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.” Matthew 12: 15-21 ESV
Matthew 12: 15-21
Jesus, aware of this - He made some strong statements against them, and He very openly rejected their made up laws. He came to do the will of His Father, and not confine Himself to their religious ideals. They were jailors, holding men captive to a system that saw no release, and Jesus was here to set the captives free. He saw they had murder in their hearts, but it wasn't His time so He withdrew. Remember, He is the Messiah, the rightful King, the Son of David, and they are rejecting Him just like Isaiah prophesied. The tension is building.
And many followed Him - They saw or heard about the man with the withered hand, and they believed, they had probably heard about His past instances and wanted to be healed themselves. He is causing people to hope, to see a life that matches it's words. It says, "He healed them all", whereas He left those with evil intention, those unbelieving Scribes, those who would block the door for men to be saved. He has compassion on the crowd, they believe and He gives them even more reason.
…18And to whom did He swear that they would never enter His rest? Was it not to those who disobeyed? 19So we see that it was because of their unbelief that they were unable to enter. Hebrews 3: 18-19
…57And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown and in his own household is a prophet without honor.” 58And He did not do many miracles there, because of their unbelief. Matthew 13: 57-58
Ordered them not to make Him known - Why, right? It's important, and it is within the context of the next few verses. Verse 17 says, "this was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah."
1“Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations. 2He will not cry out or raise His voice, nor make His voice heard in the streets. 3A bruised reed He will not break and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.…
…4He will not grow weak or discouraged before He has established justice on the earth. In His law the islands will put their hope.” 5This is what God the LORD says— He who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it and life to those who walk in it: 6“I, the LORD, have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations,… Isaiah 42: 1-6
Behold, My Servant Whom I have chosen - The Jews of Jesus time understood this to be a designation for Messiah, the promised One, the Seed of the woman from Genesis. He is the Lamb of God, the Scape Goat, the Ram caught in the thicket, all these things point to Messiah in name, in pictures and graphic illustration. Messiah is also to rule from the throne of David, to set up a Kingdom, which will be marked by peace, health and prosperity. Jesus healing the people shows that He has the power to bring this about, but there is a part that they would like to skip, a part that some have shut out from their minds, that Messiah has to suffer. He has to suffer for their sins, and this is an issue in itself, a huge hurdle for people who don't see themselves in such need.
…5Righteousness will be the belt around His hips, and faithfulness the sash around His waist. 6The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat; the calf and young lion and fatling will be together, and a little child will lead them. 7The cow will graze with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.… Isaiah 11: 5-7
13Behold, My Servant will prosper; He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. 14Just as many were appalled at Him—His appearance was disfigured beyond that of any man, and His form was marred beyond human likeness—… Isaiah 52: 13-14
…43But it shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44and whoever wants to be first must be the slave of all. 45For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”… Mark 10: 43-45
He will proclaim justice to the gentiles - Fascinating words, and we all know the image of the cross, the Passion seen, that Jesus came to die for our sins, this is of the greatest necessity, it is central to Christianity. We preach the cross and must continue to do so, but lets not forget the life leading up to it. He also came to fulfill the law in its perfection, to do that which we did not or could not do acceptably. We have all fallen short, all have sinned. He came to live a sinless life, so that He might take upon it the sins that bind me to eternal torment. He came to do the will of the One Who sent Him, and God had given His people, Israel, a command to be a light to the nations, to be God's ambassadors to the gentiles, so that they might see the glory of God and come to worship Him also. Israel failed miserably, and so now Christ takes up their part as well, He is the light of the world. The Jews had two camps, those that hate the gentiles and those that imitate them, neither were a light.
