There Is Hope for Bruised Reeds and Smoldering Wicks
Introduction: People are hurting, the church is a hospital, and Jesus is the chief physician. That’s my message in a sentence this morning. There are scads of bruised and broken people out in the world who have yet to meet the Savior, and the church should be a triage center for them. What an assignment! Most of them don’t even know we are a hospital, and they wouldn’t think to come here for treatment, so we have to go find them. We have to communicate through our lives and our words that Jesus is the answer to the questions they are asking and that He can heal the wounds in their lives. I thank God for every one of you who found Christ through the witness of individuals in this church family or through the preaching of God’s Word.
But my purpose this morning is not primarily evangelistic. I’m very concerned about the broken people out in the world who need Jesus, but the fact is there are also many bruised and broken who are already believers and members of the church, even this church. And I don’t think we’re serving very well as a triage center, even for our own. The amount of pain, conflict, open wounds, bitterness, addictions, and spiritual strongholds in a congregation this size would stagger your mind if you knew about them all. When I speak with Gene Moniz or Nap Easterbrook or Ben Bhasme or Carol Yeager, I quickly learn from these Christian counselors, as well as from my own contacts, that the pretty smiles and pleasant demeanor we generally wear to church cover a world of hurt.
Furthermore, friends, hurt people hurt people. I believe there are very few really mean people who go around trying to make other people’s lives miserable. When people do wound others (and it happens a lot), it’s usually not intentional but because of their own woundedness that was never treated. So I think it is essential that we give serious consideration to how we respond to the bruised and broken inside the church. If we can get that right, then we will be better equipped to reach out to the bruised and broken outside the church.
I want to tackle this theme by looking at an amazing snapshot of Jesus found in the middle of Matthew 12. I mentioned last Lord’s Day that Matthew 12 marks a watershed point in the life of Jesus. The suspicion of the Jewish religious leaders toward Him hardens into murderous hatred in this chapter. In the first 14 verses Jesus puts the Pharisees to shame by showing that their Sabbath traditions are hardhearted, illogical, and unscriptural. But rather than capitulating to the truth, they begin to plot how they might kill Him.
Next week we will discover that later in the same chapter Jesus performs an astounding healing, with the result that the Pharisees actually accuse Him of doing His miracles by Satanic power. Jesus, in turn, accuses them of committing the unpardonable sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Their hatred of Him from this point on can be cut with a knife.
However, between these two high-tension conflicts at the beginning and end of chapter 12, we find an oasis of refreshing beauty from which I want us to drink this morning. It comes in the form of a quotation from the prophet Isaiah, who wrote a prediction about Messiah some eight centuries before Jesus was born. The prophecy speaks of Him as God’s suffering servant, and it describes His mission, His character, and most importantly, how He responds to the bruised and broken.
Jesus fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy about God’s chosen Servant.
Here’s how our passage opens, Matthew 12:15-17:
Aware of this (i.e., aware that the Pharisees are plotting how to kill Him), Jesus withdrew from that place. Many followed him, and he healed all their sick, warning them not to tell who he was. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: . . .
Several important truths are presented in this introductory paragraph:
He waits for the Father’s time. Jesus’ withdrawal from conflict is a major theme in this portion of the Gospels. He seems eager to avoid precipitating a premature confrontation with His enemies. He knows He is on a dark and lonely road that will eventually lead to the Cross, but God’s timing means everything to Him. In fact, it is during this period that the phrase is often used, “His time had not yet come.” We must not interpret Jesus’ withdrawal from conflict as due to any lack of confidence or fear of consequences, for at times He speaks boldly and even rebukes His enemies. But He never seems to press His advantage because He is waiting for His Father’s time. He would die with courage when the time arrived, but He would not engage in needless provocation of His enemies until His ministry was fulfilled.
While Jesus withdraws from conflict, however, He does not withdraw from ministry.
He demonstrates love and compassion in ever more profound ways. Verse 15 says, “Many followed him, and he healed all their sick.” These healings are not like some in which Jesus seems to heal in order to make a point–perhaps to challenge the Pharisees or prove His messiahship. These miracles are simply the overflow of a heart of compassion. We don’t know who these people are nor what illnesses or disabilities they have, but Jesus heals all of them.
