December 11, 2024
Pastor John Hering
Isaiah 11:1–10
Isaiah 11:1–10
A shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit. 2 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.
3 He 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, 4 but 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. 5 Righteousness will be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his hips.
6 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. 7 The cow and the bear will graze together, and their young ones will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the cattle. 8 The nursing child will play near a cobra’s hole, and the weaned child will put his hand into a viper’s den. 9 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.
10 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.
What gets you excited about Christmas? The end of the year? Getting presents? Office parties? Jesus? For too many people Jesus doesn’t excite them. Way too many people simply don’t realize how important Jesus Christ is. But you know. That’s why you are here. So right now we aren’t going to wring our hands over those who don’t get it, nor are going to moan about over-commercialism of the season, nor are we going to complain about those who are absent. We are here to stoke up the fires of excitement about our Savior so that we can go out these doors living for Jesus with confidence and joy. Isaiah unfolded God’s answer in an absolutely amazing portion of Scripture, written under God’s direction seven hundred years before Christ took on human flesh. The prophet leads the people then and leads us now to
Praise The Tree Of Promise From Whom All Blessings Flow
His Roots
The kings of Israel had been glorious but turned godless. David and his son Solomon worshiped the true and only God. Ahaz, the twelfth in David’s family line, worshiped idols. Later kings were even worse. For such rebellion God came flying in with the ax of the Babylonian army and cut off the royal family tree leaving only a stump. A stump is dead. It will only rot. The only way something can grow out of a dead stump is for a miracle to happen. Here it is!
“A shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.”
King David’s dad was named Jesse. The “stump of Jesse” is David’s royal line, the kings of Israel, which had been cut off. God promised a miracle. A royal son would be born, springing up from that dead stump. Jesus was a blood descendant of King David. Those are the Messiah’s roots.
But there’s more about his roots!
“2 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.”
The Holy Spirit would equip the Messiah with everything necessary for his job. Did you ever wonder what the gifts of the Spirit are? They are listed here. The Messiah would be blessed with the LORD himself (that is, a divine nature), with wisdom, understanding, counsel, power, knowledge, and fear (that is, reverence, awe, and trust in the LORD). Do you remember the scene at Jesus’ baptism? The heavens opened up. God the Father spoke, “This is my beloved Son!” and the Holy Spirit came down in the form of a dove pouring out his gifts, equipping the Messiah and assuring him and us about the Messiah’s identity rooted in humanity and divinity!
What are we to learn from these verses? Jesus is human, a descendant of David. Jesus is divine, equipped by the Holy Spirit. He had to be human to put himself in our situation, live up to the demands of a pure life which God demands as payment for sinful humans. He had to be divine in order to live perfectly and have powerful blood to save all. He had to be human to die in our place. He had to be divine so that his death would count with enough value to pay for everyone’s every sin. These verses tell us about the Messiah’s roots. They tell us that the Messiah is the only One who could save us from our sins. Praise The Tree Of Promise From Whom All Blessings Flow. The next reason to praise him:
His Righteous Judgment
We praise the Messiah for who he is. We also praise him for what he has done. You know how important Jesus is, for without Jesus we’d end up in hell. Talk about “needy!” Now look at verse 3
“3 He 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, 4 but with righteousness he will judge the poor, and he will render fair decisions in favor of the oppressed on the earth.”
Praise the Messiah because he will not judge by what he sees or hears. Instead of rendering a judgment based on what he sees in us. The Messiah will render a judgment based on what he personally does for us. What does he do for us? Look at verse 4b
“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.”
Sounds pretty brutal, but it is necessary. No one will go to the doctor if he doesn’t know he’s sick. Without the Messiah, we would be dying from the virus of sin. But the Messiah diagnoses our disease and makes us aware that we’d die of sin without his help and that those who ignore his warning he will strike down and slays as a consequence of their sin. Then he does something else for us. Look at verse 5:
“5 Righteousness will be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his hips.”
The Messiah steps in to give us his righteousness. He declares us to be right even though we are not. That is grace. That is Jesus Righteous Judgment for you!
What do we learn from these verses? We learn about the Messiah’s Righteous Message. He did not come into the world to torture us. He did not come to force us into obeying him. He came to render a right judgment about our sinfulness and then to surprise us with the marvelous good news of a “Not guilty!” verdict. PraiseThe Tree Of Promise From Whom All Blessings Flow—his roots and his judgment. The next reason to praise him:
His Ministry
When sin entered the world, the worst damage was on the relationship people had with God. God and people were no longer one. They became enemies. God was rightly angry at Adam and Eve for their rebellion. They had the gall to blame him for their sin. Instead of harmony there was discord. But there was more. The whole creation was affected. Animals started acting like … animals. Wolves ripped little lambs to shreds. Leopards gobbled up goats. Lions captured and killed young calves. Bears bounced out of the woods to brutalize cattle. Tiny tots playing in the backyard got bitten by poisonous snakes. How could Isaiah describe the beautiful results of the Messiah’s ministry? He used the most vivid scene of peace and serenity which people could ever imagine. Verses 6-9:
“6 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. 7 The cow and the bear will graze together, and their young ones will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the cattle. 8 The nursing child will play near a cobra’s hole, and the weaned child will put his hand into a viper’s den. 9 They will not hurt or destroy anywhere on my holy mountain.
What is the overall effect of the imagery used in these verses? What is Isaiah talking about? It’s a message of peace that comes from Jesus’ ministry!
What do we learn from these verses? We learn that the result of the Messiah’s ministry is peace and harmony between God and us so that we can live with him in peace forever. That’s what the angels sang about on the first Christmas. When you sign your Christmas cards and the message says, “Peace on earth,” remember what you are saying to friends and acquaintances. The Messiah brought peace between the holy God and sinners. Praise The Tree Of Promise From Whom All Blessings Flow—his roots, his judgment, and his ministry. The now the last reason:
His Mission Field
In ancient days there was no Internet, no satellite communication, no fiber optics. When there was an important message to be sent out, the message sender hoisted a banner or flag on the highest hill. The people then rallied around the flag to listen. The Messiah has an important message, the most important message anyone could ever hear. Verse 9b &10:
“9 for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.10 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.”
The earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for all peoples. His mission field is the world.
What do we learn from these verses? We learn that the peace the Messiah came to bring is not our private possession. A Japanese exchange student, who had been a Christian for only a few years, related a comment another foreign student had made to him, “You must have a very wealthy father back home. You are always smiling and seem so very happy.” “He did not know,” said the young Christian quietly, “that when I became a Christian, I lost my family and friends; my father cut me off from our family because I had left the religion of my ancestors. I told him that the only wealthy father I had was my Father who is in heaven, and the riches of his grace alone have made it possible for me to be a Christian in spite of all the loneliness I have suffered since being cut off from my relatives.”
Stories like that are repeating themselves today. We rejoice in Jesus every day but send special praises to the Messiah for the new members who learn about Jesus’ love for them. You know why it is so important for you and me to join Jesus on his mission with our prayers and gifts. The Messiah’s mission field is the world. We get to be part of it by sharing Jesus with our friends, relatives, acquaintances and neighbors.
So, what gets you excited about Christmas? The end of the year? Presents? Parties? Today Isaiah pumps us up with Christ. In Christ we have more confidence because of his roots, his righteous judgment, his ministry/service, and his mission. Imagine talking to someone who says, “Why are you so excited about Christmas?” and you get to tell them. I know about the Stump from Jesse—the Tree of Promise From Whom All Blessings Flow! Amen!
