Isaiah 11:1-9

Advent Series: Advent (which comes from the Latin word for “coming”) is a season for paying particularly close attention to our longing for Christ’s second coming. In order to foster that longing this season, we’ll be looking at some of the remarkable things the Bible tells us about eternal life and some of the intriguing pictures it gives us. The year 2020 has reminded us in a unique way that we are in need of a hope that extends beyond this broken world. This advent we’ll spend some time renewing and relishing in that hope.

Summary: The family tree on which the hopes of Israel once rested (i.e. David and his royal descendants), by Isaiah’s day is described as “the stump of Jesse”–cold, dead, lifeless. Yet from this stump, Isaiah says, will come a leader (a “shoot”) who will bring about what could hardly sound more unrealistic. Israel knew full well the unrelenting bent of this world toward violence and bloodshed–and so do we. The peace Isaiah describes is so achingly beautiful we might hardly dare to hope such a thing is possible. But the shoot Isaiah describes is not just another ‘good king’ (such as Josiah or Hezekiah); he is someone who has complete creative control over this world. And this shoot, whom we now know in Jesus Christ, will one day so rid the world of its bent toward violence that even the animal kingdom will be transformed. Our desperate longing for peace will be fully satisfied on the day of Christ’s return.