ADVENT JOURNEY 2025 (Exploring the Character Traits of the Messiah) -- EPISODE 10

Out of a lifeless stump, God brings unexpected life. Discover how Jesus, the Root of Jesse, turns obscurity into hope. If you feel overlooked, this Advent word is for you.

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Transcript

The Messiah: The Root of Jesse

Scripture: Isaiah 11:1 (NASB)

“Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse…”

Today, we’re thinking about Jesus as the Root of Jesse—a title that reminds us that He is both the fulfillment of God’s ancient promise and the surprising source of new hope. It’s a simple image, just a shoot coming out of a stump, but it tells a powerful story about how God works.

Isaiah paints a picture of a stump—a tree cut down, lifeless, and forgotten. That’s what Jesse’s family line had become. Israel’s glory days were long gone. Nothing about the situation looked promising.

And then Isaiah says, “A shoot will spring.”

Life where no life should be.

Hope where everything looked hopeless.

Isn’t that just like God?

Jesus comes from this humble, quiet, almost forgotten line. And when He finally arrives, it’s not through a royal parade or a palace announcement. It’s through Nazareth… through a carpenter’s home… through a family nobody was watching.

Why?

So no one could boast.

So we’d know that God brings His best work out of the most unexpected places.

This picture of the Root of Jesse tells us so much about God’s heart:

• He brings hope out of obscurity.

If you’ve ever felt unseen or unimportant, this is good news for you.

• He brings life out of barrenness.

He doesn’t need perfect circumstances—He just needs surrendered ones.

• He brings a future out of what felt forgotten.

God’s promises don’t expire, even when seasons do.

And maybe today, there are places in your life that feel like a stump—cut down, or quiet, or disappointing. Advent gently reminds us:

God does His best work in hidden places.

He knows how to bring a green shoot out of hard soil.

He knows how to bring beauty out of places we’ve given up on.