Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming (Isaiah 11:1; 35:1-2; Luke 2:8-20)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:06.599 Well, tonight I want to read to you from God's word three different passages, 2 00:00:06.719 --> 00:00:10.269 too short and one a little bit longer, too from Isaiah and one 3 00:00:10.349 --> 00:00:16.629 from Luke, and as we read these passages tonight it's my hope that you 4 00:00:16.829 --> 00:00:22.859 will have a clearer understanding of what they mean how they connect. We will 5 00:00:22.899 --> 00:00:28.739 also be singing low how a rose are blooming at the end of a sermon 6 00:00:29.460 --> 00:00:39.329 and prayer hymn that connects these passages in a helpful way. So let's begin 7 00:00:39.490 --> 00:00:47.289 in God's word in Isaiah. First, Isaiah, verse eleven, and we 8 00:00:47.369 --> 00:00:52.039 have prophecies here of the coming Messiah, which is, of course, Jesus 9 00:00:52.119 --> 00:00:59.600 Christ. Isaiah Eleven, verse one comes up particularly in the hymn, but 10 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:03.310 I will read one through five. There shall come forth a shoot from the 11 00:01:03.390 --> 00:01:07.989 stump of Jesse and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit, and the 12 00:01:08.069 --> 00:01:11.709 spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, 13 00:01:12.109 --> 00:01:15.549 the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear 14 00:01:15.590 --> 00:01:19.060 of the Lord, and his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. 15 00:01:19.500 --> 00:01:23.700 He shall not judge by what is I see or decide dispute by what 16 00:01:23.819 --> 00:01:29.099 his ears here but with righteousness. He shall judge the poor and decide with 17 00:01:29.219 --> 00:01:32.780 equity for the meek of the Earth, and he shall strike the Earth with 18 00:01:32.969 --> 00:01:36.409 the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips. He shall 19 00:01:36.450 --> 00:01:41.450 kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist and faithfulness the 20 00:01:41.569 --> 00:01:47.239 belt of his loins. Continuing in the Prophet Isaiah, let's turn to chapter 21 00:01:47.400 --> 00:01:53.400 thirty five, two verses. Here the Wilderness and the dry land shall be 22 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:59.879 glad. The desert shall rejoice and bloom like the Crocus, shall blossom abundantly 23 00:02:00.439 --> 00:02:05.510 and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to 24 00:02:05.709 --> 00:02:08.909 it, The Majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of 25 00:02:08.990 --> 00:02:15.020 the Lord, The Majesty of Our God. And now to the Gospel of 26 00:02:15.060 --> 00:02:24.620 Luke Luke, Chapter two. Luke two versus eight through twenty. And in 27 00:02:24.740 --> 00:02:28.900 the same region, there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their 28 00:02:28.939 --> 00:02:31.770 flock by night, and an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the 29 00:02:31.889 --> 00:02:36.930 glory of the Lord shone around them and they were filled with great fear, 30 00:02:38.129 --> 00:02:42.210 and the Angel said to them fear not, for behold, I bring you 31 00:02:42.689 --> 00:02:46.360 good news of great joy that will be for all the people, for unto 32 00:02:46.360 --> 00:02:52.080 you is born this day in the city of David, Savior who is Christ, 33 00:02:52.319 --> 00:02:54.560 the Lord, and this will be a sign for you. You will 34 00:02:54.599 --> 00:03:00.229 find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And suddenly 35 00:03:00.310 --> 00:03:04.030 there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and 36 00:03:04.189 --> 00:03:08.629 saying glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom 37 00:03:08.710 --> 00:03:13.780 he is pleased. When the angels went away from them into heaven, the 38 00:03:13.860 --> 00:03:16.620 shepherd said to one another, let us go over to Bethlehem and see this 39 00:03:16.819 --> 00:03:21.500 thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. And 40 00:03:21.580 --> 00:03:24.060 they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a 41 00:03:24.180 --> 00:03:28.849 manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that was 42 00:03:28.969 --> 00:03:31.889 told them concerning this child, and all who heard it wondered at what the 43 00:03:31.969 --> 00:03:38.250 Shepherds told them Mary. