A Bruised Reed He Will Not Break

The title for the sermon today is taken from a prophecy in Isaiah 42. It's a prophecy that is repeated again in Matthew 12 regarding the ministry of Jesus Christ. It is a bruised reed he will not break. It's a reference to the manner in which Jesus would deal with those and serve those who would come to Him. A bruised reed he will not break. What does that mean exactly?

That was the question that was in my mind as the week started out. I was reading through some portions of the Bible and I came across that and I thought, well, that's just interesting.

What does that mean exactly? Rused breed he... You're not going to know what that means, are you?

A bruised reed he will not break. What I found as I looked into it was, in fact, it is a very encouraging concept for all of us to consider. Let's begin today by turning to the place where this is originally found, Isaiah 42. Isaiah 42, as I say, this is a prophecy pointing forward to the Messiah that would come. Isaiah 42, and beginning in verse 1, it says, Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my elect one in whom my soul delights, I have put my spirit upon him, and he will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. This is, of course, God. He's declaring the coming of Messiah, the one who would be the king born among men, Jesus Christ, the one whom God would send, and the role that he would play, making salvation available to all of mankind. Again, not just the people of Israel, but to all to the ends of the earth. God said, My spirit will be upon him, and it was upon him without measure, in order that he might fulfill the purpose that God had given him. Verse 2 says, He will not cry out, nor raise his voice, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. I think that's an important concept, very interesting one, relevant one for us to consider, that Jesus Christ would not raise up his voice in the street. In other words, he would not be a rebel rouser, right? He would not be one out there crying out, trying to raise up protests, trying to raise up opposition to the Roman government of the day. He wouldn't be out there in the street raising up his voice for political reform or revolt against the authority of the day, but you know, that's actually what the people of Judah were looking for, right? That's what they were hoping for in their Savior, one that would come to the land, they would rally behind him, they would be the army, he would be their leader, and they would revolt against the Romans, they would throw off the oppression, the boot of oppression of the Roman government that was on their neck, would be thrown off, and you know, the dominance of the land of Israel would be reinstated, and then the prophecies that they saw from the Old Testament about, you know, those coming up to the mountain of the Lord and Israel being the shining light of the world would be fulfilled in their day. That's what they were looking for in the Messiah. We understand, though, at his first coming, he didn't come as a conquering king. He came as this suffering servant who would die for the sins of the world, and at that time, his purpose was not to come to raise a world-shaking movement like many of them hoped that he would.

You know, he did raise a world-shaking movement, but in another way.

So he would not cry out, he would not raise his voice nor cause his voice to be heard in the verse 3, a bruised reed he will not break, and smoking flax he will not quench. He will bring forth justice for truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth, and the coastlands shall wait for his law. So this is a very beautiful prophecy, and it portrays a number of beautiful, wonderful things, but we can tend to read through it very quickly and not really let it sink in what it is that's being addressed. There's actually two descriptors here that are tied very closely together, showing how Jesus Christ would interact, again, with those who came to him, who responded to his ministry. It says, a bruised reed he will not break, and then also, smoking flax he will not quench. Again, what do those things mean? What does it mean that he would not break a bruised reed he would not quench smoking flax? I want to read this to you from the New Living Translation to perhaps add a little bit of clarity. Isaiah 42, verse 3 through 4 in the New Living Translation. It says, he will not crush the weakest reed, nor put out a flickering candle. He will bring forth justice to all who have been wronged.

He will not falter nor lose heart until justice prevails throughout the earth.

Even distant lands beyond the sea will wait for his instruction.

And so again, this is describing his ministry, how it would function among the people at his first coming, how his ministry would function actually in the Church of God today, and as well as how his ministry and his rule will function yet in the future at the establishment of the kingdom of God. But what is this bruised reed that's being referenced here? What is this smoking flax? What does that have to do with human beings and the condition of human beings? And what does that have to do with the ministry of Jesus Christ? Let's look at that today and see if we can understand this passage a little more clearly, pull a little more meaning and understanding from it.

First of all, let's consider the bruised reed.

What was the bruised reed that it says he would not break? I think we probably all know what reeds are. If you go out to the swamp and you go out to the marshland, you're going to find reeds growing.

They're very tall, stemmy, grassy plant. They can get very tall and they can grow these reed stalks that are almost like woody stems that when you dry them, they're harden, they're like rods.

You know, I remember as a kid fishing, and I don't remember if it was bamboo, which it might have been.

You can maybe say bamboo is reed's cousin, but sort of a similar stocky plant.