…5And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, that Israel might be gathered to Him—for I am honored in the sight of the LORD, and My God is My strength— 6He says: “It is not enough for You to be My Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the protected ones of Israel. I will also make You a light for the nations, to bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.” 7Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, to Him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the Servant of rulers: “Kings will see You and rise, and princes will bow down, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen You.”… Isaiah 49: 5-7
…9Judah is a young lion—my son, you return from the prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him? 10The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his. 11He ties his donkey to the vine, his colt to the choicest branch. He washes his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.… Genesis 49: 9-11
11Just then the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. 12“Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him,” said the angel, “for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.” 13Then Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram in a thicket, caught by its horns. So he went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son.…
…14And Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. So to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.” 15And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time, 16saying, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your only son,…
…17I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies. 18And through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” Genesis 22: 11-18
He will not quarrel or cry aloud - He wants them to go and tell no one, not because He doesn't care, we can see that He is constantly moved with compassion, but because He is not here to start an insurrection. He is not here to go to war with what they think is the greatest evil, which in their minds would be Rome. He is here to live the life that none of us did, and to die the death that is required for the remission of our sins. His first advent is not a political mission, He is already the rightful heir, but He is here to purchase His children, those called of God, out of the clutches of sin and death. His focus is not on changing the government, but rather the hearts of those who will believe. The Jews were scared of Rome, and some were tired of being scared, the Zealots, they were ready to form an army and crown a king. They wanted to end Roman occupation, and I get it, we have bad governance here now, but this present rule, these kings and kingdoms, their wickedness will all come to an end. This is nothing, don't mistakenly be more scared of what men might do than what a Holy and Just God will do. Don't fear Caesar, God allowed him to be there, and Caesar will pass away, but God will be opposed to sin eternally.
…31“How can I,” he said, “unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so He did not open His mouth. 33In His humiliation He was deprived of justice. Who can recount His descendants? For His life was removed from the earth.”… Acts 8: 31-33
A bruised reed and smoldering wick - He preaches the same message to them over and over again, and so we look back to the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, and we again remember, "Blessed are the Poor in Spirit." He is extending the offer once again, "come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden". I remember my Lily when she was little, very small, probably 3 or 4, a bitty thing. We lived in the middle of nowhere on a huge lot that was covered in oaks, and she liked to gather the wood and cook with me over a pit that we surrounded with stones and topped with a grate. She liked to help start the fire and she watched me blow on the coals sometimes when it went out or when we were trying to stoke it up. Well, we finished dinner, and I was inside cleaning up my mess in the sink, and I looked out the window. She had slipped back outside and was gathering pine needles and other small pieces of kindling, which she took back to the pit which was smoldering and dying quickly. She lay her little pieces of fuel on the old coals, and then she started to blow, and blow, and then there was a little flame. Lily rested back on her feet and started clapping her hands with delight. I called my wife so she could see and we watched her get up and find more sticks for her fire. It was a little disturbing to see a 3 year old start a fire and we prayed that she wouldn't become a pyro, but she was so excited about seeing the fire come back to life. Of course I taught her about putting it out, and we took a pitcher of water to thoroughly soak it. But the beauty of this verse and the illustration is that it gives us a glimpse of the heart of God. He is a God Who comes to seek and to save the lost, to bring sinners to repentance. This is a God that finds someone whose hope is all but quenched, the light is faded, but like the girl on the bed, He says, "She's not dead, she is only sleeping." He comes to breathe life, and to give a very small hope a great bit of oxygen, fueling it into flames once again, and this is His delight.
Jesus sees the value in a bruised reed, even when no one else can. He can make beautiful music come from a bruised reed, as He puts His strength in it! Though a smoking flax is good for nothing, Jesus knows it is valuable for what it can be when it is refreshed with oil. Many of us are like the bruised reed, and we need to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man (Ephesians 3:16). Others are like the smoking flax, and can only burn brightly for the LORD again when we are drenched in oil, with a constant supply coming, as we are filled with the Holy Spirit. - E word
25For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. 26 Brothers, consider the time of your calling: Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful; not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.… 1 Corinthians 1: 25-27
And in His name the gentiles will hope - He was rejected by His own, but that was to be, and will not always be, many Jews have come to Christ, and at the end of the age the remnant will confess. But here we see the broadening of His ministry, and the call to those elect among the nations.
…13I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry 14in the hope that I may provoke my own people to jealousy and save some of them. 15For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?… Romans 11: 13-15
…23How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers! For there will be great distress upon the land and wrath against this people. 24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations. And Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. 25There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among the nations, bewildered by the roaring of the sea and the surging of the waves.… Luke 21: 23-25
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