I will raise unto David a righteous Branch.
Christ’s Divine titles: the righteous Branch; and the Lord our Righteousness
Some of the grandest productions of nature appear small or feeble in their origin; though nothing is little or feeble with God. The majestic oak, the pride of the forest, that breasts the heavens in power, springs from a little acorn-cup; the mighty ,river, that creates life, health, beauty, and fertility in a realm, rises from some feeble well-spring beside the mountain. Now the wonderful fact of growth in life, or progress in nature or grace, was pre-eminently a profound truth with Christ, in His pure human nature. He that was David’s Root, as God, the almighty cause of all life, was yet David’s Offspring and Branch, as Man.
I. Christ is the Righteous Branch. He is called by this remarkable name by the prophets (Isaiah 11:1; Isaiah 4:2; Jeremiah, in my text, and 33:15, 16; Ezekiel 17:22-24; Zechariah 3:8; Zechariah 6:12).
1. The Divine titles of our Redeemer in Scripture are most expressive, and are full of spiritual truth and beauty. Among other glorious titles, He is called the Alpha and Omega, the First and Last, including all the letters of the Greek Alphabet, to denote His Eternal nature; as the Beginning and End of all things; as “the Author and Finisher of our faith”; as the origin, centre, and circle of all blessings for His people. He is the only and true Foundation on which the whole Church of God is built, and the chief Corner-stone of its perfection and beauty. He is our great Captain of salvation, and our Counsellor and Mediator before God in heaven; He is the Mystical Vine to give us Divine life; and the Heavenly Manna to feed and nourish our souls; as well as the living Water of purity and celestial joy. He is our Day-spring and Day-star from on high, to enlighten and guide us; as well as to give Divine knowledge and glory; and our Daysman and Deliverer to reconcile us to God. He is the Child born as man, to be our sacrifice; and the Son given as God, the Eternal Son of God, to impart infinite value to His work of salvation. He is the Prince of Peace, the King of Zion, our Great Prophet and High Priest; and our Peacemaker with Jehovah; our Redeemer from all sin; our Refuge in all danger; our Strong Rock in every storm; our Divine Saviour and Shepherd, who died to deliver us, and lead us to heaven; our Almighty Sun and Shield; in fine, the Righteous Branch, the Branch of Renown, the Righteous Branch of Jehovah, “the Lord our Righteousness.”
2. Christ is the Righteous Branch, as the cause of all Divine light and life in the Church. The word rendered “the Branch,” has a double meaning; it signifies both a shoot from an old stock, or a branch springing from a tree, vigorous in life, with rich blossoms and fruits; as well as the splendour of dawn, or the sun rising in eastern glory. This double emblem is most appropriately applied to our Redeemer; both in the sense of His human origin, as springing like a branch into perfect and glorious life from the family of David; and in His Divine nature as God, displaying the splendour of His majesty like the full-orbed sun rising over the earth and dispelling all darkness.
3. As the Righteous Branch Christ fills all His Church with Divine life and blessings. This may be illustrated thus: when a tree is transplanted from one field to another, it belongs, in civil law, to the ground where it has root, and receives nourishment and growth; for though it may be the same tree still in its roots, stock and branches, yet, as all these derive new and continued life from the place where it grows, it therefore belongs, in civil law, by right to the lord of the soil. So Christ, in taking our pure human nature into union with His Divine nature, made ours His own by lawful right, and He gives infinite value to humanity. His Divine and human nature are distinct, though united--separate, though in connection, like our own soul and body. And all of our Divine life, and all the blessings we spiritually enjoy, must come and be derived from Christ, and vivify and nourish our spiritual life, as sap rising from the roots of a tree gives all the stock, branches, leaves, blossoms, and fruit their support, beauty, and sweetness!
II. How is Christ truly the Lord our Righteousness?
1. He only can restore righteousness to our fallen nature.
2. No sinner can ever be saved unless in some way by this righteousness of Jesus.
3. Christ is the Lord our righteousness in a twofold sense. He is the Cause, by His active and passive obedience to all the demands of Divine justice, and the Fountain of all our righteousness by His sacrifice on the cross. And as our Mediator in heaven, His continual intercession, and the blessed work of His Holy Spirit produce in our hearts holiness of life. This great work and doctrine may thus be illustrated. Suppose a powerful monarch goes to a prison-cell, where some favourite, who has been condemned for treason, lies expecting death. Royal mercy rises above law; royal affection remembers a friend’s doom. The sovereign opens the prison door and bestows on him a full pardon. This frees the offender from all just demands of the law. But the monarch does more: he takes him again into his favour; he exalts him even to higher honours than he forfeited, and he admits him to an the communion of a friend, and to all the dignities of the state, and he bestows on him a royal title to an inheritance which nothing can destroy.
4. This scriptural doctrine, that Christ is our righteousness, must be implicitly the firm reliance of faith, and of all the heart. The natural man cannot receive this great truth. Like other things of the Spirit, it must be spiritually discerned.
