BRANCH

There is a couplet of Messianic titles of the Lord Jesus located here. Firstly, He is designated ‘My servant’ in a way that closely links with the great passages so well known in Isaiah. Secondly, He is ‘the Branch’.

‘Sprout’ is the term. At times the corresponding verb is translated ‘grow’ or even ‘spring’ and ‘bud’. It contains the ideas of freshness. Others may flourish for a while and then wither, but this One, whom God has designated as ‘my servant, the Branch’, will not wilt until the project is complete and the work all done. In Him there will also be fruit. Not every branch is fruitful but this branch yields its full quota of precious fruit. He is also the provider of foliage. Beneath His shadow we can sit down in joyful repose and His fruit is sweet to our taste.

There is also a suggestion of fairness: ‘the branch of the Lord (is) beautiful and glorious’, Isa. 4. 2. Where was there ever development seen as in Him? Growing up in the arid soil of Nazareth and in the wilderness conditions of a subject nation, what moral majesty bathed His whole life! In a day to come the beauty of His character will be on universal display and creation will take its lead from Him.

Every student of this term is indebted to the spiritual observations of David Baron in his commentary on Zechariah plus his valuable book, ‘Rays of Messiah’s glory’. Mr. Baron notes that three prophets have four allusions to this title. Each reference has its counterpart in one of the Gospels. He is ‘the man whose name is the Branch’, Zech. 6.12, harmonizing so beautifully with Luke’s Gospel. Isaiah presents Him as the ‘branch of the Lord’, Isa. 4. 2, emphasising His deity and comparing favourably with the truth of John’s Gospel. He is the branch of David, Jer. 23. 5-6, indicating His royalty and agreeing with the presentation of Matthew. Fourthly, He is ‘my servant the Branch’, Zech. 3. 8, fitting with Mark’s Gospel. Truly, our Lord Jesus is the uniting theme of both Testaments.

In a world of thorns and thistles, in the barrenness of our own lives, how refreshing to contemplate ‘the man whose name is the Branch’, Zech. 6.12.