A Bruised Reed - Christmas

December 23, 2007

Read Isaiah 42:1-5

V1

• Exodus 19:5-6 says Israel was God’s special treasure, a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. But all this was contingent upon them being an obedient covenant-keeping nation, in which they weren’t. So because of their rebellion to the Lord, Hosea 4:6 says they would no longer be God’s priests, to represent Him to the other nations.
• Israel has now became a model to all of mankind; how despite God providing everything needed for a vibrant healthy relationship between man and God, man will still choose ungodliness over peace. Furthermore, Isaiah 42 gives a contrast of the failure of His servant - the nation Israel - and the obedience of the true servant, Jesus Christ.
• God proclaims through His prophet Isaiah of where a person’s eyes should always be - fixed on Jesus, His Servant. The word “behold” means to fix one’s eyes upon; to study carefully. It speaks of something catching you by surprise, coming out of nowhere and you just have to get a closer look at it to study it carefully.
• The Lord says out of nowhere, “Behold My Servant (Jesus)...” Don’t just take a quick glance at Him, but fix your eyes upon Him and carefully study Him. Two reasons are given:
  1. God says “I appointed Him” - He’s my elect
  2. God says “I anointed Him” - I put My Spirit upon Him
• You see these 2 things at Jesus baptism (Luke 3:22) - the heavens opened and the Spirit of God descended upon Him, and a voice saying this is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Also, here Jesus’ baptism and the gospel to the Gentiles are predicted.

V2

• Rather than being loud and obnoxious, drawing attention unto Himself, Jesus was humble and gentle. How humble was Jesus? In John 1:29-31, John the Baptist said even though He was my cousin, unless He came to be baptized I would not have known He was the Messiah.
• It’s interesting that “Servant” is the title Jesus took upon Himself in order to redeem mankind. Philippians 2:5-8 says He came in the form of a servant, just as Isaiah 42 said; humbling Himself, being obedient even to the cross. In contrast, it’s funny to see how flamboyant Jesus’ so called servants have become today. You have no problem recognizing them in their flashy clothes and jewelry, with their extravagant homes and vehicles. But so ordinary in the eyes of men was Jesus that Judas had to identify Him with a kiss to the Roman soldiers.

V3

• When Jesus comes on the scene Israel has been beaten and battered by their enemies. They were nothing more than a weak, fragile reed, one that melts under the heat of the sun. Israel has been passed along as spoils to the victor, from conquering empire to conquering empire because of their sin. Isaiah says when the Messiah comes and sees them so fragile and vulnerable, instead of doing what most people would do to something so weak and seemingly useless, which is to put it out of its misery by smashing or breaking it, He came to heal.
• An example of this is found in John 8:2-11 - the woman caught in adultery. He could have thrown the book at her and let her have it, but He doesn’t. Instead He gives her an opportunity to repent. When man finds weakness he hammers it; when you give it to the Lord, He heals it. You who are wounded, hurt and vulnerable, the Lord has not come to finish you off; He comes to brush you off so that He may use you for His glory.
• A Smoking Flax - this was a wick that was about to go out. The Lord won’t come along and say hey it’s no future for that and put you out. That’s what Satan and the world does - kill off any sign of life; lying to us by saying if our reed is bruised and our flax is nothing more than smoke then Jesus is tired of you and is ready to give up on you. But the Lord looks for life, so you might not be on fire. But if there’s a little smoke there, the Lord will not extinguish it, He’ll look to ignite it once again.

V4-5

• Finally, the Lord says He will never fail and He will one day establish justice on the earth. Not legislation, laws, policies or reforms. These will never bring truth and justice, only Jesus.
• In verse 5, God declares to man who He is, as man is prone to forget. God reminds us of how completely and totally dependent upon God we are. It’s up to God to give man breath in order to live, yet man takes that very breath that he gets from God to use as a tool to profane God.
• People will celebrate a holiday that is suppose to honor the birth of His Son, but so many will use it as an opportunity to bring glory unto themselves by taking credit for the gifts, or giving it to a fictional character; to gratify their flesh by drinking and smoking themselves into oblivion. As believers, I pray that none of us will be enablers or partakers of that.