A Shoot from the Stump

From 605 B.C. to 586 B.C. a period of 19-20 years, were some of the most horrific in the history of the Jewish people. Before this time, the Jewish people were prosperous. In recent memory was the time of King Solomon and all his riches. Crops were fertile, people’s bellies were filled, and families prospered. It was in this time that the Babylonians struck Judea. In three waves over two decades they descended with their superior armies and ravaged the land, destroyed Jerusalem, burned Solomon’s temple, killed thousands upon thousands, and those they didn’t kill they hauled off into slavery. When they were finished, the holy land was left a void, barren, wasteland of death. To make matters worse, the linage of King David, to whom God had covenanted that his line would rule over Judea forever, had been ended by this murderous foe.

It is into this scene of despair and horror that the prophet Isaiah writes his visions. A shoot shall spring forth from the stump of Jesse. Jesse, was of course the father of King David. Isaiah now prophesies that a shoot shall come forth like a flower springing up from the ground scorched after a fire. A shoot of hope. Light in the darkness. Isaiah doesn’t know how this will happen but he knows it will happen. And he knows this person on who all their hope will be laid will be different. This person will not judge by what he sees or hears. This person will not be like other people, he will have a wisdom and a connection to God that we can’t understand. This person will not just restore Israel, he will user in an era of profound peace. This new era will not just bring about an end to war but an end to the brokenness of our world. An end to violence, disease and death. The lion and the lamb will lay down together. This person will not only bring hope but he will bring about eternal restoration, eternal love, and peace.

Of course, we know that the person Isaiah is speaking about is none other than Jesus of Nazareth. As followers of Jesus then we ought to ask ourselves how we can be like the vision Isaiah. How can we be the shoot that comes forth from the stump? How can we see without our eyes and hear without our ears?

One way of doing this is to live into our calling to be in a constant state of awareness that the world is not what it seems. Christians are called to see beyond matter and physics to the realm of the spiritual. The realm of God where love and grace and holiness abide and emanate into our world. And when we are able to experience that reality, we cease to be small helpless creatures, insignificant in the grandness of the cosmos and in the deepness of time. Instead we become part of something much greater. We become part of the fullness of God. We become part of God’s reality, God’s kingdom, God’s infinite love. And when we show that love to the world we really can be that shoot from the stump, we really can be one who sees and hears differently from those around us. One full of wisdom and grace.