He is the shoot from the stump of Jesse, the promised Messiah, the eternal King who brings fruit from what was once thought dead. And here’s where hope floods the story: after the pressing, after the crushing, after the death—new life sprang forth. Jesus rose from the grave, just as Isaiah foretold. And when He rose, He breathed new life into His followers.

Last Easter Sunday, we opened God’s Word not in the Gospels, but in the scrolls of Isaiah—specifically, Isaiah 11:1-6. The message was titled “The Risen Root of Jesse,” and it invited us to behold the beauty of the resurrection through the eyes of the prophet Isaiah, written centuries before the empty tomb.

Isaiah paints a powerful picture:

“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.” (Isaiah 11:1)

The imagery here is not coincidental. It’s rich with resurrection meaning.

Consider the olive tree — one of the most frequently mentioned plants in all of Scripture. When an olive tree grows old and reaches its maximum production, it is often cut down by farmers in order to stimulate future growth. But here’s the remarkable part: even when an olive tree is cut down or burned all the way to the ground, it can still live. In time, new shoots begin to sprout from the stump, and the tree lives on—stronger and more fruitful than before.

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