A Bruised Reed He Will not Break
As I have spent some time looking ahead to plan Christmas sermons, the book of Isaiah is filled with so many prophecies concerning the birth of Christ. Isaiah is writing to give people hope who would be in exile. Israel in Babylonian exile may lose hope, but the promise of the coming Messiah, and the restoration of the remnant of Israel, those who trust in God’s promises were to give God’s people hope in the midst of a hopeless situation.
In the book of Isaiah, we come to Isaiah 42:1-4, which is one of the messianic prophecies about Christ.
1 Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold;
My chosen one in whom My soul delights.
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the nations.
2 “He will not cry out or raise His voice,
Nor make His voice heard in the street.
3 “A bruised reed He will not break
And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish;
He will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 “He will not be disheartened or crushed
Until He has established justice in the earth;
In this passage, we get a glimpse of the kind of Savior Jesus will be. First, Jesus is the chosen servant of God in whom the Father delights. We see this at Jesus’ baptism, when the Father says, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. We also see in verse 1 and verse 4 that Jesus will execute justice. This was a hopeful promise to Israel who would be taken captive by Babylon.
But I want to zero in on verse 3. A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not extinguish.” A bruised reed is hanging on by a thread, and a dimly burning wick is about to go out. From our vantage point, the bruised weed and the wick that’s at the end of its rope, is practically useless. We would pull the reed off, and snuff the candle out.
And that’s what Babylon does to God’s people. When they have had enough, when they are a bruised reed and a dimly burning wick, Babylon kicks them while they are down.
But here we see the gentleness of Jesus. The Bruised reed and dimly burning wick point us to the brokenness and frailty of humanity. We may be broken because of our own sin, or broken due to the sin of others.
Jesus will not break the bruised reed. He will not extinguish the dimly burning wick. That’s you and me. We are bruised, we are barely shining and our light about to go out. But Jesus doesn’t toss us out. He doesn’t get rid of us. In fact, he comes to restore us. He comes to save and redeem the bruised reeds and dimly burning wicks.
Dear believer, I don’t know where you are in your life today. But I imagine at times life’s circumstances may cause you to feel like that bruised reed and dimly burning wick. Life sometimes appears to be hopeless. But Jesus, the servant in whom the Father delights, he cares for us. He will execute justice and restore the broken. Come to him! Find peace in Christ today, for a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not extinguish.
