The Only Name to Trust

“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 shew judgment to the Gentiles.  He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear His voice in the streets.  A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, till He send forth judgment unto victory.  And in His name shall the Gentiles trust.”  Matthew 12:18-21

The Pharisees had already planned to kill Jesus.  After they criticized Him and His disciples for plucking corn/grain and eating it on the Sabbath, they were so angry that they were plotting murder!  However, they had to figure out a scheme to frame Jesus so that they would feel justified in their ungodly and sinful act.  They weren’t going to do this alone.  Mark 3:6 tells us that the Pharisees went to the Herodians to enlist their help as co-conspirators.  The Herodians were believed to have been a political party who supported the rule of the family line of Herod.  Since it was Herod the Great who first tried to kill Jesus when He was a baby for, he, too, was concerned about losing power and control, his descendants would likely be all in on eliminating this threat.  Who better to assist the Pharisees and share the responsibility?  “Birds of a feather, flock together”.

Jesus’ goal was not to make everyone become fond of Him.  His mission was to make a way whereby sinners could be forgiven and be reconciled to His Father.  The Pharisees goal was to eliminate Him permanently.  Since He knew what they were up to, He quietly slipped out from under their noses and continued on to another area.  Folks found out and followed Him.  As long as there was a crowd about Him, the Pharisees could do no more to Him than criticize of which they were relentless.  Jesus knew that it wasn’t quite time for Him to fulfill His ultimate mission, the cross.  As he moved away from what could have become a major incident, He continued healing every single person who came to Him with a need.  He didn’t let any threats from the religious leaders hinder Him in doing good.  Even Satan’s demons recognized Him as God’s Son, but the religious leaders stood firm in their resistance against Him.

Concerned for the welfare of the people and that His Father’s plan be carried out on His Father’s timetable, Jesus charged the crowds to keep quiet about His location.  His desire was to fulfill all scripture regarding Himself and His mission in order to be obedient to His Father.  Matthew quoted from Isaiah 42:1-4 in which Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah’s mission of His first coming was never about coming as a conquering warrior, freeing Israel from ungodly rule, and setting up an earthly kingdom.  That is reserved for His second coming.  The Jews who eventually rejected Him were looking for the consequences of His second coming while ignoring the mission of His first sojourn on earth.  Isaiah’s prophecy foretold the coming of Christ as a Servant of the most high God whom God chose, His very own Beloved Son.  Jesus came the first time to serve, not to be served even though His divinity gave Him every right to be honored and praised.  There was none other who could fulfill the role of Saviour of mankind.  God’s Spirit was upon Him to enable Him to carry out the mission for which He came, bringing the gospel, herein called “judgment” for the gospel is the standard by which all men are judged, not only the Jews but the Gentiles as well.

Isaiah’s prophecy continued to foretell that the One whom God would send, the Messiah, would not come in a striving-to-be-heard manner, nor loud and boisterous, but in a kind, loving soft-spoken voice with which to quietly minister to those who came to Him.  He did work out in the open but not with a big fanfare.  The kingdom of God and the gospel was not ushered in with parades, big bands, waving flags, or loudspeakers, but quietly within the heart of each believer.  Isaiah also wrote, “A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, till He send forth judgment unto victory.”  In botany, the reed is a tall grass with a hollow stem found in marshy areas.  It is a rather weak plant subject to wind and storms.  In Isaiah’s statement, it represents those who are rather feeble, and the fact that the weak are “bruised” signifies that they have been oppressed and are downtrodden.  The “smoking flax” is indicative of comparing the poor and oppressed to the wick of a lamp that has used up all the oil thereby putting out the flame and leaving nothing but smoke drifting up from the wick.  A ruthless conquering hero would eliminate the weak, not die for them.

The last portion of Isaiah’s prophecy, “And in His name shall the Gentiles trust” is a promise based on the integrity and faithfulness of the sovereign God of the universe.  Peter, in Acts 4:12, stood before the high priest after he was arrested for preaching the gospel and said, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved”.  It is only in the name of Jesus Christ, Son of God, that anyone, Jew or Gentile, can be forgiven, be brought into God’s family, and inherit eternal life in heaven.  Jesus came to the Jew first, but it was always God’s plan to include Gentiles as well (Ephesians 1:4-14).