As Kevin Guigou pointed out in Part
III of Living in God’s Power, Jesus Christ, as
the redthread, is the subject of every book of the Bible.
Many of these red-thread titles like “the Promised
Seed of the Woman,” “the Star to Arise out
of Jacob,” “The Desire of All Nations,”
etc. also serve as titles or names of Jesus, the Messiah.
Amongst the many titles of Jesus that relate to the
promised seed is “The Branch.” Five times
in the Old Testament the promised seed is referred to
as the Branch. The Hebrew word is tsemach meaning,
“that which springeth up,” “a sprout,”
“a shoot,” or “an offspring.”
A tsemach is a young shoot newly sprouted from
the ground.
A late Phoenician inscription dating from the
third century, B.C. contains the phrase tsemach
sedek “the rightful shoot.” It meant
that the individual was the legitimate heir to the throne.
A similar, idea is found in the fifteenth century B.
C., Ugaritic Keret epic. Tsemach is a technical
term signifying a son as an heir. Thus the “Sprout
of Yahweh” or “the son of Yahweh”
is an obvious reference to “the son of David,”
who was the Son of God by divine conception. Hebrews
7:14 is a reference to this messianic title “Branch.”
It says, “our Lord sprang out of (or sprouted
from) from Judah.”
The question, “”Why are there four
Gospels?” is answered as we consider these prophecies
of “The Branch.” These prophecies point
out four major aspects of Jesus Christ’s earthly
ministry. The prophets of old foretold of four aspects
of the Promised Seed, the Coming Messiah. Let’s
look at the first in Jeremiah 23.
Jeremiah 23:5:
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise
unto David a righteous Branch [tsemach, offspring],
and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute
judgment and justice in the earth.
This “righteous
Branch” would be a descendant of David. He would
inherit the throne of David and, as such, would be a
king. This important quality of the Messiah, this righteous
branch or offspring, is that he would be a king. In
order for Jesus to be the Messiah, he would have to
be a descendant of David, inherit the right to the throne,
and come as a king to Israel. This is repeated and established
in a second use in Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 33:14
and 15:
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform
that good thing which I have promised unto the house
of Israel and to the house of Judah. 15 In those days, and at
that time, will I cause the Branch [tsemach,
offspring] of righteousness to grow up unto David; and
he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.
Again Jeremiah foretells
of the Messiah as a descendant of David, one who would
execute judgment and righteousness as a king. This is
the second prophecy in which the coming branch, the
tsemach, is portrayed as a king descended from
David. This king was not to be thought of as a Gentile
King, one who reigns despotically. It is not like a
Henry VIII or Louis the XIV. Rather, it was to be a
shepherd king like David who was to care for God’s
people the right way.
Psalm 78:70-72:
He chose David also his servant, and took him from the
sheepfolds: 71 From following the ewes
great with young he brought him to feed [raah
meaning to pasture, shepherd, feed, or care for] Jacob
his people, and Israel his inheritance. 72 So he fed them according
to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the
skilfulness of his hands.
That’s how The Righteous
Branch would reign, “he would fed them according
to the integrity of his heart; and guide them by the
skillfulness of his hands.” This Jesus did. Where
did we read the royal genealogy that traced Jesus descent
from David? Right, in Matthew.
By careful scrutiny we can see that the Gospel
of Matthew emphasizes the kingly qualities of the Christ,
the Messiah who fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies.
That is why the genealogy in Matthew begins with Christ’s
royal genealogy from Abraham down through David and
Solomon to Mary, tracing the royal lineage forward to
Jesus the Christ, and clearly demonstrates his qualifications
for inheriting the throne of David as a king.
The term “Kingdom of Heaven” is found
thirty-two times in Matthew’s Gospel, while it
is not found once in any of the other three Gospels.
The Kingdom of Heaven was the reign of God’s anointed
king on earth. The Kingdom of Heaven is a segment of
the overall Kingdom of God of which God is King. There
are ten parables which are unique to Matthew, all of
which depict aspects of life which are associated with
a king. Many of the events recorded in Matthew emphasize
Jesus’ position as God’s anointed king.
The phrase “son of David,” emphasizing his
royal lineage, occurs more frequently in Matthew than
in any other Gospel. The record of the Magi, or the
wise men is recorded in Matthew. Remember they went
first to Jerusalem seeking the “King of the Jews,”
bringing gifts fit for a king.
Matthew 2:1,2,11:
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the
days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men
from the east to Jerusalem, 2 Saying, Where is he that
is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star
in the east, and are come to worship him. 11 And when they were come
into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his
mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when
they had opened their treasures, they presented unto
him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
Zechariah foretells another
aspect of the offspring or Branch.
