Christmas 2
Dear friends in Christ. Today we are at the 10th Day of Christmas, our celebration of God becoming man to be our Savior. Certainly by tomorrow things will be “getting back to normal.” All the holiday hustle and bustle will be a thing of the past, a memory, and life carries on. But may it not be so for us, dear Christian! Yes, we have two more days of the Christmas season remaining. Let us use them to continue our pondering and meditation of this greatest of miracles—the very God Himself, the Son, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity took on human flesh and blood in the womb of the virgin and became true man. Who can fully grasp the love of God for us sinners—the Father who gave up His Son into death; the Son who willingly laid down His life to rescue us from our sin and reconcile us sinners to God? We certainly need the full 12 days of Christmas—and more!
And let it not be said of us that Christmas is now a distant memory, seemingly buried in the past forever. Instead, let this mystery that we have pondered these 10 days so far become part of our life. Let this mystery influence and change our hearts and lives. Let the love of the holy God for us sinners, His saving work for our salvation, His promises—let this all further our love of Him, increase our faith in Him and our desire to serve Him—our God and Savior.
Today’s Gospel reading reminds us that the world is not truly joyful with the great Christmas miracle of God becoming man. Yes, the world will be happy to make money at Christmas; is happy for all the parties and cheer at this darkest time of year; but when it comes to Christ, that Christmas is all about God becoming man to save us, the world wants nothing to do with it. It doesn’t want to hear that we are sinners who need a Savior, that there is such a thing as heaven and hell, that repentance is necessary, that we are not our own gods and cannot save ourselves but that there is Another to Whom we must give account.
That’s why Christmas [Lk. 2.11], There is born for you this day…a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, causes such a stir and reaction even today just like that first Christmas when [Mt. 2.3] Herod the king…was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. Like we hear in today’s Gospel: Now when [the Wise Men] had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him." Let us not be surprised at the hostility of the world against Christ. It has been this way and will continue to be this way. Let us use the hostility of the world against Christ as a reminder to us that it is solely due to His grace that we know and love Jesus aright; let it serve us to lead us deeper into the study of God’s holy word so that we do not get rocked by each attack on Christ and the holy Christian faith but instead may be able to give a defense/ explanation of our faith.
We also see something else here as well. We see that lowliness of Jesus as He came to be our Savior—that as our Gospel tells us, the Baby Jesus had to flee for His very life. Such is the lowliness of Jesus during His earthly life and ministry and such is the lowliness of His Church, the Kingdom that He established.
1. This is precisely what our text talks about—it is a prophecy of the Savior, who would be very lowly and humble, who would set up His Kingdom of Grace, which too would be very lowly and humble, but would become worldwide and eternal.
In our text, the OT prophet Ezekiel quotes the words of the Father: “I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and will set it out. I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, that it may bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar. And under it will dwell every kind of bird; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest…”
In, to us, rather strange sounding language God the Father is describing the coming of the Savior into the world: after all, what’s all this talk about a sprig being taken from a cedar, a young tender twig being planted and it becoming a large tree bearing fruit? But this reference to young tender twigs and cedar sprigs is really not that obscure when we keep in mind other OT prophecies that use similar words and images. For example the well-loved image of Jesus in the prophecy from Isaiah [11.1]: There shall come forth a Shoot from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. This prophecy told the OT people that although the line of the kings coming from David, the son of Jesse, will come to an end, will be cut down like a tree, yet there is a Shoot, a Branch, that will come from that cut down line/ tree. And that is the Savior, Christ Jesus! He, according to His human nature, is a descendant of David. That’s why the Gospel writers make it very clear that Jesus and Mary, biologically, and Joseph, legally, are descendants of David. Paul also spells it out very clearly [Rom. 1.3]: His Son Jesus Christ our Lord…was descended from David according to the flesh.
In our text, the Lord is saying/ prophesying the same thing about Jesus. That lofty cedar is the line of the kings following David. But what happens? I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and will set it out. I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. Although the line of kings will come to an end because of their sin and rebellion against the Lord, the Lord will take a sprig, a tender twig, that is, He will remain faithful to His promise to David that one of his descendants will be the Messiah. But this Descendant of David who will be the Savior, will not be a cedar, will not be a mighty earthly king but will just be that sprig, a tender twig.
