Bruised and Smoldering
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Introduction
Introduction
The glory of God in passages such as this, which on the first glance seem of little consequence, will not be revealed until we pitch our tents upon its shores. Then, only then, might we behold some of the most beautiful skies painted by the colours of the rising sun. If we liken such passages to the beach, then waiting upon them allows us to see the beauty of Christ spray painted accross the skies of our dim souls.
There is depth in this text, and consequence of the highest order in blessing to any who would care to wait upon it. And so, that is what we will do together this morning.
As we have seen, time and again, Matthew is a prolific author. Being a tax collector most of his life, he would have had very little exposure ot the OT, as he wouldn’t have been granted access to the synagogues. Remember, the tax collectors were among the most hated of the Jews because they were traitors. Yet, in all of the NT, we find that Matthew quotes more of the OT than Mark, Luke and John combined.
And this passage is Matthew’s longest quote of the OT.
In it, we find the Messianic identity of Christ, the nature of Christ’s Messianic rule, and the purpose for which the Messiah had come. All of this is of great significance to us Christians who desire to follow and be like our Master.
Exegesis
Exegesis
15 Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all
In the rising tension between Jesus and the spritual rulers of that time, they’d come up with a plot to kill Him.
14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.
Our flesh always wants to silence the Spirit. We see this in the world today, although not in the same way. When big corporations like Facebook, and Youtube, and Twitter update the policies to block or remove any individual who speaks about certain things, that is the world trying to control the narrative like the Pharisees wanted to do. Sin always wants to silence righteousness.
This is why we must hate sin beloved, because it wants to destroy the hope of our salvation. It blinds us.
On the other hand, we see that Jesus did things that brought about such hostile reactions. How many of us refrain from doing the right thing just because it has the possibility of such reactions? In the name of peacemaking, how many of us refrain from standing for the truth in many situations? Remember brothers and sisters, that our peacemaking ought to be modeled after this Prince of Peace, who did not refrain from standing for truth and the glory of His Father’s Name. He did not refrain from speaking or doing things just because it produced such hostility.
But He was aware of this. Why wouldn’t He be? Christ was neither naive, nor mistaken regarding the hearts of men.
24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people
25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.
So, in this first part, we see the power of Christ in His omniscience. Unlike us, He knew the hearts of the men that followed Him.
He withdrew from there.
Christ was no coward to withdraw from persecution or confrontation. But it wasn’t the appointed time yet, and so He withdrew from there. There is wisdom in strategic withdrawals. Jesus has the long game in plan, and is not shortsighted. His boldness in practicing righteousness before the hostility of the sinners did not mean then that He was foolish and shortsighted. He knew when to withdraw.
52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword.
53 Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?
His withdrawals were not a sign of weakness or fear. It was intentional and strategic, but it was also to fulfil the Scriptures as we will see. Jesus’ withdrawals were meant to characterise the nature of this Saviour. Matthew explains this in the verses that follow.
He healed them all
Even with the mounting opposition, Jesus did not refrain from doing good. Jesus’ ministry was not one of reaction, but of action. The circumstances or situations, or people were not the basis of what Jesus taught and performed. In all these things Jesus acted with wisdom. He healed all of them because He wanted to.
But do you see the characteristic mix of the Messiah’s rule. He is bold to heal them all, but quiet to withdraw. He calls out the sins of even the elite, but gentle binds the wounds of those who repent even to the least. A Saviour who is mighty and powerful, yet gentle and lowly. He did not come like princes on their royal horses, but as a carpenter’s son,
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
Yet, He healed them all, and yet He came as gentle and lowly. You have seen the glimpse of this time and again,
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands,
13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.
14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,
15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.
16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last,
His gentle and lowly stature does not compromise His excellence and majesty. They are weak men that want to show their power through forcefulness and lording their authority over others, but strong men are able to be of great quality, yet gentle and humble. For a man is made greater in a sense by becoming lesser in a sense.
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.”