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them 44 00:03:38.650 --> 00:03:43.439 in her heart, and the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all that 45 00:03:43.560 --> 00:03:50.400 they had heard and seen. As it had been told to them, what 46 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:59.469 a blessing God's Word is the Old Testament and the New Testament? I'm not 47 00:04:00.189 --> 00:04:08.830 two angry books yelling at one another, but two friends, even one book, 48 00:04:09.389 --> 00:04:14.340 United Together, speaking the same truths, of the same things. In 49 00:04:14.500 --> 00:04:17.740 many way is the Old Testament and the New Testament. I should say how 50 00:04:17.740 --> 00:04:21.819 many times Old Testament, the New Testament has been compared to a flower, 51 00:04:21.860 --> 00:04:26.009 an image that comes up in some of these, in the Isaiah thirty five 52 00:04:26.050 --> 00:04:32.490 passage, a flower that is begins small as a bud but comes and and 53 00:04:32.649 --> 00:04:38.129 fully blooms in the New Testament, not two different things, but the one 54 00:04:38.290 --> 00:04:45.199 and the same, though in different forms. The unity between the Old Testament 55 00:04:45.399 --> 00:04:49.759 and the new testament is a prominent theme throughout the Gospels, throughout the whole 56 00:04:49.800 --> 00:04:56.790 New Testament. We are constantly being reminded in the stories about Jesus's birth that 57 00:04:56.870 --> 00:05:01.149 these are things that have been prophesied for a long time. In Zachariah's prophecy 58 00:05:01.230 --> 00:05:05.790 that we read this morning from Luke I'm he points this out. Zachariah, 59 00:05:06.139 --> 00:05:11.139 the priest of the Lord, says that these things that he is now about 60 00:05:11.139 --> 00:05:15.860 to see are things that the prophets had spoken from of old, and this 61 00:05:17.180 --> 00:05:21.449 is one of our great hopes and one of the great proofs that these things 62 00:05:21.490 --> 00:05:28.730 are true. In the Song Lo, how rose are blooming, verse two 63 00:05:28.889 --> 00:05:33.529 says I'Daiah Twas foretold it the rose I have in mind, and he, 64 00:05:34.410 --> 00:05:41.000 the author, perhaps authors of this hum are pointing this out. This this 65 00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:45.920 common and frequent Biblical theme that the prophets here, Isaiah in particular, a 66 00:05:46.439 --> 00:05:51.750 speaks of these things that are to come. Well, if you're like me, 67 00:05:51.990 --> 00:05:56.110 this particular hymn low, how a rose are blooming, is something you've 68 00:05:56.149 --> 00:06:00.149 probably heard a lot and wondered what it means. The beginning of the hymn 69 00:06:00.389 --> 00:06:04.180 is a little confusing, and perhaps she felt the same way when you read 70 00:06:04.220 --> 00:06:09.579 it or heard Isaiah about Carmel and Sharon and a crocus and all of these 71 00:06:09.620 --> 00:06:13.579 things. What do these things mean, these things that are in Isaiah and 72 00:06:13.699 --> 00:06:18.050 then reflected in the hymn and another passages of scripture and other hymns and prayers 73 00:06:18.129 --> 00:06:27.089 that we sang and pray? What is this hymn? Perhaps you've also noticed 74 00:06:27.129 --> 00:06:31.370 about this particular hymn, if you if you know it, that there is 75 00:06:31.569 --> 00:06:35.920 something about it that is lovely and peaceable, peaceful, but there are is 76 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:43.480 also a melancholiness to the tune, as one rider puts it, and that's 77 00:06:43.480 --> 00:06:51.709 appropriate, because there are some darker themes in the hymn and in these prophecies, 78 00:06:53.189 --> 00:06:57.949 then the coming of Christ. But ultimately they do speak of great joy, 79 00:06:58.870 --> 00:07:03.540 things that do bring us peace and rest and are truly lovely. So 80 00:07:03.660 --> 00:07:12.379 what is Isa Zaiah foretell? What is he prophesying? How do we find 81 00:07:12.420 --> 00:07:16.329 these things in what are would he to understand of Jesus? Well, the 82 00:07:16.370 --> 00:07:21.209 first answer this question. I'll start with Isaiah thirty five. In Isaiah thirty 83 00:07:21.250 --> 00:07:28.050 five we have this very remarkable image. There's promise of a future with God. 84 00:07:29.449 --> 00:07:32.360 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad. The desert shall rejoice 85 00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:39.319 and blossom like the CROCUS. Older translations, the King James Version and Geneva 86 00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:43.399 Bible, have it as rose, which is why the hymn says it that 87 00:07:43.519 --> 00:07:47.990 way. Other flowers have been suggested to will say crocus for the moment. 