4 December 2018
Tuesday of the First Week of Advent
“A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse” (Isaiah 11:1). This is good news for those of us facing discouragement. Jesse, the distant patriarch, here stands for the old order, and it is called a stump because it is dead. The old order has lost its vital force. The shoot being referred to is, literally, Jesse’s son, David, but, more than that, the shoot is the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed one. (Recall that David would himself be anointed by the prophet Samuel.) This verse means that the old order has died, but a Messiah is coming who will usher in a new order. It was Jesus of Nazareth who was the historical Christ and who ushered in a new order of grace, establishing the Kingdom of God among us definitively, even if in hidden form. We still await the final revelation of that kingdom. Meanwhile, we strive to draw newness of life from what Jesus said and did.
The image of the sprouting shoot can help us find that newness. Imagine a dead tree, or, since it’s December, go look at one. Imagine that tree being cut down, leaving behind only a brown, lifeless stump. Then imagine, after some centuries, a green shoot sprouting from that same stump. That is the imagery that the prophet Isaiah, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, offers you today. If you are a dead and lifeless stump, pray for a living shoot to sprout.
The new order of the messianic kingdom is not just any order. It’s not “to each his own” or “I’m okay, you’re okay.” According to Isaiah, it is an order governed by the “Spirit of the Lord,” which is what we today call the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit imparts special gifts that enable us to participate in the new life of Christ’s kingdom: the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Does this reflection bore you? If so, it might be good for you to pray with Isaiah’s image of the stump and the shoot and the gifts.