Peace

Scripture: Isaiah 11:1-9

Video Link: https://youtu.be/-iOYOs5t4dg

Structure:

• Introduction
• Wise Spirit
• Righteous Judge
• Universal Peace
• Conclusion

Introduction:

Kia ora whanau and good morning everyone.

Have you ever noticed how many dystopian movies there are these days? Dystopia is a term used to describe a highly dysfunctional society, in contrast to utopia which refers to an ideal society.

A dystopian film is usually set in the future with a government that is evil or corrupt. As a consequence, the people suffer in a nightmarish society, ruled by violence and fear and injustice.

Examples of the dystopian genre include The Divergent Series, The Hunger Games Trilogy, The Matrix series, Gattaca, The Running Man, Snowpiercer and Escape from New York.

The main function of these dystopian films is to critique our present day society. It’s like these movies are giving a prophetic message of what could happen if we don’t fix the problems we have now.

The Bible also critiques contemporary society but it does so without giving in to despair. The Bible critiques the present day and inspires hope by imagining a good future.       

Today is the second Sunday in Christmas Advent, traditionally associated with peace. Advent is a time of consciously waiting for the peace only Jesus can bring. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Our message this morning focuses on Isaiah 11:1-9. In this passage the prophet paints a picture of a utopian future, one of universal peace. From verse 1 of Isaiah 11, we read…

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. ² 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 the knowledge and fear of the Lord – ³ and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; ⁴ but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. ⁵ Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. ⁶ The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearlingtogether; and a little child will lead them. ⁷ The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. ⁸ The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. ⁹ They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

This passage from Isaiah is about the Messiah, God’s anointed King. The Messiah is empowered with a wise Spirit. He is a righteous judge. And, through his wise and just rule, the Messiah will ultimately bring about universal peace.

The Jews of Isaiah’s day were not sure who this ideal king would be, but they could be sure his wisdom and righteousness were a critique of many of Israel’s previous kings who were far from wise or just.

Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ. We believe Jesus will one day usher in universal, lasting peace.

Wise Spirit:

In verse 1 of chapter 11, Isaiah gives us this metaphor for the Messiah:

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

Jesse was the father of king David. David’s descendants sat on the throne of Israel for many years. Some of those kings were good but many of them were rotten. God was patient but there is only so much he will tolerate.

Eventually God decided enough was enough and he brought an end to the Davidic monarchy. He cut the descendants of David off from the throne, like cutting down a tree and leaving only the stump.

In chapter 11, Isaiah foresees the day when a new king (a descendant of Jesse and David) will be restored to the throne. This new king will be different to any of the kings that went before. He will bear good fruit, the fruit of righteousness.

Two things we notice about this metaphor. Firstly, the new shoot (or the new Messiah) grows out of something considered long dead. This is a miracle of resurrection.

Secondly, waiting for this new Messiah will require some patience. What God has planned is not going to happen overnight. It will take many years for the new shoot to appear, grow and bear fruit.

In verse 2, Isaiah describes the special power and authority of this new Messiah, saying: ² 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 the knowledge and fear of the Lord.

In other words, the Messiah will be empowered with the Spirit of God.

Wisdom, in a Biblical understanding, isn’t so much about head knowledge or being book smart. Wisdom doesn’t necessarily come from having a PhD. Wisdom is more practical than that. Wisdom is about making good moral choices and the way one lives their life day to day.

Understanding suggests being able to join the dots correctly. So, someone with good understanding can see how general principles apply in specific situations. Understanding also suggests an awareness of how people tick.      

Jesus demonstrated wisdom and understanding on numerous occasions, especially when questioned by the religious leaders. One time they asked Jesus, ‘Teacher, is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?’

But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “…why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax… Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription? …Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”     

Wisdom and understanding you see. Jesus understood the hearts or intentions of his questioners. He also had the wisdom to know how to apply the spirit of God’s law to a specific situation, which wasn’t necessarily detailed in God’s law.

Returning to our passage from Isaiah. The Messiah will also have the Spirit of counsel and of might. Counsel here is about the right kind of strategic advice. Drawing on last week’s message, the Messiah will be a wonderful counsellor (or wonder planner), good at chess. 

Might is associated with power but, in this context, it’s not so much the power of brute force. More the power of thinking smarter and having the will or courage to follow through on your convictions.

Jesus also fits the bill when it comes to counsel and might. Jesus’ counsel, if someone hits you, is to turn the other cheek. Incredibly difficult to do but an excellent strategy for minimising violence.

Not only was Jesus’ teaching on this point smart, Jesus also had the might, or the strength, to turn the other cheek and not respond with violence when he was physically beaten at his trial. 

