Jesus and Jesse's Tree

The season of Advent is not really about having a festive countdown to a jolly holiday season, despite the many chocolate Advent calendars that one can buy! Advent is more a deep longing for a new world, a world of justice, a world of goodness, a world of true and lasting peace. Every year during Advent, we see how far off these things appear to us now. Our world is longing for deliverance. And yet Advent itself is a stubborn refusal to fall into despair. 

There is much that we should mourn about the world. But alongside the hurt and pain we see, we have another story. Long ago the prophet Isaiah spoke of God’s radical deliverance while Israel itself was undergoing the threat of prolonged devastation. Isaiah 11 begins with these words: A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. (Isaiah 11:1)

The shoot to come would be a new leader who would usher in a new day. This leader would come with wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, and the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. Through this new leader the world would be changed forever. A peaceable kingdom would emerge. And all nations would recognize the glory of the “root of Jesse.” 

Today Isaiah 11 might seem to us to have little to do with our world today.  But reading these scriptures during Advent helps us steer our hope toward the one whom we believe is the root of Jesse, Jesus Christ, the one born in Bethlehem. 

As we continue to walk through this season, consider investing in a spiritual practice that can guide your hope in Christ. This may include more intentional times of prayer, studying the scriptures, or serving those in need. Practices like these can help anchor us in what matters most this holiday season, as we trust that Jesus brings hope to all the earth.