O Come O Come Emmanuel: Pt. 4

We’re continuing with the theme of taking these verses out of order but we’re moving chronologically for now. Stanza six reads, “O come, O Branch of Jesse’s stem, unto your own and rescue them! From depths of hell your people save, and give them victory o’er the grave.” The invitation this time has to do with Jesus’ earthly lineage, the question of origins, and what it takes to experience victory. The song seems to be alluding to Isaiah 11:1 which reads, “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.” So much could be unpacked from this verse but there are at least three important truths for us to consider:

1.      Isaiah could have just as aptly said the stump of David. After all, David received the covenant. However, the prophet specifically chose Jesse, David’s father. He chose the shepherd, not the king. He chose the father of David. He chose the one who would symbolize the humble origins of David’s lineage. God had raised David up from nothing. The royal line at that time was from Benjamin. We read about the tribe of Judah and the majesty of David or Solomon’s reign, but it is easy to forget the origin of the story. Don’t get me wrong, apparently Jesse was relatively well to do, and his grandfather was wealthy from what we read in Ruth, but they were not royalty. God exalted this family and he had judged them mightily when they refused to obey. The stump of Jesse is a reminder that they were right back where they started and nothing, in their own power, was going to change this reality.

2.      This image of a stump was a reminder that there were no more kings that descended from David (and thus Jesse’s lineage) sitting on the throne. The last Jewish king, Zedekiah, had been defeated by Babylon. In the end, his capture was horrific. Nebuchadnezzar caught Zedekiah attempting to flee Jerusalem. They killed his sons in front of him and then put out his eyes (1 Kings 25:5-7). When we open the New Testament there has not been a son of David on the throne for more than five hundred years. Yet out of this seemingly dead stump – from this once lofty dynasty that had been humbled, would come a branch or a shoot. God made a promise to David (2 Sam. 7:16 and 2 Chron. 6:16) that someone would sit on his throne forever. If that promise was going to be fulfilled, then the stump couldn’t be completely dead. And it wasn’t completely dead because of point three.

3.      If you keep reading in Isaiah chapter eleven, you find a fascinating statement in verse ten. It says, “In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples – of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.” A few short verses ago Isaiah called this coming Messiah the branch shooting off from the stump of Jesse. However, only a little later, Isaiah claims that this man is the root of Jesse. How can something be both the origin of strength and life but also the fruit? How can something both pre-date the stump and come after it as a later growth? It isn’t possible for someone to be both an ancestor and a descendent of an individual. My dad can’t be both the root of Robert Danuser and a branch from Robert Danuser. However, this is exactly what the prophet claims to be true.

This is possible not because Jesus was some sort of magical time traveler. Rather, he is the Eternal Creator. He shaped Jesse in his mother’s womb. He knew exactly what was needed to ground Jesse’s roots deep. God was the one who knew that a famine would take Elimelech and Naomi to Moab and that death would bring Naomi and Ruth back to Bethlehem with nothing. Then, of all possible outcomes, this obscure Moabite woman would marry Boaz (the son of Rahab and Salmon), a respected farmer who feared God. They would have a son named Obed who then had a son named Jesse. This lineage was fraught with unusual pairings and rooted in the leadership of Judah’s tribe. However, this lineage became part of God’s eternal plan for redemption that eventually produced the Messiah.

What a beautiful story of grace! Not one of those circumstances that led to Jesse’s birth was by chance. God is the very origin of life, the divine hand directing events and marriages, and the one who hand selected this man’s descendent David (who we will discuss in more detail next time) to be king. A king was supposed to be a rescuer, a protector, and a leader. David, for the most part, did a good job with that calling but many of his sons did not. However, the lyricist wants this Branch, the one who is the root and the descendent to rescue and save his people from hell.

Certainly, Israel needed (and needs) deliverance from their physical enemies. However, the song writer understood that as important as transitory physical needs are there was a bigger problem. Hell, and the grave – the two ultimate realities and results of the fall. They are the equivalent of separation from God both spiritually and physically. Can you imagine asking this of an earthly king? It would be ludicrous to request, “David, please come rescue us from hell and the grave!” No matter how rich or powerful, we understand that kings themselves are mortal. They cannot save themselves from these realities, much less anyone else.

However, the lyricist isn’t asking a random king to do this work. No, he is asking the author of life to intervene. The one who created Jesse and the one who stepped into time to save Jesse (and all others who will repent and surrender their lives) is the only one capable of defeating these enemies. This one who came as a baby was and is God in human flesh. He did not come simply to live a good life or set a good example. He came to fulfil the Law, something we could never do, and reconcile us to the Father (Rom. 5:10). Adam’s sinful choice plunged the entire human race into death, hatred, destruction, and ultimately separation. We could do nothing to restore ourselves to a right relationship with God. Jesus willingly laid down his life on the cross, taking the judgement that should have been ours so that he could defeat all that stood between us and the Father.

The only life that can grant this request for deliverance from hell and victory over the grave is a resurrected (and resurrecting) life. In 1 Cor. 15:55-57 we read, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God which giveth us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

All things were placed under his (Jesus’) feet (Eph. 1:22). He finished the work of redemption (Jn. 19:30). However, the only way for us to experience this victory, to be seated in heavenly places, to endure even difficult circumstances with hope is to be in Christ. Notice the Corinthians passage again. We are given victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. The only thing capable of making dead stumps or stone hearts bear fruit is a person – the very Creator of life. He is the originator. He is the one who has been directing the weaving of our lives.

The one who used a societal outcast that typically wouldn’t have even been allowed in the Temple, a prostitute (though this could be a separate conversation about what Rahab really was), and a shepherd (typically viewed as unclean) to form the lineage of Jesus longs to redeem our stories as well. He is not surprised by our circumstances or the chaos. He desires to restore what sin (our own and others) has destroyed in our lives. He desires to make us new creations. He desires to conform us to his will but all of that is only possible if we are first in him. We must repent, forsaking all that we have been trusting in for salvation and believe that he alone is sufficient to save us from our sinful natures and the many sins we have committed. Once we are in Christ, he will lead us in triumph (2 Cor. 2:14). It won’t always be a life of ease and comfort. The very promise that we will have victory tells us that there will be battles. However, he has won the war. He has defeated our enemies. He will provide the enabling power needed for us to emerge victorious. He came to give us his life. Our weakness exchanged for his strength. Our failure exchanged for his completed work. Our sin exchanged for his holiness. Are you in him? If not, I can’t think of a better season to accept the work that Christ has finished on your behalf. Only through the life of the one who loved us, can we be made more than conquerors (Rom. 8:37).