Isaiah 11:1-10, Romans 15:4-13
Come Lord Jesus, Come!
The Apostle Paul expected Jesus’ return to be soon, very soon. In his letter to the Romans he quoted Isaiah saying, “The root of Jesse shall come, the one who rises to rule the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles shall hope.” Of course, we today understand that Paul was speaking of Jesus’ return, but most people today have no idea who Jesse was and only the greatest scholars of the Gentiles of Paul’s time would have known enough Jewish history to know who Jesse was. You, of course, like the Jews of Paul’s day, are not among the unknowing! You know very well that Jesse was the father of the great king of Israel, David. So, you understand that the one who was to come, the one who would be known as the Messiah, and the Son of the Living God, and just Jesus, was to have a familiar relationship with king David.
I wonder sometimes whether Paul’s connecting of Jesus to Jesse (a shepherd), rather than David (Israel’s great warrior king), had the purpose of making Jesus less of a political threat and so less likely to arouse the Gentile authorities to persecute those who followed him. It may have been that Paul wanted to show his Gentile audiences that Jesus’ rule, if accepted by them was not to be one of war and violence, like that of David, but rather a rule of hope and joy and peace with a king descended from a shepherd, displaying the care and love that a shepherd has for his flock, for his followers. With so much violence in the world, as it was experienced in Paul’s time, such a ruler would be very welcome. I might add that such a ruler for our world, right here and now, would also be very welcome! Our times are no less violent and unpredictable than the first century after Jesus.
Paul found his words of hope in the words of the prophet Isaiah, but Paul rested his faith in Jesus’ appearance to him and in the stories and words of Jesus that he was taught, but I don’t know that Paul ever went so far as did Isaiah to describe Jesus’ rule as affecting even the animals of God’s creation. But maybe we will be able to get a truer insight into the nature of Jesus’ kingdom through that description given by Isaiah: “The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox …” and so on. Today this kind of idea would be described as a view into an alternate universe, nature (as we know it) doesn’t work that way, and yet so many of us are drawn to this image of harmony and peace and tranquility in nature. It is a bit out there; while bears do graze a bit (even down in Delaware County and apparently the state of Delaware), bears and lions do not have the teeth and the digestive systems to handle straw and grass; wolves, leopards, lions and bears, would much rather feast on lambs and kids, calves, fatlings and that young child rather than eat straw and grass.
This may help us to understand that what is being described by Isaiah is a new creation, life and relationships very different from what we now know. The animals, as we know them now, will need to be recreated in order to live the lives described; I don’t doubt that so too will we, human beings. Who among us, as we are now, would even know how to live within a world of such harmony, live lives of peace, and love and joy? And we know for a certainty that none among us have bodies that can live forever and can exhibit the attributes demonstrated by Jesus after his resurrection, of both eating and walking through locked doors. It all makes me curiouser and more curiouser (to quote someone). We, like the animals, will need to be different. So, how might we be different? Will we have less of a desire to dispute and compete with one another? Maybe having all that we need will take away some of the aggressiveness we now depend upon. But, will we be able to control our wants, greed? Again, having what we need and all that we want may make this possible. During this time of year, we happily send out Christmas cards displaying lions and wolves lying with sheep and cows, but we might want to consider that such a peaceful environment while nice will be hollow if it does not include peaceful and loving human beings, other than a child. I wonder if we will be able to handle living in such a peaceful and wonderful place as Jesus’ kingdom. Struggle seems to be so ingrained in our nature, so much so that we enjoy it. Maybe we should start trying to live peaceful and lovingly now. We will, in fact, need to be given not only special body that will be able to live without aging and degrading, but also minds that will be able to accept the ways of the Spirit, that can allow us to be happy without the need for constant competition and struggle, that can embrace the ways of love and joy. It is, not a problem, people.
New life in Jesus’ kingdom is something that we can all look forward to, something to celebrate. When the root of Jesse, when Jesus stands before us to signal to us this new day, it will be a time for thanksgiving. Oh, what a day it will be. But it is not just a day! His dwelling we are told will be glorious; that dwelling is a place for us all, and when I say all, Jesus will open his kingdom to all of those who are willing to come to him, trust him and accept his love. And again, it is not just for a day. Jesus will provide for us a life of peace, of joy, of happiness, a life centered in love of God and love for each other. And it seems it will not just be for humans; can you imagine; the image given us by Isaiah prophesies, a world where even the animals will be safe to be around and may even live among us, as suggested by the small child walking among the animals in Isaiah’s prophecy. It is exciting for me, just to think about it. In the meantime, we can begin living lives similar to that life, living lives of peace and love. Come Lord Jesus, Come!