Isaiah 11:1–10 The prophet’s foretelling of the family line (the shoot) that will come from Jesse and eventually lead to the birth of the saviour (the branch) of the people of the world. His vision, wisdom, and understanding will far exceed that which is limited by human senses, and with his coming, there will be peace and reconciliation among even the most natural of enemies throughout creation.
Psalm 72:1–7, 18–19 A song or poem written about King David, asking God to endow him with many of the same attributes as a leader that the prophet Isaiah says the Messiah will possess. The psalmist asks for long life for David and that he will rule over a peaceful and prosperous people.
Romans 15:4–13 In a long greeting, Paul assures his readers that Jesus is the one that the ancient Scriptures told about and that this means that God is a God of kept promises. He goes on to remind them that, also as it is commanded in the ancient texts, they are to go out among those who are not Jewish (a.k.a., the uncircumcised) and preach the gospel that Jesus left with them.
Matthew 3:1–12 While John the Baptist is baptizing people in the Jordan river and warning listeners of the coming kingdom of God, he also condemns the arrogance of the Pharisees and Sadducees. He warns that just being from the lineage of Abraham (same lineage as Jesse), from which the Israelites came, isn’t enough to merit God’s grace. He tells them they have to repent of their shortcomings and begin to bear different spiritual fruit.
Stump of Jesse—This could sound either pretty gross or a little bit naughty, depending on how you take it. But it’s actually a reference to a lineage of people from which the Messiah is to come. The most beautiful thing about the image of this lineage being like a tree is even as part—or even much—of it is killed off or dies, life will still persist and emerge from it. Put another way, the coming of the Anointed one (Jesus) can’t be stopped, no matter how people may try.
Holy Mountain—The reference God makes (through Isaiah) to “my holy mountain” could be understood as referring to the “city on a hill,” which is how the holy city of Jerusalem was described. Considered more broadly, it could be taken as a reference to all the earth, which is also God’s.
Gentiles—A term used among the Jewish people to describe anyone who was a non-Jew.
Pharisees and Sadducees—These were two sects within Judaism at the time of Jesus. They differed in some of their beliefs, like on whether there was life after death (Pharisees believed in it; Sadducees didn’t) and how strictly the Torah was to be interpreted (Sadducees were literalists, while Pharisees were open to debate about the meaning, or meanings, of texts).
We should keep in mind that the image of such pervasive peace and reconciliation is especially appealing to the tribes of Israel, who have been embattled with each other and outside tribal factions for a really long time. But it may also be seen as a challenge to have to coexist with those who they perceive as an imminent threat.
In the Psalm, it seems to me that this author is definitely getting paid by the king to write flattering stuff about him. His own personal motivation aside, it’s not an accident that the features David clearly wants to inherit directly mirror those that the prophets predict the future Messiah will have. Whether he seeks such attributes in order to be a ruler more in favour with God or not is unclear.
As for the members of the early church in Rome, I can only imagine the angst they must have felt about having to go out among the people of the very city at the heart of the occupying empire to preach about a different faith. My guess is that without Paul’s urging, they’d be just as happy to stay safely tucked away in the privacy of their gathering places. But Paul, the zealot that he is, isn’t having it.
Finally, we have John the Baptist, who is always quite the charmer. Unlike the early Christians in Rome, he’s not afraid at all to call out the powers that be, promising all sorts of gross, terrible stuff in their future if they don’t turn from their present course. He, like the psalmist and Paul, is referring back to the ancient prophets as his authority for his convictions.
When compassion for the common man was born on Christmas Day, with it was born new hope among the multitudes. They feel a great, ever-rising determination to lift themselves and their children out of hunger and disease and misery, up to a higher level. Jesus started a fire upon the earth, and it is burning hot today, the fire of a new hope in the hearts of the hungry multitudes. Frank C. Laubach
1. Hail to the Lord's Anointed,
great David's greater Son!
Hail in the time appointed,
his reign on earth begun!
He comes to break oppression,
to set the captive free;
to take away transgression,
and rule in equity.
2. He comes with succor speedy
to those who suffer wrong;
to help the poor and needy,
and bid the weak be strong;
to give them songs for sighing,
their darkness turn to light,
whose souls, condemned and dying,
are precious in his sight.
3. He shall come down like showers
upon the fruitful earth;
love, joy, and hope, like flowers,
spring in his path to birth.
Before him on the mountains,
shall peace, the herald, go,
and righteousness, in fountains,
from hill to valley flow.
