The Stump Of Jesse Blooms

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide 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 smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist, and faithfulness the girdle of his loins.

Isaiah 11:1-5

David was not the first King of Israel. From what we are told of his son Solomon, he might not even have been the greatest King of Israel.

Yet he was without a doubt “the” King of Israel.

It is his name that became the name of a royal family. The “stump of Jesse” became the House of David.

It was David who slew Goliath armed with only a stone and the might of God.

It was David who conquered the city of Jerusalem, and made it the seat of government for the nation of Israel.

In every respect, it was David who forged the Israelite people into a kingdom.

Yet David was also an adulterer who stole another man's wife, and then murdered him in order to keep her. David's behavior regarding Bathsheba would be considered appalling even by modern standards. Sending Uriah into battle specifically to be killed would be considered criminal in most parts of the modern world.

David as king made many mistakes.

He failed to guide his son Absalom well. Absalom attempted rebellion and tried to overthrow his father.

He failed to respect his army, and succeeded in creating dissension within the ranks.

David was in so many ways a flawed, sinful, fallen man.

Despite David's sins, God chose to make the House of David the royal lineage that would define Israel as a nation. David won for the Israelites a capital at Jerusalem. His son Solomon built the First Temple.

Despite David's sins, God pledged to him that the kingdom would remain whole and at peace during Solomon's reign. God of course kept that promise even after Solomon strayed from the Lord, appeasing his many wives and concubines with altars to false gods.

Despite David's sins, it was through his lineage that God would send His only begotten Son into the world to redeem the whole of mankind.

The “stump of Jesse” has put forth some very remarkable roots!

How is it that God continued to find David worthy, despite David repeatedly stumbling, falling, and sinning? What was it about David that God regarded favorably?

One thing we should note about David is that he never denied his sins. He knew he was wrong in taking Bathsheba and killing Uriah. He did not attempt to deflect blame or deny accountability. He endured the punishment God decreed and remained faithful.

The same cannot be said of David's predecessor Saul. Saul sought to kill David rather than allow his crown to pass to him. Saul ended up dying ignominiously by falling on his sword after a bitter defeat.

What set David apart, what distinguished David from Saul, was not a roster of good deeds, but a humble and faithful heart. Even when he was in the wrong David trusted God. Even when he endured God's sanction he continued to love God.

David was a sinful man, but he always looked to God. David stumbled and fell off the path, even as king, but always he returned to the path, returned to the ways of God.

Yet this has been the manner in which God’s plans unfold. Time and again, we see God choosing imperfect, sinful, fallen men to do His work.

He chose Peter to be the rock upon which His church would be built. Yet Peter denied Jesus not once but three times.

He chose Paul, once a persecutor of Christians and one who struggled with sin his entire life, to carry Christ’s message to the Gentiles of the Roman Empire.

From the stump of Jesse came a branch that blossomed with righteousness in spite of David’s sin and corruption. That branch would graft on new branches—Peter, Paul, James, and all the Apostles—to spread the seeds of that righteousness across the earth. Sinful, fallen, corrupted men were called to be the instruments through which God transmitted His message of grace, forgiveness, and redemption to a sinful, fallen, corrupted world.

Sinful, fallen, corrupted men are called even today to continue to spread that righteous message. Jesus, when He completed His ministry here on Earth, charged all of His disciples to in turn make disciples of all nations, and we are still called to that ministry. Despite our sins and many flaws, despite all our many thorns in the flesh, we are still called to spread God’s message of hope, and to be God’s light into a darkened world.

Despite our sins and many flaws, we are still called to righteousness, called to holiness. We are called to be transformed, reborn into new and eternal life. We are called to put aside the perishable and put on the imperishable. We are promised that God will wipe away our sins, and blot out our many imperfections.

Despite our sins and many flaws, we are called to be new branches, grafted onto the One which grew out from the stump of Jesse. Despite his sins and many flaws, David was called to be that stump of Jesse.

God calls us, despite our sins and many flaws, to do holy, righteous, and remarkable things.

My prayer, on this second Sunday of Advent, is that we may all be reminded by the example of David that righteousness is not measured by deeds but measured by faith. My prayer, on this second Sunday of Advent, is that we may be reminded by the example of David to nurture our faith, that it may give us both strength and hope. My prayer, on this second Sunday of Advent, is that we may look to the blooming of the stump of Jesse who is David and rejoice that, through David, through the stump of Jesse, God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that all who come to Him in faith might be saved.

God calls us, despite our sins and many flaws, to do holy, righteous, and remarkable things.

Despite our sins and many flaws, we are called to be new branches, grafted onto the One which grew out from the stump of Jesse. Despite his sins and many flaws, David was called to be that stump of Jesse from which Jesus would come into the world.