Use that as a fishing pole, but these reeds would grow up and they were useful for a number of things in the ancient world. Oftentimes, they would take reeds and they would use them for fencing.

You can think of not fencing as in sword fighting, but fencing as in to keep the sheep in, Dale.

They would harvest all these reeds and dry them, and then they would take them and tie them together one by one by one right next to each other very tight. You put up these panels for fencing, much like what we see in bamboo fencing today. They would actually build houses out of them, put up a framework, a structure, and then build these panels out of reeds and attach them to the framework and even build roofs out of these reeds. They made furniture out of the reeds. They made plant supports out of the reeds, like in the garden, you know, a beanpole for the beans to grow up, or maybe even taking and making a lattice type work out of them to support vines, grapevines, other things. Oftentimes, as well, they use these reeds for musical instruments.

And oftentimes, as well, a good solid reed would be used for a walking stick. And if you had one that was particularly thick and sturdy, you could have the support of a walking stick as you went on your way. So again, very strong, very supportive. And the Bible contains a number of references to reeds, and it actually contains some in the time of Jesus Christ. So I want to look at at least how reeds were referenced or used. We'll just catch a glimpse of that, and then we'll come to understand as we move along how it applies to people. Let's go to Matthew chapter 27. We'll just look at, actually, three quick examples in this chapter of a reed and just its common use of the day. Matthew chapter 27 and verse 29. This is the time frame of the scourging and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

In Matthew chapter 27 and verse 29, it says, and when they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on his head, and a reed in his right hand. And they bowed the knee before him and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! So they're mocking Jesus Christ. They're mocking his kingship, his proclaimed kingship, by taking this reed, putting in his hand, you know, this is your royal scepter, O King. And they're mocking him as King of the Jews. Verse 30 says, then they spat on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. So it was stiff. It was hard when it was dried and cured, and you could actually take that thing and beat him over the head with it and bruise him and injure him. And if you think about the fact that he had just had the crown of thorns put on his head, with those cutting into his head, getting smacked on top of the head with the reed, created a bit of injury. Down to Matthew 27 and verse 48, we see a reed referenced again. It says, Immediately one of the men ran, took a sponge. This is when Christ is up on the stake. Took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it to the reed, and offered it to him to drink.

So in this case, the reed was kind of a long, stiff pole as they were using it for, and they put that sponge on the end and they would lift it up to his mouth in that way. So again, the reed had many uses in the day of Jesus Christ and in the ancient world. It was, you know, far more useful to them than perhaps it is to us today. It was a regular use of daily life to build with a reed, to have a walking staff with the reed that was of a reed, and to use the reed for these various things. So the question then becomes, what is a bruised reed? Because that's the prophecy, a bruised reed, he would not break. Well, bruised reeds, essentially, a reed that has been weakened or damaged, either in the growing process or following its harvest. Actively growing reeds can be easily bent by the wind. You know, you can have a storm blow through and just violently blow those reeds about, and it can kink a reed, it can bend it completely over, it can create damage to that reed.

They'd come along if you were harvesting this, you know, through the swamp land, this field of reeds, and you came to one that was just broken off and bent over, really wasn't of much use. They either left it there, or perhaps they took it, and you break it up and dry it, and it was kindling for the fire. But it had no real good use for them. And once harvest did the same thing, a reed could become cracked, it can become bruised or damaged, depending on what you did with it. You know, if you took it and you, you know, maybe use it for a walking stick. But I remember as a kid, I used to, whenever I had a walking stick, or I've seen other kids do this too, you like to swing that thing, and chop down other weeds, and whack off, you know, other branches that are hanging out, and do various things with it. So I can imagine maybe a reed with misuse would become cracked, become broken, and again, wasn't useful for much of anything but to be tossed aside or burned up. And so a bruised reed is a weakened reed, and it's a reed that would break easier than a sound, or a healthy, or an un-bruised reed. And again, if it had a kink in it, maybe it didn't totally bend in half, but it would be weakened. In the Bible, a reed is sometimes used to reference people as well.

And we can see an example of that back in 2 Kings chapter 18.

You can follow me there, please. 2 Kings chapter 18.

Here we have the king of Assyria, King Shinacharib. He's using this term, a broken reed, to describe the pharaoh of Egypt and the weakness of Israel trusting in him against the Assyrians.

The lesson is, Israel should have been trusting in God, but Shinacharib's like, you really think that broken reed is going to help you, referencing Egypt and its pharaoh.

