St. Luke’s Evangelical Lutheran Church – Watertown, WI
Pastor Mark Gartner
Sermon for Advent 2 – December 9^th, 2001

Isaiah 11:1-10
¹ A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

Dear children bought with the precious blood Christ,

When we moved into the parsonage at the church in Charlotte, our backyard had a number of smaller tree stumps scattered around the yard. I remember asking someone why there were all these stumps. They said that those stumps were the daily reminders of a terrible hurricane that had done through Charlotte a few years earlier. What once used to be nice looking and strong trees were ugly looking stumps that were many times in the way. To the people who lived through the hurricane those stumps were a daily reminder that a powerful storm had hit this area. I always thought to myself as I was mowing and trimming around them, What good is that tree stump in our yard? So I did what any good male would do and borrowed the neighbor’s ax and chopped out those ugly, worthless stumps.

But in our text for this morning Isaiah uses the picture of an ugly and useless tree stump to continue our study on the Advent or coming of our King. Today we are going to be led by God’s Word to find hope in something that came out of a worthless stump. We might ask ourselves what does a tree stump have to do with Christ our King? This morning we will answer that question as we look at the words of the prophet Isaiah using the theme:

What a vivid picture this is of Christ. Isaiah takes something we can all relate to and uses it to teach us about the coming of our Savior. Once again we will start from ground zero. Let's all try to get in the right frame of mind. If I could have brought a tree stump into Church without disrupted the service, maybe that would have got us all thinking in the right direction. Imagine this stump. It is a stump that is old and starting to decay. All of sudden as we look at this stump we notice that a small, green shoot has emerged from the stump. It doesn't seem like much at first, but this small shoot turns into a Branch. This is the beginning of our hope. This small twig is in direct contrast to the destruction that Israel was facing at the time of Isaiah as the people were in Exile. We could say that the picture of the stump was showing that they were at their all time low. They realized that they needed help.

These words from Isaiah were written to bring confidence for Christians of all ages. Isaiah was first of all reassuring the people of Israel that they would return from their exile to their homeland, and Isaiah was secondly reassuring all Christians that Christ would return us to our heavenly homeland. God has not left us on our own, but God has promised his Son’s coming from the time of Adam and Eve. This is exactly what Isaiah is prophesying about in these words. A savior is coming who will come from "the stump of Jesse." If we match this up with the points of history in Jesus' life, we can see that Jesus did come from the line of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David who was the descendant that Jesus was to come from. All things were falling into place, just as God had planned them.

Jesus would come from David's line to form a Branch that would rule over all people. Before we get off on the wrong track, we need to make sure that we are all thinking about the same thing. Did Jesus come to set up an earthly kingdom, or did Jesus come to set up a spiritual kingdom? If we misunderstand this, we will miss the hope that Jesus brought into this world. Jesus came to set up a spiritual kingdom, and he was going to be the King. The sad fact is that many people of Jesus' time and people living today have missed the boat and have thought that Jesus would be an earthly king who would free people from their troubles. This is not the case.

Now to be a King Jesus needed to have the power to rule, and the Bible reassures us that Jesus had more weapons and power than any earthly king could ever imagine. Our text tell us, "The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him -- the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord." Jesus had it all at his disposal. As a king we would say that he was in total control. He had the power of the Holy Spirit guiding him as he was on this earth. He had wisdom and understanding far greater than we could ever imagine. He was able to counsel, because he was full of knowledge and he feared the Lord.

Some of this sounds confusing, because we wonder how come Jesus being true God needed the power and wisdom from the Holy Spirit? It is true that as true God he needed no help at all, but he was also true man, and the Holy Spirit gave him the power to accomplish all that God had called him to do. He suffered and was tormented as true man. He was tempted just as we are tempted. And throughout all of his life, he lived in fear of the Lord which means that he respect all his Father’s commands. He knew exactly why he was on this earth. He knew that his Father had sent him to accomplish the Salvation for all people. He did come, and he did set up his kingdom, and he did accomplish all that His Father sent him to do. All of this he accomplished in perfect wisdom and knowledge. What a comfort to know that he was and is still in perfect control over all his creation.

