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This past Sunday marked the beginning of the advent season. Above you see a painting of a Jesse tree. In Isaiah 11:1, it is promised that Jesus would be born from the family line of Jesse: “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.” Additionally, you will find promises about Jesus (the Branch) in Jeremiah 23:5; Jeremiah 33:15; Zechariah 3:8; and Zechariah 6:12. The Jesse tree is an advent tradition where families will read a passage of Scripture together each day, create an ornament, and learn how God prepared Jesus’ family tree through many generations.

This week of advent, we reflect on the hope surrounding Jesus’ birth and His return at the Second Coming.

Throughout the Old & New Testament, we see many examples of hope. But what is hope? Hope is defined in Merriam Webster as “a desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment.” In Hebrews 11:1, we see that faith and hope are closely intertwined: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” In 1 Timothy 6:17, we see that depending on where our hope is placed, we can have a hope that is sure and confident (such as when placed in God) or doubtful and uncertain (such as when placed in other things like money).

Hebrews 11 discusses the faith and hope of many people in the Old Testament. However, the chapter ends in verses 39-40: “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” Since the very beginning, the Jewish people had to hope in the promises of God that the Messiah would come. They waited in anticipation. In the roughly 400 years of silence between the Old Testament and New Testament, all they had were the recorded prophecies and promises of God. Then Jesus came - their hope arrived! In His birth, life, death, and resurrection, Jesus fulfilled anywhere from 300 to 570 Old Testament prophecies! Multiple of these were mentioned in the beginning of this post, but additionally in just the first chapter of Matthew, we see six prophecies fulfilled (Genesis 12:3, Genesis 26:4; Genesis 28:14; Genesis 49:8–12; Isaiah 11:1; Isaiah 9:7). Continuing through the next few chapters of Matthew, you would see fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14; Micah 5:2; Jeremiah 31:15; and Hosea 11:1.

With the history and fulfillment of so many Scriptures, we can have surety and confidence in our hope. The history, actions, and character of God Himself have proven time and time again that He is trustworthy, His Word is true, and faith founded in Him will not fail. God’s promises will not fail. May you be encouraged by Romans 8:24-25 as we continue to wait in anticipation for Jesus’ second coming: “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.”

Join us these next few weeks as we will continue to reflect on the peace, love, and joy surrounding Jesus’ birth and His return at the Second Coming.