Daily Devotional For Tuesday, November 4, 2023
Good morning Southside. We are making our way through Matthew’s Gospel and today, we come to this passage in Matthew 12:15-21:
“But Jesus knew what they were planning. So He left that area, and many people followed Him. He healed all the sick among them, (16) but He warned them not to reveal who He was. (17) This fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah concerning Him: (18) “Look at My Servant, whom I have chosen. He is my Beloved, who pleases Me. I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will proclaim justice to the nations. (19) He will not fight or shout or raise His voice in public. (20) He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. Finally He will cause justice to be victorious. (21) And His name will be the hope of all the world” (NLT).
So, let’s break this down. Jesus was not afraid of the religious leaders. He did not want a public confrontation at this point with them. There is an old quote that goes this way: “Choose your battles wisely. Make sure you can win if you engage.” Jesus knew His time to die had not come and so He will not allow them to dictate His schedule. He still had more to teach and do. So, He withdrew from there.
No matter where Jesus went, crowds followed Him. And as we have already seen in these devotionals about Jesus, when it came to the crowds, Jesus had compassion for them. Jesus healed them but warned them not to share to others the healing He had done for them. To me, that would be kind of hard to miss. If a person was blind or deaf or lame and now they were not, people would want to know. I believe the reason Jesus warned these people about this is that He did not want people coming to Him for the wrong reasons. Physically healing is temporary. What was most important was spiritual healing.
If the crowds grew only to be healed, they would miss the point of His teaching and the Gospel. Mark’s Gospel tells us that people were coming from all over Israel to find Jesus to be healed (Mark 3:7-8). Then Matthew tells us all of this was to fulfill prophecy about Jesus from 700 years in the past. The actual quote is from Isa. 42:1-2. This affirmed that Jesus was the Messiah but also what kind of Messiah He would be. Jesus was God’s servant chosen to be the Messiah. The quote says that God loved Him. This should remind us of what God said of Jesus at His baptism in Matt. 3:17 and at His transfiguration in Matt. 17:5.
These words also remind us Isa. 61:1. And in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus said that this prophecy in Isaiah had been fulfilled in Him (Luke 4:21). To proclaim justice means to restore justice and bring justice to the sinner. Notice God’s plan to do this was from the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry for all nations, not just Israel. The phrase, “He will not fight or shout or raise his voice” was to go against the Jews understanding of the Messiah. They were expecting a military and political Messiah and Jesus showed them that God never intended for the Messiah to be this.
The “bruised reed” refers to the fragile lives of the “little ones” to whom the Servant ministers. He will not break (or destroy) them. The “smoldering wick” pictures a strip of linen cloth with little oil left in the lamp. The wick smolders, on the verge of going out, but the Servant will not snuff out the little wick. These words suggest a Savior who comes to heal, not to destroy. The phrase “till he leads justice to victory” seems to paraphrase parts of Isa. 42:4 and Isa. 44:3-4 (see also Habakkuk 1:4). Justice will finally triumph when the Servant-Messiah comes. He may be gentle and meek, kindly healing the sick and teaching those who want to understand, but one day he will bring complete justice.
Jesus’ name will give hope to all nations, not just to Israel. This reminds us of Philippians 2:9-11. Jesus is the kind of Messiah who cares about everyone – even those who are poor, uneducated, do not have wealth and power and who are disenfranchised. He cares equally for the poor and the rich; for the child and the adult, for Jews and Gentiles, males and females. Jesus the Messiah was for all people for all time. With having the love and the support of the people, what do you think would have happened if Jesus had finally had it with the Pharisees. What if He had said publicly, “I have had it with the Pharisees. They are plotting to kill Me. Do you still want your loved ones healed in the future? Stop them and stop them now.” What do you think would have been the results and why?
Assignment: Jesus knew the Pharisees were plotting to kill Him. How do you respond when others are working and plotting against you? Do you strike back with a greater force, hitting them harder so that they will think twice about trying again? For most people, even some Christians, preemptive action, retaliation and revenge are their weapons against those who come after them. What are your weapons for those who plot and hurt you?
Scripture To Mediate On: Matthew 5:44-45, “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, (45) that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (NKJV).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, please help me to respond to those who plot against me the way You did. Help me to love them, bless them, pray for them and even do good to them for You. I know that my response is more about my character than theirs. I pray my character will resemble Your character to those who hurt me in that moment. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly