This week I want to look at the Old Testament scriptures that foretold of the first coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The passages I want to visit speak of the Messiah as the Branch. The fist passage that I want to draw attention to is in the book of Isaiah.
A Branch from the Root of Jesse: Isaiah 11:1-5
1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,
And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him,
The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The spirit of counsel and strength,
The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 And He will delight in the fear of the Lord,
And He will not judge by what His eyes see,
Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;
4 But with righteousness He will judge the poor,
And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth;
And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.
5 Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins,
And faithfulness the belt about His waist. NASB
The passage of scripture above speaks of the Messiah as coming from the stem of Jesse. Jesse is the father of King David of Israel who reigned three thousand years ago. Jesse and David are mentioned in the genealogies of Jesus of Nazareth (the Messiah), in both the gospel of Matthew and Luke.
So God is speaking through the prophets of a branch who is part of the tree of Jesse the father of King David of Israel. He is talking about the family tree of King Jesus the Christ. He is telling of the things he will do and how he will be. Bare in mind that this is a prophecy made 700 years before Jesus was born in the manger in the town of Bethlehem.
Looking at the promises this prophecy makes of the Messiah. The New Testament most certainly gives evidence of these gifts being demonstrated by Jesus of Nazareth. John 1:32 gives eyewitness evidence of the holy spirit alighting upon Jesus as a Dove. The beatitudes of Matthew 5:3-11 are clear evidence of Jesus wisdom and understanding. The incident of the boat in the storm where Jesus calms the storm, in Matthew 8:23-27, shows the spirit of counsel and strength and the spirit of knowledge.
The fear of the Lord is evident in the testimony that was his life, during the three years of his ministry, as related in the four gospels. His righteous judgment was clear for all to see in the case of the ‘centurion’s servant’ in Matthew 8:5-13 and the ‘woman at the well’ in John chapter four. The other attributes discussed in this passage in Isaiah are for a future time when Jesus returns to judge the Earth but are clearly shown in the apostle John’s prophecies in the book of Revelation.
The Branch of Righteousness: Jeremiah 23:5-6
(5) “ Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD,
“ That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness;
A King shall reign and prosper,
And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
(6) In His days Judah will be saved,
And Israel will dwell safely;
Now this is His name by which He will be called:
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. NKJV
In the scripture above the prophet Jeremiah spoke of the days that are coming in which the Lord will raise to David a branch of righteousness and a King who shall reign and prosper. Jeremiah made this prophecy 600 years before Jesus was born. This scripture speaks of two events in the future known as the Tribulation and the Millennial Kingdom.
In the Tribulation Jesus will indeed execute judgment in the Earth. It says in God’s word that had the days of tribulation not been cut short no flesh would have survived. Once the Tribulation period of seven years is complete Christ Jesus will have returned to the Earth and the Millennial Kingdom will have been established. One thousand years during which King Jesus will reign and there will indeed be righteousness in all of the Earth.
Jesus is the Vine - We are the Branches: John 15:1-6
1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine-dresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. NASB
In this scripture the apostle John records how Jesus described himself as the true vine and we who believe on him as the branches of the vine. God the Father is the vine-dresser and takes away branches that don’t bear fruit. Notice that Jesus speaks of our need to abide in him and he us for the branch cannot bear fruit of itself but only when it abides in the vine. If we abide in Christ he says we will bear much fruit.
The disciple and apostle John recounted in the Book of John in the scripture above how Jesus viewed the Church as a vine made up of branches who like himself were people. Christian People. It is interesting that God continues to use the branch analogy to describe the Messiah in the New Testament as he did in the Torah (Old Testament). The Torah speaks of a time when God will raise a branch from the Root of Jesse. Jesus became the fulfillment of that prophecy in every way and is now the King that was spoken of by Jeremiah.
John then, records how Jesus spoke of himself as the Vine and of believers as branches of that vine. In the time of Jesus ministry most of those branches would have come from the nation of Israel. However God was about to make changes that would graft branches of wild vines into the Kingdom of God. See the events in the scriptures below...
Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles: Acts 9:3-6
3 As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; 4 and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” 5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, 6 but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.”
In the Acts of the Apostles chapter nine verses three and four we find God intervening in the life of a man called Saul who was bent on the destruction of every follower of Jesus and determined to expunge the emerging church from the first century.
Jesus stopped Saul on the way to Damascus and what he said to Saul changed him from an Executioner of the Just into the foremost apostle and missionary of the gospel to the Gentiles. The change to Saul was so profound that he became known as Paul from that period of time onward. In the scripture below Paul talks of how the promise of the branch to Israel became a promise from God to all of the nations. The Gentiles...
Gentiles the Branch Grafted In: Romans 11:16-21
16 If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are too. 17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, 18 do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; 21 for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either. NASB
And so it was that other branches became grafted into the Kingdom of God in Jesus Christ. Because Israel had in part rejected Jesus as the Messiah so now God made the blessing of Salvation open to Gentile, as well as, Jew. We often think that Israel totally rejected Jesus but, in fact, the first Christians were Jews, as were the Apostles and in the first centuries of the Church. Christian Churches were often Jewish.
The branch from the Root of Jesse born as Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Man, became the Savior of Jew and Gentile alike. Whether Vine or Olive we are honored to be hidden in Jesus Christ. Colossians 3:3 ‘For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God...’ NASB
Altar Call: Acts 3:19
‘Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord..’ NASB
My dear friends if you have not found salvation in Jesus the only begotten Son of God then kneel now and ask Jesus to forgive your sins and to come into your heart. Then you may know the joy of Salvation and that you will not perish but will have eternal life.
Many thanks to Bible Gateway for the use of their beautiful scripture on-line website... https://www.biblegateway.com/
Many thanks also to BIBLETOOLS for their assistance in understanding the Branch scriptures... https://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Library.sr/CT/PW/k/289/The-Branch.htm
