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One of our traditions at St. Mark’s is to have the children decorate the Jesse Tree on the First Sunday in Advent during the Family Service. The Tree of Jesse refers to a passage in the Biblical Book of Isaiah which describes metaphorically the descent of the Messiah and is accepted by Christians as pertaining to Jesus. In the Book of Isaiah, we read, “And there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.” In the New Testament the lineage of Jesus is traced in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Luke describes the "generations of Christ" beginning with Jesus and tracing back through his "earthly father" Joseph all the way to Adam. Matthew's Gospel opens with the words, “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, descendant of David, descendant of Abraham.” Matthew makes clear Jesus' lineage: He is of God's chosen people, descended from Abraham, and he is the "shoot of Jesse" by his descent from Jesse's son, King David. |
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