Reflective Bible Study

As we continue moving forward in our year focusing in on prophecies that point towards Jesus, we arrive at a prophecy that Jesus fulfilled in an almost impossible to believe way. This particular prophecy, when we look closely at the details, seems impossible to fulfill on the surface. However, when we look at the details of Jesus’ life, we discover that He actually did fulfill it, in spite of this impossibility.

Let’s read the prophecy and then unpack how the framing of this prophecy appears on the surface to contradict itself.

Our passage and prophecy is found in the book of Isaiah, chapter 11, and we will read it using the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 1, Isaiah writes:

¹ Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,
And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
² The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him,
The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The spirit of counsel and strength,
The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
³ And He will delight in the fear of the Lord,
And He will not judge by what His eyes see,
Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;
⁴ But with righteousness He will judge the poor,
And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth;
And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.
⁵ Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins,
And faithfulness the belt about His waist.

Let me pause reading briefly, simply to say that this would be a very tempting spot to stop reading. However, what comes next is powerful. Continuing in verse 6, Isaiah writes:

⁶ And the wolf will dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,
And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little boy will lead them.
⁷ Also the cow and the bear will graze,
Their young will lie down together,
And the lion will eat straw like the ox.
⁸ The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra,
And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.
⁹ They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea.

¹⁰ Then in that day
The nations will resort to the root of Jesse,
Who will stand as a signal for the peoples;
And His resting place will be glorious.

While it would have been tempting to jump out of this passage earlier, verse 10, which was the verse we finished off reading is powerful. While I believe the context for the last portion of this passage relates to the future New Heaven and New Earth Jesus promises God’s people, I find it fascinating that this passage frames the Messiah, or at the very least, the Spirit of the Messiah, as being both a descendant of Jesse, and also as an ancestor of Jesse.

This framing is clearly found at the start of our passage in verse 1, which tells us that “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.” This verse draws our attention onto the Messiah being a descendent of Jesse, who happened to be the Father of David. This passage frames Jesse being a root that grows a shoot or a fruit that is the Messiah. Since this was written decades, if not a century or two after king David lived, we can conclude that this verse points forward to a Messianic descendant that was still being looked forward to, rather than a direct descendant who would have died long before these words had been written.

However, to contrast this initial framing, in verse 10, Isaiah writes that “Then in that day, the nations will resort to the root of Jesse, who will stand as a signal for the peoples…”

Verse 10 frames the one who stands as a signal for God’s people as an ancestor of Jesse, or in other words, a root that ultimately grows out towards Jesse.

While some might claim that verse 1 focuses on a different person than verse 10, when looking at the big themes of the Bible, it would be difficult to reconcile that difference. The Bible, especially the New Testament, focuses our attention onto Jesus being the fulfillment of this prophecy.

However, how can Jesus be both an ancestor and a descendant of Jesse?

While we hinted at this in earlier episodes, and while we will circle back around later this year to look at this theme, let’s look at two passages from the New Testament that help frame this seemingly impossible scenario.

The first New Testament passage is the first words in the New Testament, which are found in Matthew, chapter 1. Starting in verse 1, Matthew tells us that:

¹ The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:

² Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. ³ Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram. ⁴ Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon. ⁵ Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse. ⁶ Jesse was the father of David the king.

While we could continue reading to make our way down the family tree to reach Jesus, let’s stop here. Matthew opens his gospel by describing how Jesus was the Son of Jesse, because Jesus was the Son of David. This genealogy, as well as Luke’s version of Jesus’ genealogy, draws our attention onto Jesus being a clear descendant of Jesse. This seems pretty easy to follow.

However, what about Jesus being Jesse’s ancestor?

A couple chapters later in Matthew’s gospel, we find an answer to this problem. In Matthew, chapter 3, starting in verse 13, we read about Jesus’ baptism:

¹³ Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” ¹⁵ But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted Him. ¹⁶ After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, ¹⁷ and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

God calls Jesus His Son, and because of this, we can conclude that Jesus would also have to be an ancestor of Jesse.