2 Kings chapter 18 and verse 21. It says, You know, it's this concept of having a reed that is a walking stick, but it's broken off, and you're going to lean on it and put your support on it, but the top is all jagged and broken up from having been broken in half, and you're going to lean on that, and it's going to jam into your hand, and it's going to splinter in your hand, and it's going to create damage.

And the point is, an alliance with Egypt would be of no strength to Israel, and trusting in pharaoh would simply lead to their harm. And of course, they should have been trusting in God, rather than looking to any man. To the ancient world, the bruised reed was a worthless thing. Again, it had no power. It had no stability. There was no purpose for it, and it was good for nothing, but to be discarded. If you were building something, if you're building a house, you're building a fence, you had a construction project going on, and you had a pile of reeds, I went online and kind of looked up what these reeds looked like, and I saw bundles and piles that were stacked out in the field drying, or you'd have a stack that was dropped off at, say, a construction site, right? And you're taking all these, and you're taking a reed one at a time, and you're binding it together. In the process of taking those off the pile, if you found one that was broken or bruised, again, you wouldn't use it in your construction. You would probably snap it over your knee. You know, make sure we don't use that one. You'd break it in two, you toss it aside.

Again, probably would become kindling for the fire. And so the prophecy in Isaiah chapter 42 concerning Jesus Christ said, a bruised reed he will not break. Right? A bruised reed he will not break, but isn't a bruised reed a worthless thing? Isn't that something to be cast aside and discarded?

A bruised reed. Well, in the context of the prophecy, Isaiah 42, and again, it's repeated in Matthew chapter 12. Jesus repeated it as the fact that it applied to himself. But in that context, the reed is a person, and the bruised is their affliction. It's their pain, it's their suffering, it's the oppression maybe they dealt with in this life. And to break a bruised reed would be a lack of tenderness or mercy in a way that crushed the spirit of the person who was in that condition.

And it simply said of Jesus Christ, when he came a bruised reed he would not break.

This is describing Jesus' ministry as one of compassion, one of care for those who were the weak and the injured of the world. It's describing his concern, his desire to help the oppressed and the needy, the fact that they wouldn't simply be tossed aside like the world would toss a bruised reed aside, considering it no value. No, they had value to God, they had value to Jesus Christ. They were a great part of the purpose that he came, and they would receive relief from the Messiah. He was the one who he came to restore them, to lay his life down for them, the bruised reeds of the world. I want to notice a prophecy that Jesus read in the synagogue on the Sabbath day concerning himself and what it is that he came to fulfill. Luke chapter 4 and verse 16. Again, it actually quotes back from the book of Isaiah in another place, but again a prophecy concerning Jesus Christ. Luke chapter 4 and verse 16. This describing his ministry. Luke 4 verse 16, it says, so he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And he was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah, and when he opened the book, he found the place where it is written. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. Notice again, it says he was anointed. God had anointed him. He had sent him, set him apart for this specific purpose. Here again, to preach the gospel to the poor. He sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

Then he closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down, and the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, today the Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. This was a description of his ministry, of the purpose that he came, of the purpose that his father appointed and anointed him, and sent him to this earth.

His ministry was one of hope to the poor. Preaching the gospel, a message of hope, the future will be better. God has something better for you. It was a message of healing to the brokenhearted, right? Those who were spiritually bruised, spiritually damaged.

It was a ministry of sight to the blind, a ministry of liberty to the oppressed, of making the broken whole once again, not coming to breaking them apart even further.

Right? He came to restore the brokenhearted, not simply break that reed over his knee and toss it into the fire. And so this prophecy describing bruised reeds, and as they exist here in the physical form, is describing people who have been wounded, physically, emotionally, spiritually, you know, maybe a consequence of sin, maybe a consequence of the circumstances around them or the sins of other. And as bruised reeds, they were feeble. They were generally worthless, but not to God. They weren't something to be simply tossed aside, broken and discarded. Jesus didn't come as one who broke bruised reeds. He came as one who healed them and restored them again. It is what His Father had given Him to do.

We won't take the time today, but it's a good study if you go throughout the gospel accounts and you see how Jesus Christ interacted with the people and its reinforcement to the prophecy that He just read, what we read back in Isaiah. You know, throughout the gospel accounts, we find Him imparting strength to the weak, don't we? We find Him healing the sick, you know, intervening in people's lives when they were in a most desperate place. We find Him casting out demons, aiding those who sought His help, showing compassion to the multitudes that followed Him, even when He kind of wanted to get away on His own. And He turned around and here's the multitudes, you know, pushing towards Him that says He had compassion on them, and He healed their sick, and He preached to them. His ministry is one of comforting the mourning, of cheering the fearful, reassuring those who lacked faith, of feeding the hungry, and reassuring the multitudes.

