The Character of God's Servant

Recap

Jesus’ ministry and even his nature is marked by the mercy he grants and demonstrates to others. IT’s the same heart that He desires to see in us, his children and church.

We ended last week with a shift in the opposition to Jesus by the Religious Elite. They moved from being opposed and wanting to find fault, to being moved a desire to destroy Jesus.

How do you respond when someone opposes you?

Do you bow up? Do you get defensive?

Or, do you trust the Lord to guide you?

That’s where we find Jesus in tonight’s passage. We are going to cover verses 15-21 tonight in chapter 12. It’s almost as if Matthew pauses from the storyline to point out the character of Jesus based on a prophecy in Isaiah 42. The point that the author is making is that this prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus as he displays his gentleness and kindness to those in need.

Matthew 12:14 ESV

14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

Jesus Withdraws

Matthew 12:15–17 ESV

15 Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all 16 and ordered them not to make him known. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:

In the face of building opposition to Jesus message, “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” and his never ending decrees that he is the Messiah, Jesus doesn’t try and speak louder, get defensive, or stage a protest about how he’s being treated unfairly, no, Jesus simply withdraws. He does this for a couple of reasons.

To stay and stir up tension would on one hand feed into the evil that is being waged against him, and two, it would have sped up the timeline set out by the Father.

It wasn’t just so God’s time line wouldn’t be messed up, it was because he had more important things to do.

Jesus didn’t allow the political stirrings to distract him from his mission. He had come to establish God’s kingdom, proclaim himself as Messiah, and call all those who would believe to follow him. He also called those who would follow him, his disciples, to do the same thing. This, at some level, is what had to have disrupted their lives. All plans, all passions, all preoccupations they may have had up to that point, they were called to lay those all aside and follow Jesus, his mission, and to be sold out for his purpose. Nothing else mattered! Not their expectations of what they thought He should be. Not their love even for their family. Not even their hatred for the Roman occupation.

They were called to follow Him and that’s exactly what this crowd did. Many followed Him and he healed them all. They witnessed his confrontation with the religious leaders and saw Jesus for who he said he was and followed him. The healing of the man with the shriveled hand was an act of mercy on Jesus’ part. This healing of “everyone who followed him” was because of their faith.

We also should notice that he ordered them NOT to make him known. In Chapters 8 & 9 he said the same thing and it’s for one main purpose. People were going to be drawn to him regardless of whether they said anything. The main thing I think Jesus didn’t want was for people to go around telling others about his healing powers and tell people to flock to Jesus because he could heal them. He didn’t need anyone promoting his healing ministry. He was their to use his healing power to proclaim and demonstrate his authority as Jesus, Messiah, The Christ, not put on a show and have a bunch of people be attracted to the tricks he could perform.

This kind of mind set flys in the face of humanity, especially the world we live in today. People, businesses, even ministries and churches can be all about promoting themselves.

“My church is the best”

“I have to make a name for myself”

“I have to protect my reputation”

Luke 14:11 ESV

11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

1 Peter 5:5–6 ESV

5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,

Fulfillment of Prophecy - The Character of Jesus - The Chosen Servant

Matthew 12:18–21 ESV

18 “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. 19 He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; 20 a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory; 21 and in his name the Gentiles will hope.”

Chosen Servant

What is the #1 indicator here in this Messianic prophecy? That he would be a servant. All through the gospels we see Jesus and his servant’s heart.

Matthew 20:25–28 ESV

25 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Matthew 23:11 ESV

11 The greatest among you shall be your servant.

Acts 3:13 ESV

13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him.

Acts 3:26 ESV

26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

He didn’t just live that example of a servant for us to follow, he serves us. He is our servant. Not in the sense that we can order him around, but he sits at the right hand of the father and advocates for us day and night. He intercedes for us to the Father. He influences the Father which in turn allows our Helper, the Holy Spirit to counsel us in what we need to know and how to walk with Him.

I don’t need or want a servant that gets me whatever I want. I’d rather have one who gives me or enables me to obtain what I really need and that is everything I need to build his kingdom.

John 15:7 ESV

7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

My Beloved

Isn’t it interesting that here in Isaiah 42, which is what matthew is quoting, we see the Father speaking through Isaiah about the Son and he refers to him as “My Beloved” in whom I am well pleased. The obvious is that this stands out as to what the Father stated both at Jesus’ Baptism as well as the transfiguration, but more than that, We see that the Father looks at the Son as his beloved. Rarely do we consider the affection and love between the members of the God head. We see this stated in the book of John chapter 15.

John 15:9–10 ESV

9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

There is a designation here on love that is tied to obedience. Jesus was the beloved of the Father, at least partially, because of his obedience to the Father. This is also how we show our love to the Father, by being obedient.

So, Jesus is the Chosen Servant in whom the Father is well pleased.

