When I was young, my Uncle John, the family genealogist, told me that Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Robin Roberts was my ninth cousin. As an avid baseball fan, I was over the moon about it. For the record, a ninth cousin means that Robin and I share an eighth great-grandparent. We’re talking a distant relative here, yet it didn’t much matter to me. I told anybody who would listen that I was related to this famous Hall of Fame pitcher. I conveniently left off the ninth cousin part.
There are two partial genealogies of Jesus in the gospels (Matthew 1 and Luke 3) and Jesse features prominently in both. Jesse’s claim to fame is that one of his eight sons, David, becomes the exalted king of Israel. David is arguably the greatest king Israel has ever known. Yet during the days of the prophet Isaiah, Israel had fallen on hard times, as their apostasy eventuated in Babylonian exile. This once glorious tree had now been reduced to a mere stump. Isaiah prophesied, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots, a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him–the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord” (Is. 11.1-2). Root of Jesse is one of the lesser-known titles for Jesus in the New Testament (Rom. 15.12; Rev. 5.5). In the last chapter of Revelation, Jesus declared, “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches, I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright Morning Star” (Rev. 22.16). The prophet Nathan told David after God selected him as king, “When your days are over, and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house in my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Sam. 7.12-13). In these days when nations battle for supremacy, I rest in the promise that Jesus’ kingdom will last forever.
Christians from our “great cloud of witnesses” marked the last week of Advent by recalling seven Old Testament titles for Jesus. O Root of Jesse is the third of seven antiphons (sentence prayers that were either sung or recited in worship) to commemorate Christ’s coming at Bethlehem and to anticipate his glorious return. Come, O Root of Jesse. Today we pray: