A root out of a dry ground

Isaiah 53:2

For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

There is no rival anywhere in Scripture, or any passage of equal beauty as is found here. Its exquisite description of our Savior in the Old Testament language cannot be equaled or competed with. It is quoted prolifically in the gospels and beyond. There are numerous phrases that we could meditate heavily upon today. Much of this fifty-third chapter of Isaiah could captivate our minds and ravish our hearts this morning. We could speak of Him being despised and rejected. We could speak of the wondrous and comforting truth that He is a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. We could deal with how He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Or perhaps how the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all, or how He satisfied God as His soul was made an offering for sin. How about the great truth that He was numbered with the transgressors and that He made intercession for the same? What a glorious and holy and perfect Savior! How it defies our ability to expand on, and humiliates the littleness of our capacity to paint a picture. The picture is painted here for us! Yet, tucked away in this most wonderful passage, is the little statement that He is as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground.

A root out of a dry ground! Have you ever experienced dry ground? Let us first consider the physical world. A tree will not grow well without moisture. Indeed it may never grow. And its roots? Why, they will not grow as they should! They thrive on moisture! They will not come out of the dry ground. And yet—and yet! Christ will do just that! Irrespective of the ground about Him, upon which He has been planted, and without regard for the ambient dryness and aridity, He will grow anyway. He will nonetheless grow forth as a tender plant. This is the spiritual truth found here! There are many dry today—so many seeking, panting, looking, searching. But no water is found! No moisture! No place to plant their roots. When, in fact, they have never found the true root—the Root of David! We must be planted in Him. For if we be planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection! How glorious a thing it is to be planted in Him. For He is the root out of the dry ground!

Oh, my dear and precious friend, please consider the topic before us today. Is there some dryness, some famine of joy and peace today in your own soul? Here we learn where we must go! We see, by the grace of God, that we must be planted in Him! Turn back to the Savior! To Jesus, who is the root out of a dry ground! And, no matter how dry your life may be, God will then begin to bring in the moisture that will liven you again! But do not turn to the weak and beggarly elements that will never help you. If you will become again a tender plant, you must have the proper root. Be planted in Him! Find the living water that comes from His precious Word, and the nourishment that is derived from communion with Him. Without that, you whither away and die. You will shrivel up and become a useless, noxious, purposeless plant. But no! We can grow to become that tender plant that reflects the beauty of Christ if we will have this Root—the Root that comes out of a dry ground!

“Father, today we have learned a great principle. We see that you are the only root that can grow out of a dry ground, and we see that without you we have no proper root, and will lack the life and beauty that you desire for us. This world, as the Scripture says, sees no beauty in you. They do not desire you! There is no form or comeliness to them! But we see it clearly. We want to be planted into the root that can grow anywhere, even in the driest of grounds. Plant us so deeply and firmly in Christ this day, that we can grow into a tender plant. And we thank you for these things. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”