O Root Of Jesse

19 Dec

O Root of Jesse’s stem,
sign of God’s love for all his people:
come to save us without delay!

One of the biggest blockbuster movies of recent years was the Lord of the Rings trilogy based upon the works written by J.R.R. Tolkien.  In that series, we read about a king who came back into his own at a time when the world was in peril.  At one point, he proclaimed, “I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn, and am called Elessar, the Elfstone, Dunadan, the heir of Isildur Elendil’s son of Gondor.”

I have a cousin who is pretty fanatical about our roots.  For many years, he has been working on our Family Tree, trying to find as many people as possible and to see how we are all connected and through whom those connections were made.

Being rooted is a very important human need.

In the scriptures, particularly the narratives is some of the Gospels, we see the need to trace Jesus’ lineage back through the ages to their great kings.  God had promised that He would not let Israel fail and that He would raise up for them, from the stock of David, a King to reign over them.

Isaiah was the one who prophesied that “a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom.” (Is 11:1)

That great King, for whom many longed, was born to us in the city of David, as prophesied.

We await that great King’s return.

FAITH ACTION:  In peaceful, quiet, prayer reflect upon the words of the following song:

As we trust in the Lord helplessly,
Depend on Him as our love and strength,
And listen to His speaking,
Our hope is to be raptured
Through the redemption of our body.

And our prayer is:
“Come, Lord Jesus!”
And our prayer is:
“Come, Lord Jesus!”
“Come, Lord Jesus!
Lord Jesus, come!”