Matthew 12:15-21

Matthew 12:15-21

And Jesus, after knowing, withdrew from there.  And many followed Him and He healed them all.  And He rebuked them in order that they should not make Him known in order that the words that were being spoken through the prophet Isaiah should be fulfilled while saying, “Behold, the servant whom I chose.  My beloved in whom my soul was being pleased.  I will place my Spirit upon Him and He will announce judgment to the nations.  He will neither argue nor shout out, nor will anyone in the avenues hear His voice.  He will not break a reed having been bruised.  He will not extinguish a wick while smoldering until He should cast out judgment into victory.  And the nations will hope by His name.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Today we start with an interesting point.  Jesus withdrew.  Jesus knew that people were seeking to destroy Him and for the time being He simply withdrew.  He went elsewhere.  He preached to a different audience.  Those who wanted to follow did.  But I think that this is a great point to understand.  There would be a time for Jesus to be crucified.  There would be a time for Jesus to draw the line in the sand.  This was not the time.  So Jesus withdrew, went somewhere else, and continued to be obedient to the Father.  So often we think that if we back away we are being disobedient.  So often we think that if we don’t choose to be martyred that we aren’t strong enough.  Jesus withdrew here.  He knew that the time for His martyrdom wasn’t right.  There is nothing wrong with that decision.

Have you ever fought (and maybe been martyred) when you shouldn’t have?  How does that feel?  Have you ever backed off when you should have?  How does that feel?  Have you ever been made to feel bad for choosing not to fight when the time for fight didn’t seem right?  Why do people make us feel that way?

Second Thought:

I want to speak a bit regarding the original context of Matthew’s quote from Isaiah 42:1-4.  The interesting point about these verses is that when Isaiah wrote them he was originally talking about Cyrus, a Persian king.  It is Cyrus that brings the Babylonian rule to a complete halt and begins the process of allowing the Hebrew people to return to Israel.  Cyrus is a Gentile that God speaks frequently about being His anointed, and remember that the Hebrew word anointed means Messiah.  What I think is really cool about this passage is that here are words that were originally about a Gentile actually find their true fulfillment in Jesus!  I find this absolutely marvelous today.  For me, this is evidence that God fully intended to include Gentiles into His kingdom.  Yes, Jesus was a Jew and He is often said to be of the line of David, which He was.  But He also had a forerunner archetype in a Gentile, too.  God is the God of both the Jews and the Gentiles.

Do you find this thought interesting?  Why is it important to you to understand that God is the God of both Jews and Gentiles?

Third Thought:

Within this quote, we hear some great words about Jesus.  Jesus will not break a bruised reed, which can hardly stand on its own anyways.  He will not argue.  He will not shout aloud with a raised voice.  He will not be heard by people in the avenues, which is a way of saying that He will not spread His business around in a gossiping manner.  He will not extinguish a wick that is almost ready to go out on its own.  What is Matthew trying to say about Jesus?  Remember that in the prior section Jesus said that those who follow Him would find His yoke easy.  Jesus isn’t about yelling at us.  Jesus isn’t about seeing us in our weakness and criticizing us.  Jesus isn’t about spreading our faults around in order to shame us.  Rather, Jesus is about comforting us and protecting us – even when we are our most fragile.

Are you comforted that Matthew teaches us that Jesus is about gentleness?  Why is it important to know that Jesus plans to take us and mold us gently rather than yelling at us or spreading our faults around?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 12:22-24