It was a ministry of forgiving repentant sinners and defending the fatherless and the widows.

Again, go back to what He said here in Luke, who He came to proclaim these wonderful things to, the poor, the broken-hearted, the captives, the blind, the oppressed, those bruised reeds that He found as He walked the earth. It was the focus of Jesus' ministry to heal these individuals, and as He came across a bruised reed, what was His response? Well, it would be to put a spiritual splint on their wound. You know, you maybe think of, if you had a reed, I'll use an example of a fishing pole again, maybe you had a particularly strong reed that was going to be your fishing pole, but it became weak and cracked and started to break. You might, if you didn't have the money or the option to go get another one, put a splint on that, right? Something that offered support, and you would bind it up. And the prophecies in the Bible show that God the Father and Jesus Christ bind up the wounds of the broken-hearted. And to use that modern term, they splint that wound to provide strength again. And once He did that, He would offer them words of salvation, the gospel of the kingdom, and point them to His Father in heaven. It was the focus of His ministry to heal these individuals, and it wasn't just a physical healing, it was a spiritual healing, and it didn't come all at once, but it would come as those accepted the gospel and came under the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. This American woman at the well, okay, she was a bruised reed. If you go back and read her story, she'd had multiple husbands, right? And the one she was with now was not her husband, and Jesus Christ knew those things about her, and He knew the baggage that she carried, and the trauma, and probably, you know, the issues from dysfunction and broken marriages and a broken home, and all the baggage that went with that, and yet she waited for the Messiah. She looked for Him.

Could this be the Christ? She went into town and asked, you know, He told me everything I ever did.

She was a bruised reed, looking for the Messiah, and He came to offer healing to her.

The woman who had the issue of the flow of blood for, I believe it was 12 years, you know, just think about her life. She would have been a social outcast among her people. She was unclean, right? She would have been ceremonially unclean in that way, and there were laws and regulations that were in place that would dictate, basically, how she was going to live her life, and it would have been separate from a social environment of support. It would have been a very lonely life, and she thought, if only I can touch the hem of His garment, I might be healed. You know, a broken reed, He would not break. This was a bruised individual. And so, the Bible's full of these individuals. I think of the man who had the son that was demon-possessed, and he said the demon would throw him into the fire, the demon, you know, he would foam at the mouth and contort his body and do all these terrible things, and Jesus said, well, how long has he been this way? And the father said, well, since childhood, right? And I brought him to your disciples, and they couldn't cast the demon out.

And yet Jesus Christ did. This man and his son were bruised reeds, and He came to offer them liberty and freedom and to heal their broken heart. He had compassion and mercy on all.

Matthew chapter 11 continues to show the gentle compassion that he had as part of his ministry, but I guess I say had. It's not past tense, as in it doesn't exist any longer. This is still the gentle compassion of the ministry of Jesus Christ today as our high priest, as our elder brother, and what we will see extend even beyond into the millennium. Matthew chapter 11 and verse 28. This is what he has said to them and us. Matthew chapter 11 verse 28, come to me, all you who labored and are heavy laden, you know, those who are walking around under a burden, under a load.

And the reference is, you know, it's not just the load of, you know, everyday life of doing your job and doing your routine. This is the load and burden of sin, of oppression, of hurt and injury and harm. He says, 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, notice, gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. This brethren is a personal invitation to us all, and it's something that all of mankind needs, is to come alongside as the, as the picture is given for us here, to come alongside Jesus Christ, take his yoke upon you.

When you had an ox that was well trained and did well under the yoke, and you had a young one that you wanted to bring along and train, you brought them alongside, and you yoked them alongside the experienced ox. So the young one would learn how to pull and how to, you know, go through that motion.

