Isaiah 11:1-5 (NLT)
“Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot— yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root. And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. He will delight in obeying the Lord. He will not judge by appearance nor make a decision based on hearsay. He will give justice to the poor and make fair decisions for the exploited. The earth will shake at the force of his word, and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked. He will wear righteousness like a belt and truth like an undergarment.”
Why does God speak in vague metaphor so often? Most of us would prefer writing in the sky. We seek high and low to get information about the future — psychics, horoscopes, even a slip of paper in a cookie. We just want to know. I’m not sure what we think would happen if we knew all of what the future holds. Most of us look back on life and are glad for not having known all of what we were getting ourselves into. We need to simply walk and trust and take one gift from God at a time.
Today’s verses have hints at what the Messiah would be like. Someone from David’s lineage, someone wise, someone obedient, someone who can bring justice, and someone who can destroy the wicked in a single word. Oh, and he wears truth underpants. Yeah, God just said that. Knowing Jesus now, of course this all makes sense. But if we had never heard about Jesus, if we did not know him and his Spirit as we do, would we recognize him?
There are a lot of “Christian” things in our world today that have absolutely nothing to do with Jesus. In fact, many of those things are the very things Jesus opposed while on earth. Good, “religious” behavior often misses the heartbeat of God. He loves the poor, he doesn’t judge on appearance, and the earth that he’s shaking isn’t going to be in a loud voice defending the rich or well-off. This Advent season, tune in to the heart of God. Step away from the Christian “positions” and look for Jesus beside the poor and the broken. It’s his favorite place to be.