SALT & LIGHT Jesus, the Righteous King: Our King has divine wisdom

1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,

and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

Rashi

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse—And if you say, “Here are consolations for Hezekiah and his people, that they shall not fall into his hands. Now what will be with the exile that was exiled to Halah and Habor, is their hope lost?’ It is not lost! Eventually, the King Messiah shall come and redeem them.

A shoot—This is symbolic of the royal scepter.

And a branch—An expression of a sapling.

And a branch from its roots shall bear fruit and the entire section, and at the end (v. 11), “In that day the Lord will extend his hand again . . . from Assyria . . . Hence, it is obvious that this prophecy was said to console those exiled to Assyria.

Sanhedrin 43a:24

Then they brought Netzer in to stand trial. He said to the judges: Shall Netzer be executed? But isn’t it written: “And a branch [netzer] from his roots shall bear fruit” (Isa 11:1)? They said to him: Yes, Netzer shall be executed, as it is written: “But you are cast out of your grave, like a loathed branch [netzer]” (Isa 14:19).

22 And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, “I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.”

23 Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised. ACT 13:22-23

2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and might,

the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. ISA 11:1-2

John Gill

And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him—The rod and branch, the King Messiah, so qualifying him for his office, and the discharge of it. This shows that Christ’s kingdom is of a spiritual nature, and administered in a spiritual manner, for which he was abundantly furnished by the “Spirit of the Lord” resting on him; by whom is meant the third person in the Trinity, so called, not because created by him, for not any created spirit is meant, but because he proceeded from him; he is the one Jehovah with him, a divine person, truly God, yet distinct both from the Father and the Son; so that here is a clear proof of the trinity of persons. Christ was filled with the Spirit from the womb, and he descended and rested upon him at his baptism; he was anointed with him to be prophet, priest, and king, and received his gifts and graces from him without measure, which abide with him, and are designed in the following words:

The Spirit of wisdom and understanding—Which appeared in his disputation with the doctors; in his answers to the ensnaring questions of the scribes and Pharisees; in the whole of his ministry; and in his conduct at his apprehension, trial, condemnation, and death; as also in the wisdom, knowledge, and understanding he imparted to his disciples, and does more or less to all his people:

The Spirit of counsel and might—Of “counsel,” which fitted him to be the wonderful Counselor, and qualified him to give suitable and proper advice to the sons of men; and of “might” or “power,” to preach the gospel with authority; do miracles in the confirmation of it; bear the sins of his people, and the punishment due to them; obtain eternal redemption for them; and engage with all their enemies and conquer them:

The Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord—And so as man had the “knowledge” of God the Father; of his mind and will; of the Scriptures, and things contained therein; of the law and gospel; all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge were hid in him, which he communicates to his saints; and “the fear of the Lord,” and so had a reverence of him, a strict regard to his will, and always did the things which pleased him; see Heb 5:7 this verse is also applied to the Messiah, both by ancient and modern Jews.

Sanhedrin 93b:6

The Messiah was blessed with six virtues, as it is written: “And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord” (Isa 11:2); and it is written: “And his delight shall be the fear of the Lord. He shall neither judge by what his eyes see, nor decide disputes by what his ears hear” (Isa 11:3).

And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; MAT 3:16

Jesus, our King, does not operate on human wisdom, which is limited. Like God the Father, he is all-knowing and his thoughts are higher than ours. His thoughts and ways are beyond us. Because of this, we can trust his plans, words, and promises. What does Isa 55:9-11 say about God and his word?

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

John Gill

For as the heavens are higher than the earth—Than which there cannot be conceived a greater distance:

So are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts—Which may denote the heavenliness of the ways and thoughts of God, the eternity and unsearchableness of them, and their excellency and preciousness; as well as the very great distance between his ways and thoughts and men’s which this is designed to illustrate.

Rashi

As the heavens are higher, etc.—That is to say that there is a distinction and a difference, advantages and superiority in my ways more than your ways and in my thoughts more than your thoughts, as the heavens are higher than the earth; you are intent upon rebelling against me, whereas I am intent upon bringing you back.

Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,

your faithfulness to the clouds. PSA 36:6

Rashi

Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens—Because of these wicked men, you remove your steadfast love from the earth creatures and raise up your faithfulness to the clouds to remove it from the sons of men.

At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children;” MAT 11:25

10 For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven

and do not return there but water the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

Rashi

For as the rain and the snow come down and do not return empty, but do good for you.

Taanit 8b:2

Likewise, an expression of giving birth is stated with regard to a woman, and an expression of giving birth is also stated with regard to rain. Specifically, giving birth is stated with regard to a woman, as it is written in the case of Rachel, when God had mercy on her: “She conceived and gave birth to a son” (Gen 30:23). And giving birth is stated with regard to rain, as it is written: “For as the rain comes down and the snow from heaven and does not return there but waters the earth, and causes it to give birth and sprout” (Isa 55:10).

9 As it is written,

“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;

his righteousness endures forever.”

John Gill

As it is written—In Psa 112:9 where it is said of the good and righteous man,

He has distributed freely—His riches, his substance, as the Chaldee paraphrase adds by way of explanation; not in a profuse extravagant manner, but with wisdom and prudence, and yet largely and liberally, according to his ability. Just as the sower scatters his seed here, and there, and in every place, with an open and wide hand, to the good man distributes to all in necessity, and makes them all partakers of his bounty; he gives not only to one, but to many, and not to all without distinction he meets with, whether necessitous or not:

He has given to the poor—This explains the former phrase, and points out the persons, the objects of the good man’s bounty and compassion:

His righteousness endures forever—This is not to be understood of his justifying righteousness, as if that consisted of, and was established upon his works of bounty and charity to the poor; nor of his fame among men on account of his liberality; nor of any reward in another world; but of his beneficence itself, it being common with the Jews to call alms, “righteousness” (see Gill on Mat 6:1) and the sense is, that what such a man bestows in charity on the poor shall not be lost, but shall be like the seed cast into the earth, shall spring up again, and bring forth fruit with increase, according to what follows.

10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.

11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. 2CO 9:9-11

11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. ISA 55:9-11

Rashi

So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth to inform you through the prophets, will not return empty, but will do good to you if you heed them.

26 who confirms the word of his servant

and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,

who says of Jerusalem, “She shall be inhabited,”

and of the cities of Judah, “They shall be built,

and I will raise up their ruins”;

27 who says to the deep, “Be dry;

I will dry up your rivers”;

28 who says of Cyrus, “He is my shepherd,

and he shall fulfill all my purpose”;

saying of Jerusalem, “She shall be built,”

and of the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.” ISA 44:26-28

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. MAT 24:35

John Gill

Heaven and earth will pass away—This is either an assertion, which will be true at the end of time; not as to the substance of the heavens and earth, which will always remain, but as to the qualities of them, which will be altered: they will be renewed and refined, but not destroyed; the bad qualities, or evil circumstances, which attend them through the sin of man, will be removed and pass away, but they themselves will continue in being: or is a comparative expression, and the sense is, that the heavens and the earth, and the ordinances thereof, than which nothing can be more firm and strong, being fixed and supported by God himself, shall sooner pass away, than anything asserted and predicted by Christ shall:

But my words will not pass away—Be vain and empty, and unaccomplished; which is true of anything, and everything spoken by Christ; and especially here regards all that he had said concerning the calamities that should befall the Jews, before, at, or upon the destruction of their nation, city, and temple; and the design of the expression, is to show the certainty, unalterableness, and sure accomplishment of these things; see Jer 31:36.