But you see, if you had an older ox that really wasn't all that great of an ox either, or that greatly experienced, taking his yoke upon you, if you were that young ox, would actually be a rough thing. And he'd be banging around and jerking you around, and the pull would be uneven, and it would be a very rough experience for that young ox to to learn under. But the analogy is Christ says, take my yoke upon you, and it's not like, here, I got a load for you. No, this is being hitched together, yoked alongside Jesus Christ. And he says, learn from me as we walk together, as we step together. You'll learn how to move through this life. He says, I'm gentle and lowly of heart, and you'll find rest, and my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. You know, brethren, we're all bruised reeds in one way or another. You know, some maybe are more openly so. You could point out and say, this person in their life has experienced such things that they are surely a bruised reed, but the point is we are all bruised reeds because we have been bruised by sin, by the consequences of sin. We've been damaged by those things, both by our own actions, and sometimes by the actions that come as a result of someone else's sin. And so we are those bruised reeds as well. And Jesus said that he is gentle and lonely in heart towards all those who come to him. He won't damage them further, right? He won't create trauma in their life if we respond to his sacrifice, right? Ultimately, you come to him, he brings you to his Father. But the point is, he allows us to come alongside in a harmonious relationship that reconciles us to God, and it heals our wounds. And the prophecy said, a bruised reed, he will not break.

Now, right alongside that concept of the bruised reed, Isaiah also included another concept we need to understand clearly as well, and it ties in rather closely. Prophecy again in Isaiah 42, verse 3, also stated that smoking flax, he will not quench. Right? It said, a bruised reed, he will not break. And smoking flax, he will not quench. What does that mean?

What's the relevance to smoking flax? We've probably all heard of flax, but flax probably isn't a regular part of our life. Again, it was something that was part of everyday life at the time of Jesus Christ in the ancient world. Flax was an important crop, but it's probably not a regular part of our life day in and day out today. I don't think I have a lot of exposure to flax other than the flax oil capsule. My wife, I was going to say, crams down my throat. That's not very loving and gently. That she offers me out of love every day to help ease my risk of migraines.

That's what we'll say. The flax oil. That's my interaction with flax. But day in and day out, flax isn't a regular part of our routine. The word for flax in the Greek is actually where we get the word linen. That was very close to linen, and they would take that crop and they would make linen out of the fibers of the flax. They would make clothing out of those things.

The prophecy says, smoking flax, he will not quench. According to the Smith's Bible dictionary, it says, flax is a well-known plant with yellowish stem, bright blue flowers. Its fibers are employed in the manufacture of linen. It's a very fibrous plant. You know, if you pull it apart, it's just full of fibers. The root contains oil, and after the oil is expressed, it is used for food for cattle. It says it was grown in Palestine, and the fact that it was grown in Palestine, even before the conquest of that country by the Israelites, appears in Joshua chapter 2 and verse 6.

You'll recall that account in Joshua 2.6. The spies come in into Jericho, right? And the authorities are looking for them, and Rahab takes them up on the roof, and she hides them under the flax that's drying on the roof. So it was a crop that had existed in the Promised Land, you know, long even before the Israelites walked in there.

Because of its fibrous consistency and natural moisture, flax is not an easily burned substance.

You know, you could cut a bunch of flax down, you could dry it, you could stack it up, and if you tried to light it on fire, expecting it to just go up in flames, you'd be a little disappointed.

Because what you'd actually get is a creeping and a smoldering and a smoking pile, as opposed to a brilliant flame. Because, again, its fibers and the moisture that were in it, you would generally have these sparks that would just kind of crawl down the length of the fibers, but it wasn't something that just went up. When I was a kid, we used, in Florida, we used to collect the palm fronds that would come off the palm trees, you know, as those limbs after they would run their course and dry out and break off and fall down.

My grandparents lived next door, and there was always a big pile. Grandpa would burn the pile every two or three months. If we ever saw that, my brother or I would run and give each other the report, grandpa's burning the pile!

Of course, as kids, your favorite thing then is to go find those palm fronds wherever they lay and take them and throw them on the pile, because they would just whoosh, you know, like burning paper. And we'd even go out and try to break them off the trees while they're still there just to have something to burn. But the fact is, flax would smoke. It would smolder. It wouldn't just ignite and burn in that way. One of the common uses for flax in the day of Jesus Christ was as a wick for an oil lamb.

And that's a context in which the prophecy says, a smoking flax he will not quench. Lamps of ancient times were made of clay. Often they were filled with olive oil, and you would take several of those flax strands and you'd braid them together and you would lay it down into the lamp and it would wick up that oil.

And so when you light it, you had a wick that was long-lasting, you know, and didn't just burn up, but what was burning was actually the oil that was being pulled up out of the lamp and it would give a very bright and brilliant flame. You know, the flax and wick, though, was hard to keep lit unless it had that oil to draw upon. Because again, it didn't burn easily. You could light it and it would sit there and smolder, sit there and smoke, and unless it had the oil, if that was running low, or if you had a wick that wasn't properly trimmed, that would be the irritation, just a just a smoking lamp.

