Romans 15:12 – Hope in Him

Romans 15:12 (NKJV)
¹² And again, Isaiah says: “There shall be a root of Jesse;
And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles,
In Him the Gentiles shall hope.”

Jesus would come from the root of Jesse. Jesse was David’s father. Like a stump of a tree long cut off a sprout would rise. Like Job said, ^“For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease” (Job 14:7).

This root would rise to reign. He would be the hope of the Gentiles. The Gentiles are any non-Jewish people. That would be us. In Him would we hope. Jesus came as a servant-King. He did not reign as people thought He would while here on earth. But through His finished work on the cross, He rules and reigns at the right hand of the Father. “For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet” (1 Corinthians 15:25).

This root would bring hope. The world is without hope. Suicide rates are up because there is no hope. There is no hope for jobs. There is no hope for living the good life. There are more depression medications advertised on TV than ever before. Paul summed it up like this. ”That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12).

But we do have Christ, and we do have hope. We are more than conquerors through Christ (Romans 8:37). In fact, we sit Christ in heavenly places reigning with Him. “For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17).

Through Jesus, the hope of the Gentiles, we have hope both in this life and beyond. We rule and reign with Him. We are kings and priests reigning with Jesus. Jesus is hope. He is the hope of the world. Anyone who believes in Him, He will fill with this hope.