O Come, O Root of Jesse!
This Sunday’s title is Root of Jesse, and so we add our voices to generations of God’s people who cry out, “O come, O Branch of Jesse, free your own from Satan’s tyranny; from depths of hell your people save; and give them victr’y o’er the grave!” Both Matthew and Luke trace Jesus’ lineage to King David, the youngest son of Jesse, who ruled over the United Monarchy of Israel. Through the generations, as people waited for the Messiah, the prophets envisioned a new, young shoot springing up from the seemingly dead stump of Jesse. Jesus points to a fig tree’s sprouting leaves as a sign of the nearness of the fruit of the kingdom of God. Jesus is the branch of Jesse who rules with justice and righteousness. For Christians, Jesus sprouts from the stump of Jesse to free, save, and raise us to new life, and so in this Advent season, we pray for him to be with us again… and always.
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