Matthew 12:15-21 - The Chosen Servant

Introduction

Our passage this morning comes from Matthew chapter 12, starting in verse 15, but we’ll add in verse 14 for some context.

Let’s do a quick recap of where we are in Matthew.

Jesus’ ministry is ramping up and he is getting more famous and popular by the day. He has devoted students he has chosen and followers who have chosen to follow him.

He’s taught, healed, and cast out demons. Many people love him and hope that he could really be the promised messiah.

But, even though Jesus’ teachings have always been shard and cutting toward hypocrisy and self-righteous arrogance, that cut is beginning to be felt by some people with a lot of power and influence.

Last week Jesus confronted the Pharisees, the primary teachers of the Word of God in first century Judaism, for not truly understanding what they claim to teach, for their legalism, and for their lack of love for others. And they had no ability to respond.

So the Pharisees began plotting to kill Jesus - which brings us to today’s passage.

Matthew 12:14–21 (ESV)

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

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:

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.”

In verse 15 we read that “Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all”

Jesus knew the Pharisees were plotting against him to destroy him, so he got out of there before they could actually do it. He got out of that area!

But even though the Pharisees hated him, many people still followed him and he healed all who came to him for healing!

While Jesus was working on getting out of the area because the Pharisees are plotting his death (and it’s not time for that yet) a large crowd is following him, and coming to him for healing. Even though this passage denotes an urgency, these crowds still followed Jesus and he still healed them.

I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t have been willing to bring crowds with me or to slow down to help if my life was being threatened… but that’s what Jesus did.

He truly is unique and impossible to really figure out because he acts in ways that seem counter-intuitive to us. He acted in ways that were counter-intuitive to his own people as well.

They expected a conquering king, but instead they get a humble healer. But the thing that Matthew makes clear in this morning’s passage (and many other times) is that Jesus is precisely the Messiah that was promised hundreds of years prior in the prophets, especially Isaiah. And most of today’s passage comes originally from Isaiah 42.

Jesus is the Chosen Servant of God that has been promised, even if we want him to look or act a different way.

Matthew wants his readers to know and believe this and to understand that though Jesus initially came from and for the Jewish people, the plan was always for Jesus to save and be king of the whole world.

From this prophecy in Isaiah we can see two particular titles of Jesus.

First,

Jesus is the Servant of God (15-18)

Look at verses 16-18 “He ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:

“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.”

Jesus warns the people he healed to not let everyone know who he was, even though he could have called the heavenly armies to destroy those who sought to destroy the Son of God, even though he had every right and power to heal or kill whoever he wanted, he didn’t!

He never stops doing his work, his purpose for coming to the earth! Full justice would come one day, but it was not today.

Jesus was part of a bigger plan, though he is eternally co-equal with God the Father, he chose to take upon himself this title, this role, as the suffering servant of God.

And he keeps going at his work even when he’s facing great opposition.

Where Israel failed to live as a faithful servant, Jesus the Messiah would succeed.

Jesus the Messiah was God’s beloved servant, who was chosen by God for this purpose, who was beloved by God, in whom God delighted, and on whom God’s Holy Spirit would rest.

Matthew McCraw - FBC Bartow, Fl

Side note: you can see the Trinity present in this prophecy

The Father is speaking about the Son

On whom the Spirit will rest

All three are divine and present.

Just a little note about doctrine.

And for an interesting note on the Greek here, Matthew chooses an interesting word for “servant”.

Doulos is the typical term and more direct translation from the Hebrew for “servant.”

But Matthew instead uses the word Pais which carries the double meaning of “servant” and “son” and it translated both ways depending on the context.

It is likely that Matthew knew exactly what he was doing because he is drawing our attention back to the baptism of Jesus in Matthew 3:17

Matthew 3:16–17 ESV

16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Sound familiar?

Jesus is the ultimate and perfect servant of God. He is faithful and holy, completely committed to the plan of salvation, and enabled by the Spirit.

He is the chosen servant of God.

Jesus is also,

Jesus is the Savior of Sinners (19-21)

Jesus is committed to the mission!

The mission is saving sinners

v. 18 “he will bring the justice of God to the nations (Gentiles)!”

How does he bring that justice of God?

Through his righteous life and his substitutionary death on the cross, Jesus would satisfy the judgement (the way some Bibles translate it) of God on the sin of the world.

John the baptist said in John 1:29 “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

And Jesus himself said in Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Let’s go back to Isaiah’s prophecy to see what else he has to say about Jesus the Messiah. Look at Matthew 12:19-21

Matthew 12:19–21 (ESV)

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 (or nations) will hope.”

As the Chosen Servant of God Jesus is committed to his mission of saving sinners.

He will not get sidetracked

He will not be fighting in the streets

He’s not trying to make a big fuss around him

He’s not looking to create a rival faction to the Pharisees

Though people do find themselves drawn to Jesus, it is not because he is loud-mouthed or arrogant (like far too many of our most famous preachers).

