Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!

 

 But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there.  And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.  Yet He warned them not to make Him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  

"Behold!  My Servant whom I have chosen, 

My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!

I will put My Spirit upon Him,

And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.

He will not quarrel nor cry out, 

Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.

A bruised reed He will not break,

And smoking flax He will not quench,

Till He sends forth justice to victory;

And in His name Gentiles will trust."

 

- Matthew 12:15-21 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus and the disciples went through the grainfields on the Sabbath.  And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!"  But He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:  how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?  Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?  Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple.  But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless.  For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."  Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue.  And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand.  And they asked Him, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" -- that they might accuse Him.  Then He said to them, "What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?  Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep?  Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."  Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."  And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.  Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.   

But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there.   Jesus withdrew because He knew the Pharisees were plotting against Him, how they might destroy Him (see yesterday's reading, above).  

And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.  Yet He warned them not to make Him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "Behold!  My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!  I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles.  He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.  A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory; and in His name Gentiles will trust."   My study Bible comments that Christ's refusal to fully disclose His identity as Messiah is foreseen by Isaiah (Isaiah 42:1-4).  There are several reasons given here for Christ's secrecy regarding His identity.  First, there is the growing hostility of the Jewish leaders.  Second, the people misunderstand the Messiah as an earthly, political leader.  Finally, our Lord's desire is to evoke genuine faith which is not based solely on marvelous signs.  My study Bible adds that the Servant is a reference first to Christ, but by extension it applies to all who follow Him.

Looking closely at today's reading, we are given an important chance to note Christ's reaction to opposition, and what it tells us about Him, and "what manner of spirit He is of."  If people are expecting a worldly king as Messiah, one who uses every advantage of power for what it can bring to him, then they are disappointed and perhaps shocked or surprised at Christ.  Although He has clearly shown His power to heal and to cast out demons, this extraordinary power that He has is not used to defeat His opponents (such as the Pharisees) either in the traditional sense of the power to manipulate or move circumstances "His" way, nor is it used in some magical sense to manipulate the minds of the Pharisees.  Instead, Christ is the Servant in the prophesy of Isaiah, He withdraws.  It is not yet time for the confrontation that will come later, not yet time for His Passion.  This Servant is not like rulers and governors like Caesar or King Herod.  "He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.  A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory; and in His name Gentiles will trust."  Even among the Gentiles, He will declare and send forth victory to justice -- and yet His persona, power, and authority are nothing like those of the Gentile rulers.  His justice does not work like worldly justice.  His methods and working are entirely different, almost opposite.  Everything about Him speaks to humility; above all He is a servant of God, does not curry favor nor play political games.  He is the One upon whom is God's Spirit, and everything about His working and what He does is a part of that spiritual reality which travels through even our world unhindered by time or space, but works through everything.  The prophecy of Isaiah is a part of this "network" (so to speak) of the Spirit, and so even 700 years earlier He could tell us about the Christ.  This reveals to us yet another aspect about Christ's identity; in the Kingdom this King brings into the world there is an eternal reality.  It permeates and intersects with our lives, and deeply within our hearts, but it is unrestricted by time and space.  In God's Kingdom, power is used in a way that conveys grace, and our Messiah is the Servant who will achieve victory through this power which so embraces humility and the service of the will of the Father.  God calls the Servant My Beloved, indicating to us this is also a Kingdom of love.  Let us seek His way, so that we also serve His Kingdom, accept His justice, and trust in His name.

And in His name Gentiles will trust

 

 But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there.  And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.  Yet He warned them not to make Him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

    "Behold!  My Servant whom I have chosen,

    My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!

    I will put My Spirit upon Him,

    And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.  

    He will not quarrel nor cry out, 

    Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.

    A bruised reed He will not break,

    And smoking flax He will not quench,

    Till He sends forth justice to victory;

    And in His name Gentiles will trust."

 

- Matthew 12:15-21 

 

 Yesterday we read that at that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath.  And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!"  But He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:  how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?  Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?  Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple.  But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless.  For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."  Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue.  And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand.  And they asked Him, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" -- that they might accuse Him.  Then He said to them, "What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?  Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep?  Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."  Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."  And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.  Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.

 

  But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there.  And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.  Yet He warned them not to make Him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "Behold!  My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!  I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles.  He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.  A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory; and in His name Gentiles will trust."   My study Bible explains that our Lord's refusal to fully disclose His identity as Messiah is foreseen by Isaiah (Isaiah 42:1-4, as quoted in the text).  The reasons for this secrecy are as follows.  There is first the growing hostility of the Jewish leaders.  Second, the people misunderstand the Messiah to be an earthly, political leader.  Third, Christ wishes to evoke genuine faith not based solely on marvelous signs.  The Servant prophesied by Isaiah refers first to Jesus Christ, and then by extension to all who follow Him.  In the final line quoted from Isaiah (Isaiah 42:4) we understand that the mission to the Gentiles was foreseen in his prophesy. 