And, you know, we come and turn on the light switch and we have this bright, clean light, right? That's the blessing of our modern age. But say there you went into a room and there were a number of these oil lamps set around giving off their light in the evening and one or two of them were smoking, it would be an irritation. And your response would be basically maybe just kind of wet your fingers and go over and just put that wick out and cease that spark. It always had a spark, you know, it's smoking, it had a spark, but the fact is you would snuff that out and quench that smoldering spark and end the irritation.

So the prophecy regarding Jesus Christ was that He would not quench the smoking flags. Again, it's a reference to people. It wasn't just, you know, here's a lamp wick He's not going to put out when He comes, it's a reference to people and a reference to the fact that He would not extinguish the struggling ember of those whose faith was about to go out. This was Judah. These were the people of God, physically, right, in covenant with God.

And they had hope in a Savior and a Messiah, yet they're under Roman oppression, and perhaps among some their faith is beginning to dwindle. Perhaps some of them looked at the Pharisees and the leaders and the hypocrisy and the laws of man that were added into everything, and it undermined their faith. Perhaps they look at, again, that Roman oppression and what hope was there, and their faith was beginning to dwindle.

And I would say at the end of the age, will the Son of Man find faith on the earth?

It's a question that the Bible asks. And so you can have in type here a smoking lamp with this flaxen wick, and there's a little spark there. There's a spark of faith, but the flame is about out, and the smoke is just wafting into the air, and perhaps to some around it would be an irritant. Smoking flax, He would not quench, and He would not extinguish the struggling ember of those whose faith was about to go out. Instead, when He came in His ministry the first time, and when He comes again, and as He works in our life today, He works to reignite that fire, right? To pour the oil in, you know? Holy Spirit of God through Jesus Christ. He works with us and helps us to draw on that oil again if we're willing participants, and He blows on that spark and helps to reignite that flame in our lives as it should be. Again, it's an illustration of the compassionate care that Jesus would have for the frail, right? The demoralized, the oppressed, the poor, the downtrodden, those who had been beaten up by life because God didn't send them to a healthy world, right? He sent them to a sick and dying world, one that was under the oppression not of just a physical government, but under the oppression of sin. And most people that would look at a smoking lamp would simply just snuff it out. It's kind of like that bruised reed. It really wasn't producing much, wasn't accomplishing anything pleasant in their life, and they would toss it aside. But God in His mercy would preserve the bruised reeds, would reignite the smoking flags through His Son, Jesus Christ. Personally, I find it encouraging that we can recognize God and Christ don't discard their smoking lamps, right? They don't just toss them aside and throw them on the pile. A smoking wick may be about to lose its fire altogether, but it can still be reignited. Philippians chapter 1 and verse 6 tells us that, "...he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." Philippians 1, 26, and it's encouragement that God will not give up on the work that He's been done in us. Even if our flame begins to dwindle, even if our zeal begins to become quenched and we're about to go out and we're that smoking wick, God doesn't withdraw and stop offering His assistance, His love to us. He doesn't just reach down and snuff us out because we're almost ready to go out. Well, just put Him out. No, He seeks to work with us to reignite that flame. So that's burning brightly once again. But again, we have to do our part. We have to be willing participants and yield to Him and ask for His Spirit and stir it up in our lives. Again, "...he bruised reed, he will not break, and smoking flax, he will not quench." Rather than it should be a very encouraging prophecy to the people of God today because it not only applied to them at His first coming, it applies to us now, and it will be applied to all the world at His return.

Quoting from the United Church of God Bible commentary on Isaiah 42, verse 3, it says, "...returning to Christ gentleness in verse 3, his not breaking a bruised reed appears to mean that upon those who are lowly and hurt, having already suffered punishment, Jesus will not add to their punishment. Indeed, just the opposite, He will take special care of them and restore them to health and happiness, and even grant them spiritual vitality." Smoking flax in the same verse is rendered dimly burning wick in the Revised Standard Version and New Revised Standard Version.

Dimly burning wick. This appears to represent those who at one time had a fiery zeal, but are now as a mere smoldering candle wick about to go out. Their faith in hoping God's deliverance is almost gone. Jesus Christ will not quench what is left in them. Again, just the opposite. He will rescue them, not only restoring their faith and zeal, but through the granting of God's Holy Spirit, giving them such a fiery zeal for God as is otherwise humanly impossible. Again, brothers, very encouraging concepts. They should be uplifting for us to consider that bruised reeds he will not break, smoking flax he will not extinguish.

