Among the covenant promises of God was the assurance to King David that
he would, “…never
fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel”. This promise was
reiterated to Solomon in 1 Kings 9:5. In our readings for today, we find out a
great deal about this Promised One. We will learn that this King is quite different.
He is interested in lifting up the poor and lowly, and in promoting peace
amongst natural enemies. In the royal language of Psalm 72 (penned by Solomon),
and our Old Testament reading from Isaiah, we discover a righteous King who has
been anointed by the Holy Spirit – indeed, the Spirit rests on Him. As we study
the Gospel reading, the echoes of our Old Testament readings will resonate in
One Person. Read on…
Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17
Endow
the king with your justice, O God, the royal son with your
righteousness. 2 May he judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted
ones with justice. 7 In his days may the righteous flourish and prosperity
abound till the moon is no more. 8 May he rule from sea to sea and from the
River to the ends of the earth. 12 For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the
afflicted who have no one to help. 13 He will take pity on the weak and the
needy and save the needy from death. 17 May his name endure forever; may it
continue as long as the sun. Then all nations will be blessed through him, and
they will call him blessed.
In this prayer of petition, Solomon implores God to offer His own justice
and righteousness to the King, who also happens to be the royal Son. This
parallel statement (redundancy to bring emphasis – apparent throughout this
Psalm) underscores the nature of the King/Son – who, if so endowed, would exemplify
the holiness of God. During the reign of
this King, Solomon prays that righteousness would be established forever – “until the moon
is no more.” Further, the dominion of the King would be limitless.
And, unlike kings who are self-absorbed and oblivious to the needs of the
people, this King will meet the needs of the lowly. Verses 12 and 13 contain
two parallel statements underscoring the Kings wish to care for the needy and
those who have no one to assist them. He will pity the weak and save the needy
from death. This King would not come to heal the healthy, but give balm to the
broken and restoration to the ruined. If Solomon’s prayer is answered, this
King’s name would be everlasting, and this King would be a blessing to all the
nations. Both of these outcomes are in keeping with the covenant promises to
Abraham (Genesis 12:2-3, 22:18). What’s more, the people will “call Him
blessed.” This psalm may be a self-focused prayer written by Solomon
– the King/Son – concerning Himself and His legacy. But, the eternal nature of
this prayer indicates that these petitions might be answered in Another
descendant of David – a King/Son yet to come…
Isaiah 11:1-10
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his
roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the Lord will
rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel
and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—3 and
he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with
his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice
he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with
the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. 5 Righteousness
will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. 6 The
wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf
and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. 7 The
cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion
will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young
child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. 9 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. 10 In
that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations
will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious. 11 In
that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the
surviving remnant of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper
Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath
and from the islands of the Mediterranean.
In this prophecy, Isaiah speaks about the appearance of a descendant of
Jesse. Jesse was the father of King David, whose throne was always to be
inhabited by a successor. But, due to sin and rebellion, God caused an
intermediate cessation of David’s dynasty. In the northern kingdom of Israel,
Hoshea was the last to inhabit the throne (722 BC). In the southern kingdom,
Zedekiah was the last (586 BC). When Isaiah claims that a shoot will emerge
from the stump of Jesse, he is making reference to the cutting off of the
Davidic dynasty and the barren status of David’s royal line at the time of the
Messiah’s coming. When He comes, this Righteous Branch will bear much fruit.
Where the vineyard was an unproductive wasteland, in that day, the Messiah
would bring verdant life back to the garden in a harvest of fruit.
The Apostle Paul spoke of the fruits
of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness
and self-control. (Galatians
5:22-23). These are the very qualities that Jesus exhibited throughout His
earthly ministry.
It should not surprise us that
Isaiah 11:2 speaks of the Holy Spirit. It states that the sevenfold Spirit of
the Lord (see Revelation 1:4) will rest on Him. Truly, the Promised One,
in the line of David, would be the Anointed One. Just as David was anointed with
oil and subsequently, the Holy Spirit, so would his Progeny. 1 Samuel 16:12-13
records, “And the Lord said, ‘Arise, anoint
him, for this is he.’ 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and
anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed
upon David from that day forward.”
When Jesus
was baptized, Matthew 3:16 records, “…immediately He went up from the water, and behold, the
heavens were opened to Him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove
and coming to rest on him…” Acts 10:37-38 also speaks of
Jesus as being the Anointed One. “…beginning in
Galilee after the baptism that John preached—how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Spirit and power…” That Isaiah was prophesying about
Jesus as the One upon whom the Spirit rests is incontrovertible.
In
the day of the Messiah, those who were bitter enemies will come together in
peace. Hate will be replaced by harmony. Treachery will give way to
tranquility. This sprout of Jesse will bring unity to the nations. Sabbath rest
and peace, closely associated with worship, will be glorious for those who have
gathered from every nation under His banner.
That
this is fulfilled in Jesus is hard to refute. Paul wrote, “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of
God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into
Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither
Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for
you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to
Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:26-29). In 1 Corinthians
12:13, Paul said, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews
or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”
In that day
the people will be unified and the remnant will be reclaimed…
Luke 10:21-24
At
that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you,
Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the
wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this
is what you were pleased to do. 22 “All things have been committed to me by my
Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the
Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”23
Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that
see what you see. 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see
what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear
it.”
Luke presents Jesus to us as one
filled with the Holy Spirit – to the point of being completely joyful. He has
just sent out 72 “missionaries” to preach peace and bring healing to the
people. The number 72 is representative of the nations of the earth. In verse
21, Jesus is overjoyed at the prospect of His ministry moving throughout the
land – touching and transforming lives – at least those who welcomed the Gospel
like little children.
The spiritual reality that Jesus is One with the Father is hidden. Only through God’s revelation of Himself through Jesus do we see and know God. Jesus, in an aside to the disciples, shares with them the special privilege they have received. It was Jesus’ choice to call them as His disciples. Now, they have the joy of sharing the good news that “The Kingdom of God is near.” And where the kingdom is, there is the King! Jesus is the Promised King. If you believe in Jesus as the King of kings and Lord of lords, give God your heartfelt thanks. Prophets and kings of the past were not privy to what you have seen, experienced and know! Jesus is the Anointed One – the King of kings – the Righteous Branch – the shoot from the stump of Jesse – the Fruit bearer.
The spiritual reality that Jesus is One with the Father is hidden. Only through God’s revelation of Himself through Jesus do we see and know God. Jesus, in an aside to the disciples, shares with them the special privilege they have received. It was Jesus’ choice to call them as His disciples. Now, they have the joy of sharing the good news that “The Kingdom of God is near.” And where the kingdom is, there is the King! Jesus is the Promised King. If you believe in Jesus as the King of kings and Lord of lords, give God your heartfelt thanks. Prophets and kings of the past were not privy to what you have seen, experienced and know! Jesus is the Anointed One – the King of kings – the Righteous Branch – the shoot from the stump of Jesse – the Fruit bearer.
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