“A Christmas Tree in Bethlehem”
Isaiah 40:1-11
Recently I received this picture in an email
and I thought it was kind of funny. It is
obviously a statement by someone who is
not happy with the trend to take the word
“Christmas” out of the holiday season. Let’s
be honest. This season of the year is all
about Jesus Christ. If it were not for Jesus,
all you would have is a bunch of pagans
celebrating by making sacrifices to the god
Saturn and a carnival atmosphere. I am
well aware that we do not know when
Jesus Christ was born and that Christians
in the early centuries celebrated his birth at
this time of year in order to blot out the
celebration of the Roman festival of
Saturnalia with its strong overtones of paganism. I am well aware that the practice of gift giving
probably stems from this original festival.
However, what we really want to talk about today is trees. I am not aware that the custom of
having and decorating trees can be traced back to Saturnalia. I believe that it began in
Germany and there is even a suggestion that its 16th-century origins are associated with
Christian reformer Martin Luther who is said to have first added lighted candles to an
evergreen tree. That makes sense to me. I remember being taught to sing “O Tannenbaum”,
which is German for “O Christmas Tree”, while in public school. However, was there really a
Christmas tree in Bethlehem? That is the question we are faced with this morning. If there was,
I can assure you it was not a Norway Spruce or Colorado Blue Spruce, nor was it a White Pine
or a Balsam Fir. Most likely it was an olive tree.
Of all the prophetic books in the Old Testament, none provides us with more prophecies of the
coming of the Messiah than that of Isaiah. Probably written 700 years before the birth of Jesus,
Isaiah is the one who speaks of a tree in Bethlehem. Of course, he also speaks of a number of
other trees. You have to realize that God
was not happy with the people of Israel and
Assyria, with whom Israel was associated at
that time, for a number of reasons but mostly
because they had forsaken him and
worshipped foreign gods. In Isaiah 1 he
speaks of one of the pagan practices they
had adopted and warns them: 29“You will
be ashamed because of the sacred oaks
in which you have delighted.” In Isaiah 10
he says that he plans to cut down the trees
of these two countries. 33 See, the Lord,
the Lord Almighty, will lop off the boughs
with great power. The lofty trees will be felled, the tall ones will be brought low. 34 He
will cut down the forest thickets with an ax; Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.
(See also Isaiah 9:14 & 18) The trees referred to in these verses symbolized the power and
majesty of the two nations. God is telling them that He is going to take an axe and go through
the forests of their power and He is going to cut it all down. When He is finished with them,
there would be nothing left of their pride and might. Nothing, that is, except tree stumps.
Now let’s read Isaiah 11:1. A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots
a Branch will bear fruit. The trees are going to be chopped down leaving only stumps, but
from one of those stumps something very special is going to come. You will recognize Jesse’s
name. We have talked about him on more than one occasion. Jesse was the grandson of Boaz
and Ruth. He was also the father of David, Israel’s second king.
The image of an olive tree would have been very familiar to the people of Isaiah’s day. Olive
trees were a source of food, medicine, fuel, and the oil they used in anointing their kings,
priests and prophets. Spiritually, the oil of the olive tree represented peace, faithfulness,
endurance and… new life. The reason the tree
symbolized new life was because the tree was
virtually indestructible. They could grow in
almost any soil and flourish in great heat with
little water. Most olive trees can live to the ripe
old age of 500 years, and some are believed
to be over a thousand years old. In the picture
to the right you can see an olive tree that is
growing out of the stump of another olive tree.
I don’t know if that stump was the result of an
olive tree being chopped down or whether it
was burned down, but it is certainly an
example of a shoot coming out of a stump as
Isaiah said. From Jesse’s roots, a Branch will
grow and bear fruit. Who is this shoot – this branch? It is the Messiah. It is Jesus.
