Matthew 12:14-22 – The Leader You Want
Translation & Sermon by
Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 20 May 2012
Greyed-out
text omitted to keep sermon delivery shorter.
Translation
12:14 Now after they went out, the
Pharisees took counsel together against Him
as to how they might
destroy Him.
12:15 Then Jesus, being informed, withdrew
from there,
and many crowds followed Him, and
He healed them all.
12:16 Yet He reprimanded them so
that they might not make a scene for Him,
12:17 that what was declared
through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, when he said,
12:18 “Look at this Servant
of mine which I chose,
my Beloved in which my
soul delighted.
I will put my Spirit
upon Him, and He will announce justice to the nations.
12:19 He will not quarrel
neither will He shout, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.
12:20 He will not break
off a crushed reed, and He will not extinguish a smoldering wick
up until
whenever He dispenses justice in victory.
12:21 And in His name
nations will hope.”
Intro: What do you expect of a winning presidential candidate?
·
This year being a presidential election year, we’ve
been thinking a lot about the candidates.
·
We want someone who has answers we appreciate to
the questions about the wars, the economy, and social issues.
·
We want someone who looks good on camera and is
confident in personality.
·
We want someone that the media will tell us
positive things about, and if the media says negative things about the
candidate, then most folks feel the candidate won’t make it.
·
That person needs connections and the ability to
raise lots of money to pay for all the media exposure, itinerant speaking,
campaign manager salaries, etc.
·
As far as I can tell, that’s what wins presidential
elections these days in America.
·
Would Jesus win an election if He were to run? He
didn’t seem to have answers that people liked, He apparently wasn’t attractive
in His looks, if Isaiah’s prophecy is true, He didn’t have much money to speak
of – not even a bed to lay His head on, and the influential people of His day
were saying negative things about Him.
·
If you were a Jew in Jesus’ day what would it take
to convince you to follow Jesus anyway?
The Pharisee’s Response to Jesus’ Leadership (v.14)
12:14 But after they went out, the
Pharisees took counsel together [plottedNIV,NKJ/conspiredNAS,ESV]
against Him as to how they might destroy [killNIV] Him.
εξελθοντες οι δε φαρισαιοι συμβουλιον ελαβον κατ αυτου οπως αυτον απολεσωσιν
- Remember that Jesus had just defied the Pharisees’
man-made Sabbath rules by healing a man’s withered hand during a synagogue
meeting.
- The passage in the Gospel according to Luke (6:11) that
describes these same events says that the Pharisees were really “mad.”
They stormed out of the synagogue and immediately started plotting to kill
Jesus.
- The passage in the Gospel according to Mark (3:6) says
that these Pharisees were so desperate to get Jesus that they teamed up
with their political enemies, the Herodians to come up with a plan to put
an end to Jesus.
- This is the foolish way that human hearts go when they do
not want to be under the leadership of Jesus. Our hearts naturally pursue
irrational, destructive ends in order to avoid submitting to the Lordship
of Christ.
- Somehow Jesus caught wind of this plot. Perhaps His divine
omniscience informed Him, or perhaps a well-placed Jew who was sympathetic
to Him gave Him this intelligence. I might guess that since Mark’s parents
had a house in Jerusalem and since Mark is the one who tells us that the
Pharisees got in cahoots with the Herodians, that perhaps Mark’s dad
observed the meeting between the Pharisees and the Herodians in Jerusalem
and then sent Mark to warn Jesus. Maybe one of you budding authors could
write a historical fiction novel based on that?
- Anyway what was…
Jesus’ Response to the Pharisee’s Antagonism (v.15-16)
12:15 Then Jesus, being informed [when He
knewKJV/perceivingATR/aware of thisNAS,NIV,ESV],
withdrew from there, and many crowds followed Him, and He healed them all.
ο δε ιησους γνους ανεχωρησεν εκειθεν και ηκολουθησαν αυτω [οχλοι-א,B] πολλοι και εθεραπευσεν αυτους παντας
- He “withdrew.” This Greek word ανεχωρησεν is the same as the one used in
- 9:24 “clear out” – getting the mourners out of Jairus’
house,
- 4:12 “retreated” – Jesus going up from Judea to Galilee
after John was imprisoned,
- and 2:13-22 “departed” – Joseph and the wise men leaving
the country in light of Herod’s threats
- Mark tells us that Jesus went out to the seashore [of the
sea of Galilee]. He got away from the town where the Pharisees were most
upset in order to keep from continuing to stir the hornet’s nest.
- But when He did so, His followers retreated with Him, and
the crowds grew. Again Mark fills in details of who was following Jesus.