Spirit Rests Upon Him - Justice to the Gentiles

Jesus was filled with the Spirit and did ministry in the power and flow of the Holy Spirit. Throughout scripture the Holy spirit always rested ON the one who God had anointed as HIS Servant. This is also fulfilled in Jesus baptism as the spirit came down upon Jesus in the form of a dove. All kinds of signs point to the FACT that Jesus is the Messiah.

The ministry of the Servant, the Messiah, would not be restricted to the Jewish people. He would also have a ministry to the Gentiles, bringing justice and righteousness to them.This is something that would have surprised the Jewish people of that day, maybe even offended them, especially if they’d been raised as part of “God’s Chosen People” and spent their whole life looking down on the other nations of the world. It goes back to that “we’re the best” mentality.

The weren’t the best, they where chosen.

They weren’t number 1, they were called to worship the ONE true God.

They weren’t chosen to make their own name great, they were chosen to make Yahweh’s name the greatest!

Quiet - Gentle and Lowly

It’s not that Jesus was never outspoken, or vocal about his disapproval of those arrogant and boastful of his day, but he did it in a gentle way. Don’t get me wrong, Jesus confronted them, but it wasn’t in a confrontational way that would only escalate things to an unhealthy, unproductive level.

“Think for a moment about the modesty of God. He is always at work: He guides the sun, the stars, and the universe. He controls every galaxy. He refreshes the earth constantly. But He works so quietly that many people now try to make out there is no God at all.... That is the hallmark of reality in service. God’s artists do not put their signatures to the pictures they create. His ambassadors do not run after the photographer all the time to get their pictures taken. It is enough that they have borne witness to the Lord.” (Redpath)

Bruised Reed and Smoking flax

Isaiah 42 gives us another look at the quite, gentle and lowly character of Jesus in the description of the bruised reed and the smoking flax.

Matthew F. The Servant King Tries to Minister Quietly (12:15–21)

Even those who are worthless and useless in the eyes of the world will be accepted by God’s Suffering Servant (12:20a). Reeds were the stems of a variety of species of plants. They were carved into ink pens or walking sticks, or their fibers were used for weaving or making into parchment for writing on. Reeds were one of the most common materials in everyday life. Damaged reeds were discarded without thought because more were readily available. A wick on an oil lamp might smolder because it was low on oil or trimmed improperly. Usually a smoldering wick would be put out, because it would produce smoke but no light. The Messiah, who was “gentle and humble in heart” (11:29) would welcome and use in ministry those whom the world deemed worthless and useless.

Jesus wants us to have His heart towards the lowly, broken, and hurting. It’s easy to pass them by just as quickly as the priest and the Levite passed the man on the road to Jericho. “The superficial Christian worker ignores that kind of situation. He wants a sphere to serve where it will be worthy of his talent, if you please. A task where his abilities will be recognized and used, something that is big enough to justify all the training he has undergone. In the eyes of the Lord, the test of the real servant is, does he bend with the humility of Jesus Christ over a bruised reed and smoking flax?” (Redpath)

Justice to Victory

Matthew F. The Servant King Tries to Minister Quietly (12:15–21)

The servant’s purpose is justice, and his justice will lead to victory (12:20b; the Hebrew text means. “He will faithfully bring Forth justice”). Even though the servant comes meekly he is also the judge (11:27; 28:18), and he will bring justice and fairness to the people.

This is what makes it so hard for us living in this age. With all the evil we see in the world, all the injustice, when everything the world is promoting is being passed off as okay, or good, we find ourselves wrestling with the idea of what do we do with all this. Do we take a stand against the lack of morality in this nation or this world and expect them to follow suit because we “convinced them”?

Romans 8:7–8 ESV

7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

We stand a far better chance committing to build the kingdom by spreading the gospel than by attempting to change people’s morality. Morality comes from the heart and if people’s hearts aren’t submitted to God’s law we will be beating our heads up against the wall.

It goes back to the meaning of “blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth”. Not blessed are the combative who take matters into their own hands. Blessed are those who wait on the Lord and allow Him to mobilize the resistance to evil. That starts in our hearts!

Hope for the Gentiles

It’s not just hope for the Gentiles/Nations, it’s hope for the world! A hope that Isaiah is prophesying will come to the Gentiles too.

Ephesians 3:8–12 ESV

8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.

Jesus came to this earth to pay the price on the cross for our salvation if we would simply believe. HE also lived his life to be an example to use as to how we should live our lives. The people around us will ONLY see JESUS in US, when we choose to live like Jesus. When we choose to invite the Holy Spirit to come in and transform our character to be like HIS.

Here in the midst of the controversy of Matthews Gospel, the Lord pauses to point again, as in chapter 11, to the character of our savior. We’ve been called to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ to the world. That’s it! We’ve been called to do it as humble servants, valuing the lowly and needy just like our savior did and does. All this while living in a world that hates him and hates us because we are HIS. The change that is needed in this world is in people’s hearts. That’s what the Gospel offers to those who will believe!

Lets Pray