The reduction of the dynasty of David to a mere stump was a very appropriate metaphor when
Jesus was born, for though still in existence, that royal dynasty had been without royal power
for 600 years. However, all this would change with the coming of the Messiah. 2 The Spirit of
the Lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
When it comes to Christmas trees, whether they are live or
artificial, they need something to support them or hold them up.
We have always had live Christmas trees in our house and they
have always been difficult to support. I have bought numerous
Christmas tree stands and everyone one has been inadequate
until I bought one that looks like this and it is called Santa’s
Solution. It’s a gem. One of the best investments I’ve ever made.
You will notice that it has four screws that you can tighten snuggly against the trunk of the tree
and which support it.
The Old Testament provides 300 Scriptures that point towards Jesus being the Messiah and
Isaiah 11:1 is one of them. One of those prophecies declared that the Messiah would be born
of the lineage of King David and David was the son of Jesse, thus the reference to the “stump
of Jesse”. This prophecy was one of those that “held up” the tree of Jesus’ and supported His
claims to be the Messiah.
The interesting thing about the prophetic passages of the Old Testament is that they cannot be
confined to a specific period. So in Isaiah 10 you have a prophecy that speaks of something
that will happen in the very near future. Both Israel and Assyria will be chopped down. Then in
the first verses of Isaiah 11 you have a prophecy that will not be fulfilled for about 700 years
with the birth of Jesus the Messiah in Bethlehem. However, when we come to verses 6 to 9
we find something that doesn’t fit with either of these time periods.
6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
As we read these words, we know that this is
not a reference to anything that the world we
know has ever seen. What is the likelihood
that a leopard would lie down with a goat?
What is the likelihood of a lion eating straw? I
would say nil. So these verses cannot have
anything to do with any period of recorded
history. Such peace, trust and harmony have
never been seen in this world of ours. They
are a reference to the Messiah, but certainly
not to his first coming in Bethlehem. No these
references are to King Jesus the Messiah and
his second coming and reign. When he
returns, nature will be at peace with itself and
with human beings. Mount Zion, the holy mountain of God, will know peace such as we do not
see in the turmoil of present day Palestine. People of all nations will be restored to God. All the
people of the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the
sea.
There is one final thing that we want to take note of
that will happen in that day and it begins with a
reference to the “root of Jesse”. 10 In that day the
Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the
peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his
resting place will be glorious. In that day, at the
end of time, when Jesus, the Root of Jesse – the
promised Messiah – comes to consummate all
things, he will stand as a banner in Zion to which all
the peoples of the earth will rally. He will be like a
huge magnet that draws not only the nations, but
the remnant of God’s chosen people will drawn to
him from every point of the compass.
In your homes, many of you will erect beautiful
Christmas trees decorated with lights, and tinsel
and garlands this Advent Season. That is wonderful, but those trees are either dead or
artificial. And when the Christmas season passes, they’ll be thrown away or stored in boxes.
But there is another tree – a living tree. And this is the one you want in your homes. Because
this tree – this Jesus of Nazareth – is someone you’ll never want to throw out or store away in
a box. God was the one that first planted this Christmas tree. He is a shoot coming out of the
stump of Jesse – a branch that will bear fruit. He is the root of Jesse to whom the peoples of
this world will rally. He was born in Bethlehem, the city of David. He ministered among the
people of Israel for three years. He died a criminal’s death, yet rose again from the dead. He
lives with us his people through the power of the Holy Spirit and brings peace into our hearts
even in the midst of the troubles of this world. And at the end of time, he will return in might
and power to establish his kingdom and restore peace on earth.
Rev. Stephen G, Dunkin
Graceview Presbyterian Church
Etobicoke, Ontario
December 7, 2014
www.graceview.ca
Benediction (Romans 15:12-13)
Isaiah says,
“The Root of Jesse will spring up,
one who will arise to rule over the nations;
in him the Gentiles will hope.”
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
And may the grace, mercy and peace of God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit
be with you now and forevermore.