It appears that the days that “are surely
coming” still haven’t arrived as the righteous Branch raised up for David was “despised
and rejected” (Isaiah 53) and crucified by the sheep he came to shepherd. Of course
the righteous Branch was resurrected and the remnant gathered on Pentecost
would proclaim the reign of the righteous Branch from Jerusalem to Samaria to
the ends of the earth. Unfortunately the empire figured out assimilation was
the best way to stamp out the Holy Spirit fire as the remnant ruling did not
remain true to the righteous Branch. And so even if there are days of righteousness
and justice and wise dealings they don’t last as one tyrant is overthrown only
to be replaced by another. So what shall we say about this promise as yet
unfilled? Well maybe Jeremiah’s idea of what the Branch would accomplish and God’s
“plans to prosper… with a hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11) were not exactly the
same thing. In the temporal realm branches raised up are not like the capital B
branch that comes humble and riding on a donkey and in the grand scheme of things
we should not look to small b Branches to be anything more than twigs. We are citizens
of a realm that exists simultaneously in the finite present and the infinite
future and as such are free like Jeremiah to speak truth to “the powers that be”
without counting the cost even if the cost is a cross. In that way the days
that “are surely coming” have already arrived and are still pending as we work
to transform what is into what will be, even while we wait with eager expectation the day when “they
shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing” will have fully come.
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