Zechariah 3:8:
Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows
that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at:
for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH
[tsemach].
In this scripture, the
coming branch or tsemach is called a servant.
The position of a servant would be another aspect and
characteristic of the Messiah. In studying the Gospel
of Mark, we can see that this Gospel emphasizes Jesus
Christ as a servant willing to accept responsibility
in serving and helping others. Mark records no genealogy,
neither does it mention the birth of Jesus Christ. This
is significant because a servant does not gain his position
by descent or birth. The Gospel of Mark basically begins
with Christ’s ministry. The word translated “lord”
or “sir” (Greek: kurios) is used
seventy-three times of Christ in the other three Gospels,
but only three times in the Gospel of Mark. Mark puts
great stress on Jesus’ actions in the service
of God to his fellow man.
Zechariah also foretells a third characteristic
of the tsemach, that the coming branch would be a man.
Zechariah 6:12:
And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of
hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH
[the tsemach]; and he shall grow up out of
his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord.
“Behold the man
whose name is The BRANCH….” The Gospel of
Luke sets forth the major characteristic of Jesus’
humanity. It portrays Jesus Christ as a man, a human
being with needs, emotions, and feelings like any other
man. Thus, Jesus Christ the perfect man is Luke’s
overall emphasis. Luke 3:23-38 records Jesus’
legal ancestry as a man, through Joseph who reared him,
all the way back to Adam, the first man. This genealogy,
unlike the royal genealogy in the Gospel of Matthew,
begins with Jesus and goes chronologically in reverse,
as is normally done in a commoner’s genealogy.
The entire Gospel of Luke emphasizes Jesus Christ’s
relationship with the common man. The relationships
with his earthly family are noted. The detail regarding
the birth of his cousin John the Baptist and his humble
birth in a manger are recorded in Luke. His circumcision
and barmitzvah are also in Luke. He is depicted as a
friend of publicans and sinners. There are eleven parables
unique to Luke which emphasize the particularly human
aspects of his life. He was the Son of man, the perfect
man, full of human tenderness and compassion.
The fourth and final aspect of “the branch”
is recorded by Isaiah which shows the fourth major characteristic
of his ministry would be that he was the son of God.
Isaiah 4:2:
In that day shall the branch [tsemach] of the
Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the
earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are
escaped of Israel.
Here the Messiah is prophesied to
be “the branch of the Lord.” That is the
fourth great aspect of this Messiah. Of the four Gospels,
the one that clearly stresses Jesus Christ’s position
as the Son of God is the Gospel of John. Only John refers
to Jesus as the only begotten son of God.
John 1:14,18,34:
And the Word [Greek: logos, another name or
title for Jesus] was made flesh, and dwelt among us,
(and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father,) full of grace and truth. 18 No man hath seen God
at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the
bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. 34 And I saw, and bare record
that this is the Son of God.
John 3:16,18:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son .... 18 He that believeth on
him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned
already, because he hath not believed in the name of
the only begotten Son of God.
John 20:31:
But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God ....
In the Gospel of John,
the word “father” is used almost three times
as often as in any other Gospel. It is frequently used
in describing God’s relationship to Jesus Christ.
In this Gospel, rather than opening with a long, detailed
genealogy, John simply calls Jesus “the Son of
God.” Some of Jesus’ great miracles, such
as the healing of the blind man (John 9) and the raising
of Lazarus (John 11), are recorded in the Book of John.
The phrase “laid down his life” is found
only in John, where it is used six times. Jesus Christ
“laid down his life” as the Son of God;
no one could have taken it from him.
We have seen all the uses of tsemach,
which pertain to the Messiah. The coming branch, the
offspring, was prophesied in these scriptures as having
four characteristics: the promised Messiah was to be
a king, a servant, a man, and the Son of God
In considering the five Old Testament prophecies
of the coming “branch,” or tsemach,
it is interesting that two of them emphasize that he
would be a king ruling from the throne of David. There
are two books in our New Testament which emphatically
show Jesus Christ as the king. One is the Gospel of
Matthew; the other is the Book of Revelation which foretells
Christ’s glorious return as the king of kings
and lord of lords. What a wonderful truth from God’s
marvelous Word!
Thus, the emphasis of each Gospel now comes into
clear focus. In Matthew, Jesus Christ is the king, the
ruler of Israel. In Mark, Jesus Christ is the servant,
a leader willing to accept responsibility in serving
and helping others. In Luke, Jesus Christ is the perfect
man, a human being with human qualities. In John, Jesus
Christ is the only begotten son of God. We have seen
why Jesus Christ was called God’s only begotten
son and why there are four Gospels. Enjoy reading through
these records of the birth of our lord and savior, Jesus
Christ this Advent season.