From the details given in these two verses, we arrive at the conclusion that Jesus could be both a descendent and an ancestor of Jesse. Remembering what we focused on a few episodes ago, understanding Jesus’ extraordinary birth also helps us see how Jesus could be both a descendant and an ancestor to reconcile this dilemma.

However, where does this leave us?

When looking at the details of the prophecy, we get the clear picture that God’s Messiah is the ideal judge. By coming to this earth as a human, Jesus gained the personal experience necessary to allow Him to become the ideal judge for humanity. We don’t have a judge who doesn’t understand where we come from. Instead, we have a judge who understands who we are and the challenges that humanity faces.

From Jesus’ triumph, we are given the invitation to rest on His success when facing the judgment for sin. While our past is filled with mistake after mistake, Jesus invites us to accept His victory in place of our failure.

We have a Messiah and a judge who is sympathetic to our struggle, and who wants to redeem us out of the trap of sin, pain, and death. Jesus came to redeem us, and to carry us forward into the New Heaven and New Earth.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do in one way or another, intentionally seek God first in your life. Choose to accept the invitation Jesus has offered to you and place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Him.

Also, as I regularly challenge you to do, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. Through regular prayer and Bible study, discover just how much God loves you and just how much He wants to redeem you out of sin!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we continue in Luke’s gospel, we come to a part of Luke’s writing where he shares several of Jesus’ big teaching points. It is quite likely Jesus shared these truths at multiple times in His ministry, and some of what Luke assembled for our passage in this episode may share the same themes as other teaching in other gospels but what Luke describes may have been shared at different points in Jesus’ ministry.

However, before thinking that Jesus’ message is reserved for only those who walked the earth during the first century, realize that what Jesus shares here may be one of the most relevant messages our world needs to hear today.

With that said, let’s dive in to our passage. Our passage for this episode is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 6, and we will read from the God’s Word Translation. Starting in verse 37, Luke tells us Jesus taught the crowds saying:

³⁷ “Stop judging, and you will never be judged. Stop condemning, and you will never be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. ³⁸ Give, and you will receive. A large quantity, pressed together, shaken down, and running over will be put into your pocket. The standards you use for others will be applied to you.”

³⁹ Jesus also gave them this illustration: “Can one blind person lead another? Won’t both fall into the same pit? ⁴⁰ A student is no better than his teacher. But everyone who is well-trained will be like his teacher.

⁴¹ “Why do you see the piece of sawdust in another believer’s eye and not notice the wooden beam in your own eye? ⁴² How can you say to another believer, ‘Friend, let me take the piece of sawdust out of your eye,’ when you don’t see the beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye. Then you will see clearly to remove the piece of sawdust from another believer’s eye.

Let’s pause reading here for a moment, because two things Jesus has shared jumped out at me. Actually we probably could stop reading here, because in these few verses we could have several full length sermons about, however, for our time together, I want to draw our attention onto two big things.

Our passage opened with the words, “Stop judging, and you will never be judged. Stop condemning, and you will never be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and you will receive.” The essence of this message Jesus shares is that “the standards you use for others will be applied to you”.

This is significant for us to pay attention to, because if we are quick to judge, quick to belittle, or quick to condemn someone else, then we shouldn’t be surprised when we are judged, belittled, and condemned quickly. In contrast, if we forgive others without condition, love those who don’t deserve love, and give everyone in our lives the benefit of a doubt, then we can expect to receive forgiveness, love, and be given the benefit of a doubt ourselves.

Some of you might be thinking that you’ve tried this and it hasn’t worked. Know that if we act this way towards others and we don’t receive the same measure in return, trust that God will use the measure we used when He comes to judge. In the big picture, the only thing that matters from eternity’s perspective is what God thinks and how God judges. Jesus has promised us that we can change the measure God uses to judge through the way we interact with others.

The other big idea in this first section of our passage is closely connected to the first. When Jesus starts talking about looking at a speck of sawdust in another believer’s eye while having a wooden beam in your own eye, this challenges us with the truth that we should be significantly more focused on the issues in our own lives than we are with the issues in other peoples’ lives.

