“ A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on himthe Spirit
of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power. The Spirit
of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord and he
will delight in the fear of the Lord.” Isaiah 11:12 (NIV)
“ And again, Isaiah says, ‘The Root of Jesse
will spring up, one who will arise to rule
over the nations: the Gentiles will hope in him.’ ”
Romans 15:12 (NIV)
A lot of us study our family trees as we search out our backgrounds. In my husband’s genealogy, we learned of Civil War heroes. Our son discovered that my paternal grandfather’s grandfather died at Andersonville prison. I have always been told that one of my ancestors established the state of Georgia. I read later where this man hired John Wesley to come to the United States to teach the Native Americans. We all will find something interesting in our background, if we take the time.
The lineage of Jesus carries a lot of royalty. Mary and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem in order to obey a proclamation of Caesar Augustus. The Roman Emperor called for everyone under Rome’s domination to be taxed. Each household must be accounted for and taxed in the birthplace of its head. Both Mary and Joseph had roots in Bethlehem and in the house of David, Israel’s second and greatest king.
I have a friend who raised her kids telling them, "Your heritage is Jesus." I love that.
ReplyDeleteIn our roots...
ReplyDeleteOur spiritual roots are in Christ. Hallelujah!
Jean