Jesse's Stump

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Wednesday, December 19, 2018

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.  Isaiah 11:1-2(NLT)

I’ve got this elm tree that won’t quit.  It was a young tree, maybe about 15 years old when I first decided it was too close to my fence and needed to come down.  I’ve cut it down five or six times in the dozen years since the first razing; it keeps coming back.

You don’t expect a stump to produce a new limb; what’s dead is dead.  Yet, that’s exactly what the prophet Isaiah said about Jesse’s family.  Jesse was a descendant of King David.  Ever the poet, Isaiah strung together the beautiful imagery of resurrection; Jesse’s family, part of that old dead stump, Israel, would have a new driving, a shoot that would grow, thrive and produce fruit again.

Another prophet, Micah, said it more plainly:

As for you, Jerusalem, the citadel of God’s people, your royal might and power will come back to you again.  The kingship will be restored to my precious Jerusalem.  Micah 4:8(NLT)

Less poetic than Isaiah, Micah still presents what can be missed by the dull ear – the monumental difference between an earthly kingdom and a spiritual one.  Hollywood does that all the time.  Last night my bride and I watched a TV movie, Killing Jesus.  In some ways it depicted the life and ministry of Jesus in refreshing ways, showing his lighthearted joyful nature, as well as the suffering.  At other points, and (in my opinion vital points) there were omissions, or outright distortions.

For instance, in Jesus’ early years, prior to being baptized by John, he is portrayed as not understanding that he is Messiah; he tells the Baptist:  I never thought of myself as anything more than a simple carpenter from Nazareth. 

There is no Biblical evidence of that; rather just the opposite.  One such instance[2] was when Jesus was 12.  He stayed behind in Jerusalem when his parents left town.  When they went back, they found him teaching the teachers at the temple.  He knew he was doing his father’s business – his Heavenly Father.  That was awareness of his mission.

In the movie’s scene where Pilate agrees to have Jesus crucified Barabbas is nowhere in sight.  How vital is this point – Jesus, the best of the best, voluntarily taking the penalty of Barabbas, the worst of the worst.  The illuminating sacrifice of Christ needs the darkness of sin to get our attention.

And then, they bailed on the resurrection – the women and a few officials entered Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb, only to find an empty shroud.  There is no appearance of Jesus…only a smile on Mary’s face, as if she’s the only one who gets it, that He’s alive.

And the sea shore fish fry where Jesus came to the disciples – it gets spiritualized.  There’s no Jesus walking around in a resurrected body – only Peter now replicating Jesus’ miracle of catching a boatload of fish after praying on a slow-catching afternoon.  He smiles and hollers to the other disciples – He’s come back!

They saved the worst part for the end.  After a tepid, feeble hint of a resurrection, the images fade as the voiceover declares that “…according to many scholars and those who believe, Jesus was resurrected, and Peter went on to establish one of the world’s most significant religions.”  Religion? 

Frankly, despite the attempts at presenting a “happy” Jesus, while failing at so many significant theological points, in hindsight the only positive thing I can say is that I’m glad I only wasted 3 hours in front of my TV; at least I didn’t blow $20 going to a theater to see a thinly-veiled liberal misrepresentation of the Gospel.

Well, if the dead stump of Jesse’s tree produced new fruit in Israel, maybe the dead stump of Gospel faith in America will have a new chance…but we will have to get rid of Hollywood first!

For You Today

Go ahead and watch those Christmas movies, just make sure you have your Bible handy; not everything that comes from the movie industry is fact-checked!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com

[2] Luke 2:49

Discarded

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Wednesday, May 17, 2017

The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage.  But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand.  And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!”  Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting.  They rushed at him and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him.  His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.  As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”  He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!”  And with that, he died.  Acts 7:54-60^(NLT)

In yesterday’s devotion we left Stephen at the mercy of the Sanhedrin; it’s not hard to figure-out there wasn’t much mercy to be found that day.  The religious elders were white-hot with anger against Stephen for telling the truth about how prophets sent from God were never listened to, and always beaten and put to death.  Stephen added the final straw; God sent His Son, Jesus, and they pinned him, naked, and spread-eagle to a cross on the town garbage dump.  That was too much for the proud Pharisees, and Scripture records they pelted him with stones until his body was lifeless.

It’s not much of a Hollywood movie ending is it?  Let’s face it; The Hallmark Channel would not use the seventh chapter of Acts for a sequel to The Easter Bunny Meets Abbot and Costello.  There’s little to work with for a feel-good ending to the story of Stephen’s life!  He stands for truth and gets clobbered with no support from Heaven’s angels – I mean…where are Roma Downey and Della Reese[ii] when you need them?

Now, if you were listening closely, I said there is little to work with for a happy ending.  The part of the account of the stoning of Stephen that gives us hope, and gives meaning to Stephen’s life and ministry, even though he is literally discarded on the garbage pile outside the gates of Jerusalem, is almost a throwaway line Luke included at the end:

His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.  Acts 7:58b^(NLT)

History tells us the young man was nothing much to look at, small of stature, weak-eyed, bowlegged, and troubled with some kind of medical ailment that kept him in chronic pain.  We can also read that he was a brilliant scholar, had the best training in Scripture and Jewish law.  He was a natural leader and, without doubt, a rather single-minded powerful debater who didn’t mind getting in your face to prove a point. 

This young Saul had a name change that followed a heart change on the road to Damascus.  Saul met Jesus, was knocked to his knees, and the man who thought he saw everything clearly, got up from the encounter with God physically-blind as the proverbial bat, but seeing more clearly how wrong he’d been to persecute God’s people, including Stephen.  We call it repentance; and we know this man as Paul the Apostle.

It seems Stephen’s life was not discarded on that day after all – look what his faithfulness to the testimony of the Word of God, even at the cost of being stoned to death, has meant for all of us.

For You Today

The question to contemplate today is rather simple; would it be worth giving your life to turn the world upside-down for Christ?

Short answer from my perspective:  In a heartbeat!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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NOTES

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 ^I Title image:  By Matthew Woitunski, via Wikimedia Commons

[ii] Roma Downey and Della Reese were co-stars in the TV Series Touched By an Angel^©