He avoids unnecessary publicity. It says He warns those He heals not to tell who healed them. Why? I think there may be several reasons. Jesus wants people to keep His miracles in perspective. He does not perform them to become famous or to establish His power or influence, so the less publicity He receives, the better. It is possible also that wide publicity could incite zealous enthusiasm for Him as a military and political deliverer, and Jesus was neither. Jesus did not come to fulfill the confused and unscriptural expectations of the Jewish people but to fulfill His divine mission as the Savior of the world.
Matthew tells us that His withdrawal from conflict, His healing out of love and compassion, and His avoidance of publicity are all in fulfillment of a prediction from the prophet Isaiah, and as proof, he offers a rather free translation of the opening verses of Isaiah 42:
Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory. In his name the nations will put their hope. (Matthew 12:18-21)
The suffering servant who would come to deliver God’s people is here. It is Jesus. That’s the claim Matthew makes. To see whether Jesus fits the profile, let’s look at the specific truths the prophet reveals about Him.
Jesus is commended by the Father and commissioned by the Holy Spirit to preach justice to the nations.
Isaiah quotes God the Father saying the following about His Son, the Messiah: “Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.” Jesus is, first of all, identified as “my Servant.” The normal word for servant is not used here, but rather a term that is more commonly translated “son.” Jesus is God’s supreme Servant, but also His only Son–chosen, loved, and delighted in.
He was chosen by God for a special task. Jesus will not go to the Cross by accident; rather it will be the result of a conscious choice by the Father. In his great sermon on the Day of Pentecost Peter said of Jesus, “This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge.” This, however, does not contradict the fact that Jesus Himself chose to go to the Cross. Just before His passion He said, “I lay down my life . . . no one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord” (John 10:17, 18). He and the Father were of one purpose when it comes to the plan of redemption.
Jesus is not only chosen, but also “the one I love, in whom I delight,” God says. This one who was hated and rejected by the world, including by His own people, is beloved by God and well-pleasing to Him. This reminds us of what the Father said when Jesus was baptized, and again when He was transfigured: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” By the way, that’s not an impossible thing for even us to hear from God, for in one of His parables Jesus presents the Father as saying to the faithful servant, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”
God does love His children; in fact, He loves the whole world, according to John 3:16. But there’s a special sense in which He delights in those who have received His Son by faith. It’s hard to imagine at times how God could delight in us, because we see our flaws and failures so clearly. But He does. And He loves us not because we are lovely but because He is love.
Jesus is also commissioned by the Holy Spirit. Isaiah quotes the Father as saying, “I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.” Jesus was unique in that He was filled with the Holy Spirit from the moment of conception, but in addition, the Spirit came upon Him with great power at certain points in His life. For thirty years He lived an obscure life in an obscure village, but when His ministry began, He was given a special attestation and authority by the Holy Spirit. In Luke 4 when He taught for the first time in the synagogue in Nazareth, Jesus spoke of this commissioning:
The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Luke 4:18, 19)
Three times in that short passage the point is made that the Spirit enables Jesus to preach or proclaim the good news. The same point is made by Isaiah: “I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.” The Spirit’s commissioning is for a purpose–to preach Good News and justice, which are very closely related. The Good News is that God has solved our sin problem by sending Jesus to take the fall for us. That incredible act of love enables us to have a right relationship with God. But it also enables us, and even obligates us, to practice justice toward others. Once we are right with God, we must seek to be right with people. Jesus proclaimed both.
Don’t overlook the fact that Isaiah’s “servant” proclaims justice to the “nations” or Gentiles. Most Jews expected Messiah to be the redeemer of Israel, but they had no concept that He came to redeem people from every nation. They should have known it, because way back in the Abrahamic Covenant God said, “in you all the nations of the earth will be blessed.” But over the years the Jews had become extremely ethnocentric, concerned only about their own race.
Well, where did Jesus come down on this issue? I find it interesting that the first woman to whom Jesus revealed His messiahship was a Samaritan–half Jew and half Gentile. Earlier in Matthew He healed the son of a Roman centurion, remarking that “I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.” Again and again Jesus made the point that He was not only a Jewish Messiah but the Savior of the World. And He is still saying that to us.
