On the Root of Jesse
Previous Meditations: 2005.
“O Root of Jesse, which standest for an ensign of the people,
At whom kings shall shut their mouths,
To whom the Gentiles shall seek:
Come and deliver us and tarry not.”
(Taken from The Anglican Breviary, C26)
AS FAR AS I can tell, seldom goes God do something new. When He does something “new” it is born within the old. Take the Church for example: on the day of Pentecost, the Church did not split from Judaism immediately. It was not bingo-bango-we-done-got-the-Church! No, it emerged in a long separation. Again, as far as I can tell, God does not do something completely new outside the old, but plants a seed in the old that grows out from there.
MESSIAH, THEREFORE, IS considered “the root of Jesse.” This new work of God is not born completely in a vacuum, apart from the old ways. No, Christ is “the root of Jesse” who is the fulfillment of that promise made to David so long ago. Jesus is the fulfillment of all the temple sacrifices and all the old ways of doing redemption. As St. John wrote, “The law indeed came through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (1:17).”
GOD’S WORK IN our life is somewhere between the tired new/old, ancient/contemporary argument. God’s redemptive work is somewhere between familiar and unfamiliarity. He plants the seed in familiarity (old) and our attention is drawn to it because of its unfamiliarity (new). I could write on for pages and pages about this, so I’ll state it in a sentence: God’s work is neither completely new nor is it completely old. It is "yea and amen to those who believe(2 Cor. 1:20)."
BUT I WRITE all this to say:
Do not reject the old paths,
For they are your salvation;
The Root of Jesse has blossomed
And He is our salvation.
HOW IS GOD working in your life in familiar ways? How is He working in your life in unfamiliar ways? In what ways have you recognized His work in your life?