“OUR INCREDIBLE, YET APPROACHABLE SAVIOR-IDENTIFYING WITH OUR NEED”
ISAIAH 11:1-5
INTRO: Today we begin a new series of messages on the subject “Our
Incredible, Yet Approachable Savior.” Who is Jesus? Down through
the ages this has been one of the foremost questions on the minds of
the masses? Someone has written: He was born in an obscure village,
the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village, where
he worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty. Then for three
years he was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never
held an office. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place
where he was born. He did none of the things one usually associates
with greatness. He was only thirty-three when the tide of public
opinion turned against him. He was turned over to his enemies and
went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross
between two thieves. When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed
grave. Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today he is
central figure of the human race and leader of mankind's progress.
All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all
the kings that ever reigned have not affected the life of man as much
as that One Solitary Life.
Jesus came to be not only our Savior, but also our friend. The
Scripture refers to Him as, “a friend that sticketh closer than a brother”
(Proverbs 18:24). Jesus appeals to all people because of WHO He is.
He is unique. 100% God and yet 100% man. He is the God-man! 1
Timothy 2:5 tells us, “For there is one God, and one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” Adam Clarke in his
commentary wrote: “God was offended with the crimes of men; to
restore them to his peace, Jesus Christ was incarnated; and being
God and man, both God and men met in and were reconciled by him”
(Adam Clarke’s Commentary On The Bible). Isaiah wrote this
prophecy during a time of crisis in Israel. It was written roughly 800
years before Jesus was even born, yet it tells us what Jesus is like
and what kind of person He will be. Jesus appeals to mankind
because of His compassion and character. He sees us from the inside
out and sees not our best, but His best for our lives. He gives us a
sense of importance within when we realize who He is and who He
desires for us to be. He offers compassion instead of condemnation,
forgiveness for our failures, hope for our hopelessness, Heaven
instead of Hell. As we read Isaiah’s prophecy, we discover why Jesus
is important and why He can touch our lives. We see how much we
need His forgiveness and how He came to identify with our need.
(1) HIS COMING WAS INCREDIBLE
ISAIAH 11:1—“And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of
Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.”
A. HIS HUMBLE ORIGIN. “A rod out of the stem of Jesse.” This whole
prophecy finds its fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ. Isaiah
envisions the future and sees a Messiah with this specific
characteristic: he will be a descendant of Jesse. Who is this Jesse?
Jesse was David’s father. He was an ordinary man who was well-
respected in his community. He was a man trying to live right, trying
to help out the city where he lived and trying to make ends meet.
Jesse lived in Bethlehem around 1000 BC. Albert Barnes in his notes
wrote: “Though Jesse had died, and though the ancient family of
David would fall into decay, yet there would arise from that family an
illustrious descendant. The beauty of this description is apparent, if
we bear in recollection that, when the Messiah was born, the ancient
and much honored family of David had fallen into decay; that the
mother of Jesus, though pertaining to that family, was poor, obscure,
and unknown; and that, to all appearance, the glory of the family had
departed. Yet from that, as from a long-decayed root in the ground, he
should spring who would restore the family to more than its ancient
glory, and shed additional luster on the honored name of Jesse.”
(Albert Barnes’ Notes On The Bible). Jesus, the “rod out of the stem of
Jesse” was an ordinary man with ordinary beginnings. He was from
a family like many of ours. A family just trying to make ends meet.
An ordinary family. He worked as a carpenter. Not the most glorious
of occupations at that time. Yet He arose from these obscure and
ordinary beginnings to die on the Cross for the sins of all mankind!
Isaiah writing of the Messiah in Isaiah 53:1-6 describes Him this way:
“Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the LORD
revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a
root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we
shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is
despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with
grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and
we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our
sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his
stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have
turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the
iniquity of us all.”