2. He will judge in righteousness

Our text also tells us some of the ways that he used this perfect wisdom and understanding. Isaiah writes, "He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth." Isaiah is not talking about those who are poor and needy physically. He is speaking of all of us who are poor and needy in a spiritual sense. What a fitting picture to describe you and me and all people. We are poor, not because someone made us that way, but because of sin that is in us. We are poor, because we are born into sin. We are needy, because on our own we are lost and condemned creature. We need help. We need someone to rescue us from our spiritual blindness. We need someone to give us exactly what our ailing soul need, which is the forgiveness for all of our sins. Where do we find this forgiveness? We can only find it in one place. It is found in the coming of our Savior who gave his life for us. Jesus our Savior came to give all people the eternal riches that we all need.

He came to bring life, but many do not think that they need this life. Many feel that they can make it on their own. This is what our text is talking about. On the Last Day, Jesus our King will judge all people. He will not judge people unfairly. In his perfect wisdom and knowledge he will know exactly what we have done and what we have not done. He knows exactly who is a hypocrite, which is a person who is pretending to be a Christian. He knows this because he will not look at the outward actions that we have done, but he will look directly into the heart to see if we believe in Christ as our only way to eternal life. He will look to see, if we are one of his children through faith in Christ. Our good works or good life does not save us. We are saved by the gift of faith worked in our hearts.

Our text tells us, "He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked." He is telling us as sinners that God will judge all people by his Word. His holy Word will show all people the way to heaven. To those who choose to reject it he tells us that Jesus will destroy them. That is exactly what will happen on the Last Day. There is no escaping this fact. That is the power of God’s condemning Law. God tells us that his Word is sharper than any two-edged sword. It is able to divide truth from untruth. It knows those who follow God, and those who do not. There are only two sides. Saved through faith in Christ Jesus, or lost and destroyed. This is where we can see the great difference between the physical and spiritual kingdom. It is far worse to die spiritually, than to die physically. That is what Isaiah is trying to tell all people.

At this point in our text we see some words that seem confusing, unless we see the true meaning. Isaiah uses many pictures from the animal world. He tells us that the wolf will live with the lamb. The leopard will live with the goat. The calf and lion and the cow and bear will all get along. Either Isaiah wasn't very aware of what the real animal world was like, or he was trying to make a very vivid point? I would like to go with the latter. Isaiah here is showing us the true peace that Christ brought into this world. This is the peace of knowing exactly what Christ has done for us. This is the peace of knowing that our sins are forgiven. Just think what kind of peace there must be in order that the wild animals will be able to live in harmony with the weak animals.

That is exactly what Isaiah was trying to get across to us. The fruit of preaching God's Word is that people’s hearts are changed by the power of God’s Gospel. This is the picture of God's spiritual kingdom, which is set up in people’s hearts ruling in all power and glory. If you want to see a picture of perfect peace, then let’s look into our a heart that is forgiven by Jesus’ love. Now that is supreme peace and harmony. Faith brings perfect unity, while all other unity is condemned and will be destroyed. No one will destroy this kingdom as Isaiah writes, "they will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the water covers the earth." Perfect harmony! Something we have trouble imagining as we live in this sinful world, but a beautiful puncture to bring us eternal hope and comfort.

This peace entered into this world through Christ and his Word hope was there for all people. God's peace and salvation is not just for one class or gender. God's peace is like a rallying point for all people. Isaiah writes, "In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him and his place of rest will be glorious." What a wonderful statement this is. The picture in these words is that of a banner used by an army to rally the troops to fight the enemy. In a tough battle an army will look at to their banner to muster up strength and power. The banner will keep them moving forward, even in the toughest of times. Isn’t that exactly what we as Christians need? We are in a battle against Satan and his evil forces. Christ and his Word bring us together as we fight this battle. But we need to remember that God's kingdom is for all people. Does any one remember the vivid picture of those men hanging the huge American flag over the side of the building following the event of September 11? It would be hard not to be drawn to that banner. Now think of a banner being raised on a high mountain for all to see. That is what God's Word is like. The banner of Jesus’ work on the cross is there for all to see. Christ came to save. This Advent season we can see exactly where he came from and why. We are not on our own, nor has Christ left us to fend for ourselves. We have the small shoot of the stump of Jesse to remind us of the Branch that came and rescued us from the destruction we deserve. We thank our God for the Advent of our Kind. Amen.

As we look to glory of the cross we can see the comfort and strength we all need. Isaiah wrote some amazing words. He knew where Jesus would come from, and he knew the glory that he would bring. What trust he had as he waited for the coming Savior. Let us who already know of our Savior have this same trust as we once again celebrated the Coming of Christ into this world as a baby. And let this trust shine out into this world of Darkness during this Christmas season and throughout the year because we are assured and confident of what Christ has given us. Amen.