That is the lowliness of the Savior/ the lowliness of Jesus. Although He is the true God and king over all, although He, according to His human nature, is in the royal line of David, it is a line that had ceased to rule and had become impoverished. As we remember today’s Gospel reading, that Jesus had to flee for His very life, how much more lowly and humble could Jesus be? But in fact, Jesus humbled Himself even further, as Scripture tells us [Ph. 2.8], and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. And why was Jesus so lowly? Why didn’t He always as true man make full use of His divine majesty and glory? Precisely so He could be our Savior. This is the glorious way the Father and Son work together in complete harmony and unity because they together with the Holy Spirit are the one true God. Jesus, the Son of God, humbled Himself; and in our text, we read that this is the Father’s work as He says: I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and will set it out. I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.
Just as Jesus was during His earthly life and work lowly and humble, just as He humbled Himself, just as He was that sprig, a tender twig the Father planted, so also is His kingdom of grace, the Church that He established. Jesus possibly refers to our text as He describes His Church [Mt. 13.31-32]: The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches. The point is this: just like the mustard seed, which indeed is the least of all the seeds, has humble beginnings so too does Jesus’ kingdom, the Church. It had a very humble beginning—only a handful of apostles that were to go out into all the world with a very simple message of Law and Gospel: you are sinners worthy only of God’s eternal wrath and condemnation but here in Jesus is the forgiveness of your sins, eternal life and an open heaven.
Down to our very day the Church has no other “tools” than the simple/ humble “tools” Jesus entrusted to His Church—the “tools” of word and sacrament. Because the Church relies on simple word, water, bread and wine to carry out its task, because the Church’s message goes against the flow of society, because the Church looks foolish to so many outside of her, the Church looks very lowly/ humble today. As we see the Church being persecuted in varying degrees throughout the world we recognize/ see that she is very lowly—like Jesus was as He was hounded by Herod who wanted to kill Him.
2. But what is the prophecy of our text? I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, and it will bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar. And under it will dwell every kind of bird; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest. That sprig, tender twig the Father took from the cedar of the royal family of David, He [Himself planted] on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain height of Israel I [planted] it, that it may bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar. Here, don’t we see Good Friday? Jesus, that sprig, tender twig was planted on Golgotha, Mt. Calvary—so weak and tender was He that he needed the stake of a cross. That mountain of great shame and disgrace on which criminals were executed became a high and lofty mountain when the world’s sinner—lowly, humble Jesus, true God and true man, loaded down with the sins of the world—was planted there. And just like when you plant a shoot or cutting, you don’t plant it so that it dies but so that it lives and becomes vibrant. That’s what happened when [He Himself was planted] on a high and lofty mountain by His death on the cross that sprig, tender twig, the humble Christ. Jesus didn’t stay dead! He rose from the dead conqueror of sin, death, devil, hell—our spiritual enemies—for us! Because Jesus didn’t do it for Himself—He’s the holy, sinless God after all—but for us, we now have life in Him.
Yes, at the beginning Jesus did have a humble appearance in His state of humiliation; He was like that weak branch, a sprig, tender twig. But now He is no longer lowly. He lives and reigns as the almighty God. From Him now flows to us all the gifts and blessings He won for us on the cross: forgiveness of sin, life, peace with God, salvation and every other heavenly and spiritual blessing! Instead of that sprig, tender twig He was during His earthly life, now Jesus is a mighty, noble cedar. And it will bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar. And under it will dwell every kind of bird; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest.
This image of Jesus, the Messiah, being that mighty cedar is a glorious image of Jesus at work in and through His Church. Here the tree is described as [producing] fruit. Fruit gives nourishment and strength. So here is a glorious picture of the blessings that we in the Church receive. The only place that we can receive the gifts and blessings Jesus won for us on the cross is in His Church. Nowhere else is there forgiveness of sin and peace of conscience and with God; nowhere else is there eternal life given but in the Church where Jesus has entrusted His word and sacrament. As we hear His holy word and receive the sacraments Jesus is giving us the fruit that gives and preserves our spiritual life. And in His Church, His Kingdom, people come to Jesus. You, me, people from every nation and time—here described as every kind of bird… birds of every sort—come/ have come to Jesus. In and through His Church, by the word and sacraments Jesus gathers us to Himself.
Dear Christian, we take refuge in Jesus and He provides us shelter: And under it will dwell every kind of bird; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest. We enjoy the blessing of forgiveness of sin; we are rescued from the devil and His kingdom; we have life now and into all eternity.
Jesus came in all lowliness to set up and be king of His kingdom, the Church and now His reign extends throughout the world as He gathers people into His Church to enjoy all His heavenly and spiritual blessings He obtained for us in all lowliness. INJ AMIHb