Day 17 (finally)- The Branch

Whew. Day 17 is finally here. The internet is now up and running in our new apartment, but ironically, I am sitting at a coffee shop with Charle's typing this up. It's a holiday (apparently) and we're both off work for the day. Blessed time together. I'm seriously thankful. It's been a long weekend at work and I need a serious attitude check before going back to work the next three days. :-) Turns out there's no attitude check like a serious look at Jesus.

Today, we look at Jesus as the branch from Isaiah 11: 1; Jeremiah 23: 5; Zechariah 3: 8; 6: 12; and Revelation 11: 1. As I thought about Christ as the branch, many questions came tumbling through my mind. Why a branch? What sort of branch is Christ? What does a branch do?

I must confess that along with these questions came another. When I read the Revelation verse, my first thought was: "This has NOTHING to do with a branch AT all. How was I directed to this verse?!?! This must be a mistake!" As I looked into the Hebrew and Greek, I soon found some answers to my earlier questions as well as this one.

What do you picture when you picture a branch? I picture something like this:

This branch bears fruit. It is nurtured by a root and it does nothing on its own besides yield the fruit that the root has sustained. It is strong because the root is strong. I thought that this was enough of a beautiful description of the submission of Christ to the Father to marvel me for awhile. I mean, after all, He did say that He did nothing on His own!

Then I got to that troublesome verse in Revelation and found out it was not a mistake after all. There was a connection between this mysterious verse about a measuring rod and Jesus as the branch. So, I spent some time looking at the Greek and Hebrew and I was astonished. The word for "branch" is more literally translated "reed". It depicts a type of reed or tall grass found in watery areas in the ancient near east. A reed like this:
The reed, unlike my picture of the strong oak branch is not only common, it is known for its weakness. It is easily broken. And, to top it off, get this: This reed is used as a measuring rod (6 cubits= one reed) in Israel. (Revelation 11:1) My understanding of this term as applied to Christ has been officially challenged. Why would Christ be described as THIS sort of branch?

Christ took on the weakness of humanity and became a weak reed just like the rest of us.

This understanding of Christ brings a whole new meaning to Isaiah 42: 3- "A bruised reed he will not break..." For 33 years, He became like us. He faced the same temptations, the same heartaches. He does not break the bruised reed because He is the high priest who can truly sympathize with our weaknesses. And because He himself was the bruised reed, bruised and battered for our sins.

Christ is the measuring rod.

No matter how well I feel like I'm doing in my walk with Christ, no matter how good of a person I want to convince the world that I am, I will be measured against Christ and I will be found wanting. My only hope (and yours) on that day of measurement will be to cast ourselves onto the mercy of Christ and plead His perfectly lived life as a covering for ours.

On this day, this is good news to me. I have failed Christ in so many ways over the last week. My time in His Word has been lacking. I have gossiped. I have complained about my job and refused to see and appreciate it as a means of God's provision for our family. I have become lost in paperwork and forgotten my calling. I have chosen daily tasks over Christ. I have been prideful. I am well aware that measured against Christ's life of perfect obedience, I have no hope. I will be found guilty before the throne of God. Almighty God will not use a scale. He will not place the good/nice things I have done on one side and the evil things I have done on the other and wait for the scale to finish teetering to decide my judgment. First of all, there are not enough good things (done out of PURE motivation) to even make the scale teeter. Second of all, He's holy and He's not okay with ANY sin in me or in you. He will not overlook sin. He will judge it through Christ or He will judge us. There is no in between.

Today, I ask the Lord to help me revel in Christ. To lead me to celebrate His understanding of my weakness and His willingness to be made low to save bruised reeds like us. And, to remind me again and again today and in the weeks to come that if I'm trying to earn my way to God, Christ is the measuring rod. In any way that I fall short of His perfect obedience, I have broken the whole law and am condemned as a transgressor apart from His intercession as my high priest.

Next up: Day 18 (and probably more!)- Christ as the Bread (John 6: 32-35)