O stock of Jesse

The great antiphon the Church uses today to announce the coming of our Savior is this:

“O stock of Jesse, you stand as a signal for the nations; kings fall silent before you, whom the peoples acclaim. O come to deliver us, and do not delay.”

This refers directly to the prophecy of Isaiah:

“But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom.” (Isaiah 11:1)

Another sign of the coming Savior, the Anointed One, is that He will be a descendant of King David.

Jesus Himself reveals this connection in the Book of Revelation when He says: “I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star.” (Revelation 22:16)

In Christian art, the Jesse Tree is often depicted, showing all the ancestors of Jesus, with Jesus crowning the tree, symbolizing His fulfillment of this lineage.

But the good news is that we can also be part of this tree, as descendants of Jesus. Through the sacraments, we participate in His sonship and become sons of God by adoption.

What a great mystery—through the descent of a human, we become descendants of God. This King is both true Man and true God.

He descends to elevate us, taking on our human condition to share His divine condition.

Today, we await and pray that this descendant of Jesse will be born, because through His birth as a human, one day another tree will bear fruit—the tree of the Cross, from which all of us can be born as children of the living God.

“O stock of Jesse, you stand as a signal for the nations; kings fall silent before you, whom the peoples acclaim. O come to deliver us, and do not delay.”

You became the descendant of a human, so that we might become descendants of God.