Astonishingly and Astoundingly Good

Summary

During this second week of Advent,  the candle we light on the advent wreath represents faith. And there's a lot of faith required  in this passage we're discussing today from Isaiah 11:1-10.

It's that one that begins, "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
 from his roots a branch will bear fruit."


When you look at a stump, you don't usually see new trees growing out of it. A stump is usually dead, and you're just waiting for it to decay. This represents David and his kingdom and his family line.

But Jesus is a really unexpected surprise.

David's line had appeared to be done for as the last of the Davidic kings had been carted off to Babylon. Then they return, and there are a few of them that try to set up the kingdom, but they fail and they're under oppression.

But Isaiah speaks of a shoot that will bear fruit.

So, you know, Jesus. He is not what people expect. He's a surprise.

In the passage on the wedding in Cana , there is wine that is saved for the last. That's kind of like Jesus. It's a description of Jesus.

This wine is amazing, intoxicating,  and flavorful. Where did this come from?  That wine is like this shoot coming out of the stump of Jesse.

And so, in Jesus, something that was lost is being restored. Even something that people were hoping for comes to us in a marvelous way.

Jesus arrives in the fullness of time.

He's unexpected and He's better than anything we could imagine. That's the faith that this passage is indicating-Jesus is something you've never seen before.

The Messiah's kingdom is so much more than we can get our heads around. He's going to bring wisdom and order to all of creation. We're going to see an end to things that we thought were never going to be possible. 

This Advent,  respond to the invitation to groan along with all creation, to groan for Messiah's Kingdom, to groan for Jesus, and for His glory to be revealed.

The words He longs to speak to you are astonishingly and astoundingly good.

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Release: December 2022
Music by Christian Harper. Vocals by Halle Martin.
Artwork by Rosemary Strohm at Command-S

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Speaker: Matt Lozano

December 8, 2022

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