Branch
"A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 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." (Isaiah 11:1,2 NIV).
My husband is an attorney (a nice, honest one, though...really), so every once in a while he'll spout off a little Latin. The other day, for instance, he told me a story that involved the phrase res ipsa loquitur, which means, "The thing speaks for itself." Basically, the primary evidence clearly proves the case, without needing additional proof or explanation or defending.
The evidence for Jesus speaks for itself, too. In fulfilled prophecy after fulfilled prophecy, eye witness testimony after eye witness testimony, and revelation after revelation, Jesus proves Himself to be true.
Hundreds of years before "Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David" and took with him "Mary, who was pledged to him and was expecting a child" (Luke 2:4,5), Ruth, a foreigner not from the line of David, married a Jewish man named Boaz, with whom she had a son who would become the grandfather of David.
Isaiah promised that the coming Messiah would be a branch from the stump of Jesse, the father of King David (11:1).
Jeremiah delivered God's message that "in those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David's line...This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness" (33:15, 16b).
These are great promises kept to past generations, and they offer even greater hope for all future generations, because what David foreshadowed, Jesus brought into the full light of glory.
David was a shepherd; Jesus is the Good Shepherd.
David was anointed; Jesus is the Anointed One.
David was a king; Jesus is the King of Kings.
David was a man after God's own heart; Jesus is God's own heart.
Res ipsa loquitur. "The thing speaks for itself." When John's vision of what is to come fully comes to pass, the Branch—The Lord Our Righteousness—will speak for Himself: "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David and the bright Morning Star" (Revelation 22:16).
Cling to this Branch, my friends. He will never break.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I'd love to hear from you! Feel free to tell me what you really think. Years ago, I explained to my then-two-year-old that my appointment with a counselor was "sort of like going to a doctor who will help me be a better mommy." Without blinking, she replied, "You'd better go every day." All of which is just to say I've spent some time in the school of brutal honesty!