When The Tree Looks Dead

Introduction: When the Tree Looks Dead

The first Sunday of December reminds us that we are entering the Advent season. This is the time when we prepare our hearts to remember the Lord’s first coming and to look forward to His return. Isaiah begins this journey in an unexpected place. He does not start with angels, shepherds, or songs. He points us to a stump.

Judah had been cut down by judgment. The proud tree of David’s royal line had fallen, and the nation sat in ruins. Yet in the middle of all that desolation, Isaiah sees something remarkable. A shoot begins to rise out of that dead stump. The bark is weathered and gray, but a tender branch pushes upward with life.

God had not forgotten His promise. Out of the ruin of man’s failure, He brings forth His Son. Out of the stump of Jesse, God raises up the Branch. That Branch is Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Savior of the world.

Isaiah looks closely and notices what others might miss. Life where there should be no life. Hope where despair had settled in. That is the character of our God. When everything looks finished, He begins again. When the story seems over, He writes a new chapter. Advent reminds us that God brought His Son into a world dead in sin in order to give everlasting hope.

I. The Root of Hope (verse 1)

“There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.”

Isaiah chooses the name Jesse instead of David. David was the king. Jesse was the simple man from Bethlehem. Isaiah takes us back to the beginning, back to the root, because God bypasses the pride of earthly thrones. He reminds Judah and He reminds us that the Messiah would not come through political strength or human glory. He would come through humility.

Born in Bethlehem. Raised in obscurity. Destined to reign forever.

Matthew opens his Gospel with, “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” God never loses track of His promises. Even when history shifts and nations fall, His Word stands firm. From a fallen kingdom and a forgotten family line, God brought forth His Son.

Some listening today feel like a stump. Something in your life has been cut down. A dream. A season. A prayer that has not yet been answered. But the same God who brought life out of Jesse’s root can bring life out of your barrenness. He has not forgotten you.

II. The Spirit of the Lord Rests Upon Him (verse 2)

“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 of the fear of the Lord.”

Isaiah describes the fullness of the Spirit that would rest on the Messiah. This is not temporary empowerment like the judges of old. This is the permanent anointing of the Son of God.

When Jesus stood in the synagogue in Nazareth, He read from Isaiah and said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.” He was claiming to be the One Isaiah promised.

Christ is the fullness of wisdom. He is perfect in understanding. He acts with divine power and He walks in the fear of the Lord. He is not simply a moral teacher or a spiritual figure. He is the anointed King.

For believers, this is not only doctrinal. It is personal. The same Spirit that rested upon Christ now indwells every child of God. We do not live on our own strength. We draw our life from Him. We are not spiritual stumps. We are branches connected to the living Vine.

III. The Righteous Reign of the Messiah (verses 3 to 5)

“He shall not judge after the sight of his eyes.”

Earthly judges are limited. They see only what lies in front of them. They judge by appearance, by testimony, and by evidence. But the Messiah sees beyond the surface. His judgments are righteous because He sees the heart.

Verse 4 says, “With righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth.”

This is not the justice of politics or courts. This is the justice of God.

Verse 5 tells us, “Righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins.” The belt was the support of the soldier. Isaiah pictures the Messiah’s reign held together by righteousness and faithfulness.

We live in a world that cries out for justice but rejects the only One who can give it. We want peace without the Prince of Peace. One day Christ will rule in perfect righteousness, but even now those who belong to Him live under His spiritual authority.