Logos -- Isaiah 11

One of the lectionary readings this week is from the book of Isaiah.

A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. (11:1-5)

When we Christians read that passage, we hear a prophesy for the coming of the Messiah -- for Christ. When we read it, we hear a description of Christ.

As Christians, we also believe that to see Christ is to see God. If that is the case, then these verses describe what God is like.

What else? We are called to be Christ-like, so this passage is a call to us, reminding us of what we are to be like. Take a look at it again, from the Message:

Fear-of-God will be all his joy and delight. He won't judge by appearances, won't decide on the basis of hearsay. He'll judge the needy by what is right, render decisions on earth's poor with justice. His words will bring everyone to awed attention. A mere breath from his lips will topple the wicked. Each morning he'll pull on sturdy work clothes and boots, and build righteousness and faithfulness in the land.

Image: The sky this evening as I left work. It was a very neat looking cloud formation.