Isaiah 11:1-10 Sermon

Second Sunday of Advent

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

Christmas and Christ’s Kingdom: “Christ’s Kingdom Is Worth Waiting For”

Isaiah 11:1-10

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
    from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
    the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and of might,
    the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
    or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
    with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
    with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness will be his belt
    and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
    the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling[a] together;
    and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
    their young will lie down together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
    and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
    on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.

In my church growing up, in the front of the sanctuary we had two wreathes displayed on either side, each of which would gradually display three purple ornaments and one pink one over the course of Advent.  I must confess that as a young child, the first Sunday I saw those wreathes displayed with their one purple bulb, my thought was not, “ah, the season of advent, a time for reflection and patient pondering is upon us,” but rather something along the lines of, “oh man, we still have three more weeks of colored bulbs until Christmas!”  It is no shock to anyone that waiting patiently does not tend to be a virtue with which many children are blessed.  Actually, come to think of it, many of the adults here would have to admit that waiting patiently is not always a virtue with which many of us are blessed.

More often than not, what dictates whether or not we’re willing to wait patiently comes down to determining if something is worth waiting for.  Some may be willing to wait behind a long line of cars to save several cents per gallon on gas; others may not.  Some can wait until the movie comes out on Blu-ray, while others need to see it the night it opens.  But there are certain things that we would pretty much universally agree are worth the wait: a life-saving surgery or treatment, getting hired for a new job, or a loved one returning from being deployed, to give a few examples.  This morning, as we continue our “Christmas and Christ’s Kingdom” series, we will see that Christ’s Kingdom is – and always has been – worth waiting for.

Once again we allow the prophet Isaiah to show this to be true.  We pick up in the eleventh chapter of his book this morning.  In the chapter just before, Isaiah spoke words of judgment concerning the nation of Assyria, both Israel’s enemy and the superpower of Isaiah’s day.  While it would have been difficult for anyone in Isaiah’s time to imagine the leading nation of Assyria being cut down, that is precisely what Isaiah prophesied.  And, just as shocking, if not more so, was his prophesy in our verses this morning that the weak and fractured nation of Israel would rise to prominence in a way that the world had never seen – through its contribution/deliverance of the promised Messiah, who because of the freedom from sin which he would bring, would be well worth the wait.

It is this Messiah about whom Isaiah is speaking in our verses for consideration this morning.  The line of mighty King David had been humbled and brought to its knees.  The era of Israel’s power and prosperity was a thing of the past, and God’s people had endured the embarrassing experience of exile.  What once had been a mighty oak of a superpower was now referred to as a “stump” by the prophet Isaiah.  In an effort to depict how low God’s people had fallen, Isaiah doesn’t even refer to it as the stump of David, but refers further back in his line to the more meager roots of the father, Jesse.  Jesse, we recall, was from Bethlehem, which was by no means a leading city at any point in Israel’s history.  Yet Isaiah tells us, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit” (v.1).  From a stump, a symbol of death, would come a shoot, a symbol of new life.

We have seen the picture.  The lifeless stump sits alone, appearing dried out and dead, possibly even for years.  But where there were previously no signs of life, a little blade of green slices out of the shell of bleached bark to show signs of life.  And, if given the chance, that shoot will split and spread, and branches and leaves will form, eventually flourishing into a tree.

And as Isaiah makes clear, that fruit-bearing Branch can only refer to its messianic fulfillment, Jesus Christ.  Isaiah explained, “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord” (v.2).  John the Baptist made the connection for us when he shared his eyewitness testimony at Jesus’ baptism, testifying, “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God” (John 1:32-34).  At the house of the centurion, Cornelius, Peter preached about Jesus being anointed with the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 10:38), further illustrating that Jesus was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy; he is the Branch that would bear fruit and flourish.

Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit for a purpose, and Jesus himself made clear: “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves” (John 14:10-11).  Jesus recognized he had come to earth to carry out his Father’s work, just as Isaiah had foretold – “and he will delight in the fear of the Lord” (v.3). 

