Dec 19 - O Flower of Jesse's stem

O Flower of Jesse’s stem, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid.

The Messiah to come would be born through a different lineage than most would have imagined. God would bring the Anointed One through the line of Judah.

We must remember that Judaism possesses a hereditary priesthood. The priestly line comes only from the sons of Levi (known as Levites) and the high priests must further be in the direct lineage of Aaron (known as kohains). This is the case even to this day.

(at right is shown a Jesse Tree)

But God would not call the Eternal High Priest from this sort of line -- the Messiah would come from the stump of Jesse. The Messiah would decend from the line of Judah, from the line of David.

Kinda different than what one would expect, isn't it? Just like I mentioned yesterday - this God is a different God, an unexpected God, a God that does things differently.

In the Psalter we often hear "you are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek." A better translation of the text would read "you are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek." Why the distinction? Because Christ the High Priest would come not as a kohain, but in a different way.

(at left is shown the garments of the High Priest ("Kohain Gadol" in Hebrew)

Jesus isn't a Melchizedek-ian priest - he doesn't belong to the "line of Melchizedek;" rather, what God was demonstrating was that the very essence of the High Priesthood would come not through the priestly line, but in a different way - just as the non-Jewish Melchizedek offered sacrifice to our God Most High.

Thank you, God Most High - for bringing our salvation to us in unexpected ways, in mysterious ways -- in short, in different ways.