Knowledge of the Lord, means knowing God through relationship and experience. Knowledge doesn’t just mean knowing facts about God. Knowledge comes from tasting and seeing that the Lord is good. Knowledge of God is the basis of trust in God.

Fear of the Lord has to do with awe and reverence and respect for God. As Proverbs tells us, ‘the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom’.

The Messiah will delight in the fear of the Lord. I quite like Abraham Heschel’s rendering of verse 3: Through the fear of the Lord he [the Messiah] will have supreme sensitivity.

Sensitivity speaks of discernment. When a woman caught in adultery was brought before Jesus, in John 8, the Lord showed supreme sensitivity in his dealing with the angry crowd and the frightened woman.    

Righteous Judge:

In ancient times, if people wanted to settle a serious dispute, they might go to the king for a resolution. King Solomon, who lived many years before Isaiah, was renowned for His wisdom. People brought their disputes before him.

Famously, two women came to Solomon one day. They both lived in the same house and both had infant sons. One of the sons had died, but both women claimed the surviving child was theirs.

Solomon ordered one his soldiers to cut the living boy in two and give half to each woman. One of the women just shrugged her shoulders, she was pretty unmoved by this command. But the other woman begged the king to spare the child’s life and give the baby to her rival.

Solomon had no intention of harming the baby. It was a test to see which of the women was the true mother. Obviously the child belonged to the woman who was prepared to give up her baby to save his life.

In Isaiah 11, verses 3-4, we read…

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; ⁴ but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.

These verses are basically saying that the wise Messiah will be a righteous judge. He won’t give preferential treatment to someone just because they happen to be rich and powerful.

There is a famous statue of lady justice holding scales in one hand and a sword in the other. The balanced scales represent fairness and equity. While the sword represents punishment for wrong doing.

The interesting thing is that lady justice is wearing a blind fold. The message with the blindfold is that justice does not take into account a person’s race or religion or wealth or position in society. Whatever your demographic, whatever your background, your case will be decided on the evidence, not on who your parents are or how much money you have.

The inspiration for lady justice comes from passages like Isaiah 11. The Messiah will not judge by outward appearances. He will look deeper, to the heart of the issue, because things are not always as they first appear. 

For example, if a widow steals a loaf of bread to feed her hungry children, then the righteous judge (who is also the king) will acknowledge the law has been broken but also look deeper as to the cause. Why is this woman so poor that she has to steal bread to feed her family?

Is it because her landlord is charging too much rent? Is it because her boss isn’t paying her enough? Or is it because someone has a monopoly on bread making and can charge whatever they want?

If the woman stole bread because the system is broken, then it’s not fair to punish her for something she has no control over. This righteous judge is also the king of the land. His word is law. He controls the system. So he can fix whatever the larger problem (with society) is.   

So that’s the main idea with these verses in Isaiah 11. The Messiah is a righteous judge who looks at the heart of the matter in order to make his kingdom (his society) a fair place for everyone. A place in which widows don’t need to resort to stealing.

But let me develop this idea a bit more, because I don’t want to leave you with the false impression that the rich are evil and the poor are saints. We all know that people are more complex than that. Nor should we think that every act of wrong doing can be blamed on a faulty system. Individuals still have to take some responsibility.

The point we need to keep hold of here is that God’s Messiah does not judge by outward appearances. Sometimes needy people are hidden in plain sight.

Sometimes they are businessmen wearing suits and a thin smile to hide the emptiness they feel inside. Or they may be lampooned politicians who everyone loves to criticise. Or the tired, busy (and somewhat invisible) parent sacrificing their own needs and wants for their family.

No one liked Zacchaeus the tax collector. They all thought he was a corrupt businessman who got rich by robbing decent hard working folks. But that was more of a prejudice. They did not see his loneliness or feel his hurt at the comments people made at his expense.  

Jesus did not judge Zacchaeus by what he saw or heard people say. Jesus looked deeper, beneath the outward appearance, and saw a generosity and faithfulness in Zacchaeus that was just waiting to be released. Jesus honoured Zacchaeus and the whole community was blessed, particularly the poor.  

You know sometimes we judge ourselves by outward appearances. Maybe we look in the mirror and we don’t like what we see. We wish we were a different shape, with better skin or better hair or a bit taller. All superficial things, most of which we have little or no control over.

Or perhaps we get to our middle years and look back at our life, wondering what have I accomplished? What difference have I made in the world? What if I had climbed a different ladder?

In 1946, Frank Capra directed a movie called It’s a wonderful life.  It’s a Christmas movie, although probably not that well known in New Zealand today.

The main character, George Bailey (played by Jimmy Stewart) is a kind man who always puts others first, at his own expense. He is a regular middle class guy, a businessman, who helps people with their finances.