The display of this nature of God is not new in the NT. It is displayed more clearely, but not new. As mighty and powerful as God has displayed Himself in the OT, it is full of His mercy, compassion, and long suffering. Jesus is not the embodiment of gentle and lowly, while the Father is the embodiment of judgment and wrath. So many Christians have a flawed view of the Trinity because they view the Father as the strict taskmaster and Jesus as the friendly mediator.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.
Moses asked God in Exodus 33 to show him His ways that he may know Him, Moses was asking for God’s revelation, His word. And God gave it to Him in new tablets of stone. But in John’s Gospel we read that
18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
Here beloved, is Christ, not God’s word in stone, but God’s word incarnate. Jesus coming to us, is God showing us His ways, and His ways are of power and glory and might, yet in gentle and lowly estate.
Continuing on, Matthew 12:16-21
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.”
Here we find, Matthew’s longest quotation of the OT, and it is revealing in many ways of the identity and character of Jesus.
Jesus ordered them not to make him known because He knew His growing fame would lead Him to the cross. It wasn’t the appointed time yet for Him to die, and so He urges such secrecy in view of the growing hostility of the Pharisees. There came the appointed time later, when Jesus neither withdrew nor quieted His followers, but submitted Himself to the will of His Father.
The Book of Isaiah
The Book of Isaiah
The prophet Isaiah prophesied on the theme of judgment and redemption to Israel. Isaiah proclaimed a message of repentance from sin and hopeful expectation of God’s deliverance in the future.
This theme of judgment and redemption, rebellion and revival run amazingly through 66 chapters, and the 40th chapter beginning a profound theme of hope in God’s redemption, forming an amazing parallel of sorts to the 66 books of the Bible.
Now, in chapters 42 to 53 we find what biblical scholars call the servant songs. The servant songs describe the service, suffering and exaltation of the Servant of the Lord. Although Israel is identified as the servant of the Lord initially, as we follow the theme we begin to see that the description becomes more about an individual rather than a nation. This isn’t strange because biblical themes often allow for an individual to represent an entire nation. Israel was the chosen servant of the Lord that failed to obey God, and it pleased God to use one Israelite to do what Israel could not do, as a representative for the entire nation.
The book of Isaiah foreshadows the salvation coming through the Messiah more than any other book in the OT.
And Matthew goes to the very beginning of the first servant song, to make the claim that Jesus is that promised Messiah.
This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah
It is amazing to me how Matthew the tax collector not only learned the OT but saw Jesus in such a great light through it. So, Matthew paraphrases Isaiah 42:1-3
1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.
2 He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street;
3 a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.
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.”
Jesus, the servant
Christ came as the Servant King. His rule is not modelled after the Kings of this world, where power is considered to be compromised by meekness. The ‘rule’ of Christ is to ‘serve’.
God could have come in the fullness of glory and established His rule through force, but we see in Matthew 13:31
31 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.
32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
It is a great power to use one’s strength, but it is a greater power to know when to use it. We can fear the one who can take our lives, but greater is our fear of one without whom we can’t live.
4 From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.
The ruler who acts for His subjects.
As children to this King, how then are we to behave?
Jesus, the chosen
God appointed the task of our redemption not to any other man, but to His Son.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Jesus, the beloved
Do you see that this Son is beloved to the Father? What happens in this redemptive plan of His is most glorious and stunning. He was going to kill evil by letting evil kill Him. He was going to be King over all by becoming Servant for all.
My Spirit upon Him
The incarnation of Jesus meant that He had to be truly human, and that meant He had to rely on God’s Spirit to accomplish the tasks assigned to Him.
Justice to the Gentiles
The Gospel of this King would not just be for Israel, for it would expand the borders of God’s covenant beyond Israel, to all the nations of the world.
19 He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;
The nature of His entrance was subtle and humble. It was gentle and lowly. His voice won’t resound in trumpet in this entry, but will be drowned amidst the noises of crowd and tradition.
The words quarrel and cry aloud are meant to show the forcefulness with which men often projected their power. But Christ would display His power through meekness and humility.
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.”