The Little Sprout That Will

This time of year, we think of the little Baby in the manger. “Unto us,” says Isaiah, “a child is born.” But Isaiah said something else about that Little One; he said he’s like a little sprout growing up out of the ground. “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit” (Isaiah 11:1).

Our father Adam may have been supernaturally created as a full-grown man in the Garden, but the life and reign of the Lord Jesus Christ took on a more natural order. He grew by degrees: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52). The apostles erred in expecting his kingdom to appear immediately in its full splendor. “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). Boy, were they in for a surprise! Long years of their sufferings would become centuries and even millennia as the church still awaits the fulfillment of these promises. And yet we wait eagerly.

Let us also be patient with our own growth as believers. His kingdom grows like a tree, slowly and imperceptibly, but also surely. Even so, we grow in Christ. God is patient with us; let us be patient with ourselves (and with each other!). As we take in the nourishment of the water of the word, and the bright, shining smile of the gospel-sun, let us rest in the knowledge that our King is working.