Follow The RabbiSample

This is a new shoot growing from the base of an ancient olive tree in the garden of Gethsemane just outside Jerusalem. 

In Hebrew, the word for an olive tree shoot is “netzer”, a word the prophet Isaiah used when he wrote one of the most famous messianic prophecies in the Bible: “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a branch will bear fruit.” The rabbis have always believed this “shoot” describes the long-promised Messiah, and Christians link this verse to Jesus who was from the family tree of Jesse … but there’s another symbol here that Christians often miss. 

You see, Jesus grew up in the town of Nazareth—a name that comes directly from the root word “netzer”. So a Nazarene is essentially a person from “Shootsville”. So, when the gospel writers refer to “Jesus the Nazarene”, the picture they are painting is that Jesus is literally the shoot—just as Isaiah predicted! 

C’mon! Isn’t that amazing? 

While some people think Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah … all of his followers can be confident today that he actually did over and over, but he just did it in very Jewish ways that we often miss.    

For reflection:

"And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee." — Matthew 21:11