The Shoot of Jesse
Second Sunday of Advent
Isaiah 11:1-10; Romans 15:4-9; Matthew 3:1-12
The Old Testament can be called "a book of awaiting” the fulfillment of the promise about a descendant of the woman who would crush the serpent's head (Gen. 3:15). Could it be Seth or his son Enosh in whose days the people began to call upon the name of the Lord (Gen. 4:26)? Or perhaps Noah whose birth was supposed to bring people relief from their painful work on the land cursed by the Lord (Gen. 5:29)? The attention of the Bible centered on a nation descending from the first-born son of Seth, Shem. But the awaiting did not end with Abraham who had Semitic roots (Gen. 11:10-26). The Bible focused on Judah, the fourth son of Abraham's grandson - Jacob (Gen. 49: 8-10). It is in the tribe of Judah that Jesse, David's father, was born (Ruth 4:22). However, David was not the one through whom God would confirm His promises to the patriarchs and in whom the Gentiles would experience God's mercy (Rom. 15: 8-9). The Old Testament ends and the long-awaited descendant of the woman does not appear.
The village of Nazareth, where Jesus spent most of his life, owes its name to the prophecy of Isaiah about "a shoot" and "a branch" from the roots of Jesse (Is. 11:1). A "shoot/branch" in Hebrew is "netzer". About 100 BC, a small clan from the family of David that considered itself to be Jesse's “shoot” was supposed to return and settle in a village which they named Nazareth - Shoot. However, they could not foresee that in less than a hundred years, there would indeed grow among them a "Shoot" (Mt 2:23), filled with the fullness of the gifts of the Spirit (Is. 11:2-3) to rule the world with justice and in peace (Ps. 72:7).
The last book of the Old Testament ends with a prophecy about sending Elijah to prepare the nation for the coming of the day of the Lord (Mal. 3:23). There are similarities between Elijah and John the Baptist. John appeared in a place from where Elijah was taken up to heaven (2 Kings 2:11-12). Both called the people to repentance (Matt. 3:2; 1 Kings 18:21), wore simple clothes and a leather belt (2 Kings 1:8; Matt. 3:4). Elijah began and John ended the great period of prophecy (see Matt. 11:13-14). The time has arrived for the One, whose sandals John was not worthy to carry, to come (Matt. 3:11). Jesus is mightier than John; He will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matt. 3:11). What John could not do - save the people from their sins (Matt. 1:21) - Jesus does; what John's baptism was unable to accomplish - transform us into a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17) and make us God's children (Gal. 4: 5) - the baptism of the Church does.
Jesus is the long-awaited descendant of the woman (Gen. 3:15), the Shoot of Jesse whom the nations seek (Is. 11:10). He does far more than making a wolf guest of a lamb (Is. 11: 6). In the Church, former enemies offer each other a sign of peace and with one voice praise God and our Father Jesus Christ (Rom. 15: 6). He is that "little boy" who herds both wolf and lamb, leopard and a young goat, calf and lion, cow and bear (Is. 11:6-7). Only by knowing Jesus and His Father (John 17:3) we can stop hurting and destroying each other. "They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." (Is. 11: 9).
And what does it mean to know the Lord? For our leaders, it means to do "justice and righteousness", to judge "the cause of the poor and needy" (Jer. 22:15-16). For us, it means to see Jesus in the least of our brothers and sisters and extend our helping hand to them (see Matt. 25:34-40).