 

My study Bible makes clear that Christ was to be an entirely different kind of Messiah than the one of popular expectation -- and possibly popular desire.  He was not to be a powerful king who would overthrow the Roman rule and establish Israel as its own worldly power.  He was not to be another King David in that same sense.  Most of the conflicts that take place between the religious rulers and Jesus are focused on the idea of authority.  As far as they are concerned, Jesus has no authority.  He has no worldly authority to back Him up.  Not only is He not a king, He has no accomplishments or customary things associated with a king.  He has no worldly power.  He has no army, His followers are not soldiers with weapons and chariots; He doesn't come to conquer in this sense.  Not only that, they will demand impressive signs in order to be impressed enough with "proofs" on demand, and He won't give them.  The only signs He will give are those of His ministry:  His teachings and healings, and the rest of those who follow and become His disciples.  But most of them aren't very impressive in a worldly sense either.  It is this same question of authority that will be repeated over and over again that is the stumbling block, especially to the religious leaders.  They don't recognize His authority, for it doesn't come from worldly matters but from God.  It is a similar sense in which the saints who were to follow Christ are not known for their worldly accomplishments, authority, and power, but for the holiness that comes from what they do and whom it is they touch in the world -- and for this recognition one must have faith, or the capacity or desire for it somewhere deep in the heart.  Isaiah's prophesy of the Suffering Servant, rather than a conquering king, is the picture of this Messiah.  In Isaiah's chapter 53 we're given the picture:  one despised and rejected, a Man of sorrows, One who carried others' griefs and yet was esteemed to have been stricken by God, and led as a lamb to the slaughter.  The chapter is very vivid and very apt, and describes what Christ's ministry would have looked like to most people in its time.  As is so frequently the case, the people believed they needed a great battling king to overthrow the Roman Empire from their land, to solve their problems, to provide everything they wanted.  Just like today, people look to might and power to solve their problems, or put their hope in empire, in weapons and armies, and trust in material power to do battle for them.  But the Savior is a different kind of savior, and our salvation depends upon none of these things.  In which will you put your faith first today?  In Whom?  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus notes the desires and anxieties of the people, acknowledging the things the Gentiles seem to possess and seek after.  He tells the people, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."  Can we do as He asks?  Will we do that?  In Luke's Gospel, He also asks, "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8).  In Whom do we trust?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!

 

 But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there.  And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.  Yet He warned them not to make Him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

"Behold!  My Servant whom I have chosen,

My Beloved in whom 

My soul is well pleased!

I will put My Spirit upon Him,

And He will declare justice to the Gentiles. 

He will not quarrel nor cry out,

Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.

A bruised reed He will not break,

And smoking flax He will not quench,

Till He sends forth justice to victory;

And in His name Gentiles will trust."

 

- Matthew 12:15-21 

 

Yesterday we read that at that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath.  And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!"  But He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:  how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?  Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?  Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple.  But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless.  For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."  Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue.  And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand.  And they asked Him, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" -- that they might accuse Him.  Then He said to them, "What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it our?  Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep?  Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."  Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."  And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.  Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.

 

  But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there.  Jesus is responding to the threat from the Pharisees, that they have begun to plot against Him, how they might destroy Him (see yesterday's reading, above).  It is not yet time for His Passion, so He withdrew from there.

Yet He warned them not to make Him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "Behold!  My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!  I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles.  He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.  A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory; and in His name Gentiles will trust."  My study Bible comments that our Lord's refusal to fully disclose His identity as Messiah is foreseen by Isaiah (Matthew quotes from Isaiah 42:1-4).  The reasons for secrecy include, as we have noted above, the growing hostility of the Jewish leaders, for one thing.  In addition, the people expect and misunderstand that the Messiah must be an earthly, political leader, but Jesus' ministry is the gospel of the Kingdom.  Furthermore, Christ's desire is to evoke genuine faith which is not based solely on the marvelous signs He does, but rather that the signs point to the deeper reality of the Kingdom.  The Servant (in "My Servant whom I have chosen . . .") refers first to Christ, my study Bible says, and by extension to all who follow Him.  

It's intriguing that my study Bible says that the Servant of Isaiah refers first to Christ, and then by extension, to all who follow Him.  We can read the prophesy of Isaiah quoted in today's reading, and clearly see the resemblance to Jesus in the prophesy.  We understand in His own words His character and demeanor, as in Tuesday's reading, when He said, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."  Looking more closely at the character of the Servant in Isaiah's prophesy, we observe Jesus.  Now that He understands the Pharisees begin to plot to destroy Him, He chooses to withdraw.  He will go to preach elsewhere.  His ministry is part of a mission, and this is also part of the understanding of what it is to be a Servant.  His mission is to preach the gospel of the Kingdom.  This gospel message will eventually declare justice to the Gentiles.  His ministry is essentially one which comes in peace:  "He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.  A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench till He sends forth justice to victory; and in His name Gentiles will trust."   His victory will come at His hour on the Cross, and remains with us through this time until His Second Coming, His name has come to the Gentiles as one in which to trust.  But we observe His life and His behavior; for now in His ministry He has withdrawn from direct conflict with the religious leaders.  His ministry is not one of physical conquest nor military victories, but a battle for true faith, for the hearts, minds, and souls of those who will follow and can accept that the mighty works He does are but signs of the presence and working of the Kingdom which He preaches.  It is faith that He seeks, and those who will trust in His name.  If we are also to be servants by extension, by seeking to follow Him and bear His name into the world, are we also as deft as Christ?  Can we know when to withdraw, clearly understand the peaceful quality of our mission, and bear the truth into the world to continue expanding the trust in His name that He seeks and preaches?  This is a great mission, for which He has sent out His apostles on their first mission, and which by definition we who follow continue to bear into the world.  But it is Christ from whom we need to learn how to live this life, whose mission we undertake to join and to follow, to take on the easy yoke and light burden He continues to offer.  To continue this ongoing mission of the Servant we enter into, we need to know who He is and what manner of spirit we are of.   Let us watch and learn to be like Him:  to discern the times when we need to withdraw, the times we need to speak, and how to follow in humble imitation of our Lord, the Servant.

