Jesus the Branch

Many Bible verses talk about Jesus being the Branch. The Branch is a title for the Messiah showing that a shoot has grown out of the stump of the line of David (Isaiah 11:1). Jesus is both the root or source of David's line as the Creator and the branch or descendant of David's line as the Man, Christ Jesus (Isaiah 11:1, 10; Revelation 5:5; 22:16). Unlike the flawed stump of David's line, the Branch is righteous and just (Jeremiah 33:15). Even the prophecy that Jesus would be a Nazrene (from the town of Nazareth) is related to this messianic title since the Hebrew word for branch is netzer (Matthew 2:21-23). The line of David was the ancestral line of the kings of Israel, the Gentiles would be partakers of the Branch as well. In John 15:5, we are also branches connected to Jesus, the vine, from whom we draw our sustenance and can bear fruit.

Jesus is described as a branch in four different ways, each corresponding with the theme of one of the gospels. Matthew is the gospel of the royal Branch of David (Jeremiah 23:5). Mark is the gospel of the Lord's servant, the Branch (Zechariah 3:8). Luke is the gospel of the Man whose name is the Branch (Zechariah 6:12). John is the gospel of the Branch of the Lord (Isaiah 4:2).

You can use the following smartphone lock screens to help you memorize the verses about Jesus as the Branch. These are great to meditate on during the Advent season but can be used all year round.