It is because he is truly righteous, and miraculous, and he teaches with the authority of God.

He is also gentle with those who are in slavery to their sin and rebellion, but are desperate to be freed!

Just a few verses before at the end of chapter 11 we see Jesus’ promise to all who are weary and heavy laden, that if they turn to him, he will give them rest!

A reed (a plant) that is bruised, will not be broken by him, and a dying flame on a candle will not be extinguished by him.

Jesus’ work is to be the strength for the weak

Not to destroy them!

And verse 21 makes the mission clear “in his name the Gentiles (the nations) will hope.”

Why will they hope in his name? Because he is the only means of salvation!

Remember in chapter 11, Jesus said, “No one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son desires to reveal him.”

Jesus is the way to the Father.

He was prophesied long ago and He came for His people, the people of Israel. He came as their king and their Messiah.

But verse 21 shows us that Jesus did not come only for the Jewish people!

We learn in verse 21 that “the nations” put their hope in Him. Some of your translations say the Gentiles will put their hope in Him.

The hope Jesus brings is not limited to just the Jewish people!

The Jewish people were not only wrong about what type of Messiah Jesus would be, they were also wrong about the scope of His Salvation,

and praise God that they were wrong!

Jesus not only brought hope for the people of Israel; He brought hope for the nations!

The gates to the kingdom of God are wide opened for anyone to come to Jesus. Whatever your color of skin, whether young or old, Man or woman, African, Asian, European, North American, South American, or Australian.

The nations can put their hope in the name of Jesus: the servant of God and the Savior of sinners!

Jesus is the Savior of sinners!

And just as Jesus fulfilled his mission he invites us to join in with him!

Response

Gentle Servitude

Jesus was bold in the promises of God, and yet was gentle

And it is because he was confident in faith that the Father would do what he promised.

The person who is full of faith fears nothing

So they can afford to be gentle.

They can afford to be accused, persecuted, and killed

Because they know that nothing that happens is outside of the good and perfect will of their Father in heaven, they are adopted into the family of God through the work of the Son, and they are sealed into that family never to be ripped away by the Holy Spirit.

Too often Christians are known as a reactionary people, a people who are always fighting something

And don’t get me wrong… there is a place for standing for what is right

But are we known as a people with a gentle boldness?

Or are we known as a people who stamp out the opposition?

Because if it’s the latter, then we look a whole lot more like the Pharisees than we look like Jesus

Are you known for your gentle boldness?

For being someone that even if someone disagrees with you, they can’t help but still want to be around you?

Or do you respond to conflict with fear? Either shutting down completely, or trying to shut the other person down?

Do you face conflict with an unrelenting faith that God has it all in his hands and will work everything together for your good if you trust him and follow his call?

Even if that means you will be hated?

True followers of Jesus trust in him and him alone and so have no need to respond with fear or hatred to those who are still lost, happily bound by their sin.

Guaranteed Justice

In a similar manner, those who have true faith in the promises of Christ have peace because they know they have a guaranteed justice

And this goes two ways

First, we can have peace because we know that Christ will bring justice to victory!

He will not stop at a partial justice, there will be a day when all evil will be destroyed by Christ and we can trust that day will come!

So we can rest, even when we are wronged, in knowing that Jesus will make all things right!

Second, we can have peace because we know that Christ has brought justice to victory!

We do not need to fret over our salvation, and if we will one day face the justice of God for our sin, if our faith is in Christ and him alone because his work has brought the justice of God to victory over our sin!

We are safe and loved because of Christ! If we turn from our sin and confess it before the Lord, we can rest in the knowledge that Jesus, as the Chosen, Suffering, Beloved Servant of God has saved us!

We are now able to stand before the Father unashamed because Jesus has brought justice to victory!

Those who are bruised

Jesus knows

He knows how you have been wounded

He knows your anxiety

He knows your weakness

He knows all about you

And he cares.

And do not think, that simply because your life has become difficult that God is cursing you. Though God may bruise you, that pain is meant to show you something.

C. S. Lewis said in his book The Problem of Pain that

“We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

So, if you are a bruised reed this morning, are you listening? Are you prepared to hear God’s voice in your bruising and in your pain allow the Gospel to become real to you?

In his Commentary on Matthew, Daniel Doriani says that:

Perhaps there are two classes of bruised reed, believers and unbelievers. Unbelievers may have scant interest in Jesus until God bruises them in order to awaken them to their spiritual needs and push them to a quest that may lead them to faith.

When God bruises a man or a woman, the gospel ceases to be a story and becomes life. Then, as (the Puritan) Richard Sibbes (who wrote a wonderful book called “The Bruised Reed”) said, “The gospel becomes the gospel indeed.” Everyone is a bruised reed, a smoking flax, even heroes like Abraham, David, Peter, and Paul. It is good to know that Jesus is tender with those who seem strong as well as those who are weak.

Time of Response and Confession

“We need you Lord...”

Assurance of Pardon

Psalm 103:8–12 (ESV)

8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

9 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.

10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.