The Names Of Jesus - “The Stem Of Jesse”
It is from that Stump that had Tender shoot will appear. From death and destruction will come life and with it a promise of hope.
The Names Of Jesus - “The Stem of Jesse”
Isaiah 11:1
“Then a Shoot will spring from the Stem of Jesse and a Branch from his Roots will bear fruit.”
In this incredible verse written by the prophet Isaiah, Jesus is called for distinct names that all spring from the picture of a tree stump. “The Stem of Jesse” is, literally, a tree stump.
If we go back to Isaiah 10, we see that Isaiah has just described the landscape of the nation of Israel. He described it as a forest that had been completely razed and there was nothing left of what was once a flourishing forest. But, he saw a Stump. The Stump was the family ofJesse.
Jesse, of course, was the father of King David and it would be from that line that the Messiah would be born. What Isaiah is saying in chapter 11 is that in the wake of death and destruction, the Assyrian army had wiped out every living thing yet, one Stump stood. That Stump is Jesus.
It is from that Stump that had Tender shoot will appear. From death and destruction will come life and with it a promise of hope. Life will arise from death and the Stem, or the Stump, is God’s gift to His people and even the whole world.
That’s rhetorical story of Jesus: beauty for ashes, life from death, hope from disparate pain, peace from war and eternal joy from ugly sorrow.
A lone Stump will sprout a single shoot from which a forest will be born. More on that tomorrow.
