Listen to the audio of today’s Reflection:
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Matthew 12:15-21
God’s Chosen Servant
15 Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill. 16 He warned them not to tell others about him. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
18 “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.
19 He will not quarrel or cry out;
no one will hear his voice in the streets.
20 A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,
till he has brought justice through to victory.
21In his name the nations will put their hope.”
You might remember that we’ve said in past Reflections that many Bible scholars say the Gospel of Matthew was written for a Jewish audience – to tell the story of Jesus to people raised in the Hebrew tradition. There are things in Matthew that wouldn’t mean much to gentile readers, but that would be very significant to Jewish readers. The fact that Matthew begins his gospel with the genealogy of Jesus is a good example. If you wanted to make the case to Jewish readers that Jesus was the Messiah, it would be very important to let them know that he was descended from the right branch of the Hebrew people. And even though Jesus wasn’t biologically descended from Joseph, he would still be from the house of David in the minds of Jewish readers.
Matthew also made a point to connect the story of Jesus to the Hebrew scriptures – what we call the Old Testament. For instance, when you read through Matthew’s gospel, you find a number of places where Matthew points to parallels between the lives of Jesus and Moses. And Matthew also emphasizes how Jesus’ life connected with the history and prophesies of his people.
Our reading for today is an example of one of those places where Matthew demonstrated that connection. The Pharisees had decided to kill Jesus, and now he was going quietly through the countryside, healing and teaching but apparently keeping a low profile. This reminded Matthew of a passage from the prophesies of Isaiah, one that said that when the Messiah appeared, he would generally perform his ministry in a gentle and non-confrontational way. In spite of the quiet nature of his work, the prophesy said, the Messiah would establish justice and bring hope to people everywhere.
There are certainly places in the gospels where Jesus found himself in confrontations with others – like when he chased the corrupt merchants out of the temple. But when you think about it, most of the other confrontations Jesus had with people were occasions where Jesus was peacefully going about his ministry and members of the Jewish leadership came to criticize and quarrel with him. And in many of those cases, Jesus refused to be drawn into those conflicts.
Lots of those who follow Jesus shy away from the Old Testament – partly because some of it seems harsh and bloody and confusing. But it’s a mistake for us to turn our back on the Old Testament altogether, because Jesus said he came to fulfill the Law and the prophets, by which he apparently meant the Hebrew scriptures. Just about everything he taught can be found in the Old Testament. So you could make a case that faithfully following Jesus actually requires working to understand the Old Testament.
In today’s reading, for instance, Matthew quotes the prophet Isaiah as saying of the Messiah that “a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.” It seems to me that’s a promise from God that the Messiah isn’t about judging and condemning us when our faith is faltering, or tossing us aside when we’re weak. The God we serve expects us to challenge ourselves to grow spiritually stronger and more useful to his kingdom, but also recognizes our human frailty, and promises to deal with us gently in our time of need.
Remember that Jesus once welcomed a man who said, “Oh, Lord, I believe. Help me in my unbelief.” Seems like people instinctively understood that Jesus wasn’t there to condemn those struggling to believe, but rather to help and encourage them.
And when you think about the fact that the prophesies of Isaiah were issued six centuries before Jesus, isn’t it great to remember God had promised to show that kind of patience and compassion, even hundreds of years before he came into the world in human form?
Let’s pray. Lord, we thank you for the way you spoke to your people through the prophets, and promised the coming of the Messiah. And we thank you that when he came, he came with the gentle and humble spirit that welcomed sinners like us and showed them your saving love. Help us to show that kind of love, too. Amen.
Grace and Peace,
Henry
(The other readings for today are Psalms 55 and 56; Jeremiah 42:1-22; and I Corinthians 16:1-9. Our readings come from the NIV Bible, as posted on Biblica.com, the website of the International Bible Society.)
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