4. To him shall prayer unceasing
and daily vows ascend;
his kingdom still increasing,
a kingdom without end.
The tide of time shall never
his covenant remove;
his name shall stand forever;
that name to us is love.
James Montgomery
God the Father is the giver of Holy Scripture; God the Son is the theme of Holy Scripture; and the Holy Spirit is the author, authenticator, and interpreter of Holy Scripture. J. I. Packer
1270: The cathedral in New Orleans’s Jackson Square may be one of the most photographed buildings in America, but few tourists know the church is named for a king of France, Louis IX, who—rather amazingly, for a king—is also considered a Christian saint.
In theory, everyone in medieval Europe was a Christian by virtue of baptism. In practice, people behaved badly and kings worse than most since their power gave them ample opportunity for sinning. Louis IX of France was an exception. He became king at the age of twelve became king at the age of twelve in 1226, but for many years the government and the moulding of Louis’s character were in the hands of his remarkable mother, a strong and very devout woman who instilled in him the belief that he was accountable to God for his own soul and for his nation’s welfare. Louis reigned with justice and tried to protect the poor from the greedy nobles of France. Not trusting royal officials to do their jobs right, he had a network of “investigators” to monitor their activity. Most kings would sign a treaty and then break it without troubling their consciences, but Louis was a man of his word.
Louis fought in the Crusades, the wars to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims. For many rulers, the Crusades were mostly a matter of public relations: a ruler would go to Palestine, fight in a few battles, and (if he survived) return home to be proclaimed as a warrior for the Lord. Louis was different: he really did want to recover the Holy Land for the Christians. He spent four years in Palestine, building up defences and organizing the government. Louis died on August 25, 1270, while on Crusade.
America’s federal government thought highly of Louis, for statues of him (honouring him as a law-giver) are found in the Supreme Court building and the House of Representatives
The end of 2018 witnessed the largest fire in the history of the state of California. Hundreds were missing and scores died as a result of the so-called Camp Fire.
Millions, if not billions, of dollars in property were lost, and the landscape of what had been considered by many to be one of the most desirable places in the nation to live has been altered for generations to come.
In general when we look at something like this, we consider it to be a tragedy by all accounts. Everywhere we look is loss and destruction. But while the destruction certainly is heart-breaking, there’s also life and hope hidden at the heart of it all if we look closely.
There are some families of trees that produce cones or fruit in which the seeds for new saplings are entirely sealed within a casing of tree resin. This means that the trees can’t reproduce unless they are subjected to extreme conditions—like a fire—that will melt the resin, releasing the seeds into the soil.
So for those trees, their long-term survival depends on occasional fires to sweep through and free their full potential to propagate. Sometimes prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah have messages that are hard for people to hear.
Even Paul and Jesus hit people between the eyes sometimes with their prophetic teaching. They call for a cutting back or a clearing out of the old ways and values we have gotten used to clinging to. Letting go of those things can feel like a small death, if not at least an unbearable loss.
But it can take a hard truth to help us release our grip on old ways that have kept us in death-spirals so that we can embrace something new that allows for an entirely different kind of living we couldn’t even see from our old perspective.
Like the gospel according to the Rolling Stones says, you can’t always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes you might find you get what you need.
I know I can get stuck, trapped inside my own thinking about how things should be and what I really need. Help me loosen my grip and make room for new life that I may not even be able to imagine. Amen
Queen Prophet's Song
“Forgive Me When I Whine”
Today upon a bus I saw a lovely maiden with golden hair;
I envied her—so beautiful, and how, I wished I were so fair;
When suddenly she rose to leave, I saw her hobble down the aisle;
She had one foot and wore a crutch,
but as she passed, she wore a smile
Oh God, forgive me when I whine,
I have two feet –the world is mine
And when I stopped to buy some sweets,
the lad who served me had such charm;
he seemed to radiate good cheer, his manner was so kind and warm;
I said, “it’s nice to deal with you, such courtesy I seldom find;”
He turned and said, “Oh, thank you sir.”
And then I saw that he was blind.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine,
I have two eyes, the world is mine.
Then when walking down the street,
I saw a child with eyes of blue;
He stood and watched the others play,
it seemed he knew not what to do;
I stopped a moment, then I said,
“Why don’t you join the others, dear?
He looked ahead without a word,
I realized –he could not hear.
Oh God, forgive me when I whine,
I have two ears, the world is mine
With feet to take me where I’d go,
with eyes to see the sunsets glow,
with ears to hear what I would know,
I am blessed indeed.
The world is mine Oh God, forgive me when I whine.
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