Now beginning in verse 19 the prophet Isaiah turns from the commendation and commissioning of Messiah to His character.
Jesus is meek in character and compassionate toward broken people.
I love the descriptive phrase in verse 19: “He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets.” Those who lead nations are generally forceful individuals, insistent on getting their own way. But God’s servant, Jesus, is not set in that mold.
He doesn’t have to be “right”. It says, “He will not quarrel.” I need to make a confession that won’t surprise some of you: I have always loved a good argument. One of the reasons I obtained a graduate degree in logic was to be able to argue better, and I have often said that if I hadn’t become a pastor, I would have become a trial lawyer. And you know, there are some really valuable things about being able to argue well. The Apostle Paul was an incredible logician, and the whole church is indebted to him for his water-tight case for justification in Romans 3 and 4, his incredible defense of marriage in 1 Corinthians 7, and his timeless apologetic for the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15. Jesus Himself was not beyond using logical arguments that at times left His enemies standing intellectually naked and clueless. In fact, next week when we examine the unpardonable sin, we’re going to find Jesus using several irrefutable arguments to make His case.
But as a general rule, compared to what He might have done considering His brilliant mind, Jesus rarely argued or quarreled. He was far more inclined to be silent when accused than to defend Himself. There is clearly a time to speak and a time to be silent; a time to argue and a time to listen. The problem is that we often mistake the times. Many of us make the decision to argue based upon whether we’re sure we’re right, but that can’t be the deciding factor, for Jesus was always right, yet He rarely argued.
I have come to realize that God is more interested in hearts than He is in facts, that there is something more important than being right, and that is being loving. Please don’t misunderstand me. God is absolutely a God of truth, and in Him is no darkness at all. I said last week that I reject situation ethics; sin is sin even if you think you have a loving motive for engaging in it. But I believe there are times when God would rather that we be wrong (or at least wronged) and loving, than right and unloving.
Let me try to prove that to you. Listen to 1 Peter 2, where the Apostle is talking about slaves and the importance of living responsibly even when treated unjustly.
How is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? If you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called (i.e. you were called to suffer for doing good), because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”
When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:20-23).
Jesus never sinned and never spoke an untruth. If anyone could have legitimately retaliated against His enemies, it was He, but rarely did He do so. When on trial for His life before the Sanhedrin two false witnesses were brought before Jesus. The high priest challenged Jesus, “‘Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?’ But Jesus remained silent.” (Matthew 26:62, 63). I have asked myself these questions, “What’s more important than being right? What’s more important than answering your critics? What’s more important than winning an argument?” And the answer is, “being loving and Christlike.” And if I had consistently practiced that over the years, I’d have had a greater impact for eternity.
A second fact Isaiah reveals about Messiah is this:
He doesn’t have to be heard. The prophet goes on to say, “He will not cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets.” When I read that I cannot help but think of the shrill voices we hear constantly on the political scene. I don’t have to name them–you can hear them in your head, always accusing and complaining, always crying “foul” because of this or that perceived short-coming of the opposition. But you know something? Those kinds of people are not only in politics; they can also be found in business or academia, or even in the church.
I have known professing Christians who cannot be wronged without making a scene. They’re the ones who always have their hand on the horn in case someone cuts them off in traffic. They’re the ones who are quick to take things back to the store and demand their rights because a product isn’t perfect. They’re the ones who keep their lawyer’s phone number right next to the telephone. They’re the ones who gossip first and ask questions later.
Jesus was not like that. He was not a rabble rouser. He did not use emotional manipulation or mob psychology. He used no means of persuasion but the truth. When He spoke, He did so with dignity and self-control. I think He personifies the words of Solomon in Ecclesiastes 9:17: “The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools.”
His response toward the bruised and broken is to restore them rather than discard them. This is where I want to focus our attention this morning–verse 20: “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory.” Friends, this is an amazing promise about Jesus that should give comfort and encouragement to every broken person here today. In ancient times papyrus reeds were used for lots of purposes–for musical instruments, or measuring devices, or writing instruments. They were plentiful and cheap, so when a reed became soft or cracked and could no longer serve a useful purpose, it would be thrown away. Likewise, when a lamp burned down to the end of the wick, it would only smolder and smoke without producing any light. Since a smoldering wick was useless, and since new ones were plentiful and cheap, it was extinguished and thrown away.
