“In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; He will do what is just and right in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which it will be called: The Lord of Righteousness” (Jeremiah 33:15-16. NIV). “It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, Who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.’ “ (I Corinthians 1:30-31. NIV). “But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.’ “ (Hebrews 1:8. NIV).
God declared He would fulfill His promises to save His people through an anointed descendant of David. The “Branch of David”—a shoot from the stem of Jesse—would bring about righteousness, justice and perpetuation of the kingdom promised to Abraham long ago. Much store was put on the Branch. It was very symbolic and a metaphor for the Ruler who would come to restore the kingdom and set the people of God at liberty. Of course, the Jewish people expected this Branch to set up an earthly kingdom and bring back the Jewish exiles from the nations where conquests by foreign kings had scattered them. But God had in mind a Branch of an entirely different nature. The Branch He would send would be a “Branch of Righteousness.” This Branch would cover all people, not just the Jews. And being grafted into the Living Branch comes through faith and belief, not in being born a Jew. It even took the disciples a time to grasp the Lord’s meaning of the Branch of David. But when the Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost and Peter stood to deliver the sermon he was inspired to preach, the true meaning of the Righteous Branch was made clear. Any who heard the new and dynamic message of the Lord could attain entrance to the Branch of Righteousness, the Messiah, the Savior. Righteousness was, indeed, to be the scepter of the new Kingdom and faith its stronghold.
Jesus in His wonderful discourse on the Vine and the branches taught us what it is like to abide as branches of the Vine. “I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” (John 15:5-8). The principle of abiding is vital to the Christian’s life. Apart from the vine, we (the branches) cannot have spiritual sustenance. Neither can we bear fruit worthy of the Vine. In the rush of this Christmas season, take time to abide in the true Branch.
c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Thursday, December 8, 2010
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