A Divine Branch Rules a Divine Kingdom!

4th Sunday after Pentecost, 6/21/15
Ezekiel 17:22-24


A Divine Branch Rules a Divine Kingdom!
I. According to divine plan
II. Offering divine refuge
III. Using divine methods


In a little more than 16 months, we’re going to have a change in Washington. That’s a given. President Obama is not eligible for re-election. So, our country’s voters will select a new president, a new leader of the world’s most powerful country. Will they select the right one? I’m sure the answer to that question depends on the way you vote. If the candidate you vote for wins the election, you’ll be certain the right person won and you’ll likely be filled with optimism.

I hate to sound like a cynical old duffer, but I’m not sure that’s possible anymore. I’ve stopped thinking that one human being or a collection of human politicians can make our lives much better. I no longer hope that one of my fellow sinful human beings in office will always do what is just and right for our country. I’m not so naïve to think that politicians can be smudge-free. Call me cynical, but that way I’m not so disappointed by what I read and see anymore. Call me a realist.

So, what should we do? What solution do we have? Look to the Lord. Find comfort and refuge and strength in his Church, the only kingdom that is eternal. Presidents get elected, fill terms, and fade away. Politicians come and go, a little more slowly than presidents, but they go nonetheless. But the Lord and his Church endure forever.

That was the Lord’s encouragement for his beleaguered and disappointed people in exile about 590 BC. They were pinning their hopes on a Jewish king named Zedekiah. But those hopes were completely misplaced.

So the Lord comes to them and tells them he has a solution. An eternal solution. He would cause a divine Branch to rule a divine kingdom. No more disappointment. No more intrigue. No more broken promises and blatant lies. Just truth. Just peace. Just hope. Eternal hope for God’s people. A divine Branch rules a divine kingdom. That’s our Lord’s promise to you and me as he explains it in these verses from Ezekiel.

Part I.

Things don’t always go according to plan. If you think about it, that statement is true for every day of your life. Unforeseen circumstances. Unintended results. There were serious complications to the surgery. Their dream vacation ended in tragedy. None of these things were

Likewise for the Jews in exile in Babylon. It was bad enough that they were far away from their homeland and their beloved Temple. But they had hopes that they would return soon. The Jewish king whom the Babylonians had left on the throne, a man named Zedekiah, had promised allegiance to Babylon. The Jews in exile considered that to be a sign of progress toward their goal of returning home.

But in the verses before those of our text, the Lord informed them that actually Zedekiah was secretly making an alliance with Egypt to overthrow the Babylonians. He was breaking the oaths he had taken. He was leading the people down the path of destruction. His plans would result in ruin.

But the Lord had plans as well. “‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar.’” He would replace Zedekiah with a Branch. Does that biblical terminology ring a bell? It should. The Lord had promised to raise up a Branch from King David’s family tree who would rule forever. That’s the promise to which the Lord is referring here, the promise of a Savior-King.

He would not do as the Jews wanted him to, namely rule over their earthly kingdom. That wouldn’t solve the earthly problems of the Jews or anyone else. No, he would be “planted on the mountain heights of Israel.” That’s an Old Testament reference to Zion, which is the holy Christian Church. That Church will never perish. That Church will defeat all her foes. She and she alone will be the last kingdom standing—forever.

Sound unlikely, given the state of the Church on earth today? Don’t doubt it for a moment. Your God declares with divine certainty, “I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it.” Nothing is impossible for the Lord. His plans always succeed.

A divine Branch rules over a divine kingdom according to divine plan.

Your God has plans for you, too. He states that very thing through Jeremiah who was Ezekiel’s contemporary. You might reply, “Really? These are God’s plans for me? In some respects my life is a mess. I’m full of anxiety about where I’m headed. Nothing seems to go right for me and I’m supposed to find comfort in the fact that God has plans for me?” Indeed you are. The Lord had you in mind personally and individually when he announced these words about a Branch who would rule over a divine kingdom. Your baptism is your assurance that you are in that kingdom. By faith in Jesus you are a member of his holy Church. In that Church he has plans to bless you forever. How sweet it is to know that a divine Branch rules over a divine kingdom—the kingdom to which you belong!

Part II.

You can call me weird if you like, but more than once I’ve looked out my window during a violent thunderstorm and wondered about the birds. Obviously they’re riding out the storm in the shelter of trees, but how much shelter can trees in a storm provide? The strong winds are blowing the branches back and forth and some even break off. Entire trees can be uprooted. I wonder how the birds ever survive. But they do. Ultimately, our God is responsible for it.

He uses that very picture in today’s readings from Ezekiel and Mark—a tree that provides refuge and shelter. He uses a tree to picture the kingdom of God and he states, “Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches.” The Church over which Jesus rules provides refuge for sinners. It does so in two ways. First, it offers comfort—real, lasting comfort. It’s the comfort of knowing and believing your sins are fully forgiven in Jesus. The holy God has nothing against you. In fact, he’s on your side fighting for you.

Second, the Church provides strength. The Church has the gospel—the good news of Jesus. That gospel strengthens us to fight on, to face the evils of each day. With that gospel we can fight and overcome our worst enemy—Satan himself. Through the gospel we know that Jesus wins and we win with him, forever.

A divine Branch rules a divine kingdom offering divine refuge.

If listening to the gospel today and worshipping your Savior seem like a chore, then you have it all wrong. I know what that’s like. When I was younger, I often worshipped out of obligation or by coercion. The world had so much to offer. Why was I sitting in church, “wasting” my time?

But the older I get, the more I find refuge here. Here’s where my crazy world makes sense. Here’s where I find hope in a hopeless world. Here’s where my aching heart finds comfort. Here and only here is where our efforts have eternal consequences. That doesn’t happen in any other aspect of your life. I find refuge here and I pray that you do as well. The Church—and I mean the holy Christian Church—is the only place where we know all things will turn out well for us. It’s the only place where our future is guaranteed by faith in Jesus. That’s the same Jesus who rules over his divine kingdom for your benefit and blessing, the same Jesus who died for you so that you could live with him. What divine refuge!

Part III.

The last place the world would advise you to look for refuge is the Church. In fact, the world shouts for you to avoid the kingdom of God. It calls you a fool for adhering to its teachings. It considers your faith in Jesus to be nothing but a crutch to get you through your problems. It denies that there is such a thing as sin, that the man named Jesus had any real effect on your life, and that heaven even exists.

Jesus recognizes our world’s attacks. He knows that the things of his kingdom seem like foolishness to those outside it. That’s why he stated the following in his Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of God” (Mt. 5:5, 10).

He speaks the same way through Ezekiel, “All the trees of the field will know that I the LORD bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish.” Our God always has the last say. He humbles those who exalt themselves and he exalts the humble. He takes the lowly and despised and honors them with his glory. He takes the penitent, forgives them and glorifies them. It doesn’t matter what the world thinks; what matters is what Jesus says and does. He takes sinners, calls them to faith in him, brings them into his glorious kingdom and blesses them forever.

By God’s grace you know the saving ways of the Lord. The world will always trash and deny God’s truth and his ways, but take heart. That’s what the world did with Jesus, too. But look who’s ruling now! Jesus! A divine Branch rules a divine kingdom using divine methods. Find your comfort, your refuge and your strength in him and in his kingdom! Amen.