. And that's what we deserve for our lack of trust in him and for failing to do what he demands. In fact we deserve to be cut down ourselves and damned to hell. That's what John the Baptist warned in Matthew 3(:10), "The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." – Matthew 3:10
And yet, we're not cut down. We're not thrown into the fire. Instead, God in his grace delivers us. And he does it in a surprising way—as surprising as sending an angel to kill 185,000 men! That's what this prophecy is about. A shoot [would] come up from the stump of Jesse; [a Branch] from his roots… From the stump of this wicked people and from this line of wicked kings, the Messiah would come. A shoot of life would come from this dying nation.
This is, of course, a prophecy about Jesus. From the line of David, Jesus was born… and in a pretty surprising way. He was born in a barn smelling of manure, to a woman who became pregnant before she was married, from a people who had all but rejected God's promises. And besides having surprising origins, the way he accomplished his mission was pretty surprising as well…
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord— 3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; 4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. 5 Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
Anointed by the Spirit of the Lord at his Baptism, Jesus did have perfect wisdom and understanding, perfect counsel and power—which he proved by his miracles. He also had perfect knowledge, so he didn't need to base his judgments on the evidence. He could see right into people's hearts. And Jesus did delight in the fear of the Lord and pleased him perfectly in every way all the time, always remaining sinless. Righteousness defined who he was.
So what would you expect from such a Savior? Well, if he knows every sin in his omniscience, hates every sin in his perfect righteousness, and has the power to destroyevery sin in his omnipotence, you might expect him to come in his wrath striking people down with bolts of lightening.
But what a surprise! His weapons aren't bolts of lightening or fire from heaven, but his Word—the rod of his mouth and the breath of his lips. And while he does have every right to destroy every sinner and banish them to hell forever, look at what he does with his power, his understanding, his righteousness…
He gives it all away! And like the living shoot that comes up out of the dead stump, Jesus brings life out of death. By his death on the cross in our place he saves us from eternal death! By enduring the agony of hell for us, he saved us from hell! By taking our sin on himself, he took our sin away and gave us his righteousness! What a surprising way for an omnipotent, omniscient, righteous Savior to accomplish his mission!
Isaiah promised that this Branch would bear fruit… and what fruit he bears! It's us! All who believe in him have the perfect righteousness that God demands! And thought we were once as spiritually dead as a log laying on the ground of the forest, God has brought us to life so we're no longer stumps, but healthy trees bearing the fruit of faith. And as redeemed and forgiven children of God, receiving life from the Branch having been grafted into him, we experience the surprising results of his mission accomplished. Isaiah goes on…
6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. 7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. 9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. 10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.
II. Be Surprised by What His Mission Accomplished
Since I've moved to Alaska my dad has found a new hobby. He searches the internet looking for stories of when wild animals attack and he emails them to me. And he doesn't seem to have too much trouble finding plenty of stories set in Alaska.
When the wolves circle the horses and they start to panic, you can imagine how the rider feels. When the bear charges and there's hardly time to draw a gun. When the mother moose is desperate to protect her young and someone gets too close, the feelings not a good one, is it? Why not? Because you know what wild animals do—they attack and they kill out of instinct.
But here Isaiah describes the opposite: something unnatural; something that runs contrary to the way things usually work; something completely surprising. Here in Isaiah's vision, he sees the result of the Branch's work: perfect peace! Eden restored! Where none are the eaters and none are eaten! No one takes advantage of another and none are taken advantage of. No one hurts another and none are hurt or harmed! What perfect peace!
But is this just wishful thinking? Is it poetic language of what would really be nice? No! It's reality! How? Through the Knowledge of the Lord! "The earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."
By faith in the Branch who died on the cross to remove our sin, we are sinless and holy in God's sight. His favor rests on us through Jesus and that means we have peace with him. Just as the angels announced at Jesus' birth, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." (Luke 2:14) Isaiah later said the same thing in Isaiah 53: "He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5)
And because of the peace with God we have through our Savior's first coming, one day soon, when he comes again, we will experience a perfect peace beyond our imaginations when we're in the glory of heaven, eating from the tree of life. (cf. Revelation 22)
So dear friends, rally to the Root. Gather around him in his Word and in worship! And find glorious rest in him! Find a surprising peace in him! Even when the problems you face seem to dominate your life and the peace of God is hidden under the cross, you know that one day soon, you'll leave this life. Don't be surprised by that day! Be ready for it! And then be surprised at the perfect peace of heaven that's so much better than the best you can imagine.
Because of his first advent: coming to earth in the manger to go to the cross, through his second advent: coming to us in his Word, we look forward to his third advent: when he comes again to bring us perfect peace once and for all, when the peace described here in Isaiah becomes reality for us, when Eden is restored to us.
This Christmas, as you put up your Christmas trees and decorate the branches. Remember the Branch—the Root of Jesse—who came from a surprising place to accomplish his mission in a surprising way, to give us the surprising results of that mission accomplished—perfect peace in him. In Jesus' name, dear friends, amen.
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