A tender green shoot
This time of year, we often go back to the portions of scripture proclaiming the arrival of the Son of God - Jesus. We read the story of his birth, the journey of the magi, and even some of the various prophesies of his promised coming. In most churches, we focus on the nativity scene kind of stories, but not so much the purpose of his coming kind of stories. Today, I'd like us to consider the attributes of the Messiah - his most significant "traits" which made him the perfect sacrifice for our salvation. Our beginning spot is how he is described as a "green shoot". If you have ever seen a plant withered beyond what you thought could ever return any signs of life again, you will get a picture of how scripture describes the circumstances of his birth. His "beginning" was from a "shoot" so dried up, so destitute of any signs of life that most would say there was no hope for "life" to ever be part of it again. The place from whic