My Servant whom I have chosen, My beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!

Christ the Humble in Heart

But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there.  And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.  Yet He warned them not to make Him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

"Behold!  My Servant whom I have chosen,
My beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!
I will put My Spirit upon Him,
And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.
He will not quarrel nor cry out,
Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.
A bruised reed He will not break,
And smoking flax He will not quench,
Till He sends forth justice to victory;
And in His name Gentiles will trust."

- Matthew 12:15-21

Yesterday we read that Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath.  And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!"  But He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:  how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?  Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?  Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple.  But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless.  For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."   Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue.  And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand.  And they asked Him, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" -- that they might accuse Him.  Then He said to them, "What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?  Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep?  Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."  Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."  And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.  Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.

But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there.  And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.  Yet He warned them not to make Him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "Behold!  My Servant whom I have chosen, My beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!  I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles.  He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.  A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory;
And in His name Gentiles will trust."    After His confrontation with the Pharisees, and their subsequent choice to plot against Him and to destroy Him, Jesus withdrew from this area.  Although He is quite popular in terms of His ministry and the healings that accompany it, He seeks to be hidden for the moment.  My study bible comments on His refusal to fully disclose His identity as Messiah.  This quotation shows that this reticence was foreseen by Isaiah (Isaiah 42:1-4, Septuagint).  My study bible cites several reasons for secrecy, among which are the growing hostility of the Jewish religious leadership; the people's misunderstanding of the Messiah as an earthly, political leader; and Christ's desire to evoke genuine faith which is not based only on the marvelous signs that accompany His ministry.  Isaiah's prophecy refers to My Servant, which my study bible says indicates first Christ, and by extension  all who follow Him.  Also foreseen by Isaiah in the final verse quoted above, Christ's eventual mission to the Gentiles.

The inclusion of this quotation from Isaiah at this point in Matthew's Gospel seems to confirm that the true Messiah would not be one who engages in open combat like a military conqueror, but rather one like Christ, who instead spends time withdrawn from conflict.  While He boldly engages the religious leadership when confronted, He does not seek it out.  At this juncture in His ministry, He seeks even to be hidden.   As explosive and popular as His ministry is -- for people all coming seeking healings or to see them performed -- He tries to dissuade those who receive or witness such healings from speaking about them publicly and making Him more well-known.  Of course, this is always a futile request, as the Gospels repeatedly make known to us.  In fact, in Mark's Gospel we're told that the more Jesus commanded people not to speak of the healing He'd done, the more widely they proclaimed it (Mark 7:36).  This ministry simply cannot be kept hidden.  Nevertheless, Jesus fulfills His role as the Servant of Isaiah, one who, in His own words from Tuesday's reading, is gentle (or meek) and lowly of heart.  But in today's reading that characterization goes further, and we are introduced to the humility of Jesus.  That is, nothing in this ministry is done out of selfishness in the sense that He seeks fame or renown.  Everything about Christ speaks rather of His devotion to God the Father, His joy at fulfilling the Father's will.  His ministry invites us into a life of the Kingdom, in which joy and peace do not come as a result of personal gain, but rather as part of fulfillment within God's energies and grace at work in the world.  If we look at Christ's ministry, and His desire to withdraw for this time, we understand that He is on a mission, and it is going according to the will of the Father, not a worldly plan.   There will later arrive the time for Him to go to Jerusalem.  It's important to know that both His withdrawal and His extraordinary courage comes out of this same humility and devotion to serving the Father's will.  The same will follow for the apostles and disciples who come afterward through the history of the Church.  So when we seek to follow Christ, we should understand that we, too, wish to also follow that will in our own lives, and to pray that we can accept it and understand it, and make the changes we need to make, seeking the true image God has for us.  In every way, Christ the Son, as the human Jesus, shows us the way through His humility to the Father, His willingness to sacrifice a worldly notion of ambition for the understanding of God -- which is prophesied by Isaiah.  Let us put that faith to work in our own lives that Jesus displays for us in His, and trust to the love of God in the same way as best we are able.  Like the apostles, perhaps we, too, should pray, "Increase our faith" (Luke 17:5).