新的从旧的冒出头来
神的百姓忘记了神；他们忘记神呼召他们行公义，好怜悯，存谦卑的心与祂同行（弥迦书 6:8）。神为此感到悲痛，因为祂曾栽他们为“上等的葡萄树，全然是真种子”（耶利米书 2:21），并期望他们成长、兴旺，并完成祂在这世界的目的。但他们却变成外邦葡萄树的坏枝子。先知们曾发出警告说，将来必有严重后果，结果百姓被流放到巴比伦七十年之久，过着受欺压的生活。
但就在这样的灾难中，以赛亚说出了百姓所能听到最悦耳的、充满希望的话。尽管耶西之子——大卫王的家族之树被砍伐成为树墩，但从他们那深厚的信仰和苦难的土壤里，一根新生的嫩芽必要生发出来。这根嫩绿的小枝条将成为一个记号，标志着新的将要从旧的冒出头来。
同样我们也渴望从自己罪的奴役中被拯救出来。 因此，我们既期望耶稣——这根枝子，这根从耶西的树墩里发出的新芽——的降生，也怀着盼望期待基督的第二次降临。我们等候神救恩应许的实现——到那时，神将为祂所厚爱的一切创造解开罪的枷锁，并永远与我们同住。
你是否渴望那一天呢？
以马内利，恳求降临；救赎释放，属祢子民；沦落异邦，寂寞伤心。耶稣啊， 我渴望祢再来的那天，将我从罪恶和死亡中释放出来。奉祢的名祷告，阿们。
以赛亚书 11:1-9
1从耶西的本（原文是墩）必发一条；从他根生的枝子必结果实。
2耶和华的灵必住在他身上，就是使他有智慧和聪明的灵，谋略和能力的灵，知识和敬畏耶和华的灵。
3他必以敬畏耶和华为乐；行审判不凭眼见，断是非也不凭耳闻；
4却要以公义审判贫穷人，以正直判断世上的谦卑人，以口中的杖击打世界，以嘴里的气杀戮恶人。
5公义必当他的腰带；信实必当他胁下的带子。
6豺狼必与绵羊羔同居，豹子与山羊羔同卧；少壮狮子与牛犊并肥畜同群；小孩子要牵引他们。
7牛必与熊同食；牛犊必与小熊同卧；狮子必吃草，与牛一样。
8吃奶的孩子必玩耍在虺蛇的洞口；断奶的婴儿必按手在毒蛇的穴上。
9在我圣山的遍处，这一切都不伤人，不害物；因为认识耶和华的知识要充满遍地，好像水充满洋海一般。
A Shoot From A Stump
"A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit." — Isaiah 11:1
God's people had forgotten God; they had forgotten his call to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with him (Micah 6:8). God grieved at this because he had planted the people "like a choice vine of sound and reliable stock" (Jeremiah 2:21) and had expected them to grow and flourish and carry out his purposes in the world. But they had become wild and corrupt. The prophets warned that there would be consequences, and the people faced seventy long years of oppression in exile in Babylon.
But in the midst of this tragedy, Isaiah speaks the sweetest words of hope the people could hear. Though the family line of King David, son of Jesse, had been cut down to a stump, out of the deep, thick humus of human faith and suffering a tender new shoot would grow. This little green sprig would be a sign of something new springing from the old.
We, too, long for deliverance from oppression in our slavery to sin. So even as we anticipate the birth of Jesus the Branch, the new shoot from the stump of Jesse, we also anticipate, in hope, a second coming of Christ. We await the completion of God's promises of salvation—when God will free from sin's grip his well-loved creation and come to live with us forever.
Are you longing for that day?
O come, Emmanuel, and ransom your people, who mourn in lonely exile. We long for the day when you will come and set us free from sin and death forever. In your name, Amen.
诵读: 楚云
片头: 张妙阳
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