David’s Righteous Branch
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“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the land.
Intro
Intro
Branch: a symbol of kings descended from royal ancestors;
Branch: of the Messiah, a branch out of the root of the stem of Jesse:
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
Jeremiah, in describing the Messiah, the legitimate king of Israel, uses this powerful image of a tender branch, emerging from the Davidic tree.
A child, a branch, capable of bringing salvation, justice and healing to the nations.
Sermon’s outline. I would like to consider 3 aspects of this royal branch:
The Branch’s tree;
The Branch’s blessings;
The Branch and the branches.
N. 1 - The Branch’s Tree
N. 1 - The Branch’s Tree
The tree from which this branch grows is the well-known house of David.
Although popular, the house of David was destroyed, fallen into infamy and shame.
Starting with David, all the kings who have succeeded one another over the centuries have collected only failures, sins, transgressions and shortcomings.
This explains why we have the King, but we do not have the kingdom.
Israel, because of the bad judgment of its kings, was a divided nation and now under the dominion of the Roman Empire.
The tree from which this branch emerges is a dead tree!
But it is precisely in this that we see the power of the Gospel: from what was dead, from a consumed and lifeless tree, God has made a branch emerge that will bring life to the nations.
He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
No matter how weak and lifeless your life, your past, your family may be, in Christ Jesus God has made life sprout.
N. 2 - The Branch’s Blessings
N. 2 - The Branch’s Blessings
A branch is fragile, delicate, slender. Yet the potential of a branch is enormous:
Leaves. With time that little branch will grow and the leaves will sprout, providing shade on hot and dry days.
The Gospels tell of how Jesus protected many weak and defenseless people under his shadow of love, like the woman caught in adultery or his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Fruit. Certainly, that branch will one day produce fruit, and that fruit will bring joy and blessing to those who taste it.
During His earthly ministry, Jesus will draw smiles of joy and liberation wherever he went.
Many children were healed, many people were freed, many families were restored thanks to the fruit of this child, delicate and fragile like a branch.
N. 3 - The Branch and the branches
N. 3 - The Branch and the branches
Then all your people will be righteous
and they will possess the land forever.
They are the shoot I have planted,
the work of my hands,
for the display of my splendor.
In Isaiah we find a verse that uses the term branch, not to describe the promised Messiah, but the people of God.
God himself considers us branches, his branches.
A Responsability. This certainly indicates the responsibility that we all have to resemble the perfect branch, the branch of David, Christ Jesus.
But this verse also hides a promise!
A Blessing. It does not matter how weak or insignificant our beginning is: we are destined to grow, to bless!
Growth is guaranteed! There are no "ifs or buts"!
Maybe your humble beginning could suggest to you that you will not make a difference, but this is not the case: you are a branch of God, a branch that will bear fruit and blessing to the glory of God, a branch capable of extending beyond the wall of difficulties and oppositions, just as Jacob prophesies to Joseph:
“Joseph is a fruitful vine,
a fruitful vine near a spring,
whose branches climb over a wall.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Wrapped in humble rags, the branch of David came into the world bringing with him salvation and justice.