Isaiah clarified what that work of his Father would entail.  “He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears” (v.3).  When we attempt to determine what type of person someone is, we can do no more than make an assessment based on what we’ve seen and heard from that person, or from others about that person.  We have no other means or method or basis by which to judge others.  That doesn’t always work out.  We may draw the wrong conclusion about a person based on what she did, when we don’t have any idea about the “why” behind it.  Or, we may take a person’s words in the kindest way, but if we could see into his heart, we would in some cases see that such words did not stem from kindness at all.  Judging by external words and actions isn’t always accurate, but we have no other choice.

The One promised through Isaiah, on the other hand, chooses not to judge by what his eyes see and ears hear.  Thank goodness!  If that were the case, there would be more than enough spiteful words spit from our mouths and damning deeds done by our hands to condemn us for eternity!  Thank goodness the promised Messiah doesn’t judge on the basis of our external actions.  But wait – what does that leave?  Will we fare any better if he judges our hearts instead of just our words and actions?  Heavens, no!  In fact, our hearts would condemn us even more!  See how true to self the apostle Paul was being when he lamented what a wretched man he was, when he labeled himself “chief of sinners?”  He knew both his condemning outward actions as well as his condemning inward heart.  We do, too!

And so we cannot begin to explain the difference it makes to know that the Savior came to judge by the standard of righteousness, but not your righteousness or mine – for no such righteousness exists. No, he must judge on the basis of his own righteousness.  And Isaiah assures us that is exactly what he came to do.  “But with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth” (v.4a).  His own righteousness will be the basis by which he judges us.  This is where faith comes in.  Faith is God’s gift to you and me which receives the perfect righteousness of Christ as if it was our own.  Paul pens it time and again that righteousness is ours by faith (e.g., Romans 4).  So if righteousness is the basis for Jesus’ judgment of you and me, and that very righteousness belongs to us by faith, what do we have to worry about?  Nothing.  As Christ’s kingdom comes to us through his powerful Word, that Word has bestowed on us his righteousness.  It has made us to be declared guiltless.

It will not, though, have the same effect on those who reject it.  Sadly, the same Word of God that worked Christ’s righteousness in us, is a devastating weapon that wreaks havoc on any who in unbelief refuse God’s free gifts. Isaiah said, “He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked” (v.4b).  Christ’s kingdom is shut out to those who reject him in unbelief.

But what a different picture for all who by his free gift of righteousness and full forgiveness have gained access into his kingdom!  Isaiah takes a page out of nature that the Fallen world would never witness – predator and prey at peace.  Wars cease, men will refrain from attacking and abusing each other, even if only temporarily, but never will the world we know now be a place where enemies in the animal kingdom will suddenly get along.  Never will the world we know now be a place where an helpless child will not only need not fear a treacherous animal, but actually play with it and frolic with it.  It isn’t this life that Isaiah is explaining, but the kingdom to come, the one that will be ushered in when the One who came first as a baby returns a second time as all-glorious, conquering hero.  What idea is Isaiah attempting to convey with his animal pictures?  Peace.  A kingdom of peace is what awaits those who long for the Branch to fully flourish, lacking nothing, and overseeing all things in a flawless eternity.

Until that time comes, a foretaste of that peace has been deposited into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.  It’s peace in the midst of unmet deadlines, unfinished tasks, and unkept promises.  More importantly, it’s peace that replaces the guilt of sin.  It’s peace that flows from forgiveness.  It’s peace that means freedom from fear of judgment.  It’s peace that comes through Jesus, peace that comes to you because he came to you that first Christmas, and he will come to you again on the Last Day.  It’s peace that makes Christ’s Kingdom worth waiting for.  Amen.

                                                              

“For the freer confidence is from one’s own works, and the more exclusively it is directed toward Christ alone, so much better is the Christian it makes.” (Luther)