B. HIS HOLY OCCUPATION. “A Branch shall grow of out of his roots.”
This “rod of Jesse” shall “grow of out of his roots.” When David became
king of Israel, he ruled until Solomon took over. After the rule of
Solomon, Israel because of sin and disobedience was divided into two
kingdoms, the Northern Kingdom, Israel and the Southern Kingdom,
Judah. Israel was conquered by the Assyrians in 722 BC and led into
captivity by them. Judah was conquered in 587 BC by the
Babylonians and led into captivity. The “rod out of the stem of Jesse”
refers to the descendants of Jesse who survived after the country was
conquered by these invading armies. John Gill wrote: “…the sense is,
that though Jesse's or David's family should be brought so very low as
to be as the stem or stump of a tree, without a body, branches, leaves,
and fruit; yet from thence should arise a mighty King, even the King
Messiah.” (John Gill’s Exposition of The Entire Bible). Jesus spent His
early years in the home of Joseph, the carpenter. He learned his work
and doubtless practiced his trade, but this was not to be His life’s
work. The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 15:12—“and again, Esaias
saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over
the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.” B. W. Johnson in The
People’s New Testament wrote: “Jesse, the father of David, was an
ancestor of Jesus. The passage quoted shows very clearly that Christ
was to be the Savior of the Gentiles.” (The People’s New Testament).
This was HIS HOLY OCCUPATION! For this purpose and for this
purpose alone He came! Jesus himself said, “For the Son of man is
come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10). He was
made like unto us to identify with our need. “As Man alone, Jesus
could not have saved us; as God alone he would not. Incarnate, he
could and did.” -- Malcolm Muggeridge in Jesus. Christianity Today,
Vol. 36, no. 15. He came to meet our greatest need!
ILLUS: If our greatest need had been information, God would have
sent us an educator; If our greatest need had been
technology, God would have sent us a scientist; If our
greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an
economist; If our greatest need had been pleasure, God
would have sent us an entertainer; But our greatest need
was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior.
Source Unknown.
(2) HIS CHARACTER IS INCOMPARABLE
ISAIAH 11:2-5—“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
of the fear of the LORD; And shall make him of
quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and
he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes,
neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But
with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and
reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and
he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the
wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of
his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.”
ILLUS: Socrates taught for 40 years, Plato for 50, Aristotle for 40 and
Jesus for only 3 1/2 years. Yet the influence of Christ's ministry
infinitely transcends the impact left by the combined years of
teaching from these greatest of philosophers. Jesus painted no
pictures, yet some of the finest artists such as Raphael,
Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci received their inspiration
from Him. Jesus wrote no poetry, but Dante, Milton and scores of
the world's greatest poets were inspired by Him. Jesus composed
no music; still Haydn, Handel, Beethoven, Bach and Mendelssohn
reached their highest perfection of melody in the music they
composed in His praise. Every sphere of human greatness has
been enriched by this humble Carpenter of Nazareth.
Notice two things about the INCOMPARABLE CHARACTER of this “rod out of the stem of Jesse”:
- HIS EMPOWERMENT. “And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him.” John Gill wrote that the Spirit of the Lord would rest upon Him “The rod and branch, the King Messiah, so qualifying him for his office, and the discharge of it. This shows that Christ's kingdom is of a spiritual nature, and administered in a spiritual manner, for which he was abundantly furnished by the "Spirit of the Lord" resting on him”(John Gill’s Exposition Of The Entire Bible). These verses speak of the characteristics of the Spirit which would permanently empower Christ Jesus:
1. The Spirit of the Lord. The Spirit of Yahweh (Albert Barnes’ Note
On The Bible). The Holy Spirit would empower Him for His work.
This means that Jesus is supernaturally powerful! There is nothing
He cannot do. Neither is there any reason for us to doubt Him!
Matthew Henry wrote: “the Holy Spirit, in all his gifts and graces,
shall rest and abide upon him; he shall have the fulness of the
Godhead dwelling in him, Col_1:19; Col_2:9.” (Matthew Henry’s
Concise Commentary). Because the Spirit of the Lord rests upon
our Lord Jesus we can have complete confidence in Him. His word
is true and can be relied upon even in the most trying times of life.
2. The Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding. Isaiah speaks of
Jesus’ ability to distinguish between truth and lies. The words
“wisdom” and “understanding” coupled together speak of
discernment and discrimination. Matthew 22:18 tells us, “But
Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye
Hypocrites?” Christ, the omniscient God, veiled in human flesh
saw their hypocrisy and deceit and the wickedness of their hearts.
