Jesse was David’s father (Ruth 4:22), and in the Old Testament the house of Jesse was considered a great tree. At the time of David, this great tree developed into a royal family. Because of the sins committed by David’s son Solomon, however, this royal house declined and lost over ninety percent of its kingdom, even losing the land which God had given to them, so that the people were captured and the nation perished. It was like a tree that had been cut down with only a stump, a stem, remaining; this was the stump of Jesse (Isa. 11:1a). From this stump came forth a sprout, Christ (Matt. 1:16), at the time of Mary and her husband, Joseph, both of whom were descendants of David (Luke 3:23-32). A sprout in Hebrew denotes a small branch as a stick or a twig; hence, in Proverbs 14:3 the same word is rendered rod.
In the Scriptures Christ is first likened to a tree, such as the tree of life (Gen. 2:9), the true vine (John 15:1), and the apple tree (S. S. 2:3). Then He is likened to the shoot of a tree, a sprout, a root, and eventually to fruit on a tree (Luke 1:42).
The stump of Jesse implies that the descendants of Jesse had been cut down. When Christ was born as Jesus, both His mother, Mary, and Mary’s husband, Joseph, were people of a lowly family, living in Nazareth, a despised city. He was not brought forth from the stump or branch of a flourishing great tree; He was a small sprout brought forth from a dried up stem, or stump, of a tree that had been cut down.
Christ came out of the family of Jesse, and Jesse had a son named David. Hence, the sprout which came forth from the stump of Jesse also typifies that Christ was the son of David (Matt. 1:1), the One who would inherit the throne of David (Luke 1:31-33). This implies that although He was born of a poor family as a poor and humble person, eventually He became the Christ of God, the Messiah, to be the King of God’s elect for eternity.
The book of Isaiah contains prophecies concerning Christ in His divinity, such as the Shoot of Jehovah (4:2), Immanuel (7:14), the Mighty God, the Eternal Father (9:6), the root of Jesse (11:10; cf. Rev. 22:16), and the arm of Jehovah (Isa. 53:1), and concerning Christ in His humanity, such as a sprout coming forth from the stump of Jesse, a branch from the roots of Jesse (11:1), a child (9:6), a tender plant, a root out of dry ground (53:2), a lamb, a sheep (v. 7), and an offering for sin (v. 10). The sprout that came forth from the stump of Jesse linked Christ in His humanity not only to Jesse and David but also to the entire royal tribe of Judah, as seen in the blessing with which Jacob and Moses blessed Israel (Gen. 49:9-10; Deut. 33:7).
In the sprout that came forth from the stump of Jesse, we can also see the history of Christ’s becoming a man in His humanity who first humbled Himself and then was exalted with honor. This is the process of Christ in His humanity.
A sprout comes forth from the stump of a tree, but a branch is from the roots of a tree. Therefore, the source of the branch is deeper than that of the sprout. The source of the sprout is above the earth, but the source of the branch is underneath the earth. The branch can supply the sprout; the sprout cannot supply the branch. The branch from the roots of Jesse typifies that Christ was a branch that came out of the roots of Jesse. The root, the source, of Jesse, was God; the branch of Jesse, that is, that which was born of Jesse, was a man. This signifies that Christ came out of God to become a man. Hence, He was the God-man. Inwardly, He came out of God; outwardly, He was manifested as a man. He was God who became a man to be the Christ of God for the carrying out of God’s eternal purpose.
Isaiah 11:10 says, “In that day the root of Jesse, / Who stands as a banner to the peoples— / Him will the nations seek.” Root denotes the source, the origin. The root of Jesse typifies Christ as the source, the origin, of Jesse. In the prophecies in Isaiah we see that Christ in His divinity is the Shoot of Jehovah and the root of Jesse, and that Christ in His humanity is the sprout coming forth from the stump of Jesse, the branch from the root of Jesse, the tender plant that grows, and the root out of dry ground (53:2). In His divinity Christ came out of God; God is His origin. Hence, Christ is the source, the origin, of Jesse. In His humanity Christ came out of Jesse; therefore, Jesse is His origin, His source. He is the sprout and branch of Jesse, and He is also the root of Jesse. He is everything concerning Jesse. According to His humanity, He came out of Jesse; according to His divinity, He brought forth Jesse.
In Revelation 5:5 the root of Jesse is called the Root of David, indicating that Christ was the source of Jesse and also the source of Jesse’s son David. Hence, although David was Christ’s forefather, he called Him Lord (Matt. 22:42-45).