Day 18 · The Nativity Fast
A Shoot from the Stump of Jesse
“A shoot will come out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots will bear fruit. The LORD’s Spirit will rest on him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.”Isaiah 11:1-2
Reflection
Isaiah pictures the royal family of David as a tree cut down to a stump. It looks dead. But from that stump a shoot will grow, and the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him. The Church reads this at Vespers on Christmas Eve, and the canon of the Nativity sings to Christ as “the Rod of the Root of Jesse and its Flower,” budding forth from a Virgin. When everything seems cut down, God can still bring new life, and it often begins very small, as small as a baby in a manger.
A prayer
Lord Jesus, Shoot from the stump of Jesse, you bring life where everything seemed finished. Where my hope has been cut down, let something green grow again. Let your Spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and might, rest on me. Amen.
Carry this with you
Where do you need God to bring new growth from what looks dead?