Good Morning Friends,
We all have an interest in our heritage and legacy related to our journey through life. We can even get our DNA tested to discover our genealogy, but what is more important is our spiritual DNA and discovering our voice in the family of God. Many of you are familiar with the Christmas story as reported by Luke in chapter 1 and the lineage of Jesus in Matthew 1. And what is interesting is that the two events and passages are explained through a metaphor reflected in a stump and a seed and the growing and gowning of God’s creation that really needs no words to convey the necessary message that started in a garden and ends with a tree that heals the nations on a river that flows by the throne of God in a City. But not all trees are healthy and the mythology behind them can be perplexing. So today as the Advent theme shifts from the second coming to the first, we ask a personal but basic question, Is Our Spiritual Family Tree Rooted In The Holy Spirit?
Scripture: Thus says the Lord God: I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of a cedar; I will set it out. I will break off a tender one from the topmost of its young twigs; I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it, in order that it may produce boughs and bear fruit, and become a noble cedar. Under it every kind of bird will live; in the shade of its branches will nest winged creatures of every kind. All the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord. I bring low the high tree, I make high the low tree; I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I the Lord have spoken; I will accomplish it.
Ezekiel 17:22-24 (NRSV)
He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.” He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
Mark 4:26-34 (NRSV)
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
Isaiah 11:1 (NRSV)
Assemble and hear, O sons of Jacob; listen to Israel your father. Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He crouches down, he stretches out like a lion, like a lioness—who dares rouse him up? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and the obedience of the peoples is his.
Genesis 49:2, 8-10 (NRSV)
An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah. So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.
Matthew 1:1-17 (NRSV)
Message: The image of the tree runs throughout the Bible’s storyline. We see them in the garden, a burning bush, Jonah had his tree and so too Zacchaeus. The overarching image is of Christ on a cross but also the establishment of a kingdom that would grow and become a shelter for all people from all nations that would come to Him. For better or worse, all sorts of people, that appear good and bad are part of the journey. Maybe that is the way God planned it. That may be why the author of Genesis never tells us what the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is all about but allows the Holy Spirit to guide us in understanding what is important. There was a time when Israel claimed, through pride, that she was a living tree, and a flourishing nation, but discovered that she fell short. Jesus points out that we Christians should also not be so smug. We are more a weed or a bush like the mustard plant. Here God takes the smallest faith and for those who trust miraculously increases it into a Tree of Blessings for all. This is the image of the emergence and growth of God’s Kingdom here on earth. Thankfully, God specializes in small beginnings. But we all want to come from good stock. We all want that famous person in our lineage. We all want to live forever. And when talking about our genealogies we are going to highlight those people. We want the strong, powerful, rich, and famous people in our genealogy. But the reality is that we all have the good, bad, and ugly as well as the strong, beautiful, and successful in our family tree. Sure, we might want to hide them but that is not what Matthew does in Jesus’ genealogy. It is very interesting who makes it into the genealogy of Jesus. It does not go out of its way to hide all the messy people. In it are even three women who were not even Jewish. Still when we look at our family tree, whether spiritual or genealogical, we like to highlight really great people so that we look better. So, it would seem wise, brothers and sisters in Christ for us to patiently focus on Jesus. In Isaiah 11:1 it explains the genealogy in this way… A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. You see after Isaiah penned this verse and before Jesus’ genealogy was recorded in Matthew there were hundreds of years that passed where people might well have felt that God had forgotten them, moved past them, and given up on them. The Bible does not give a lot of attention to this time between the Testaments and yet people lived through them and had families and children. Regardless, somehow the promise of Isaiah is that from the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and all the others, it would bring life. Life we know in the form of a baby. Jesus, who would grow up and save the world. From what appeared a hopeless situation came hope. And that promise is still true for us today in the image of the kingdom and a mustard plant. And here we are to be humble, for the stage is set for worship and our places of practice are waiting to be filled with the very birds who eat the seeds of faith as well as the songbirds and doves who spread the Word of God. Like in the Garden there is still good and evil.
And So, our Advent focus has now changed as we turn to the genealogy and prophecy of Jesus’s first coming to earth. And we read that early in Jesus’ family history, Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, prophesied that his warrior son Judah would be the ancestor of a ruler who would be obeyed by many nations. As the people of Israel grew in numbers, we also know their history frequently included straying from the path God set for them. Ultimately the tribe of Judah gave us David, who is called a man “after God’s own heart.” His time was a kind of golden age for Israel, even though it was marred by David’s own sins of adultery, betrayal, and murder. His kingly descendants were almost all big disappointments, to the extent that God caused Babylon to overthrow the Davidic kingdom and drag many Israelites into exile. After the restoration under the Persians, more generations were born, but they were generally disappointing as well, until the Romans put the whole of Israel under occupation and oppression. But then came John preparing the way and Joseph and his betrothed, Mary. For they are in the line and spirit of Abraham, Ruth, David, Hezekiah and the other just of the Old Testament. Thankfully, Mary also said yes to God’s plan, and the Holy Spirit made her the mother of the Messiah, Jesus our Lord. From Genesis to Malachi, I have read that there are over 300 specific prophecies detailing the coming of the Messiah. I have not counted them myself but know they include His birth in Bethlehem, His birth from the tribe of Judah, His lineage from King David, His sinless life, His humbleness in riding on the colt of a donkey, His atoning work for the sins of His people, and His death on a tree and resurrection are all prophecies recorded in the Old Testament long before Jesus Christ actually fulfilled them. Even the words of Jesus on the cross are foretold and that is just the beginning, for now that spiritual tree has taken root around the world and it is so much more impressive than any Christmas tree we can imagine or even our family tree, for in the final analysis it sets the stage for the real action in the story of reconciliation between God and Humans through the love of Christ on a tree on a hill.
Pray that we rejoice that the promise was fulfilled. Pray we say yes to God’s call. Pray we claim our spiritual connection to the branches and roots of the Holy Spirit. Pray that we stand firm. Pray what God plants is us, though small, grows and becomes a huge blessing to others. Pray we sow to the Spirit and reap to eternal life. Pray we grow branches and bear fruit. Pray God take our broken heritage and show how good and powerful Jesus really is. Pray we have a voice for God. Pray that we rejoice in the tree of life.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 