Let's go back now to Isaiah 42 because there's one more element of this that's important for us to remember. Isaiah 42, verse 3 and 4.

Again, it says, a bruised reed he will not break, and smoking flax he will not quench. He will bring forth justice for truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth, and the coastlands shall wait for his law. The beauty of this prophecy is that it shows Jesus Christ's compassion for the needy will be ongoing and continual, and it will not cease until all is fulfilled that his Father has given him to fulfill. It says he will not fail nor be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth. He exercised love and care to the downtrodden during his ministry. He does so today, and he will do so on into the future until all is fulfilled. I want to look at a couple passages of prophecy now that go beyond today and look to the future to see how this loving compassion of Jesus Christ will continue at his return towards the weak, towards the downcast, towards the broken heart. And Isaiah chapter 11, let's go there.

Isaiah chapter 11 and verse 1. Again, this is a prophecy pointing to his first coming, but ultimately leading to his second. Isaiah chapter 11 verse 1 says, there shall come forth a rod from the stem of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David, right? Jesus Christ was a descendant of David, Jesse, David, Solomon. The line came down to Jesus Christ. I'll go back in my mind now, if you remember, it came to him through Solomon or Nathan, but either way of the stem that sprouted out of Jesse. Jesse was the root of that lineage in this way, and it says, a branch shall grow out of his roots. Verse 2, the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge, and the fear of the Lord.

Verse 3 says, his delight is in the fear of the Lord, and he shall not judge by the sight of his eyes, nor decide by the hearing of his ears. Notice, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor. You know, those people that have been oppressed their whole life, right? The poor, the ones that those who actually had the power and the control and the money in certain ways would push off to the side or manipulate or dominate over. Here it says Jesus Christ with righteousness would judge the poor. The poor will still be judged, but with righteousness, not the opposite.

And decide with equity for the meek of the earth. He shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. Verse 5, righteousness shall be the belt of his loins, and faithfulness the belt of his waist. It's a prophecy, again, that extends all the way through Christ's return and beyond, showing that the poor, the meek, those would have a special attention, and they would receive judgment and justice according to the righteousness of Jesus Christ, not according to the injustice of man. And it would be a blessing to them.

You recall a couple years ago, I gave a sermon on how God looks at widows, how he looks at orphans, and to the fact that he is a father of the fatherless and a defender of widows. That is the nature of God the Father, and it's the nature of Jesus Christ as well. They have that nature of compassion to the downtrodden, the broken-hearted, and those who are oppressed. They desire to lift them up and stand them on their feet again. Psalm 72, Psalm 72, again, the reign of Jesus Christ at the establishment of the kingdom of God. Psalm 72, it's a psalm of Solomon. Verse 1 says, Give your king your judgments, O God, and your righteousness to the king's son. The king's son here is reference to Jesus Christ. He will judge your people with righteousness and your poor with justice. It says, The mountains will bring peace to the people in the little hills by righteousness. He will bring justice to the poor of the people and will save the children of the needy and will break in pieces the oppressors. You know, those who actually kept the poor and the oppressed under their boot, Christ would come and break them in pieces. He will set justice in place. Verse 5, They shall fear you as long as the sun and moon endure throughout all generations.

He shall come down like rain upon the grass before mowing and like showers that water the earth.

It's refreshing that he's going to bring. It's restoration in a right and a good way. Verse 7, In his days the righteous shall flourish, an abundance of peace until the moon is no more.

He shall have dominion also from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth.

Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before him, and his enemies will lick the dust.

The kings of Tarshish and of the Isles will bring presents. The kings of Sheba and Seba will offer gifts. Yes, all kings shall fall down before him. All nations shall serve him.

They're all going to bow down before Jesus Christ and serve the King of kings and the Lord of lords when he comes, the one whom the Father has sent. He is worthy of worship and praise and honor, and he will restore justice and true judgment to all people. Verse 12 says, Then he will deliver the needy when he cries, the poor also, and him who has no helper.

