Have you ever had a verse from scripture just leap out at you? Maybe it’s one you have read a hundred times, but the 101st time, God reveals something new? That’s exactly what happened to me this week. I am working my way through the book of Matthew, when I read the verse in chapter 12, “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out…”. This time I stopped and asked myself, what does this mean? What is a bruised reed? My search in Google brought me to the “Got Questions” website. I was so excited about what I read! Let me explain.
Matthew, chapter 12, begins with Jesus being challenged by the Pharisees over the proper “rules” of the Sabbath. “Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.” The religious leaders, the Pharisees, were so consumed with the legalism of the law that they wanted to kill Jesus for healing a man with a deformed hand on the Sabbath. Think about that for a moment. Jesus, seeing the man and feeling compassion for him, didn’t tell the man, “I see your hand is shriveled, and I am sure it causes you pain. Your life would be easier if you had two hands that both worked well. I am sure you’d like to be healed and restored. I’m sorry, but I can’t heal you today because it’s the Sabbath.” Can you imagine? No! Jesus saw the man, felt his pain, and healed him in that moment.
Matthew 12:20, is a prophecy about the type of person the Messiah would be. He wouldn’t be a man consumed with holding the people to an unreachable standard. He wouldn’t be a man who would crush the people under a mound of rules, causing more difficulty and burdens. He wasn’t coming to condemn, but to save. A bruised reed and a smoldering wick refer to those who are weak or broken. So many times in the bible, we are told that Jesus came to heal the sick and the broken. He came to lift us out of the pit, to heal us from our trauma, to give us hope in our depression. He came to bring us light when the darkness of this world envelopes us.
I asked myself, what is a reed? What would it have been used for? Reeds could be used as roofing materials, for a thatched roof. They were used in basket making, as writing utensils, and even as musical instruments. But a bruised or broken reed wouldn’t be used. It would have been useless and would have been thrown into the fire. A smoldering wick doesn’t give off light to the house. It’s barely alive and useless to those sitting in darkness. But if you blow on it, the oxygen provided will cause it to come alive and burn brightly. Once it is restored, it will not only provide light, but a source of power to light other wicks around it!
Do you see why I am so excited about how God opened my eyes to this verse? We are all broken. We all have felt snuffed out by the world, lost in the darkness of our lives. How many of us have bruises and wounds on our souls? Depression, anxiety, fear, pain… Jesus doesn’t see our infirmities and toss us aside as useless. He came to heal us! He says to our hearts, open yourself to my love and I will restore you. He didn’t come to break us further, to snuff us out! His character is good and kind and compassionate. Just as He saw the man with a shriveled hand and felt empathy, He sees our shriveled lives and He desires to make us whole.
I have been in that place, where I felt so broken that I didn’t think my life held any meaning. But Jesus saw me in that moment, and I am sure there were friends praying for me as I fought within the darkness. The man with the shriveled hand didn’t go to the synagogue that day for healing. He didn’t know that the Messiah, the Son of God would be there. This unnamed man was there to worship God, and perhaps to pray and find a flicker of hope in the darkness of his own life. Yet God in His infinite wisdom, showed His true character and heart, not only to this man, but to all of us. We see who He is, and we know that He sees us, and He understands our pain and struggles. Why does He understand? Because He too was broken. His blood was poured out for our sins at the cross. “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5-6)
Chased by the Devi 