He mentions people from the neighboring countries of Edom, Jordan, and
Lebanon, and so it is highly probable that there were Gentiles among the
crowds of people who were being healed by Jesus.
- The crowds got so big that Jesus borrowed a boat and
pushed off from the shore in order to keep from being thronged by the
crowd and in order to be able to teach them in a way that His voice could
carry naturally.
- Matthew’s words, “great multitudes followed Him, and He healed
them all” indicate the limitlessness of Jesus saving, healing power
– He healed them ALL!” There was nothing He couldn’t heal; no one left
unhelped. Such is the unlimited power of our Savior!
- Mark also adds to our understanding of Jesus’ power. He
says that unclean spirits were calling Jesus the Son of God and bowing
down before Him. I presume that these demons were saying these things
through the mouths of the humans they possessed and causing the bodies of
these men and women to physically bow down before Jesus. Can you imagine
the awe of the spectators as these superhuman spirits groveled before
Jesus?
- Wow! We have someone here who controls the spirit world,
who can heal every disease, who can make food come out of nowhere, who can
control the weather, and who can beat our smartest religious leaders in
games of logic and religious trivia. This guy is AWESOME! Let’s just get
on with it and march on Jerusalem and throw out all the Romans and their
Jewish lackeys and put this guy in power! He’s the one we want for our
leader!
12:16 Yet He reprimanded [chargedKJV/
warnedNAS,NIV,NKJ/ orderedESV] them so that they might
not make a scene for Him [make Him knownKJV,ESV/ tell who he wasNAS,NIV/
make an exposition of Himlit/put a spotlight on Himfig].
και επετιμησεν αυτοις ινα μη φανερον αυτον ποιησωσιν
- epitimaw is almost always used in the Bible in a
negative sense of calling someone down or rebuking them.
- In Matt. 8:26 this word is used to describe what Jesus
said to calm the storm.
- Here Jesus is healing people, and as they get all excited
about what He has done, He has to say, “Whoa, hold your horses!”
- Why would Jesus be such a spoilsport at a time when there
was such great joy?
- It’s because He didn’t want them to “make a scene” over
him;
- He didn’t want the publicity at this time.
- The words in the Greek text can be literally translated
“that they might not make an exposition of Him.”
- ILLUSTRATION: I remember going to a Phil Keaggy concert
years ago, sponsored by the little Christian college I went to. Student
volunteers were manning the spotlights, and, since Phil Keaggy was such a
famous guitar player, they kept a spotlight trained on him. There was a
full band with him, though, including another guitar-player, and way the
concert was arranged, there was a lot of jamming inbetween songs. During
these jam sessions, of course, Phil Keaggy played some brilliant licks on his
guitar while the other guitarist held down the rhythm, but then, after
playing lead for a little while, Phil would step back and just strum
chords to give an opportunity for the other guitarist to switch places and
take the lead, which is the way great jazz works – everybody in the band
gets their turn to lead with their interpretation of the melody line.
Well, it became kinda funny, because when Phil would step back to playing
rhythm guitar, the student operating the spotlight was so enamored with
Phil’s playing that he would just keep the spotlight on Phil, rather than
shining it on the other guitarist when the other guitarist took the lead,
and after a while Phil would make shoo-ing motions with his hand to take
the spotlight off him and train it on the other guitarist.
- That’s kind of an illustration of what Jesus was doing. He
was trying to shoo away people from putting spotlights on Him because He
knew that it was not the right time for the Messiah to be made King yet.
- Jamieson Fausset and Brown commented
on the demons worshipping Jesus, “How glorious this extorted homage… but
as this was not the time, so neither were they the fitting preachers.”
- Jesus did not want to be known and remembered as a magician
or wonder-worker. His mission was to save mankind by taking away the sins
of the world. (Hendricksen)
- “miracles… had the deliberate purpose
of proving Him to be the Son of God and the Redeemer given to the world.
Little by little, and by steady degrees, He came out into the light. And
He was only revealed as the one He was to the extent that the time
ordained of the Father allowed.” ~J. Calvin
- Jesus’ “hour had not yet come,” so He wished to avoid
offense and peril to Himself, but also, He wished to provide an example
of His own teaching to His disciples that if they reject you, ‘flee to
the next city.’ (M. Henry)
- But this could raise a question in some people’s minds: If
all the religious leaders of the time believed that Jesus was such a
dangerous liar that He needed to be killed, and if Jesus Himself was not
willing to accept the honor of leadership that He seemed to deserve, was
Jesus, in fact who He said He was, or was He an imposter after all? Was
Jesus really God’s solution for mankind? Was He really someone we should
believe in?