Remarks--
1. How Divine and comforting are the Scripture titles of Christ! This one of the Righteous Branch is most expressive and just for our Redeemer. Many kings and rulers have been unjust and unholy, but the Lord Jesus never! for all His own nature, all His moral government of the world are perfectly righteous, holy, and just, and all of His dealings among men shall shine forth as the rays of a full-orbed sun in glory!
2. How great and glorious are the blessings bestowed on Christians by the Redeemer’s work as the ever-living and righteous Branch of Jehovah! Take heed, then, of being in Christ for Divine life and fruitfulness. The leaves and blossoms on any fruitful branch or tree, though all various, must derive all their life and beauty from the living stock. All real Christians have all their continued spiritual life, holiness, and perfection from Jesus. And as no flower nor blossom can he without a branch, nor no ray of light without a star or sun, so no beauty nor brightness can be without Christ, the righteous Branch and Sundawn of eternal blessedness.
3. What a blissful and long day of peace and happiness shall that be for all the gathered Church of God! Gentile and Jew, all nations shall join hands in perfect amity and goodwill No more discord, no more destruction, no more death. (J. G. Angley, M. A.)
The Lord our righteousness
I. Inquire who is the person here spoken of; and whether any individual has appeared, since the days of Jeremiah, answering this description. Jeremiah, we find, flourished in the reigns of Josiah, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah. In vain shall we look either to the times of the prophets, or to the commencement of the Christian era, for any individual answering the description in the text.
1. He was to be of the stock of David: to this description Christ exactly corresponded. He was born of a virgin, “of the house and lineage of David.”
2. He was to be righteous. To this part of me description, also, Christ exactly corresponded. He “did no sin,” and in Him “no guile was found.”
3. He was to be a King. To this, also, the character of Jesus of Nazareth corresponded. He was born “King of the Jews”; He was so called by the wise men who came from afar to worship Him. When asked by Pontius Pilate if He were a King, He did not deny it; and when He was pressed, He replied in the affirmative--“Thou sayest that I am a King.” A King He was, but in disguise--a King, but wearing the garb of a servant.
4. It is here predicted that He should reign and prosper. Here, certainly, the history of Jesus of Nazareth does not correspond with the prediction before us. To reign and to prosper, is to have victory over all open enemies, and to see his friends in peace, and happiness, and prosperity around him. But mark the history of Jesus of Nazareth. Being in disguise, He hid Himself: He refused to be made a King when the people would have done so; and, instead of reigning and prospering, He was despised, scorned, crucified, and slain; instead of having the victory over His enemies, they had the victory over Him; and though, from the inherent dignity of His person, they could not hold Him, for He was a King, yet He left the world under a disguise, and left His foes in apparent triumph, to rejoice in the success of their rebellion.
5. He was to execute judgment and justice in the earth. Here, again, the history does not correspond with the prediction. He was, indeed, just; but He did not execute justice; He did not establish an ascendency of righteousness. On the contrary, injustice, violence, and deceit remain to this day.
6. In the reign of the King here spoken of, Judah is to be saved, and Israel is to dwell safely. Here, certainly, the history of Jesus of Nazareth does not correspond with the prediction. In His days, Judah was despised and trodden down: according to their own confession, they had “no king but Caesar”:--to Caesar, the Emperor of Rome, they paid tribute.
7. His name was to be called, the Lord our Righteousness. Now, what shall we say to this? Why, instead of all acknowledging Christ as the Lord our Righteousness, the bulk of professing Christians scoff at the very doctrine connected with this name! But I dwell not on this:--the speaker is a Jew, and the words must apply to Jews;--“the Lord our Righteousness”;--the Righteousness of the Jewish nation. Now I ask, Has the Jewish nation ever acknowledged the Messiah to be the Lord their Righteousness? Certainly not: therefore, the prophecy of Jeremiah has not been fulfilled. In examining this prophecy, we have seen that three points of the description have been fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth; that three other points of His description have not been fulfilled in Him; and that the seventh has been fulfilled in a very partial manner, and not in a peculiar application to the Jewish nation. Now, it is an acknowledged truth, by all who believe the Word of God, that Christ, who, for a season, dwelt upon earth, shall come again. So that between what He did and what He shall do, all the parts of the prophecy shall be fulfilled in Him. Now, it is very remarkable that what we should expect from this prophecy He would be, we are told from other prophecies He shall be. For we are told that He will execute judgment and justice in the earth; and that He will reign as a King in the earth.
II. Consider one or two of the important particulars which are revealed concerning this King, so prospering and reigning.
1. Concerning the reality and identity of the King’s person. The human nature of Jesus, returning to earth as He quitted it from Mount Olivet,--the nature that was degraded, persecuted when on earth,--this same human nature shall be exalted in Zion; calling His brethren after the flesh, the Jews, to rally around Him, and to acknowledge Him as Jehovah their Righteousness in that day.
