In the fairytale “The Princess Bride” a villain by the name of Vizzini is known for his catchphrase “inconceivable”. Vizzini tells his companions Fezzik and Inigo Montoya that it would be inconceivable for anyone to know their plans. But then they discover a mysterious man in black is following them. The bandits race to the Cliffs of Insanity to make their escape. Vizzini assures his companions it would be inconceivable for anyone to follow them up the cliffs. But then they discover the man in black is not only climbing the cliffs but catching up to them. The bandits reach the top of the cliff moments ahead of the man in black and the rope they used to scale the cliffs is cut so that the man in black will fall to his death. But when they look over the edge of the cliff, they see the man in black is clinging to the rocks and starting to climb the cliff. Vizzini cries out, “He didn’t fall? Inconceivable!” It is at this point that his companion Inigo Montoya turns to him and says, “you keep using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means.”
In the Princess Bride, Vizzini’s repeated misuse of the word “inconceivable” is one of the more humorous scenes of the fairytale. A villain who is confident in his own ignorance is amusing to us. But I wonder if we would be amused to hear Inigo Montoya say the same thing to us. Let’s find out.
A catchphrase often heard among us is “I promise”. Our politicians are fond of this phrase. They promise if elected they will put an end to crime, they promise they will lower taxes, they promise they will create new jobs. But often, after they are elected, it seems the word promise does not mean what they think it means. Politicians are easy to vilify, but they aren’t the only ones who misuse the word “promise”. Advertisers misuse the word all the time. They promise their cars will make you a better parent, they promise their body spray will make you irresistible to women, they promise their candy bar will satisfy you. But after you buy the car, use the body spray, and eat the candy bar you discover the word promise does not mean what they think it means.
Politicians and advertisers aren’t the only ones who misuse the word promise. We like to make promises to our friends, “I promise I will always be there for you, I promise I will keep your secret, I promise I will help you”. We like to make promises to our families, “I promise I will love and cherish you till death us do part, I promise I will bring you up in the training and instruction of the Lord, I promise I will always honor and respect you”. We like to make promises to our God, “If you get me out of this, I promise I will never do it again, I promise to love you with all my heart all my soul all my mind, I promise I will live my life in obedience to your will.” With our friends, with our family, with our God we keep using the word, promise but we use the word as if it were a hopeful wish, a desired goal, an optimistic aspiration. When we say, “I promise” what we mean is “I want to”, “I’ll try”, “I’ll do my best”. We keep using the word “promise”, but it does not mean what we think it means.
Thankfully, our God knows what the word promise means. In our Old Testament lesson for today The LORD declares through the prophet Jeremiah, “14 The days are coming… when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.” This is nerdy but I think it is interesting to note that the Hebrew word that we translate as “promise” is the word “word”. Literally we translate the LORD’s “good word” as the LORD’s “good promise”. We translate it that way because the LORD’s words are not hopeful wishes, desired goals, or optimistic aspirations. When the LORD says He is going to do something, He is not telling us what He wants to do; what He will try to do; what He will do His best to accomplish. Rather, when the LORD tells us what He is going to do He is telling us what is going to be done.
In verse 15 the LORD tells us about the good promise that He will fulfill. The LORD promises, “15 ‘In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land.” The LORD promised to make a branch sprout from David’s line. This is a rather remarkable promise to make considering at the time the LORD made this promise the line of David was headed into Babylonian captivity and appeared to have come to an end. Yet, despite this seemingly insurmountable obstacle, the LORD promised that the line of David would continue. The LORD promised a descendant of David would be born and the royal bloodline would be preserved.
The LORD promised this descendant of David would Himself be righteous. This too is a rather remarkable promise to make. The descendant of David who was sitting on the throne when the LORD made this promise was king Zedekiah who, and I quote, “did evil in the eyes of the LORD”[1] and caused the LORD’s anger to burn against the kingdom. David himself was the closest the line of David had come to righteousness. The LORD described David as “a man after my own heart.”[2] But as you might recall from the Bathsheba affair, even David was not in and of himself righteous. Yet the LORD promised a descendant would come from this diseased and decaying family tree who would always and only do what is just and right in the land.
Through the prophet the LORD told His people “the days are coming when I will fulfill this good promise.” Through the gospels the LORD tells His people that day has come.
Jesus is the branch which sprouted from David’s line. In the first chapter of Matthew’s gospel, we have “a record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David”.[3] In the first chapter of Luke’s gospel the LORD tells His people, “God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David.”[4] In the second chapter of Luke’s gospel the LORD tells His people, “Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.”[5] In the third chapter of Luke’s gospel there is another genealogy that traces the lineage of Jesus to the line of David.[6] Though it seemed unlikely, what the LORD promised would happen, happened. Jesus is the fulfillment of the LORD’s promise to make a branch sprout from the Line of David. Jesus was flesh and blood proof that the LORD keeps His promises.
Humanly speaking Jesus was the genetic fulfillment of the LORD’s promise. But human genetics was only part of the promise the LORD had made. The LORD promised that the descendant of David would be righteous. As it turned out, 2,000 years ago, Mary and Joseph weren’t the only descendants of David. The reason Jesus was born in a barn was because the inns of Bethlehem were full of the descendants of David. Yet none of the Davidic descendants could in and of themselves be considered righteous. A righteous descendant of David probably seemed inconceivable to most. Yet, the virgin Mary conceived the inconceivable. In the first chapter of Matthew’s gospel the LORD tells His people, “18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.”[7] In the first chapter of Luke’s gospel the LORD tells His people Mary’s Son Jesus, “will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”[8] A few verses later, Mary’s Son Jesus is identified as “the holy one” who “will be called the Son of God.”[9] Jesus is the righteous descendant of David Whom the LORD promised would always and only do what is just and right in the land. Jesus was perfect proof that the LORD keeps His promises.
Jesus is the righteous branch the LORD promised to send. But that is not all that the LORD promised. Through the prophet the LORD says to His people, “16 In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which it will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.’” The LORD promised, through the righteous branch His people would be “saved” and live in “safety”. At the time this promise was made it seemed a very unlikely promise to be kept. As I said, the people to whom Jeremiah was prophesying were being led away into Babylonian captivity. Salvation and safety did not seem possible for them. Perhaps you know how they felt? Perhaps salvation and safety seem impossible for a person who has broken as many promises as you have broken? But the LORD has already proven that He makes the impossible possible. Through Jesus the LORD promises you salvation and safety. In Mark 16:16 the LORD promises “whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.” In Romans 10:9 the LORD promises, “if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” In Acts 4:12 the LORD promises, “12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” Even if salvation and safety doesn’t seem possible for a promise breaker such as yourself, the LORD promises you that it is.
In the season of Advent, we are eager to get to the little town of Bethlehem. Soon enough the silent night will be filled with the voices of angels singing Joy to the world. But before we get there let’s spend this first Sunday in Advent celebrating the fact that our God knows what the word “promise” means. The LORD’s promise to send us a Savior was not a hopeful wish, desired goal, or optimistic aspiration. When the LORD said He was going to send us a savior He was not telling us what He wanted to do; what He would try to do; what He would do His best to accomplish. Rather, when the LORD told us He was going to send us a Savior, he told us what was going to be done, and now has been done. The righteous branch has come to bring salvation and safety to God’s people; to you. As we prepare to celebrate Christmas, we celebrate God’s good promise(s). Amen
[1] 2 Kings 24:19
[2] Acts 13:22
[3] Matthew 1:1
[4] Luke 1:26-27
[5] Luke 2:4
[6] Luke 3:23-37
[7] Matthew 1:18
[8] Luke 1:32-33
[9] Luke 1:35