A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
Isaiah 11:1
Who is Jesus and what is the meaning of Christmas? That is a question we often hear from the pulpit in the Christmas season. We may also wonder that ourselves when we think about how we can share the true meaning of Christmas with those who don’t know about Jesus Christ. For Christians, it all goes back to the fulfilment of the Jewish Prophecies about the Messiah. Who is the Messiah? The Jewish people still wait for the Messiah. Yet Christians are a group of people who believe that the Messiah has already come and His name is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. In fact, Christians were called in the 1st century as Nazarenes by other Jewish people or even the Romans around them. Even the St. Thomas Christians of Kerala, India, the Christian community which was established by St. Thomas the Apostle in 52 A.D., were called by that name, or Nasarani. The early followers of Jesus Christ were initally counted as a sect within Judaism. They were called the followers of “The Way”. In Acts 9:2, we read that “any who belonged to the Way” were sought out by Paul (before his conversion) so he could arrest them. One of the first distinctions between Judaism and Christianity took place around the 2nd century when the Roman government saw it as a distinct religious group and persecuted them separately from followers of Judaism. But the final differentiation may have only taken place around the 4th century. So initially, Christians were a group who believed in the arrival of the Messiah as prophesied by the Jewish prophets. Let’s consider one such prophecy by the Prophet Isaiah.
A Prophetic Branch, A Death on a Tree
The Apostle Paul makes the connection between the Messianic Prophecy in the Book of Isaiah and Jesus of Nazareth in Romans 15:8-13. There he declares that Jesus is the fulfilment of the prophecy. It is this realization that made Paul a follower of Jesus Christ. In Acts 13, Paul speaks in the Jewish synagogue in Antioch-in-Pisidia (town in modern day Turkey). He explains in verse 23: “Of this man’s [that is, David, son of Jesse] posterity God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised”. This is the Septuagint translation of Isaiah 11:10, which differs slightly from the Hebrew but the interpretation remains the same. For Paul and the early Christians, Jesus is one who descended in the family lineage of David (human nature of the Son of God), is the true heir of the Davidic royal throne (having political authority in the world), and the long-awaited Messiah (the hope of salvation). The Messiah is divine as well as human, which the Church understands in the dual-nature of Jesus: both God and Human.
Isaiah’s Prophecy of Christ and His Kingdom
Isaiah prefers to refer to the Messiah in terms of Jesse, the father of king David. He belonged to the tribe of Judah. He was from the town of Bethlehem, the very same town in which Jesus was born. Jesse was a simple shepherd, with 8 sons, the youngest being David. David would go on to be a renowned king in Israel, probably the most famous of all the Israelite monarchs. However, before David, Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin was chosen by God to be the first king of Israel. King Saul however disobeyed God; in his place, God anointed David to be king. King Saul however was not at all happy with this and persecuted David. Derogatively, King Saul would call David “that son of Jesse!” (see 1 Sam 20:30).
There are two things to note from the use of the term “root of Jesse”. First, it is not David that is referred to but rather his father Jesse. Other places do refer to Jesus as “son of David”, but it implies the royal heritage and authority that Jesus has. “Son of Jesse” instead implies the humanity of Jesus. While God, He is “God in the flesh” with origins in the historical lineage of the tribe of Judah (of which other Messianic Prophecies refer to). Secondly, it implies the humble origins of Jesus. King David, after the consolidation of power, was wealthy and powerful. He acted in humility but at times, his arrogance got the best of him (as in the case of the adultery with Bathsheba). Jesse however was a humble shepherd trying to raise 8 children.
In the rest of the passage, the character of the Messiah is revealed. The Lord is with him, and he exhibits wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and fear of the Lord (Isa 11:2). What does it mean that the Messiah has the “fear of the Lord” and does it mean that Jesus is subordinate to God the Father? No, but rather the term “fear of the Lord” is explained in verse 3. He will exercise the perfect righteousness of God. King David was unable to be a truly just king. Jesus, by being very God, rules with true justice. Isaiah says that “he shall not judge by what his eyes see”. Jesus judges with true knowledge of what is in the heart of every man and woman. The wicked stand no chance; His Kingdom will judge the nations of the world and its rulers. That is why Psalm 2, the Messianic Psalm says, “Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.”
What kind of Kingdom did the Messiah inaugurate? In Isaiah 11:6-9, the famous lines beginning with “The wolf shall live with the lamb…” calls us to see a world of peace. We see a renewal of the world, such that there is no danger or suffering. We can’t imagine a child with leopards and snakes, but in this vision of the Kingdom of God, the world is truly at peace: “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. (Isaiah 11:9)” Did the peaceful reign of Jesus Christ begin? Yes, when He died on the Cross and delivered humanity from the clutches of death and sin. In undoing the power of sin, Jesus Christ offered the hope of renewal of each and every person. Physical death may occur, but the destructive consequence of sin has been removed. A resurrection body, a new body, is offered to all who accept the authority of the Kingdom of God over their life. It means that Jesus Christ is Lord over your life.
One day, the knowledge of the Lord will be in all peoples, as waters cover the sea. Today, the Christmas season calls us to convey the knowledge of Jesus Christ, who is God and Messiah, the Savior, to any and all peoples. Christians are ambassadors of that message, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To all who believe it and trust it, receive the promises of the Kingdom and the fulfilment of the prophecy.