88 00:07:48.550 --> 00:07:53.470 The desert shall rejoice and bloom like the CROCUS. It shall blossom abundantly and 89 00:07:53.550 --> 00:07:58.860 rejoice with joy and singing. We of course live in a desert and know 90 00:07:59.019 --> 00:08:05.420 exactly what this is like when the rains come and all the Palaverti's turn yellow 91 00:08:05.899 --> 00:08:11.139 and the cactuses flower, and it's a it's a beautiful, remarkable thing. 92 00:08:11.459 --> 00:08:16.689 But there's something that is a whole nother level here that is described in Isaiah 93 00:08:16.810 --> 00:08:22.050 thirty five. It's not just the desert plants flowering, but, if crocus 94 00:08:22.170 --> 00:08:26.199 is meant here, even plants that don't really belong in the desert are blooming 95 00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:31.039 and growing and and flowering. In deed, in verse two it even says 96 00:08:31.080 --> 00:08:39.200 they shall blossom abundantly, and these will rejoice with joy and singing the flowers 97 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:48.149 abundantly there, even singing and and rejoicing this glory that is in the land. 98 00:08:48.309 --> 00:08:54.870 This is because of what God will do for his people, what God 99 00:08:54.509 --> 00:08:58.659 will do for us, bringing us out of the Wilderness and into this land 100 00:08:58.860 --> 00:09:05.539 of plenty, changing something that was dry, a waste land, and bringing 101 00:09:05.580 --> 00:09:13.529 it into something fruitful. Now, this image of roses, crocuses blossoming in 102 00:09:13.690 --> 00:09:18.409 the desert is similar to the image in Isaiah Eleven. There we read that 103 00:09:18.570 --> 00:09:24.440 out of the stump of Jesse a branch will shoot forth and bear fruit. 104 00:09:26.759 --> 00:09:30.679 This is God's way of saying that something that out of something that seemed to 105 00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:35.360 be dead stump of a tree, something that was cut down God would bring 106 00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:41.470 life. Of course we remember that in the profits there is not only this 107 00:09:41.669 --> 00:09:48.149 note of and hopeful note of the future, but also warning about coming and 108 00:09:48.350 --> 00:09:52.860 present judgment for God's people. There's a reason why this tree is cut down. 109 00:09:52.580 --> 00:09:58.580 It's because of the faithless of God's people, the sins which had piled 110 00:09:58.659 --> 00:10:05.340 up. If you have ever seen a genealogy chart or imagine a family trees 111 00:10:05.500 --> 00:10:09.769 we call them I'm imagine at the very bottom Jesse right, and then after 112 00:10:09.889 --> 00:10:16.889 Jesse David, and then after David Solomon, and then the tree starts splitting 113 00:10:16.929 --> 00:10:20.009 more and more and more, and eventually this tree, in this monarchy in 114 00:10:20.129 --> 00:10:26.240 particular, was so corrupt and so evil that God just shops the whole thing 115 00:10:26.440 --> 00:10:33.600 down, this great kingdom of David coming to an end in judgment. The 116 00:10:33.720 --> 00:10:39.710 trouble with this image the is not only if you live in the kingdom in 117 00:10:39.789 --> 00:10:41.950 are being overrun by your enemies, that, of course is a trouble, 118 00:10:43.950 --> 00:10:48.350 but theologically there's a challenge here too, and that's that God had promised to 119 00:10:48.389 --> 00:10:54.659 David that his son would sit and reign on his throne forever, that David 120 00:10:54.740 --> 00:11:00.100 would have this place in history and and that God would do his work through 121 00:11:00.139 --> 00:11:03.610 him. And now even David seem would seem to have been a cut off, 122 00:11:03.929 --> 00:11:09.809 and all that is left is the stump of Jesse. And then Isaiah 123 00:11:11.129 --> 00:11:15.250 speaks in chapter eleven and says out of this judgment, out of this death, 124 00:11:15.690 --> 00:11:22.759 comes this shoot, this new life spring forth and would bear much fruit. 