Sunday, June 27, 1999   

He shall grow up:

1. As a "tender plant," a "tender plant" that would one day become the "Plant of renown." Ezekiel 34:29: "And I will raise up from them a plant of renown…”

2. "As a root out of a dry ground"- yet fruitful (verse 10). This "root out of a dry ground" would become "the branch of the Lord .... beautiful and glorious" (Isaiah 4:2).

3. As one who is not beautiful to the world - yet He is God's chosen servant (verse 11).

I. THE INESCAPABLE FACT OF HIS GROWTH

     A. The scripture plainly says: "He shall grow up" The reference here is to the Lord Jesus Christ. He did not show up one day as a grown man; He grew up. As we look at His growth we see:

           1. The inescapable fact of His virgin birth.

                 a. Isaiah 7:14 says: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."

                 b. The virgin born Son of God was born that He might die for those who would believe. Isaiah 9-6 says: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given...” The child was born and the Son of God was given (John 3:16).

                 c. The virgin born Son of God was born in a stable in Bethlehem. He came to this earth as a babe who grew up as you and I, yet without sin (Psalm 22:9). He had to have a body so that He could take our place and die for our sins.

            2. The inescapable fact of His childhood.

                  a. From a little babe, He grew to childhood.

                 b. When he was twelve, He astonished the temple leaders at Jerusalem (2:47).

                 c. The Scriptures teach us that when Christ was a child, He was under the authority of Joseph and Mary. Because of this, God the Father greatly bless His Son (Luke 2:51-52).

            3. The inescapable fact of His humanity.

                 a. Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh (John 1:14: "The Word was made flesh......” He grew up as God in the flesh....... He grew up as God in the flesh, in a body prepared as the sacrifice for our sin.

                       1). Hebrews 10-5, "Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me.”

                       2). Hebrews 10:10, "By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

                 b. It was necessary that Christ endure bodily suffering if He was to suffer as man's substitute.

            4. The inescapable fact of His death.

                 a. Jesus was born to die. The babe born in Bethlehem was destined to die for sinners. He grew up to die.

                 b. In Acts 2:23, Peter speaking to Jesus says: "Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified."

                 c. The crucified Christ was also destined to rise again {Acts 2:24}. "Who God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it."

II. THE INESCAPABLE FACT OF HIS POSITION

     A. Isaiah the prophet says: "He shall grow up before Him." "He [Jesus] shall grow up before Him [God the Father]."

           1 . Jesus grew up in the sight of God though He was despised by men.

           2. The eye of God the Father watched the Son. He never lost sight of Him, no, not until that dreadful day when Jesus became sin for us and God the Father looked away (II Corinthians 5-21).

      B. Christ lived His life in the perfect will of God.

           1. God the Father took delight in the birth and growth of Jesus. The eyes of the Father was on the Son from the cradle to the cross.

                 a. Think of it: Christ was born in a city where Mary and Joseph had no friends; where there was no doctor or midwife to help.

                 b. God the Father was there when there was no room in the Inn.

           2. As Jesus grew up, God the Father delighted in Him as the Lamb of God. The Lamb set apart for sacrifice just as the Passover lamb of Exodus 12 was set apart unto God.

III. THE INESCAPABLE FACT OF HIS ENVIRONMENT

     A. He grew up "as a tender plant" or "as a sapling" or "as a sprout." John 6:11 describes the "tender plant" as “that which springs out of the earth without notice; low in its beginning, slow in its growth, liable to be crushed with the foot, or destroyed with the frost......”

     B. Christ came from a royal family that was cut off. He was a fresh sprout from a tree that's cut down.

           1. It had been centuries since a son of David had sat upon the throne.

           2. From the trunk of the tree cut down (house of David), a sprout appeared, appearing to men as weak and tender.

           3. This tender one is destined for the throne.

           4. His arrival as a tender babe in a stable brought fear and dread for He is the promised Messiah (Luke 2:7-12; Matthew 2:8).

      C. "A root out of dry ground."

           1. "The loneliest flower of humanity came from the direct spot and period of the world's history" (McGee 313).

           2. He stepped out of the Ivory Palaces into a world of woe.

                 a. The world into which Jesus came was a dry place spiritually.

                 b. The world could never produce the Savior because of the total depravity of man. The natural man is without spiritual life, so Christ is the root out of dry ground. He came up miraculously just like a rose in the middle of the Sahara. It took the virgin born Son of God to save us.

           3. It is interesting to note that the ancient Jews took the words It as a root out of dry ground" to mean that the Messiah would have no human father, no seed of man.

IV. THE INESCAPABLE FACT OF HIS APPEARANCE

     A. "He hath no form nor comeliness......” This verse has several viewpoints from which it is to be considered.

           1. First - it speaks of the humble circumstances of His birth, boyhood, and ministry. Christ did not have the appearance of the anticipated Messiah. He was not born in a palace, and He wore jewels nor did He dress in fancy clothes.

           2. Second - it needs to be pointed out that this could not be speaking about His physical appearance before the crucifixion. H.A. lronside said: "He was as to His human form, face, and features absolutely perfect" (299).

                 a. He is the Lily of the Valley, the Rose of Sharon, the Bright and Morning Star, the altogether lovely one.

                 b. Psalm 45-2 speaks of Christ as "fairer than the children of men."

           3. Thirdly - "comeliness" is at times translated "honor, glory, or majesty." In the opinion of the Jewish nation, Jesus having no royal robe, sparkling crown, jeweled scepter or political ambition, had no comeliness, glory, or majesty in their minds.

           4. "When we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him." lronside says: "Men looked upon Him with scorn and disdain because His teaching interfered with the lines that they loved to live."

                 a. Christ had no spin doctors; when He spoke plainly the truth, He was looked upon as a nobody (Matthew 13:55-56).

                 b. The Pharisees even went as far as to say that Christ was demon possessed (John 8:48).

                 c. Friends, the heart admires what the heart desires. Christ is not beautiful to the proud, the arrogant, and the selfish.

                 d. Only those who are pure in heart love and admire our Savior.

CONCLUSION: How do you see Him today? Do you see Him as the Lily of the Valley, the Rose of Sharon, the fairest of ten thousand or is He unacceptable to you?