Friday, December 4 ... Isaiah 11:1-5 The promised Messiah will not only be a Prophet and a King from the line of David, He will have the Spirit of the Lord upon Him (St. Matthew 3:16-17).
Isaiah 11 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,
And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him,
The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The spirit of counsel and strength,
The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 And He will delight in the fear of the Lord,
And He will not judge by what His eyes see,
Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;
4 But with righteousness He will judge the poor,
And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth;
And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.
5 Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins,
And faithfulness the belt about His waist.
Mt 3:16 After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, 17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
* The Spirit of God hovers over the waters of Genesis 1:1 to bring forth a new creation; in the Virgin Birth the Spirit again hovers, this time over the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary to show that a new creation is taking shape. How does the overshadowing here represent the presence of the Spirit upon Jesus, the earthly dwelling of the glory of God (St. Luke 1:32, 35; Exodus 40:34; St John 1:14).
Luke 1:32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.
Exodus 40:34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us, and we beheld His glory, glory [face] as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
* List the seven-fold gifts of the Spirit the Messiah will possess (the same seven-fold gifts of the Spirit given at Confirmation, see BCP 297).
ALMIGHTY and everliving God, who hast vouchsafed to regenerate these thy servants by Water and the Holy Ghost, and hast given unto them forgiveness of all their sins; Strengthen them, we beseech thee, O Lord, with the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, and daily increase in them thy manifold gifts of grace: the spirit of wisdom and under-standing, the spirit of counsel and ghostly strength, the spirit of knowledge and true godliness; and fill them, O Lord, with the spirit of thy holy fear, now and for ever. Amen.
* What unusual things will happen when the Messiah reigns as King?
Isaiah 11
6 And the wolf will dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,
And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little boy will lead them.
7 Also the cow and the bear will graze,
Their young will lie down together,
And the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra,
And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.
9 They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea.
10 Then in that day
The nations will resort to the root of Jesse,
Who will stand as a signal for the peoples;
And His resting place will be glorious
JSH+