Isaiah 11:1-10 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
The Second Sunday in Advent Sunday, December 4, 2022 “A Shoot Springs Up for You”
When we purchased our house, there was a surprise in the front yard. It turns out that the landscaping rock in the front yard covered over the stump of a tree that had been cut very close to the ground. The surprise was that all of a sudden, shoots started growing from that stump. I have no idea when the tree was cut down, but there was clearly life in the stump and the roots of that tree. The problem was that those shoots did not make a beautiful tree, they made a rather ugly addition to the front yard and one with which our homeowners association was not happy. There is no longer life in that stump or in those roots. God’s Old Testament prophet Isaiah described God’s people using a similar picture. He compared the people of Israel to a tall and majestic tree. God had blessed that nation and made them his own people. And then they rejected him. They didn’t obey his commandments. They turned to other gods. They did whatever seemed right to themselves instead of listening and serving the one true God. And so he brought judgment on them. He brought punishment. He brought powerful enemy nations that destroyed and carried away the nation and the people. And so instead of a forest of beautiful trees, the people were reduced to stumps. Even the line, the dynasty, of the great King David was cut down and was dead. And I am not talking about the kind of stump that we had in our front yard that clearly had life in it. I am talking about the kind of stump that remains there today. It was dead and done. Nothing remotely resembling a king was seen from it. It's dangerous to speak in absolute terms about the future, but there are few things I am more certain about than my expectation that nothing will grow from the stump once again hidden under rocks in our yard. And it was just as improbable, even impossible, that anything great would come out of the stump of David’s line, also called the stump of Jesse, referring to David’s father. But the true God, who brings life from the dead, prophesied. He had Isaiah rejoice in a shoot that would spring up from that very stump. He foresaw a branch and even fruit. And that is a prophecy that we rejoice in together today, because that promise is for you, too. Borrowing that picture from Isaiah, a shoot springs up for you. About that shoot, Isaiah says some amazing things. He talks about a man on whom rests the Spirit of the Lord. And this servant of the Lord brings righteous judgments. This is a judge who will not be swayed by personal opinion. This is a judge that will not be corrupted or in any way unfair. His decisions will be perfectly just and fair. They will be right and righteous. And for many, they will be harsh and consuming. “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.” This is a powerful figure, and it is a powerful warning about him. You do not want to cross this judge, because he will repay you what you deserve. And this warning comes on the heels of Isaiah’s previous warning, that of God’s chosen people being devastated like a clear-cut forest. That same warning came to God’s people centuries later as prophecy reached its fulfilment. The forerunner of the shoot of Jesse warned about what the Judge would do to the wicked. The shoot, the Branch, the Judge, is none other than Jesus. And in preparing his way, John the Baptist stood and called for repentance. He called on people not to continue in their actions of death and destruction. He warned that trees that did not bear fruit already had the axe of the mighty and powerful Judge Jesus ready to strike them down. That warning ought to ring in our ears, too. We would love to think of our lives as beautiful fruitbearing trees, and thank God that he has made it so. But at times it’s as if we want to be the dead
stumps we were at our births. How easily we, like the people of Old Testament times, take for granted God’s love. We stop considering or worrying about what God would have us do or say, and we chase after what we want. We turn our lives over to false gods like politics and politicians, like science and scientists, like fame and fortune and prestige and popularity. And we ought to hear John say, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven is near!” (Matthew 3:2). And nearer now than it was at that time is the final judgment of the Judge who will execute righteous judgments and will put to death the wicked. That doesn’t sound like a cause for rejoicing, does it? That doesn’t sound like a shoot that springs up for you. That doesn’t sound like a gift any of us would put on our Christmas list. But this promise is for you. This shoot is for you. John’s voice crying out in the wilderness drew many who confessed their sins and in repentance were baptized by him. They confessed how poor and needy they truly were. They admitted that they were oppressed by their own sin and by the enemies that surrounded them with temptation. And for all who approach this prophecy in this spirit of repentance, a very different picture emerges. The righteous Judge is a Judge who gives righteousness. He serves the poor and the oppressed. He defeats their enemies. He is not a Judge who is bought and paid for by the special interest of the rich and powerful. In fact, he left his riches and power to be one of the oppressed and one of the poor. He came to give his righteousness to us so that he could declare us not guilty in the eyes of God. This is who Jesus is. His life was filled with the spirit of wisdom and understanding and the fear of the Lord. He served perfectly. He loved perfectly. He gave generously. And he gave his very life so that we dead and lifeless stumps could be made alive in him. This shoot springs up for you. He judges with righteousness, and that means that he gives you peace. He gives you a glorious rest. Look at the way God has Isaiah describe his kingdom. The wolf lies down with the lamb. The tiny child plays without fear at the nest of a venomous cobra. The mighty lion doesn’t hunt prey; he eats straw like the cattle. This is peace where you expect violence and bloodshed. This is a description of what could be in a world where sin does not ruin and destroy every bit of creation. This is a world of peace. And God has Isaiah spell it out in case any would otherwise miss it: 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. Because of Jesus, the Branch and the Root of Jesse, you have peace right now. You have forgiveness. You have the assurance that your sins are forgiven and removed. And you will experience the fullness and the true glory of that peace when you leave this sinful world behind and live forever with Jesus. I was frustrated when I needed to deal with shoots springing up in my front yard. It took extra work and some chemicals quite unfriendly to plants to stop that particular issue. Now that it has stopped, I cannot bring those shoots back again. But God can. He can bring deliverance out of judgment. He can bring the great King and Judge from the dormant line of the previous great King David. And he has done it for you. We celebrate today that God has kept this promise. A shoot has sprung up for you. He brings judgment and he brings peace. We do not need to fear the truth that he will come again as Judge. We can pray boldly and confidently for that day, “Come, Lord Jesus!”
The Text: Isaiah 11:1–10 (EHV) 11 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.