The Gardener's Great Stump Reversal

This year, Desiring God is basing their Advent reflections on verses from the quintessential Advent hymn, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.

In his article, "He Came to a World Condemned,"
guest writer Brian Tabb reflects on the hymn's fourth verse: O Root of Jesse. [Note some lyrics might differ from the version you know]:

O come, O Branch of Jesse’s stem,
Unto your own and rescue them!
From depths of hell your people save,
And give them victory o’er the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

If you’ve celebrated Advent at all, you probably recognize the reference from Isaiah 11:1-3,10:

1There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

But there is another verse, earlier in Isaiah’s prophecies that references this mysterious stump:

“…And though a tenth remain in it [the cities that are laid waste],
    it will be burned again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
    whose stump remains
    when it is felled.”
The holy seed is its stump.
(Isaiah 6:13)

We often recognize this branch of Jesse's as showcasing the Messiah’s Davidic ancestry without realizing that the branch is growing out of a rather lifeless remnant of a tree. Neither in Isaiah 6 nor 11 is the stump a hopeful image. But rather, it is the branch that grows from it, which signifies hope.

If the prophecies had been given earlier in David's chronology, maybe the phrase would make us think of the mighty trees like the cedars of Lebanon rather than cut down promises. But by the time Isaiah is speaking to God’s people in exile, the line of David is in fragments.

Tabb helps us with the chronology from David onward:

"In 2 Samuel 7, Yahweh promises to set his love on this son of Jesse and to establish his descendant’s kingship forever. The Davidic dynasty continues for centuries, and most of these rulers are hardly men after God’s heart like David. When King Jehoiachin is banished to Babylon (2 Kings 24), David’s line is reduced to a lifeless stump."

From the perspective of the Old Testament, anyone could ask, how can the Messiah come from this? Anyone would be wary of God’s promises under these circumstances. Nothing looked hopeful. But hidden in Isaiah’s prophecy (and verse 4 of this hymn) is a lesson about God’s faithfulness towards David’s ancestors.

In the beginning of his gospel, Matthew records Jesus’ genealogy. If you’re not a history nerd, genealogies can be boring, but the “easter eggs” found in just these six verses are not to be missed.

2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,
and Isaac the father of Jacob,
and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar,
and Perez the father of Hezron,
and Hezron the father of Ram,
4 and Ram the father of Amminadab,
and Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
and Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab,
and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth,
and Obed the father of Jesse,
6 and Jesse the father of David the king.
(Matthew 1:2-6)

It was not common for women to be named in Biblical genealogies, but Matthew takes great care to include three specific (gentile!) women: Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth.

I wish I had time to go into their individual stories, but suffice it to say these three women’s lives looked like lifeless stumps—until the Lord intervened and turned their lives around. God’s common grace of course covers far beyond our human understanding, but He had a special plan for these women and their offspring. From a seemingly hopeless existence, God brought new life—both belief in Him and a fruitful legacy.

Brian Tabb writes,
" . . . the old hymn [and Isaiah 11] draws our attention to a rich biblical theme of hope on the other side of calamity, renewal from the rubble, deliverance through devastation.”

The Bible is full of stories of miraculous reversal. The Messiah’s family history is full of them. So, it is no surprise that Jesus would turn everyone’s expectations on their head with his arrival and life on earth. Born in a lowly feeding trough, raised in a backwoods town like Nazareth, and traveling around with no plans for food or lodging (far from a glorious resting place!)—this was hardly the description of a savior.

But that is just who He is. Even at the end of His life, Tabb reflects, as “Jesus is hailed as ‘King of the Jews’ not by joyful subjects but by jeering adversaries, He is lifted up on a cross. Ironically, the Branch from Jesse’s stem is impaled on a life-taking tree. . .  The crucifixion looks like the death blow to these prophetic hopes for a forever king. Then, in the greatest reversal of all, the broken Branch bounds out of the tomb on the third day. . . This messianic king ‘conquers’ in a most surprising fashion: not by crushing rebels but by dying in their stead and then standing victorious over the grave."

If that’s not a fruitful branch from a lifeless stump, I don’t know what is. Like a withered twig, Jesus was broken and crushed for our sins, but that did not stop God’s plan—it was the very center of His inverted design to bring all peoples back to Himself. From the beginning in Eden, the wise Gardener chose the way of Emmanuel to turn our darkness into light.

And so we rejoice with the hymn’s refrain:

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.