The bruised reed and the smoldering wick here represent people whose lives are broken and worn out–ready to be discarded and replaced by the world. Business calls it down-sizing. The academic world just refuses to grant tenure. In marriage the same message is sent through divorce court. “You’re no good, we can’t be bothered, get a life.” Society readily casts off the weak and the helpless, the suffering and the burdened.
The nature of sinful man is to shoot the wounded. The nature of a holy God is to restore. Just think about some examples from the life of Jesus. Consider Mary Magdalen, or the woman at the well, or the woman taken in adultery, or Matthew the tax collector, or Peter the loud-mouthed fisherman, or any number of others–people the world saw as trash ready to be discarded, Jesus saw as treasures.
I personally take no greater joy than reveling in the trophies of grace I see in this auditorium. By accident this week I came across a sermon I preached in January of 1987. That day 16 years ago we welcomed into our fellowship a couple who were bruised reeds if I had ever seen a bruised reed. They had been discarded by another church and another denomination. Oh, they were not faultless; they had made some terrible mistakes. But when I see that couple today, worshiping, loving, and serving with incredible effectiveness at First Free, I say, “Thank you, Lord, that you don’t break bruised reeds.”
I think of a smoldering wick who is here this morning. She had to be put under discipline about a dozen years ago for abandoning her marriage. She was gone for a number of years, wandering from the Lord by her own admission. But then on Christmas Eve 1999, the very first service we had in this auditorium, she slipped into the service. As our pastors and their spouses greeted people at the back door, I didn’t even recognize her but my wife did and gave her a big hug. She came back again, and God began to work on her heart. Last year the Elders restored her to membership and today she is serving the Lord here in this Body. “Thank you, Lord, that you don’t snuff out smoldering wicks.”
But maybe you don’t have a notorious story of public humiliation and restoration. Maybe your brokenness is due to something much less sensational– maybe chronic depression, some debilitating addiction, broken relationships, you can’t get along with your parents or your child, you’re stuck in a career that’s going nowhere, or you’re nearing retirement with no financial resources. This verse applies to you, too. A bruised reed (and it doesn’t matter how it was bruised) He will not break. A smoldering wick (and it doesn’t matter what’s causing it to smolder) He will not snuff out.
And if that’s how Jesus looks at bruised and broken people, isn’t it how we should look at them, too? The next time someone criticizes you unjustly, before telling them off, why not stop and ask yourself, “I wonder what’s going on in that person’s life that would cause him to do that?” The next time you experience rejection, why not ask yourself if there are people who feel rejected by you? Is there a bruised reed here this morning that you could minister to? Could you go up and give them a hug? Could you invite them to lunch? Could you write them a note? Could you encourage them to use their gifts and talents in a meaningful way?
And let’s not overlook how the prophet concludes this wonderful promise that Messiah will not break the bruised reed or snuff out the smoldering wick: “till he leads justice to victory.”
His ultimate victory is assured. It doesn’t say “if he leads justice to victory;” it says “until.” In spite of the oppression, persecution, and rejection He experienced, Jesus is destined to be victorious. And when He is, He will bring victory to all of His children who likewise have suffered oppression, persecution and rejection, as well as wounds and hurts of all kind. When Jesus takes His rightful place as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, every knee will bow to Him and justice will “roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream” (Amos 5:24).
I want to close with one final point:
Jesus is the only hope of the nations.
Our passage ends with these words: “In his name the nations will put their hope.” Islam offers no hope; capitalism offers no hope; technology offers no hope. Jesus is the only one who can meet the deepest needs of the human heart. He is the only one who can provide access to the Father. “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Conclusion: Fanny Crosby was the most prolific hymn-writer ever, I think. One of her songs I remember from childhood– Rescue the Perishing. It speaks of that hope that people everywhere are looking for:
Down in the human heart,
Crushed by the tempter,
Feelings lie buried
That grace can restore.
Touched by a loving heart,
Wakened by kindness,
Chords that were broken
Will vibrate once more.
Rescue the perishing, care for the dying.
Jesus is merciful. Jesus will save.
People are hurting, the church is a hospital, and Jesus is the chief physician.
Tags:
Justice
Broken people