"...And there shall come forth a rod out
of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of this root."
(Isaiah 11:1-3)
Among the many treasured words of the prophet Isaiah are these,
from the first verses of the eleventh chapter of his Old Testament
writings. It is on this passage that the liturgical symbol of the
Tree of Jesse is based.
Jesse, prosperous Old Testament farmer, was
the father of eight sons. The youngest was David, who was chosen
to reign over Israel.
When St. Matthew wrote his Gospel, he began by outlining
the genealogy of Jesus Christ, constructing it around the heirs
and descendants of David to show the linkage of Jesus with the line
of Davidic Kings. This chain was important to the authors of the
New Testament because Yahweh had promised King David, through the
prophet Nathan (2 Sam. 7) that his dynasty would continue forever
and be the instrument through which God could work out the victory
for mankind promised in Genesis.
As a watchful shepherd, a courageous servant, and
anointed King who brought unity to the nations of Israel and ruled
in peace, David was considered by later generations to be a prefigure
of the Messiah for whom they waited in hope.
The promise of Nathan's prophecy was fulfilled with
the birth of Jesus Christ. As a descendant of David, Jesus came
"out of the root of Jesse" as Isaiah had foretold.
The Jesse tree has often been depicted by artists
as a visual symbol of the ancestry of our Lord. In designs of the
Middle Ages it was a standard subject. One of the most outstanding
remaining examples is the Jesse window of stained glass in the Cathedral
of Chartres, France.
In medieval renderings the genealogy was represented
as a vine or a tree whose branches bore as fruit the ancestors of
Christ: the prophets who proclaimed the coming of the Messiah and
the Kings of Judah of the live of David. In other versions, even
those Old Testament figures who preceded Jesse, such as Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses, adorned the branches of the tree.
The "rod" of which Isaiah speaks was taken to be Mary,
and the "flower," Jesus Himself. The medieval Jesse tree
design usually bore these two figures at the top.
The Jesse tree rising with the sanctuary wall in St.
Joseph Church is a contemporary expression of the traditional design.
It was designed by William Conrad Severson and Saunders Shultz of
Scopia Studio and formed of high copper content steel. The wall
and tree form a relationship of unity, tension, freedom, power,
and growth.
The light playing on the figure from various angles
at different times of day alludes to the myriad dimensions of God's
relationship with men.
Flame-like, multidirectional, the sculptural backdrop
suggests the manifold movements of the Spirit of God through the
ages as recorded in the Scriptures and still at work in the living
community of Christians, the Church.
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