December 6, 2025 Matthew 3: 1-12 Imagine this: you are walking through a forest, or along a tree-lined street. And then you see a tree stump, looking lifeless. You get closer, take another look, and you see shoots of green growing out of this seemingly dead stump, or up its side. What a great symbol of hope Isaiah offers and then describes the many amazing ways things will change for the better. It’s a wonderful message for our times when there is so much injustice, ruthlessness, and conflict everywhere. In the third chapter of his gospel, Matthew introduces John the Baptist (could he be the “shoot”?) He, too, speaks of trees, but in this case trees that will lose their life because they have not yielded fruit – they can yield no new shoots. John promises that one greater than he will baptize, not with water but with the Holy Spirit and fire. John is but a precursor of the One who will come from Jesse’s root. Unlike John’s baptism “with water, for repentance,” the “shoot” of which Isaiah spoke will help us to see with new vision and with hearts on fire. For all of us across the globe […]