Joseph was a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and Mary was a bloom from the roots of Jesse.

Tuesday, 12/2/14

In Advent our series of readings from the prophet Isaiah will sing about a wonderful son of David. King David, the son of Jesse came to rule from Jerusalem in 1000 b.c., and his Solomon ruled after him. When Isaiah came along, he began his prophesying by telling us it was the year of the death of Uzziah, perhaps the fifteenth in that family line. We know that it was to have been the year 742 b.c..

Since Mary and Joseph were each descendents of David and Jesse, we can see Joseph as that shoot from the stump of Jesse, and we can see Mary as blossoming from Jesse’s  roots.

As Isaiah chanted his prophesies in the streets of Jerusalem they must have been wonderful things to hear. Instead of just telling us that when the Messiah came to rule in our hearts we would all be at peace with one another, Isaiah put it in beautiful poetic imagery.

“Then the wolf will be the guest of the lamb; 
And the leopard shall lie down with the kid;

The calf and the young lion shall browse together,

With a little child to guide them.

Hopefully, when the Christ child comes into our hearts he will sweep away all animosity, and miraculously the Democrats and Republicans will see each other’s points of view.