He will spare the poor and the needy, and he will save the souls of the needy. He will redeem their life from oppression and violence, and precious shall be their blood in his sight. He's going to intervene on behalf of the bruised reeds in the future for all of mankind. And again, he will, he says, their blood is precious in his sight. Verse 15, he says, and he shall live, and the gold of Sheba will be given to him. Prayer also will be made for him continually, and daily he shall be praised. I think it's interesting to note that Jesus Christ is going to be the focus of prayer continually, it says. Not that people will be praying to him continually, but they'll be praying for him continually. They'll be praying to God for the King that he has established, for his righteous judgment, for his goodness on the earth, and that what God has sent him to do would certainly come to pass as it has been prophesied. We're told to pray for our leaders. The world will pray for the King here whom God sends. Verse 16, there will be an abundance of grain on the earth.

On top of the mountains its fruit shall wave like Lebanon, and those of the city shall flourish like the grass of the earth. His name shall endure forever, his name shall continue as long as the sun, and men shall be blessed in him, and nations shall call him blessed. Again, the King, the Messiah, the promise to Abraham was in you, all the nations, all the families of the earth will be blessed.

And that blessing came through Jesus Christ who came from the lineage of Abraham through David through down onto, ultimately he was the Son of God, but he was born in the flesh as well.

Verse 16, excuse me, get behind in my notes here.

Verse 18, and make a transition now of praising God, it says, Bless be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only does wondrous things, and bless be his glorious name forever, and let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and amen. It's a beautiful picture, brethren, of what God will bring to pass when he sends his Son, and the bruised reeds are restored, and the smoking flax is reignited to brilliant flame once again.

It's a beautiful picture God holds out for all of mankind.

Apart from God and Jesus Christ, we too would be nothing but bruised reeds and smoking flax.

Apart from God's Spirit, apart from the sacrifice that came through his Son and our acknowledgement of that, apart from our reconciliation with our Father in Heaven, we would be bruised reeds and smoking flax. And, you know, God called us out of this world, and that's essentially what we were, even by the world standards. Right? The Bible says, not many wise are called, not many mighty, not many noble. We were the the broken flax and the bruised, or the smoking flax and the bruised reeds of this world. We were once the poor and the needy of the earth, the downtrodden and the brokenhearted because of sin, and the consequences of those things. And God in his mercy has begun to restore us.

He sent the anointed, the anointed one who would lay down his life that we may behold again.

If you and I today were instructed to look to the example of Jesus Christ and to imitate him in all things. So that means we're to imitate him in how we treat others around us, right? Both in the church and in the world. How do we treat them?

Well, a bruised reed, we must not break.

Right? And smoking flax, we must not quench. There's actually a responsibility placed on the people of God as we live like Jesus Christ to be careful with those that we interact with around us. We need to be careful how we deal with one another, making sure our approach to them is the same as God's approach to us. One of helping, one of healing, and one of restoration. Final passage today, Hebrews chapter 12. This is instruction for us and how we were to do these things.

Hebrews chapter 12. Again, a bruised reed, brethren, we must not break.

And smoking flax, we must not quench. It is a very high calling from God through Jesus Christ. And our elder brother set the example. Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 12. This is speaking to us.

Hebrews 12 verse 12. Therefore, strengthen the hands which hang down and the feeble knees.

You ever notice somebody's body language? You know, they walk into the room and maybe their shoulders are slumped, maybe their head's hanging, you know, maybe their arms are limp, maybe their knees are weak, you know. Have you ever noticed their body language and noticed somebody that actually needed support and needed encouragement? This is what we're instructed to do.

Therefore, strengthen the hands which hang down and the feeble knees. Make straight paths for your feet so that what is lame may not be dislocated but rather healed. Pursue peace with all people and holiness without which no one will see the Lord. So again, it's a part of our calling as the people of God to encourage one another, to strengthen one another. And this isn't just in the church alone. This is in the world around us as well because Christ came to die for all.

God sent him for all and he sent him while we were still in our sins. As we encourage and strengthen one another, we're not to break them down or toss them aside like a bruised reed that is worth nothing. We're not to extinguish them like smoking flax that's just an irritation to us.

Sometimes that smoke can be an irritation, honestly. You know, it says those who are strong ought to put up with the scruples of the weak. And so we make consideration for one another.

But if there's smoking flax in the room, let's not just snuff something out. Let's sit there and seek to reignite that ember and help to lift one another up, stir one another up to love and good works, to reignite the zeal in one another for the truth of God and the faith once delivered.

That's the example that's been set for us. Jesus Christ will not fail nor be discouraged of doing good until he's established justice on the earth. And, brethren, let us not grow weary of doing likewise ourselves. A bruised reed he would not break. In broken flax he would not quench.

Brethren, let you and I follow his example each and every day until all is fulfilled.

Have a wonderful Sabbath.