Isaiah 11:1-10 (NRSV)
Read Isaiah 11:1-10 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 11A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. Verse 2The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. Verse 3His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; Verse 4but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Verse 5Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. Verse 6The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. Verse 7The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. Verse 8The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den. Verse 9They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
Verse 10On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.
Devotion
I have a favorite Christmas ornament. It’s a setting of a lion and a lamb in a lush garden. Woody Allen always echoes in my ears, “The lion and the lamb might lie down together, but the lamb won’t get much sleep!” Woody Allen notwithstanding, Isaiah paints a wonderful picture – a return to Eden as a culmination of God’s promise. As T.S. Eliot writes, “What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.” And our goal is to arrive again at the promised place where creation is whole, brokenness healed and no more harm done.
Prayer
O God of Alpha and Omega, help us find Eden at our end through the nativity of Jesus and the reign of Christ. Amen.