“Tell him this is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the LORD. It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne.” Zechariah 6:12,13
These verses definitively state that the Branch will sit and rule on His throne, will be a priest, will build the temple of God (within each of us), and will be clothed with majesty. All those descriptions fit Jesus perfectly.
Jesus is the Branch. He branched out from Judaism to create a new approach to God the Father for the Jews who accept Him as their Saviour, and for non-Jews who also accept Him as Saviour. He died on a cross as a once for all time atonement for the sins of all who accept that He did that for them. Those who accept that Jesus died once for all their sins and rose to life in three days, do not need to make repeated offerings to God for their sins as the Jews did in the time of Moses.
Judaism is still the tree from which our branch comes from. We still take sap from the same tree as the Jews do. Its roots go into the ground and take nutrients from God the Father. Both Jews and Christians are rooted in the eternal soil of God the Father and heaven. God the Father is in the whole tree; Jews and Christians serve the same God.
Jesus sits majestically like a great King on His throne and is a Royal priest. He has built the temple of the LORD millions of times over within millions of people whom He has saved and led to God the Father. Each Christian is a temple of the Holy Spirit, God the Father and Jesus.
““The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior.” Jeremiah 23:5,6
The Branch was descended from David and was called Our Righteous Savior. Many of Jesus’ friends spread palm branches in his path and called Him the King of Israel.
Judah was saved in part by Him, and all Israel who accept Him as their King and Saviour will live in safety. All Jews who do not accept Him as their Messiah continue on as Jews. Those Jews appointed to be Christians will become Christians, and the non-Jews who are appointed to be Christians will become Christians.
Christianity is a Branch of Judaism and it is not a totally distinct faith. Christianity is eternally connected to Judaism. Christianity was founded by Jesus the Branch. Jesus was a Jew who upheld Jewish festivals and Jewish laws and commands. He read Deuteronomy, Isaiah and many other books of the Old Testament. He visited the temple of God in Jerusalem. He went to synagogues and taught in some of them. He lived as a righteous Jew. He knew God the Father better than any one else.
He branched out from mainstream Judaism to offer a new way to the same Living God of the Jews. His way differed since He was the atonement for sins, and He gave direct access to God the Father to anyone who believed in Him; both Jew and non-Jew. To the Jews first, and then non-Jews.
Heaven was full of God’s angels, the righteous and many Jews long before any Christian got there. Now there are a lot of Jews and Christians in heaven as well as the elect.
“In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious,“ Isaiah 4:2
Jesus is the Branch of the LORD, and He is always beautiful and glorious, though most of the time during His earthly ministry, His holy traits were hidden from others. He seemed like a normal, regular man to many in Nazareth.
Peter, James and John followed Jesus up a mountain, and saw Him in His glory; His clothes suddenly turned brilliant white, and His face shone like the sun. The veil was taken away and they saw Him as God saw Him; as someone glorious and beautiful.
Jesus as the Branch is one of His epithets, but this is one that ties Him closely to the Jews. A branch of any tree has to stay on the tree to continue growing and living. If it is broken off, it will die.
By Michael Hume. The Holy Spirit teaches you everything.