Most people judge what they see others doing while they want to be judged by their intentions, but this is a double standard. If we judge others by their actions, we will be judged by our actions regardless of our intentions, whether we like it or not. Our energy is best spent looking at the weak areas of our own lives because the only person that can remove the symbolic wooden beam from your eye is you, after you have acknowledged its presence.

With God’s help, we can remove the wooden beam from our own lives and then live a life that blesses others.

Continuing reading, Jesus shares another powerful set of ideas. Jumping back in at verse 43, Luke tells us Jesus continued, saying:

⁴³ “A good tree doesn’t produce rotten fruit, and a rotten tree doesn’t produce good fruit. ⁴⁴ Each tree is known by its fruit. You don’t pick figs from thorny plants or grapes from a thornbush. ⁴⁵ Good people do the good that is in them. But evil people do the evil that is in them. The things people say come from inside them.

Pausing briefly again, this truth we just read is so powerful. Even when we want others to look at our intentions, the only standard that we can be fairly measured against is our actions. Jesus tells us that good things are done by good people, while evil people do evil things. The words that come from someone’s mouth, or you could say that the words that a person writes, whether with a pen or on a computer, whether offline or online, the words come from inside them.

Many people have become professionals at looking one way in public but they act a different way in private. This means that how someone acts in private is a better indicator of what is in their heart. While it is harder to see someone’s private life than their public one, know that people can only live dual lives for so long. Eventually, one life will win out, and eventually the public life will affect the private life, or the private life will spill into the public life.

Let’s finish our passage and look at one of Jesus’ most famous illustrations. Continuing in verse 46, Jesus asks the question:

⁴⁶ “Why do you call me Lord but don’t do what I tell you?

⁴⁷ “I will show you what everyone who comes to me, hears what I say, and obeys it is like. ⁴⁸ He is like a person who dug down to bedrock to lay the foundation of his home. When a flood came, the floodwaters pushed against that house. But the house couldn’t be washed away because it had a good foundation. ⁴⁹ The person who hears what I say but doesn’t obey it is like someone who built a house on the ground without any foundation. The floodwaters pushed against it, and that house quickly collapsed and was destroyed.”

In this conclusion, I am always amazed by the contrast present. The contrast in Luke’s version of the two homes is not two houses that are built in different locations, but simply two houses that are built next to each other but with each having a different foundation.

The only difference between these houses is the foundation, and the only difference between the people each home represents is obedience. Jesus describes the first group as “everyone who comes to me, hears what I say, and obeys it”. This first group has a solid foundation that survives a flood.

Jesus describes the second group as a “person who hears what I say but doesn’t obey it”. Both groups hear Jesus’ words; the only difference is obedience. Obeying Jesus leads to a flood-proof foundation for our lives!

Nowhere in this passage are we promised safety from floods. Instead, we are challenged with the big truth of how to structure our lives so that the floods of life don’t sweep us away.

Before wrapping up this episode, I want to point us back to the irony in Jesus’ question leading into this illustration. In verse 46, Jesus asks His followers “Why do you call me Lord but don’t do what I tell you?”

This challenge is just as applicable today as it was when Jesus first spoke these words. If we are going to call Jesus the Lord of our lives, then we should obey His teaching. While there is way more involved than simply a checklist of things to do or don’t do, the most important thing for us to do is to study what Jesus taught and to apply the instructions Jesus gave into our lives.

Christians who ignore Jesus’ teachings are imposters. They risk having their spiritual homes swept away when the floods Jesus spoke of come. Don’t simply listen to Jesus. Apply the truth He teaches into your life and build a solid foundation of obedience that will weather life’s storms!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, continue seeking God first in your life and choose to accept and apply Jesus’ teaching into your life. While many things Jesus shares are challenging, applying Jesus’ teachings are the only way to lay a flood-proof foundation for our lives.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself, and discover through the pages of God’s Word the truths Jesus wants us to focus in on. Discover for yourself what Jesus teaches and don’t let someone else dictate to you what you should believe about Jesus.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or get flooded out of where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!