“O come, Thou Branch of Jesse, free your own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell your people save And give them victory o’er the grave.” *

Jesus isn’t often referred to as the “Branch of Jesse.”  The idea is that someone was to come from Jesse, a descendant of Jesse; and this person would save His own people from Satan’s tyranny.   In Isaiah 11:1- we read, “the royal line of David is like a tree that has been cut down; but just as new branches sprout from a stump, so a new king will arise from among David’s descendants.”  Jesse was the father of David; David was the father of Solomon; and from this line of descendants Jesus was born.

How about “give them victory o’er the grave?”   Every year I live, I experience more death among those around me.  You probably do too.   However, through the gospel of Jesus, death has a very different position in our lives.   Death is still difficult, it’s painful, it’s sad.  But it’s not the final word. Eternal life meets us on the other side. 

We mourn the state the world is still in; but we celebrate the good work God has already done for us.  O Come thou Branch of Jesse, you’ve given us victory o’er the grave.  Only the unconditional love of God could do such a thing for us.   Rejoice!

Judy

*O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, stanza 4.  Text: Psalteriolum Cantinoum Catholicararum, Koln, 1710.  Music: French processional, 15^th century