JOYFUL EXPECTATIONS IN SPITE OF WHAT WE SEE
Isaiah 11:1-10
Second Sunday of Advent, Year A
Analysis by Matthew DeLoera
1A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 2The spirit of the Lord shall 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. 3His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; 4but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. 5Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. 6The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. 7The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. 9They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
10On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.
“When Jesus speaks his word of forgiveness, he puts to death our rebellious and neglectful selves, to raise us and clothe us in his own righteousness … and faithfulness.”
DIAGNOSIS: Seeing Nothing
Step 1: Initial Diagnosis (External Problem) – Hearing One Thing but Seeing Another
Against a backdrop of plotting kings, war, and devastation, Isaiah boldly prophesies the unimaginable. One day there will be an entirely unforeseen kind of leader, endowed with wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. Unswayed by what they see or hear, they will judge with righteousness and decide with equity. But how can we imagine such a thing while witnessing rising fascism and so many populist firebrands? We hear these loudmouth leaders promise “peace” and “security”; but see them terrorize the meek and the poor. Do the least of us honestly stand a chance? It seems about as likely as wolves and lambs lying down together with no one eaten.
Step 2: Advanced Diagnosis (Internal Problem) – Our Myopia
But, can we honestly claim that we want Isaiah’s kind of leader? Wisdom, understanding, and knowledge are not winning strategies. They intimidate and threaten us because they suggest that we are not nearly as wise or knowing as we believe. We’re also dismissive of seeming “experts” who try to speak inconvenient truths to us, waving them off as irrelevant or just parroting agendas. We much prefer charisma. We’re drawn to candidates who echo our biases and make us feel better about ourselves, but only so long as they don’t ask too much of us.
Step 3: Final Diagnosis (Eternal Problem) – Nothing to See
Perhaps the most inconvenient truth is that we don’t really want a leader at all. In fact, we don’t like to be followers. We are rebellious, preferring to walk in darkness than to see a great light, for fear of what it would reveal about ourselves. So why should we be surprised at the leaders who seem to arise in our midst? We only ever vote for our own kind, and they’re truly one of us, made of exactly the same stuff. Piously we decry their treatment of the least of us, as if we could claim that we really would do more for their sake if we were in the same position, especially if it risks our own “peace” and “security”. By this, Isaiah’s prophecy begins to sound more like a curse than a promise. If “they will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain,” then we will not live to see it.
PROGNOSIS: Joyful Expectations through Christ’s Word
Step 4: Initial Prognosis (Eternal Solution) – Hearing the Only Word that Matters
Yet, all of Isaiah’s prophesy must be true. “A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots” (Is 11:1). But who is Isaiah talking about? Eventually others would testify that this is “Jesus the Messiah, the son of David” (Matt 1:1). He was born in a lowly manger, literally “a little child … to lead them” (Is 11:6). And Jesus would even testify to himself upon reading the Isaiah scroll – “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor” (Luke 4:18). The wolves and leopards and lions of this old world did their worst to crucify and kill him. Yet after three days, he rises from death.
As Isaiah prophesied, “he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked” (Is 11:4). But on this “holy mountain,” it is Jesus himself who takes the harsh rod of the cross. When Jesus speaks his word of forgiveness, he puts to death our rebellious and neglectful selves, to raise us and clothe us in his own righteousness (“the belt around his waist”) and faithfulness (“the belt around his loins”) (Is 11:5).
Step 5: Advanced Prognosis (Internal Solution) – Great Expectations
Trusting that by Jesus’ forgiveness nothing can ever separate us from the love of God, our “delight shall be in the fear of the Lord” (Is 11:3). This is no exaggeration. Jesus nurses us by his own body and blood to sustain us when we inevitably “play over the hole of the asp” (Is 11:8) or place our “hand on the adder’s den” in our going out. Perhaps, he might even be leading us joyfully to such as these, because these do not have the last word for us, and our hope and expectation will be exceedingly great.
Step 6: Final Prognosis (External Solution) – Living in Christ
Such an alien righteousness as this will clutch our hearts and find us impelled to speak and to do for the sake of our neighbors, inviting through the promise that they will have their God-given equity. But we are not naive. We know full well that the earth is not yet “full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Is 11:9). The wolves and leopards and lions of this old world are still dealing suffering and death, whether public leaders or even sometimes our neighbors. Yet, we will not abandon hope that God will yet transform them as surely as we ourselves have been transformed. And in the meantime? In spite of the deathly arrows slung our way and any inconvenient truths weaponized against us, we will live in Christ.