125 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:33.230 Taking these two images then together the hymn. That's what the hymn does 126 00:11:33.950 --> 00:11:37.590 in verse one and it says Lo, how a rose are blooming from Isaiah 127 00:11:37.669 --> 00:11:46.470 thirty five, from tender Stem Hath Sprung of Jesse's lineage coming. So the 128 00:11:46.830 --> 00:11:52.100 is sort of merges these two images together and you imagine this shoot coming up 129 00:11:52.139 --> 00:11:56.779 out of the stump of Jesse and it's a rose, a rose in the 130 00:11:56.899 --> 00:12:01.450 desert, these two biblical images coming together. Low, how a rose are 131 00:12:01.570 --> 00:12:07.169 blooming from tender stem, have sprung of Jesse's lineage coming. As men of 132 00:12:07.289 --> 00:12:13.250 old have sung, it came a flower bright amid the cold of winter, 133 00:12:13.690 --> 00:12:20.360 when half spent was the night. Verse Two, Isaiah Twas foretold it. 134 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:24.000 You See, what the hum is doing here is it's simply giving to US 135 00:12:24.919 --> 00:12:28.200 scripture. It's telling us that these are things, like Zachariah said this morning, 136 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:35.950 these are things that were prophesied of old. Well, who was this 137 00:12:37.110 --> 00:12:41.909 rose, or what is this rose exactly? What is this stem that springs? 138 00:12:43.029 --> 00:12:46.460 Who is this stem that springs from Jesse? Well, it is, 139 00:12:46.940 --> 00:12:50.500 of course, Jesus, and that's what we learn in the gospels. That's 140 00:12:50.539 --> 00:12:52.700 what we learn in Luke and the other gospels. Is that this one that 141 00:12:52.779 --> 00:12:58.539 everybody was waiting for. He is here, he is here, and the 142 00:12:58.889 --> 00:13:05.690 miraculous nature of a of a desert s, what's the word? I'm going 143 00:13:05.730 --> 00:13:11.690 to carpet of flowers or a stem coming up out of a dead stump. 144 00:13:13.159 --> 00:13:22.960 These things are paralleled in the historical birth of Jesus from a virgin or of 145 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:31.590 his cousin John, who came to prepare the way, from mother who's too 146 00:13:31.669 --> 00:13:37.190 old to have children. These and other miracles, like the angels declaring the 147 00:13:37.230 --> 00:13:41.309 glory of Lord, all of these things are announcing that the stem has from 148 00:13:41.220 --> 00:13:46.539 the rose is bloomed, Christ is here, and that's why the angels speak 149 00:13:46.580 --> 00:13:52.580 as they do. These abundant blossoming in these desert places, this light shining 150 00:13:52.620 --> 00:13:56.289 in dark places, all of these images are pronounced by the angels when they 151 00:13:56.330 --> 00:14:01.409 say glory to God in the highest and on Earth, peace among those with 152 00:14:01.570 --> 00:14:09.799 whom he is pleased. This aunt the the the identification of Jesus, US 153 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:16.600 in the Gospels, in Mary and in these events, is reflected in the 154 00:14:16.679 --> 00:14:22.039 hymn in verse in verse two. Isaiah Twas fore told. It the rose. 155 00:14:22.120 --> 00:14:26.870 I have in mind with Mary. We behold it. The Virgin mother 156 00:14:26.909 --> 00:14:31.990 kind to show God's love a right, she bore men, a savior when 157 00:14:31.110 --> 00:14:37.389 half spent. was the night the shepherds heard the story proclaimed by angels bright 158 00:14:37.470 --> 00:14:43.299 how Christ the Lord of Glory was born on Earth. This night to Bethlehem 159 00:14:43.379 --> 00:14:48.460 they spread or sped and in the manger found him as angels hair, as 160 00:14:48.580 --> 00:14:58.529 Angel Harold's said. The image of the night is just is is similar to 161 00:14:58.570 --> 00:15:03.570 the ones we have considered. It already stem from stump, flower, from 162 00:15:03.649 --> 00:15:07.639 desert, light from dark. These are the miraculous things that God does in 163 00:15:07.879 --> 00:15:13.240 Christ. And then, in the middle of verse three of the Hymn, 164 00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:18.759 all these questions are settled very precisely when it says this rose, this stem, 165 00:15:18.919 --> 00:15:22.870 this baby, is Jesus. As the Scriptures say, Christ the Lord 166 00:15:22.990 --> 00:15:31.350 of Glory was