He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench” (Mat 12:19-20).1
Bruised reeds and smoldering wicks. They represent broken, weak, hurting people who need the gentlest of care. Or do they? Yes, the Lord Jesus was the perfect Servant who was gentle, kind and careful in His treatment of others. But is that what this text is saying? I certainly don’t want to be a sermon spoiler, but is it possible that what Matthew (and Isaiah, whom he is quoting) is emphasizing is the Savior’s stealth as He carries out His mission? The Servant walked cautiously through the reeds, careful not to even break one that is bruised so as not to leave a trail His enemies could use to track Him down. The Servant would creep by so carefully that His draft would not extinguish a smoking wick. You would hardly know He had been there.
To support this possible interpretation, notice the immediate context: “He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.” The Servant is not self-assertive; He is not attention-seeking. He carries out His mission quietly and with exceeding care. Also notice the larger context within Matthew 12. The Pharisees “conspired against him, how to destroy him. Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there” (vv14-15). He wanted to avoid detection by His enemies. Then Matthew gives us an important link between the actions of the Servant and the quotation from Isaiah. The Lord Jesus “ordered them [those He had healed] not to make him known. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: ‘Behold, my servant whom I have chosen …. He will not quarrel or cry aloud …’” (vv16-19). His request for secrecy fulfills part of Isaiah’s prophecy.
This interpretation is consistent with what our Savior often told people after He had healed them, that is, not to make Him known. So, what point can be emphasized about all this? The Lord Jesus did the most incredible works. In fact, two miracles surround this text in Matthew. In verses 9-13, He healed a man with a withered hand. In verse 22, He healed a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute. These were definitely attention grabbers. He performed the most astounding miracles. And yet He did so without any fanfare or desire for attention. How different from us God’s Servant is! We want to tell the world when we perform the smallest acts of service for the Lord. To use the metaphor, we blaze an obvious trail through the reeds, breaking nearly all of them. We move so quickly to announce our good works that our draft would extinguish a thousand candles. Everyone knows where we have been and what we have done. Oh, that we might be more like God’s Servant – not broadcasting, not publishing, not announcing, not holding up our deeds so that others might see them and be impressed, but simply, quietly, carefully fulfilling our mission until our work is done.
Yes, the Lord Jesus is the gentle, caring Servant. Please don’t stop preaching that. But He was the careful Servant, quietly finishing the work His Father sent Him to do. No wonder God said of Him, “my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased” (v18).
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the ESV.
