A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench...Part 1/2

Matthew 12:20 Jesus is gentle to his own

Sometimes in our lives we all appear to go through seasons when we seem to be getting overwhelmed by the circumstances or by difficulties. Disappointment, rejection, apparent failure, illness, stress, family, and financial problems, or struggling to break free from the bondage of addiction to drink or drugs to name but a few of the things that come against people. Or in the case of the believer, when our spiritual childhood is over, and the Lord requires us to push on with no obvious results. It might not ne you who is hanging by a thread we have a duty of love to each other to bring Jesus’ gentle ministry of supporting those who are close to failing.

When these things happen in our lives, this may give us a feeling that God is somewhat distant, uninvolved, or uncaring or at worst he has forgotten about you.

But is this true? How does God feel about us when we feel that we are hanging by a thread? Let us turn to His word to see how God feels and how God deals with His people when they feel that they are hanging by a thread.

First, let’s remind ourselves as to ‘Why did Jesus come’?

The Lord’s platform

Luke 4:18  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

 This scripture is often called the Lord’s platform, or we could say Jesus’ manifesto, Jesus’ mission statement, Jesus’ vision, or even Jesus’ job description i.e. the reason that Jesus came as a man. As Jesus ‘ hands and feet we must remember that Jesus’ ministry has been passed down to us, his church, his body.

Gentle and humble Jesus

Matthew 12:17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying,

18 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 shall show judgement to the Gentiles.

19 He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.

20 A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he sends forth judgement unto victory.

21 And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.

Jesus, your Jesus, my Jesus, our Jesus, mild and yet so strong, not seeking to draw attention to himself. Quietly going about his father’s business, not striving by his flesh, for the weapons of his warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Jesus is patient and kind towards his own, and you are his own! or you can become His own!

When we are crushed and bruised, he sets a limit  but remember precious spices and ointments (for making holy oil) need to be crushed to give their aroma. He never allows us to be tempted above our measure. Remember the story of Joseph and his brothers. God has a plan for your life and mine.

Isaiah prophesied about the Gentle Messiah

Isaiah 42:1  Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgement to the Gentiles.2  He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.3  A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgement unto truth.4  He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgement in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.

When your faith flame is only smouldering (picture a candle just about to go out) he will not put it out, he never intended to, quite the opposite. The devil means to break us and snuff out our light (this little light of mine), Jesus wants us to be whole but to burn with a pure light. Jesus shows power and grace in bearing up the weak and the suffering, producing perseverance but never seeks to kill or destroy our faith in him. Sometimes, God needs to deal with the comfort  in our lives to confront and destroy pride of life, complacency, self-sufficiency, wrongful dependence on others, but whatever we go through it is for our benefit, Romans 8:28. This doesn’t make it easy, but produces confidence and faith that in the end, it will be for our benefit and blessing. In his name the gentiles trust, are you trusting him today in your situation?

A Bruised Reed

Matthew 12:20 A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he sends forth judgement unto victory.

A bruised reed

God does not kill or destroy his own wounded. He binds up the broken-hearted and restores us to wholeness.

The reed is made up of long strands or filaments but when enough of them are bruised or broken it just snaps in two and is no use for its purpose. Reeds can made into papyrus which as you know was the ancient worlds version of paper. God wants to heal your broken strands so that he can write his gospel message of love on you and in you. You as a believer, are God’s perfumed living love letter to your fellow man!

A Smouldering Wick/Flax

Matthew 12:20 A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he sends forth judgement unto victory.

Smouldering wick

Do you remember Elton John’s song, ‘candle in the wind’, a flame tossed to and fro, with no control?

However, Jesus tells us that we are the light of the world . Yet it seems that the problems and difficulties in our lives often seem to cut off either the air flow or the flow of wax vapour. Perhaps in the case of the flax, it is left smouldering, which is the final stage before extinguishing completely.

 However, it is just when we feel that we are hanging by a thread, or about to smoulder out, this is exactly when Jesus comes to strengthen and breathe his life into us again. If we will let Him!

At school, in the chemistry class, the test for oxygen was that it relit a glowing or smouldering taper. In the same, the awareness of the presence of Jesus Christ by his Spirit, relights our love and faith in God. We just need to get into his presence and allow the oxygen of his love to re-ignite our hearts. We must remember all his promises  to us!

Then once again we can be God’s living love letter, and God’s perfumed epistles to our fellow man and bring the light of the world into the hearts of the unbelievers.

Jesus does not just want to keep you hanging by a thread or smouldering but to bring you back into fullness. That is both whole and burning brightly!

Amen

Personal Prayer

In Part 2 we consider many other wonderful promises given by gentle Jesus to his followers.