A Beautiful and Glorious Branch
Isaiah 4:2
Introduction.
A beautiful sight!
Jesus is that beautiful and glorious Branch!
Preview.
The Branch Described (4:2).
The Branch’s People (4:3).
The Branch’s Mission (4:4-6).
Body.
Branch Described (4:2).
What is this Branch?
First, it is the Branch of the Lord, and it shall be beautiful and glorious.
Several other passages talk about this coming Branch.
Later in Isaiah, this Branch is described as a Rod from the stem of Jesse, growing out of his roots, the Spirit of the Lord resting upon Him (11:1-2).
Both Jeremiah and Zechariah speak of this Branch, and it is clearly a reference to Jesus.
Jesus was from the tribe of Judah, the Son of David—and of course, Jesse was David’s father.
But I have to ask, how starved for beauty must someone be to describe a branch as beautiful?
When we enjoy something or miss something, it is very nice to experience it again.
When my wife and I were on this fad diet called Whole30, we couldn’t eat many things for 30 days, including dairy.
I missed sugar and bread and other grains, but I really missed cheese!
It was a glorious day when we were done and we ate at a Mexican restaurant and ordered queso dip for the chips. Delicious!
You see, these people were starved for righteous leadership.
They may not have known it, but they were. They were on a Whole30 diet and just had a huge bowl of queso dip.
This Branch was beautiful!
Now, I recognize this is talking about Jesus, so He is going to be beautiful and glorious regardless, but imagine how much more beautiful He would seem after having emerged from this righteousness desert?
I’m reminded of the parable Jesus told of the one who was forgiven much vs. the one that was forgiven little (Luke 7:41-43).
Jesus then said about the sinner before Him, “Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little” (Luke 7:47).
They thought this Branch beautiful and glorious because they hadn’t seen its like in a very long time.
The righteous in 3:10 would be able to eat the fruit of their doings, and the righteous who escaped the judgments upon Israel shall enjoy the blessings in Christ.
The Branch’s People (4:3).
These are the righteous remnant who will enjoy in His blessings.
Not only that, they shall be called holy. They are set apart for God’s purpose, sanctified and cleansed of their sins.
Jerusalem here described is not the physical city of Jerusalem, but the spiritual Jerusalem talked about in 2:2-4.
Recall, the word will spread forth from Jerusalem, but before that happens, the righteous ones remaining in Jerusalem will be called holy.
They will be cleansed from their sins, which takes us to the Branch’s mission.
The Branch’s Mission (4:4-6).
Jesus’ purpose statements.
We have spent a lot of time talking about the purpose statements of Jesus in Mark and the other Gospel accounts.
Here we see a prophetic account of His mission, the mission of this beautiful and glorious Branch of the Lord.
We have discussed the sin these people were engaged in all the way back in Ch. 1.
And the Lord, this Branch, was going to wash away all this filth, purging the wickedness from them.
He would either do this by a baptism of water or a baptism of fire.
Recall, John the Baptist told that Jesus would come to baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire (Luke 3:16-17).
By these things, He would cleanse Jerusalem one way or another, by salvation or by judgment.
Cloud and fire.
Then Isaiah makes reference to the cloud by day and fire by night that guided the Israelites through the wilderness.
He will set that up again above “every dwelling place of Mount Zion,” above His church (cf. 2:2).
His church would be and is guided, not by a literal cloud or fire, but by His Spirit through His completed Word.
His Word covers us and protects us, providing us a refuge and shelter from the wickedness that’s out there.
Jesus was able to calm the literal storm, and His Word can shelter us from the spiritual storms that we struggle with every day.
We have this huge oak tree in our front yard, and branches fall from it often, sometimes big ones. It makes me a little nervous to be in the front yard sometimes, even playing with the kids. You see, these branches are a danger in the time of storm—when the wind picks up, more branches fall.
But the Branch of the Lord, that is a shelter and a refuge for our souls, guarding and protecting us from the wickedness of the world.
That is what a good leader should do, and Jesus does it best!
I’ve seen a meme that a few preacher friends have posted recently. It says: “Don’t let the elephants and donkeys make you forget you belong to the Lamb!”
Conclusion.
Our loyalties must lie with our Lord.
I know that whomever you’re voting for, you will have thought it through carefully and believe that you’re making a choice that aligns with Him.
Maybe you are, maybe you aren’t, I’m not here to adjudicate that to you this morning.
But always remember that no matter what happens, God is in control.
He is our true King, He is our true leader, the one who actually takes care of us and protects us.
And if it’s our time to leave this earth, He will protect our souls as they come to dwell with Him.
No one on earth can make that claim.
The kings of Judah at this time may have been righteous, but they were unable to guide the people away from corruption.
Our civil leaders and our church leaders may be good, may be bad, but our ultimate leader must be Christ.
His mission was to cleanse us of our sins, to guide us, and to protect us, like a true leader.
He has done just that, if we obey His gospel.
Recall, it is the righteous who will escape the judgment and enjoy in His blessings.
Not by our own righteousness, but by His righteousness.
We can’t earn our way out of judgment.
We can only obey His gospel for our sins to be washed away (Acts 22:16).
Do you want Him to cleanse your sins, to guide you, and protect you? Follow Him today!