John 2:24-25 says, “But Jesus did not commit himself unto them,
because he knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of
man: for he knew what was in man.” Robertson in his word
pictures writes: “This supernatural knowledge of man is a mark of
deity. Some men of genius can read men better than others, but
not in the sense meant here.” (Robertson’s Word Pictures).
3. The Spirit of Counsel and Might. According to Isaiah, Jesus is
unique in that He possesses the power, foresight, strength, and
ability to help those in need. The word “counsel” speaks of “advice
or advisement.” The word “might” speaks of “strength, vigor, and
energy.” John Wesley wrote that Christ has the ability “to give good
counsel; and of might and courage, to execute it.” (Wesley’s
Explanatory Notes). Whatever we face, whatever our need is, He has
the wisdom, strength, and ability to help us!
4. The Spirit of Knowledge and Fear of the LORD. Jesus possessed
the perfect knowledge of the whole will and counsel of God. Also,
our Lord Jesus always was careful to please the Father in all
things. Jesus always displayed a strict regard to the will of the
Father and did the things which pleased Him. Jesus said in John
8:29—“And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me
alone; for I do always those things that please him.”
B. HIS EQUITY. The word equity speaks of “fairness or impartiality.”
Note the character of the “rod out of the stem of Jesse”:
- He is Fair and Impartial (vv. 3-4). Our Lord Jesus never judged merely by outward appearances. Barnes wrote: “He who judges ‘after the sight of his eyes,’ does it according to external appearances, showing favor to rank, to the rich, and the great; or judging as things “appear” without a close and careful inquiry into their true nature and bearings.”(Albert Barnes’ Notes On The Bible). Nor did our Lord rely on the testimony of men. But to the true merit of each case. Jesus needed not the testimony of men “for he knew what was in man” (John 2:25b). But as v4 tells us, “but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth…”. Jesus was always fair and impartial.
- He is Faithful and Immovable (v5). There are two important words I want you to see in this verse: righteousness and faithfulness. If these words could be said of any man that would have to be said of our Lord Jesus Christ! He will always exhibit himself as a just and faithful king (Albert Barnes’ Notes On The Bible). He will always keep His Word and be faithful to His promises.
ILLUS: A pastor who visited an old man suffering from painful
rheumatism found him with his Bible open in front of him.
The minister noticed that the word "proved" was written
repeatedly in the margin. He turned over a few pages and
found, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help
in trouble." "Proved." And so it went on through the Book.
Next to John 1:12 he had written "Proved." He had received
Christ by believing and had indeed become a child of God.
He had proved that promise of God's Word. Millions of
other born-again believers could write "proved" next to this
verse. There isn't a single one who has put this promise of
God to the test and been disappointed.
ILLUS: What if,
God couldn't take the time to bless us today,
because we couldn't take the time to thank Him yesterday?
What if,
God decided to stop leading us tomorrow,
because we didn't follow Him today?
What if,
we never saw another flower bloom,
because we grumbled when God sent the rain?
What if,
God didn't walk with us today,
because we failed to recognize it as His day?
What if,
God took away the Bible tomorrow,
because we would not read it today?
What if,
God took away His message,
because we failed to listen to the messenger?
What if,
God didn't send His only begotten Son,
because He wanted us to be prepared to pay the price for
sin.
What if,
the door of the church was closed because,
we did not open the door of our heart?
What if,
God stopped loving and caring for us,
because we failed to love and care for others?
What if,
God would not hear us today,
because we would not listen to Him yesterday?
What if,
God answered our prayers,
the way we answer His call to service?
What if,
God met our needs,
the way we give Him our lives???
--unknown
I am SO GLAD today that even when we are unfaithful He remains faithful! 2 Timothy 2:13 tells us, “If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” If we prove faithless, he will still be faithful to keep every promise he has made. (B. W. Johnson, The People’s New Testament).
(3) HIS COMPASSION IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE
ISAIAH 12:1-6
*Although these verses speak of the worship in the Millennial Kingdom, we can