“Christmas Expectations and Preparations: An Advent Devotional” by Diane Hunter, pg. 51-55, 2020.
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 11:1-10
1A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
2 The spirit of the Lord shall 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 His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear;
4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
6 The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
9 They will not hurt or 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 On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.
Meditation
In the 1995 movie “A Walk in the Clouds,” the climactic scene toward the end of the movie leaves the Aragon family vineyard burnt to the ground. All is seemingly ruined. It is the untrusted, American, World War II veteran, who retrieves the root stock from the devastated “mother” vine in a heartwarming show of hope and determination. The vineyard can be restored if the root is still green. The movie ends with him being accepted as part of the family, he marries the daughter, and helps restore the vineyard and family business. This scene resonates with Isaiah’s prophecy “a shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse.” A seemingly dead tree (or in Isaiah’s case a lost lineage) will sprout and produce new growth—a new leader.
What a leader this will be, too! The expectation is “the spirit of the Lord will rest on him” and this spirit will impart wisdom, understanding, might, knowledge, righteousness, equity, and “the fear of the Lord.” His rule will transform the relationship between aggressive strength and mild weakness where “the wolf shall live with the lamb.” This fresh, new leader will be a surprise—someone who arrives on the scene unexpectedly—who will usher in a new sort of Eden where peace and harmony abound.
We still claim this hope in the person of Jesus Christ who arrived under impossible circumstances from the lineage of Jesse. His teachings are filled with evidence of the Spirit of the Lord resting on him and point to a future of contented peace. Our Advent hope, in Jesus Christ, is that even though the vineyard has burnt to the ground, as long as there is a root that is green, the vineyard (God’s kingdom) can be fulfilled.
Prayer Prompt
Dear Lord, may peace and harmony abound. Amen.