His generosity to others puts him in a vulnerable position. He reaches a low point in his life and his nemesis, Mr Potter, rubs salt in the wound. Potter tells George that he is worth more dead than alive, and George believes him.

George is ready to throw in the towel but then a guardian angel comes along and shows George the good news about himself. Clarence, the angel, shows George the positive difference his hard work and kindness has made in the lives of others.

Maybe you can identify with George. Maybe you do your best to help but still end up feeling like it’s not enough somehow. That your life and efforts have fallen short of the mark. Don’t judge yourself or your efforts. You don’t know how God will use your life for good. What we do know is that God does not waste anything done in love.

Having a Messiah who is a righteous judge, saves us from judging ourselves.

Or, to put it more strongly, you have no right to judge yourself. You are not qualified. You can’t see deep enough or far enough, like Jesus can. You will either think too much of yourself (like Mr Potter) or too little (like George).

Returning to Isaiah 11. The poetry in verses 4 & 5 is vivid. It points to a Messiah (a king) with divine power.

He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. ⁵ Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

The King, Isaiah has in mind, can slay the wicked with his words. That’s how wise and powerful he is.

Accountants get a bit of a hard time. I know this because I used to be one. But actually accountants have quite a bit of power to do good. You would be surprised by how helpful accounting is in pastoral ministry.

Many of us tend to like movies where the hero takes out the bad guy with a fist or a gun. The movie sets us up to hate the villain with a sense of righteous indignation. Then it satisfies our desire to see revenge.

In real life, it doesn’t necessarily play out that way. In the 1930’s it wasn’t Batman or Wonder Woman or Dirty Harry or Bruce Willis who dealt a blow to the mafia. It was actually the work of an accountant, Frank J. Wilson, who finally brought Al Capone to justice.

The Messiah pictured in Isaiah 11 doesn’t carry a gun or a sword. He doesn’t need to swing his fists. He is more like an accountant, who uses his head. The Messiah’s weapons are righteousness, faithfulness and words of truth. Possibly also a calculator (although Isaiah doesn’t mention the calculator in these verses).   

Universal Peace:

God’s promised King, foreseen by Isaiah, has a wise spirit, he is a righteous judge who ushers in universal peace.  In verses 6-8 we read of a utopian future…

⁶ The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearlingtogether; and a little child will lead them. ⁷ The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. ⁸ The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.

In this metaphor we have the hunters and the hunted; the weak and the strong; the deadly and the vulnerable; the cunning and the innocent. Each of these pairs of opposites is living together in peace, safely and without fear. When everyone knows the fear of the Lord they feel secure and are not afraid of their neighbours. 

John Goldingay sums up the meaning well when he says: ‘Harmony in the animal world is a metaphor for harmony in the human world. The strong and powerful live together with the weak and powerless because the weak and powerless can believe that the strong and powerful are no longer seeking to devour them.’ [1]

Verses 6-8 are a metaphor about how the world will be when the fruit of the Messiah’s reign is realised in its fullness. It is life as it will be when Jesus returns in glory. This is paradise on earth, at the dawn of a new age.

For this utopian future to be realised, the hearts and minds of the whole world need to be transformed by experiential knowledge of the Lord. Verse 9 reads…

⁹ They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

This is telling us something that is hard to believe – that the peace will be universal. The peace is not limited to a particular holy place. The peace fills the whole earth, like the waters cover the sea. Think about that for a moment. The waters of the sea of peace are deep, inexhaustible and full of life. 

In that day preachers, like me, will be out of a job. We won’t need to explain the Scriptures to you because the reality to which the Scriptures point (that is, Jesus the Messiah) will be real in people’s lived experience.

Conclusion:

Sadly, this is not life as we experience it now. This utopian vision of universal peace is a critique of the present world in which weak and vulnerable people are often taken advantage of by ruthless and greedy individuals. This world is still a dangerous place. So don’t go putting your hand in a snake’s nest.

Although universal peace is not a reality for us yet, personal peace with God is possible now through faith in Jesus. Jesus’ death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead opens the door to friendship with God.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

• Do you have a favourite dystopian film? What is it and why do you like it? What critique might this film be making about our society today?

• What does Isaiah’s metaphor of a shoot growing out of a dead stump reveal about God’s promised Messiah?

• What does Isaiah have in mind when he talks about the Spirit of wisdom, counsel, understanding, might and fear of the Lord? Can you think of examples from the gospels where Jesus demonstrates this Spirit of wisdom?

• Do you judge yourself? Where does this lead? Why is it important to leave judgement (of ourselves and others) to Jesus? 

• Discuss / reflect on the metaphor of the animals in verses 6-8. What is Isaiah saying with this word picture? Can you imagine a world like that?

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[1] Refer John Goldingay’s commentary on Isaiah, page 85.