Sermon for 1/1/23: The Sunday After Christmas

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No sermon video this week. My apologies.

A Righteous Shoot

Isaiah 11:1-5

 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen. 

 

 

Our text from Isaiah uses the historical setting of God’s deliverance of Judah from the Assyrians as a means of talking about the promise of Israel’s deliverance yet to come through the promised Savior. Jesus was the Savior God’s people were awaiting, and God’s Son would be the Savior from sin and death the whole world has waited for: the Savior who comes with humble roots and heavenly qualities and holy judgment.

God rescued Judah from Assyria; they were not cut down by their enemies…at least, not yet. Because of the nation’s continued sin and rebellion, however, God would eventually send another enemy that would succeed where Assyria failed. The great nation that once had flourished under David and Solomon would be reduced to a stump. But from that seemingly lifeless stump, God promised to send a Deliverer. “There shall come forth a Shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots shall bear fruit.” Jesse was the father of David, the great King from Israel’s past. The Savior God promised would come from those humble roots and David’s family.

During the season of Advent we heard John the Baptist’s call to repentance. God’s people had waited for the Savior to come for many hundreds of years. And when He came, it was in great humility. Our Lord’s mother and foster-father, Mary and Joseph, were never in the latest edition of People magazine, never highlighted by TMZ. Yes, they were from the line of King David, but that was about it. And yet, the coming of Jesus in such humility was essential to His saving work. Jesus set aside His divine power, hiding it behind His humanity, humbling Himself from cradle to cross, where He endured the ultimate humility: the punishment of God against our sin. Those humble roots and that humble life were key ingredients that made Jesus the Savior God’s people waited for.

Isaiah continues His description of the Savior when he says that the Spirit of the Lord would come to rest upon Him. But the coming Savior would have yet another heavenly quality that deserves mention. Isaiah said: “Righteousness shall be the belt of His waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.” In ancient times, a belt might be worn around the waist when a man engaged in a wrestling match; the object of the competition was to wrestle the opponent’s belt away from him. Isaiah used this common ancient practice as a picture to describe the Savior’s readiness to go into battle for us. His belt was that of righteousness and faithfulness, which meant that only Jesus could be holy under God’s Law; only Jesus could faithfully fulfill every command of God. Jesus knew the will of God perfectly. His Father had sent Him to make that journey from cradle to cross where He would suffer and die for our sins. And in this way, His righteousness would become ours and now counts for us who trust Him as our Savior. These heavenly, Spirit-given qualities make Him the Savior you have waited for.

The Savior you have waited for is coming again, this time with a holy judgment. “He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.” The all-perceiving, heart-piercing Christ is coming to judge all mankind and to seek justice against sin. And there is no way you can doctor the data when God, who sees and knows all, comes to judge all. The verdict we deserve is guilty; the punishment we deserve is hell! But when Jesus returns, His verdict will not be what we deserve. He endured what we deserve on the cross. He gives us what He earned through faith in His saving work. And so, His final judgment is nothing to fear; instead, it is our gracious entrance into His kingdom forever.

The frenzy of this Christmas season, which now begins to subside, so easily distracts us not only from the miracle of Bethlehem but also from what will most certainly take place when our Lord Jesus returns again. He came to save us. He comes in His Word to call us to repentance and faith, and He will come again to bring to us the gifts of heaven He has already secured for us. Jesus is not just some sort of holiday ambiance. He is the Savior: the Savior you have waited for! In the name of the Father and of the Son (†) and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always.  Amen.