ADVENT JOURNEY 2025 (Exploring the Character Traits of the Messiah) -- EPISODE 19

When hope looks cut down, God brings new life.

This Advent, meet the Messiah as the Righteous Branch.

Justice, restoration, and life begin again in Him.

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Transcript

The Messiah: The Righteous Branch

Scripture: Jeremiah 23:5 (NASB)

“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,

“When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch;

And He will reign as king and act wisely

And do justice and righteousness in the land.”

On today, we turn our hearts to the Messiah as the Righteous Branch—a promise spoken into a time of disappointment, failure, and broken leadership. God’s people had seen kings come and go, many of them corrupt and unjust. The royal line of David looked like a tree cut down to a stump. And yet, God speaks hope into what seems lifeless: “I will raise up a righteous Branch.”

The image of the Branch is gentle, but powerful. A branch grows quietly. It does not force its way through the soil. It emerges slowly, almost unnoticed—yet it carries life within it.

Israel’s hope appeared barren. Their leaders had failed them. Justice had been trampled. Truth had been compromised. But God promised that from what looked dead, new life would spring forth. The Righteous Branch would come—not merely to occupy a throne, but to reign with wisdom, justice, and righteousness.

Jesus fulfills this promise. He comes from the line of David, yet He reigns unlike any earthly king. Where there is injustice, He brings justice tempered with mercy. Where there is brokenness, He brings restoration. Where sin has stripped life of its dignity, He brings healing and renewal.

The Righteous Branch does not crush the weak or ignore the wounded. He restores what others have written off. He brings life where hope seems exhausted.

And Advent invites us to look honestly at our own lives. There may be places that feel barren—dreams cut short, relationships strained, faith feeling thin or worn. But the promise of the Righteous Branch reminds us that God is not finished. What looks dead to us is never beyond His power to restore

The Branch still grows.

Life still comes.

God still brings righteousness and renewal.