Bruised Reed

15 Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill. 16 He warned them not to tell others about him. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
18 "Here is my servant whom I have chosen,
the one I love, in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will proclaim justice to the nations.
19 He will not quarrel or cry out;
no one will hear his voice in the streets.
20 A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,
till he leads justice to victory.
21 In his name the nations will put their hope."
Matthew 12:15-21


A commentary on the book The Bruised Reed by Puritan author Richard Sibbes says this concerning these words of Jesus: “A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench; he shall bring forth judgment into truth". It speaks of Jesus' ministry being one of gentleness and mercy to sinners. "...by misery he is brought to see sin as the cause of it, so that together these, a bruised reed and a smoking flax, make up the state of a poor, distressed man. This is such an one as our Savior Christ terms 'poor in spirit' (Matthew 5:3), who sees his wants, and also sees himself indebted to divine justice, [with] no means of supply from himself". But this bruising is itself a gift of grace, as it is "required before conversion that so the Spirit may make way for himself into the heart by leveling all proud, high thoughts, and that we may understand ourselves to be what we indeed are by nature". Hopefully this passage gives you as much hope this morning as it does me. Don’t ever forget that you, by your very nature are a “bruised reed”, you are not perfected yet and you will fail at times and this is exactly why you need God’s Spirit to heal your brokenness, to comfort you with His love and to somehow intercept your feeble attempts to live for Him in this fallen, sinful world in order that the truth of His Spirit could be reflected through your life onto others. All of your hope should be put solely in Him today and not in your own abilities. Let the Master Healer comfort you today as you journey to know and love Him more.