Sunday, June 23, 2013

Christ the Righteous Branch



Jeremiah 23:5 "Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land. (NASB)

Here in Jeremiah, we see a prophecy of Jesus Christ, the Righteous Branch and the King. The Lord declares the days are coming when He will raise up a righteous Branch for David. This part of the prophecy has already taken place. The Righteous Branch for David has already come. Jesus Christ is that Righteous Branch.

In The Old Testament there are many instances that we see where there are prophecies about Christ the Branch.

Isaiah 4:2- The Branch of the LORD.
Isaiah 11:1- A Branch will bear fruit.
Zechariah 3:8-My Servant the Branch.
Zechariah 6:12-13-The man whose name is Branch.

The Branch or shoot is used in the Old Testament to signify Christ. When it is talking about a Branch or shoot for or of David it is talking of Christ as a descendent of David. (See Luke 1:31-33). Think about a stump, the tree has been cut off but yet if you leave it there you will find a branch or a shoot that is growing out of it, because though it is cut off, it is not dead. During the Babylonian exile the royal line of David was cut off, but not destroyed. Yet God cause a branch to sprout from that stump. Christ is that righteous branch and He will reign over all of the earth one day.

Christ’s righteousness is show by the perfect life that He lived on this earth, his perfect obedience to every aspect of the Law and His Heavenly Father.  (1 John 3:5; 1 Peter 2:22)

The second part of this prophecy is still to come in the future. When the Lord declares something will happen, it will happen. These days are still to come. This verse is talking about the second coming of Christ when He will reign for a thousand years on this earth and for eternity on the new earth. (See Revelation 20-22)

The verse from Jeremiah specifies a few things that this righteous Branch will do and things that will characterize His reign. 

1.      He will reign as king
2.      He will act wisely
3.      He will do justice and righteousness in the land.

Christ will reign as the perfect King. He will not make a decision that is wrong. His decisions will be made with perfect wisdom. His Justice and righteousness will be perfect. Can you imagine having a ruler who is perfect and every decision that He makes is right and good? A ruler who is not corrupt. It is very hard to imagine a ruler like that. A ruler who is without flaw, who does not use deceit to satisfy people. A ruler who has perfect love. This is who we serve. This is Jesus Christ, our King.