Our Jesse Tree at the Miller House. Our Jesse Tree goes up at the beginning of Advent and stays up through Christmas Day. The Jesse Tree, like the Advent Wreath is a spiritual preparation for Christmas which dates back to the Middle Ages. It is generally a small tree, decorated with various ornaments which are symbolic of the purposes and promises of God, from Creation to the Birth of Jesus Christ. The Scriptual basis for the Jesse Tree comes from 1 Samuel 16:1-13, when the Lord tells Samuel that he will provide a king among Jesse’s sons. The chosen son is David, whom God promises a Kingdom that will last forever. Two centuries after the death of King David, God speaks through the prophet Isaiah, saying, “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots, and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord” (Isaiah 11:1-2). Each Jesse Tree ornament tells a part of the story of the generations and events leading up to the birth of our Savior. Each ornament has a symbol on it which represents a person or event. When read in chronological order, night after night, one ornament and corresponding Scripture reading at a time, we listen and learn the story of salvation.