West Bank Olive Grove
A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.
Isaiah 11. 1-10 NRSVue
This is the Hebrew scripture passage for the second Sunday in Advent or at least it's the reading for those who still follow the common lectionary. It is a passage that inspired the Jesse Tree an Advent tradition that goes back a thousand years. Originally this Tree of Jesse traced the lineage of Jesus beginning with Jesse of Bethlehem, the father of King David. Through time the tree has been progressively adorned with various symbols representing the season. In a couple of the congregations I served we would create a Jesse Tree with symbols created by the children of our Sunday Schools. It was an altenative to jumping into erecting a Christmas tree weeks before we arrived at the Nativity, although lots of people chafed at the delay. Come Baby Jesus, and make it snappy!
Reading this passage caused me to ponder what species of tree this might be in the Year of our Lord, 2025. Should it be an olive, the fruit-bearing tree vital to the economy of ancient Israel and still cultivated today?
Jesse Tree Bas Relief in the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem -- Czesław Dźwigaj
I've shared a number of times the distressing assault on olive trees in the West Bank, home to more Palestinians than the Gaza Strip. There is plenty of evidence that olive orchards have been destroyed by Iraeli settlers and soldiers while other groves have been rendered inaccessible to their owners. It has become dangerous to harvest the fruit because of physical threats and many have been injured or killed in the attempt.
According to the Isaiah passage the "shoot of Jesse" who we recognize as Jesus, the Christ will be a signal of equity for the meek of the Earth, those who are poor and oppressed. This is our desire as Christ-followers for all peoples, everywhere. There is a Jesse Tree in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, a city of the West Bank. It could be an olive tree.
This passage is also the inspiration of many Peaceable Kingdom paintings which include creatures improbably next to each other, such as the Lion and the Lamb (my blog name). May peace come to pass.
4 O come, O Rod of Jesse's stem,
from every foe deliver them
that trust your mighty power to save,
and give them victory o'er the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.
The Peaceable Kingdom -- Edward Hicks
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