2. Concerning the appearance of the King in that day. On this subject the history of the Transfiguration was, I think, intended to instruct us.
3. Concerning the manner of His administration in His kingdom: the manner, I mean, of His interference in this kingdom. It was a Theocracy under which the Jews were placed. All difficult questions were referred to God Himself; and He gave answers by the Urim and Thummim on the breast of the High Priest. He either spake to the people by Moses, or by some visible appearance. The Lord Jesus Christ will reign by a visible interference; by stretching out His arm to award and to punish. And then will be said that which is written in the Psalms: “So that a man shall say, Verily, there is a reward for the righteous; there is a God that judgeth in the earth.” (H. M’Neile.)
The kingdom of the Messiah
I. The person of the Messiah.
1. His human incarnation--“A Branch.” This term is often used by the prophets, to represent Christ’s assumption of our nature.
2. His personal perfection--“A righteous Branch.”
(1) In His essential nature as God, Jesus Christ was infinitely pure, holy, just, and good.
(2) In His human nature as man, He was perfectly righteous, and free from everything sinful and impure.
3. His sovereign character--“A King shall reign.” He possessed every qualification requisite for the dignity of His character. He is infinite in wisdom, righteousness, power, and goodness. He is not only a Prophet to instruct, a Priest to atone, but also a King to rule and save His people.
II. The nature of His kingdom. “A King shall reign and prosper,” &c.
1. A universal kingdom. His presence fills all space, and His power is unlimited.
2. A mediatorial kingdom. This refers to Christ’s official character, as the “Mediator between God and man.”
3. A spiritual kingdom. The kingdom which Christ established in the work of redemption, is designed in its personal influence to destroy sin, that “grace might reign through righteousness unto eternal life.”
4. A celestial kingdom. Heaven is often denominated a kingdom, and is the promised inheritance of the Lord’s faithful people (Luke 12:32). (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)
The nature and prosperity of the Messiah’s reign
I. The character of Christ. “A King” (Numbers 24:17; Psalms 2:6; Psalms 45:1; Isaiah 32:1; Zechariah 9:9; Luke 19:38; John 18:37; Revelation 17:14). There are three things we look for in a King.
1. Supreme power (Ephesians 1:21; Romans 9:5; Philippians 2:9; Colossians 1:18).
2. Legislative authority.
(1) Christ s authority to govern all arises out of His being the proprietor of all (John 1:10; Colossians 1:16).
(2) His legislative authority is still more confirmed by virtue of His redeeming acts: He has bought us with a price, and redeemed us to God by His blood.
3. Righteous administration; or the exercise of certain qualities essential to good government.
(1) In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; He knows all His subjects--is acquainted with their infinitely diversified necessities. And such is His immaculate purity, that it is impossible for Him to enact any laws that will not subserve the interests of His creatures.
(2) His justice is equal to His wisdom; justice and judgment are the habitation of His seat.
(3) He is so merciful as to be “touched with the feeling of our infirmities.”
II. The nature of His reign. “A King shall reign,” &c.
1. The reign of Christ is spiritual (Luke 17:20; Romans 14:17).
2. The reign of Christ is benevolent. Look at the Alexanders, or Caesars, or mighty chiefs of antiquity, marching at the head of vast armies, while every battle of these warriors is with confused noise and garments rolled in blood. How violent their operations! how cruel and sanguinary their triumphs! Oh, how unlike the means used by the Lord Jesus to subdue the world to the obedience of Himself! (Isaiah 42:2.)
3. The reign of Christ is equitable. It is founded on principles of justice, reason, and truth (Hebrews 1:8). The laws by which He governs are holy, just, and good: the obedience which He requires is not only right in itself, but essentially connected with human happiness.
4. The reign of Christ is perpetual. Earthly kingdoms have their rise, progress, perfection, declension, and ruin (Isaiah 9:7; Hebrews 1:8).
III. The prosperity with which that reign shall be attended. The word “prosper” is always used in a favourable sense. To prosper as a king implies--
1. To have an increase of willing subjects.
2. To have adequate provision for the supply of all their wants. Our heavenly King possesses infinite treasures of grace and glory.
3. To secure their real happiness. Christ’s subjects are all happy--by the indulgence of benevolent dispositions--by the conformity to righteous laws--by the practice of holy duties--by the anticipation of future felicities (Psalms 72:7-8; Isaiah 11:4-9; Isaiah 52:9).
4. To subjugate or destroy His enemies (Psalms 2:9; Psalms 2:12; Isaiah 60:12). But as Christ came not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved, He is employing means to conquer its prejudice, and slay its enmity.
Observe--
1. If Christ shall reign and prosper, how great is the folly and madness of infidels, sceptics, and sinners of all descriptions, who attempt to prop the tottering throne of infidelity!
2. This subject should inspire the souls of Christ’s devoted subjects with joy and gladness. (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)