The Jesse Tree - An Advent Tradition

A Jesse Tree is an Advent Tradition that I was unfamiliar with until recently. I had vaguely heard of the Jesse Tree and knew it had something to do with Advent. When I was a kid, our Advent rituals consisted of an Advent wreath and an Advent calendar. The Jesse Tree is a kind of suped-up Advent calendar with a strong Biblical base.

My wife stumbled on the Jesse Tree through another mom who had done it the year before. We were looking for ideas of things to do at home with our girls (3 and a half year old twins) for Christmas.

After a little bit of research, we learned about the Jesse Tree and how to make one. Here’s what we learned:

The Jesse Tree

The Jesse Tree is named after Isaiah 11:1: “A shoot will spring forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots.” In other words, the Jesse Tree is Jesus’ family tree. The ornaments on the Jesse Tree are meant to connect Advent and Christmas the thousands of years of history covered in the Old Testament.

How To Make a Jesse Tree

First, you’ll need a tree. This can be simple banner or an actual tree with branches. The prettiest Jesse Trees that I have seen use decorative branches to make a kind of tree (see this photo set for a beautiful Jesse Tree). You could certainly use a small Christmas tree if you wanted. You could also make a Jesse Tree with poster board. Anything goes that fits your style and has room to hang/attached 28 symbols (for each of the days of Advent).

Next, you’ll need the ornaments. The list below gives the symbol for each of the days and a related Bible passage. Your ornament can be anything that represents that symbol. There are websites where you can download drawings of ornaments to use for coloring or as a template for cutting felt. If you are feeling creative, you’ll figure out other ways to make the ornaments. The idea is to get kids to participate though coloring and decorating - so your choices will depend on the ages of the children and their interests.

Using a Jesse Tree

This is pretty simple. Everyday during Advent, one ornament gets placed on the tree. The ornaments (again, see the table below) demonstrate the history of the Old Testament leading up to Christmas. In essence, the entire Old Testament is Advent - a waiting for Christmas.

My suggestion is to choose a specific time of day, say right before dinner, to do the Jesse Tree. That will make it easier to remember and create a sense of ritual around the act of decorating the Jesse Tree. Read the Bible passage suggested below and discuss (as appropriate to the age of the children). Then place that day’s ornament on the tree.

Remember that because Christmas moves around, you may need to adjust the Jesse Tree symbols depending on the day of the weeks on which Christmas happens to fall.

Doing it “Right”

I’m not sure where the tradition of the Jesse Tree originated. As a symbol, Jesse Trees appear in French cathedrals (like Chartes) from the 1200s. But I’m not sure when people began doing Jesse Tree rituals at home. I read in some places that it become to get popular as a replacement for Christmas trees in churches because the Christmas tree, as a symbol, has roots in pagan times and has been commercialized. The Jesse Tree was an alternative that keeps everyone grounded in the meaning of Advent.

I’m not sure that is the full story about the practice of the Jesse Trees in the home; if you know more, please leave a comment. The main point is that there is no “right way” to do a Jesse Tree. Even the list of symbols varies somewhat. Feel free to substitute other Old Testament symbols if there is a passage that is particularly meaningful to your family. Feel free to do all the symbols for the week on Sunday, if that works for you. Feel free to keep the tree going with Christmas symbols like a manger, shepherds and angels if you want. Anything goes as long as the intention is to help your family stay focused on the message of Advent.

The Jesse Tree Symbols and Suggested Passages

Date	Persons	Events/Themes	Scripture	Symbols
First Sunday	Introduction of the Jesse Tree		1 Sam 16:1-13 Isa 11:1-10	The Tree
Mon	God	Creation	Gen 1:1-2:3	Dove, earth, sun
Tues	Adam and Eve	The Fall	Gen 2:4-3:24	Apple tree, apple, man and woman
Wed	Noah	The Flood	Gen 6:11-22, 7:17-8:12, 20-9:17	Rainbow, ark
Thur	Abraham	The Promise	Gen 12:1-7, 15:1-6	Stars
Friday	Isaac	Offering of Isaac	Gen 22:1-19	Ram
Sat	Jacob	Assurance of the Promise	Gen 27:41-28:22	Ladder
Second Sunday	Joseph	God's Providence	Gen 37, 39:1-50:21	Multi-colored coat
Mon	Moses	God's Leadership	Exod 2:1-4:20	Burning bush
Tues	Israelites	Passover and Exodus	Exod 12:1-14:31	Lamb
Wed	God	Giving the Torah at Sinai	Exod 19:1-20:20	Tablets of the Torah
Thur	Joshua	The Fall of Jericho	Josh 1:1-11, 6:1-20	Ram's horn trumpet
Fri	Gideon	Unlikely Heroes	Judg 2:6-23, 6:1-6, 11-8:28	Clay water pitcher
Sat	Samuel	The Kingdom begins	1 Sam 3:1-21, 7:1-8:22, 9:15-10:9	Crown
Third Sunday	David	A shepherd for the people	1 Sam 16:1-23-17:58, 2 Sam 5:1-5, 7:1-17	Shepherd's crook or harp
Mon	Elijah	The Threat of false gods	1 Kng 17:1-16, 18:17-46	Stone altar
Tues	Hezekiah	Faithfulness and deliverance	2 Kng 18:1-19:19, 32-37	An empty tent
Wed	Isaiah	The call to holiness	Isa 1:10-20, 6:1-13, 8:11-9:7	Fire tongs with hot coal
Thur	Jeremiah	The Exile	Jer 1:4-10, 2:4-13, 7:1-15, 8:22-9:1-11	Tears
Fri	Habakkuk	Waiting	Hab 1:1-2:1, 3:16-19	Stone watchtower
Sat	Nehemiah	Return and rebuilding	Neh 1:1-2:8, 6:15-16, 13:10-22	City wall
Fourth Sunday	John the Baptist	Repentance	Luke 1:57-80, 3:1-207:18-30	Scallop shell
Mon	Mary	The hope for a future	Luke 1:26-38	White lily
Tues	Elizabeth	Joy	Luke 1:39-56	Mother and child
Wed	Zechariah	Anticipation	Luke 1:57-80	Pencil and tablet
Thurs	Joseph	Trust	Matt 1:19-25	Carpenter's square or hammer
Fri	Magi	Worship	Matt 2:1-12	Star or candle
Dec 24	Jesus	Birth of the Messiah	Luke 2:1-20	Manger
Dec 25	Christ	The Son of God	John 1:1-18	Chi-Rho symbol

 table adapted from The Voice

Comments

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