born. Now, have you ever been in a field of 167 00:15:31.549 --> 00:15:39.340 flowers or stuck your nose into to a rose. I hope so. That's 168 00:15:39.379 --> 00:15:43.139 a good thing. I am told that when you step off the plane in 169 00:15:43.259 --> 00:15:52.049 Hawaii that you can smell the flowers in the air. This single flower, 170 00:15:52.250 --> 00:16:00.730 though, our savior does more than that. The fragrance, the sweetness of 171 00:16:00.889 --> 00:16:03.600 our Savior, of of the Gospel that he brings, of the glory that 172 00:16:03.720 --> 00:16:10.600 comes into Earth, of the peace that settles into our hearts, fills everything 173 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:15.200 and, as the hymn says, it dispels glorious in with glorious splendor, 174 00:16:15.960 --> 00:16:23.590 the darkness everywhere. Our noses that God has given us are powerful and, 175 00:16:23.750 --> 00:16:26.830 though they are, of course, counter examples, they tend to warn us 176 00:16:26.909 --> 00:16:32.429 when things are bad and draw us very close into things that are good. 177 00:16:33.220 --> 00:16:36.820 We get the hown in and stick our noses in it, and when something 178 00:16:36.940 --> 00:16:45.059 is reviling, we pull away. Well, nothing has been more good than 179 00:16:45.220 --> 00:16:55.649 this prophecy fulfilled in Christ, this new David, this desert rose. It 180 00:16:55.889 --> 00:17:00.210 is the one true man, yet very God. And why is he so 181 00:17:00.440 --> 00:17:04.319 good? Well, as the scriptures say, and is reflected in the hymn, 182 00:17:04.759 --> 00:17:11.160 from sin and death. He saves us from sin and death. He 183 00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:18.589 saves us and lightens every rose. This reminds us that the sweetness of Christ 184 00:17:18.829 --> 00:17:23.470 is not only found in his loveliness, but in his love toward us, 185 00:17:25.470 --> 00:17:30.420 and we see that. And the way that our lovely Jesus was despised, 186 00:17:32.460 --> 00:17:37.099 the holy one was cursed, the kingly one brought very low, and these 187 00:17:37.140 --> 00:17:42.019 are, of course, reflected in the melancholy. Are The sadder notes of 188 00:17:42.099 --> 00:17:48.289 the song. But the end is, of course, peace, because there's 189 00:17:48.369 --> 00:17:52.289 hope in the things that God does. This flower is one that does not 190 00:17:52.529 --> 00:18:00.759 fade, even though it would, I be cut off, separated from life. 191 00:18:03.359 --> 00:18:07.119 It lives again. Our Savior lives again and he lives in glory. 192 00:18:07.240 --> 00:18:14.029 This kingdom that he establishes is one that does not fail, and this is 193 00:18:14.109 --> 00:18:17.470 the promise of God. The end of the hymn says, oh, savior, 194 00:18:17.470 --> 00:18:21.430 King of glory, who dust our weakness know bring us at length. 195 00:18:21.549 --> 00:18:26.589 We pray to the bright courts of Heaven and to the end endless day, 196 00:18:27.619 --> 00:18:32.819 the promise of God. In other words, in Christ it was foretold and 197 00:18:32.980 --> 00:18:38.779 Isaiah I'm heralded by the angels and continues to spread throughout the world. The 198 00:18:38.940 --> 00:18:48.089 Fragrance of this gospel has not stopped dispelling the darkness. It has not failed. 199 00:18:48.730 --> 00:18:52.490 God continues to do his work through this word. The promises that he 200 00:18:52.690 --> 00:18:59.400 made in Isaiah and before that to David and before that to Abra Him, 201 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:06.880 and even before that to eve and to Adam and even before that to himself. 202 00:19:07.319 --> 00:19:12.869 These promises and covenants that God has made have not fallen apart, but 203 00:19:14.109 --> 00:19:19.390 have been fulfilled completely and the flowering of Christ, and now the only thing 204 00:19:19.470 --> 00:19:25.700 left is to bring all these things to completion. And so that's why this 205 00:19:25.859 --> 00:19:30.299 hymn leads to prayer, proclaiming the ways in which God has blessed us and 206 00:19:30.539 --> 00:19:34.819 concluding with his prayer that he would continue to bless us. In this way, 207 00:19:37.019 --> 00:19:41.289 it asks that Jesus would continue his work in US and in the world, 208 00:19:42.089 --> 00:19:47.450 and that's why we celebrate him and his life and all that he has 209 00:19:47.569 --> 00:19:49.049 done. Let us pray