Peace from the Stump of Jesse

The prophet Isaiah foretold that a descendant of David, a shoot from the stump of Jesse, would come and change the world. Israel had endured centuries of decline, exile, and disappointment, so Isaiah evokes an image of a tree that has been cut down to a lifeless stump in Isaiah 11:1. Yet from what looks dead, new life begins to grow. God brings renewal out of what seems hopeless. Isaiah uses stunning imagery to describe the renewal this king will bring. Wolves will dwell with lambs, leopards will lie down with young goats, and even a child will play near the hole of a cobra without fear, as described in Isaiah 11:6 through 8. Peace will run so deep that even nature itself appears transformed. Isaiah is not simply describing a poetic vision. He is pointing to the complete undoing of the harm caused by sin. This renewal is a sign for all nations, since in Isaiah 11:10 he tells us that the nations will seek the root of Jesse. Israel was chosen so that the whole world might come to know God, and this promised king will fulfill that mission.

Isaiah also tells us what this king will be like. In Isaiah 11:2, he lists the gifts of the Spirit that will rest upon him: wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge, and fear of the Lord. Most importantly, and so important that Isaiah mentions it twice, this king will possess fear of the Lord. Fear of the Lord is often misunderstood. In modern English fear suggests anxiety, but in Scripture it refers to reverence, the deep recognition of God’s holiness and our utter dependence on him. It is the kind of awe that refuses to act against God’s will because it knows the goodness of the One who commands. This holy fear is the beginning of wisdom and the foundation of a transformed life.

When this king appears, justice will flourish and peace will endure forever. As Christians, we know that Isaiah’s prophecy is not a distant hope. It has already begun to be fulfilled. John the Baptist stepped onto the scene as the herald of the long-awaited Messiah. Matthew’s Gospel draws our attention to this connection. Matthew applies Isaiah 40:3 to John when he says that he is the voice crying out in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord. The details matter. John’s clothing of camel hair and a leather belt recalls the description of the prophet Elijah in 2 Kings 1:8. Malachi 3:1 and 4:5 had foretold that Elijah would return before the day of the Lord, and Matthew shows us that John fulfills this expectation.

John’s mission was to prepare the way. He told the people that their lives were not oriented toward God and that they needed to turn around. That is what repentance means. It is the act of reorienting ourselves toward the good. Many believed salvation came from heredity, from being children of Abraham. John challenged that idea when he told them that God could raise up children of Abraham from the stones in Matthew 3:9. Being a child of Abraham in the flesh is an accident of birth. Being a child of Abraham in the Spirit is a matter of aligning our will with God’s will. It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit working within us, a fruit made possible by grace.

John prepared the people for the grace that Christ would offer through his atoning sacrifice. Grace is never forced on us. It is freely offered. It is not a burden, but a gift that can be accepted or rejected. The entire story of Scripture leads to this moment. All creation and all of salvation history were preparing for the time when God would enter his own story in order to restore the harmony that sin had broken. Saint Paul describes this longing of creation in Romans 8:22 when he says that creation groans as in labor pains, waiting for its renewal. We stand in the period of waiting for the final completion of that work when Christ will return in glory and every tear will be wiped away, as Revelation 21:4 promises.

And so on the Second Sunday of Advent the Church invites us to reflect on peace. Isaiah foresaw a world transformed by the Messiah, a world where harmony replaces violence and justice establishes true peace. That promise began to unfold when Christ was born in Bethlehem, for he is our peace as Saint Paul teaches in Ephesians 2:14. It continues to unfold in every heart that welcomes his grace. Yet we also await the final peace that Isaiah described, the peace that will be fully realized when our Lord returns and creation is renewed. Advent teaches us to live in that tension. We remember what God has already done, we receive the grace he offers now, and we look forward with hope to the day when his peace will reign without end.