12-15-11 Isaiah 11:1-10 Who wouldn’t want that kind of Messiah?
He won’t judge by appearances, won’t decide on the basis of hearsay. (Is. 11:3b, The Message)
One of my favorite Old Testament stories is about the selection of David to be king (see 1 Samuel 16:1-23). God sends Samuel searching. He examines Jesse’s sons. He thinks he’s found the one because he looks like what a king should look like, but God says not to look on the outward appearance. Samuel contiunes to check them all out, but none is right. He wonders if that’s it and Jesse finally owns up that the runt of the litter is still out in the field tending the sheep. David is sent for and it is he who will be king.
The world we live in puts a lot of stock in outward appearance, whether it be good looks or the accumulation of worldly goods. Studies have shone that teachers tend to favor better looking students. And we all know how this has affected the business world: you better look the part.
That’s what is so amazing and refreshing about the promised Messiah, this savior of the world. He sees beyond the outer facade right to the heart. His judgments are not based on what someone else would say about you or me, they aren’t hearsay, but are based on intimate knowledge, abundant compassion, and lavish love.
Who wouldn’t want a savior like that?
Pot of Manna 