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A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him…They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:1,2,9).

Imagine a large swath of land that once was forest. All that remains are stumps. Such is the image that Isaiah now paints for the people of Israel. The ten northern tribes have been carted off to Assyria and the Babylonian threat is on the horizon. Nebuchadnezzar is coming for Judah.

If he comes, he will carry away the royal family, David’s descendants. That is what conquering kings did; removed the threat of anyone restoring the royal line. If this happen, what of God’s promise to David that his descendant’s would always reign over Israel? The faithful in Israel are afraid.

And so, Isaiah paints the picture, “A shoot from the stump of Jesse;” Jesse being David’s father. This family will be carried off to exile, leaving a dead stump. But out of that stump new life will grow, a shoot. Isn’t that just God’s way? Abraham and Sarah, old, wrinkled, childless. Hannah, weeping as if drunk. Jonah in the belly of a big fish. Mary, the unwed pregnant teenager. Who will believe her story? Jesus, lying dead in a tomb. All dead stumps. All shooting new life.

There is a deeper story here. Judah’s coming exile will be God’s judgement because she persisted in her disobedience. This divine judgement is not vindictive but follows a long patient path of redemption, of restoration, of return. Out of the ashes life will bloom again.

It is the persistent image of the Christian spiritual life. “Unless a seed falls to the ground and dies... (John 12:14). In baptism, we are buried with Christ into his death (Romans 6:14). Only if we lose our life for Christ can we find it (Matthew 10:39). Death precedes life.

Some 600 years later, a king is born from Jesse's long-dormant stump (Mary & Joseph, both David’s descendants). Born only to die. Born to bare the curse of sin for us. Exiled into the darkness of the tomb. Christ redeemed us from the curse… by becoming a curse for us…He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit (Galatians 3:13,14).

Isaiah laid out this element of Jesus coming. “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him.” Four times, Isaiah names the Spirit and what he will bring, wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and the fear of the Lord (11:2).

And what a vision Isaiah offers for the world because of the Spirit of the Lord. He will bring justice for the poor and needy. He will slay the wicked. The wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the goat, the calf and the lion will all pasture together and be led by a child. Isaiah concludes, “They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea”.

What a beautiful image. What delight that will be. But how little we see of it, even in the church.

Why? Is it because we will not follow the nudging of the Spirit? For life to sprout, we need to die. But we are unwilling. We hold onto our grudges, we refuse to forgive, we insist that we are right! Jesus said the Spirit will lead us into the truth. But we do not want to be led. We want to go our own way. The Spirit does not drag, only leads.

Will you follow? Will you die to yourself? Of what must you repent? What must you forgive? Jesus came to bring peace on earth. By way of death. His death, yes. But ours too, this is the way of the Spirit. Will you follow?