“For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground, He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him” Is. 53:2 (NASB)

AND

“The axe is already laid to the root of the trees, therefore, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down & thrown into the fire.” Matt. 3:10 (NASB)

My neighbor took the time to cut down some trees in her yard that I guess she felt like were either becoming a nuisance or threat to her property.  One of the trees was a beautiful flowering pear tree.  Every spring it budded beautifully but in the summer the pears were small and the squirrels would quickly roll them away when they hit the ground for food.  The other morning I noticed that the stump was bringing forth new growth and I realized that her cutting the tree down was not enough to eliminate it.  My mind ran to the two texts above.

Isaiah was describing Jesus prophetically as one who would come out of the root of Jesse which was a description of his physical bloodline through Mary.  He was by blood a descendent of David, the one to whom it was promised Messiah would come from.  The indication in the text is that the shoot is coming out of a place that by all physical practicality should not produce any sort of growth or blessing.

Matthew was describing John the Baptist’s testimony and preaching in the wilderness when Jesus came to be baptized.  He was declaring that God had already sent the One who would judge the sins of the world and the means he used to describe Jesus was one of taking an axe to the root of sin.  John understood that if one wants to get rid of a tree, a weed or any other nuisance plant you have to get it out by the root.  If not, the root will spring forth new growth but in this case not the good kind of growth but sin.  Unless we get to the root of sinfulness through Jesus Christ we are merely doing a temporary fix to the problem.

My neighbor (I believe) was trying to get rid of a tree but because she failed to go to the root and stump grind it out, the tree is now rapidly taking on new growth and will replace the old tree.  Sin works the same way, unless we apply Jesus to the heart of what causes the sin and only treat the symptoms, sin will crop back up often in a new way and in a more flourishing way.  On the other hand, Jesus was the intended descendent of David to bring salvation to the world.  Even though, the family tree of Jesse may have been taken down to a stump, nothing could stop the fact that Jesus would still come forth as a new shoot of growth.  The stump may not be worth looking at and may seem like more of a nuisance than the original tree but the benefit is far greater and more flourishing in God’s hand.

Once again, God shows me through nature, His intention, grace and mercy and depending on which side of the fence we are on, the tender shoots coming out of this stumped tree can be viewed either as a blessing or a curse.