- The Apostle Matthew is quick to head those questions off
here. While his account admits that there are
some things that might raise these questions in the minds of his readers,
in v.17 he says that this kind of humble ministry was exactly what the
prophets had predicted would characterize the Messiah:
- “In popular expectation, messiahs exercised their
authority by crushing opposition, but Jesus showed His authority in His
concern for the helpless and downtrodden.” ~D.A. Carson
Jesus’ Fulfillment of Prophecy (vs. 17-21)
12:17 that what was declared
through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, when he said,
ινα/οπως πληρωθη το ρηθεν δια ησαιου του προφητου λεγοντος
We find statements throughout Matthew that substantiate some of the
unexpected characteristics of the Messiah:
- 8:17 (Isaiah’s prophecy about
the Messiah taking away diseases),
- 4:14 (Isaiah’s prophecy about
the Messiah residing in Galilee),
- 3:03 (Isaiah’s prophecy about
John the Baptizer),
- 2:23 (Moses’ prophecy that the
Messiah would live in Nazareth),
- 2:17 (Jeremiah’s prophecy that
the newborns would be killed in Bethlehem),
- 2:15 (Hosea’ prophecy that the
Messiah would come out of Egypt),
- 1:22 (Isaiah’s prophecy that
the Messiah would be born of a virgin),
- and we’ll see it again about 4
more times in later passages in Matthew.
“…this matter also showed a example of His meekness as it is revealed in
Isaiah’s portrayal of the Messiah… For as the flesh always desires outward
display, the Spirit of God, to stop believers seeking it in the Messiah,
declared that He would be quite unlike earthly kings, who want to win
admiration, and wherever they go excite great cheers
and fill cities and towns with wild enthusiasm.” ~J. Calvin
12:18 “Look at this Servant of mine that I
chose, my Beloved in which my soul delighted [is well-pleasedKJV,NAS].
I will put my Spirit upon Him, and He will announce[shewKJV/
declareNKJ/ proclaimNAS,NIV,ESV] justice to
the nations.
ιδου ο παις μου ον ηρετισα ο αγαπητος μου [εις]
ον ευδοκησεν η ψυχη μου θησω το πνευμα μου επ αυτον και κρισιν τοις εθνεσιν απαγγελει
- v.1
“my servant” (Matt.=παις, Isa. παις/
עבד) - Jesus came to
do His Father’s will:
- John 4:34 Jesus said, “My food is to
do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.”
- John 5:30 “I can do nothing on my own…
I seek not my own will but the will of Him who sent me.”
- John 6:38 “I have come down from heaven,
not to do my own will but the will of Him who sent me.” (cf. Heb. 5:8
& 10:7)
- Luke 22:42 “Father… not my will, but
yours, be done.”
- May God be able to say the same of
us, “Look at this servant of mine that I chose, my beloved in which my
soul delighted…”
- v. 1 – I chose (Matt.= ηρετισα
| Isa. ἀντιλήμψομαι
“help” / אתמך “uphold”)
- Luke 1:9 indicates a tradition of the
priests that God would have the final say as to which priest came in to
the temple and offered incense to Him. The priests cast lots and the one
to whom the lot fell would be the one confirmed by God’s choice, since God
has control over even the roll of the dice (Prov. 16:33) – to enter His
presence with the sacrifice to deal with the people’s sin. This is what
Jesus did. Jesus was God’s chosen High Priest would offer Himself up as a
sacrifice for the sins of the world. (cf. Ps.89.19)
- Luke 9:35 [at the transfiguration] a
voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, my Chosen
One; listen to him!"
- 1 Peter 2:4-6 “you come to Him
[Jesus], a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen
and precious” and he goes on to quote Isaiah 28:16 where Isaiah calls the
Messiah/Jesus the “cornerstone which is chosen and precious, and
whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.”
- “my Beloved (Matt. = αγαπητος | Isa. εκλεκτος / בחיר “my chosen one”) In whom my soul delights” (Matt. ευδοκησεν | Isa. προσεδεξατο
“accepted” / רצתה
“pleased”)
- Jesus speaks as the wisdom of God in Proverbs 8:30b
saying, “I was daily His delight, Rejoicing always before Him” (NASB)
- God spoke this out loud twice
while Jesus was on earth: once at His baptism and once at His
transfiguration: Mat 3:17/17:5 a voice out of the heavens said, “This
is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him.” (cf. John
1:18, Eph. 1:6)
- Jesus said again in John 10:17 “For this reason the
Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it
again.” (NASB)
- “All the interest which fallen man has or can have in God
is grounded upon and owing to God’s well-pleasedness in Jesus Christ, for
there is no coming to the Father but by Him (John 14:6).” ~Matthew Henry
- v.1
“I put (Matt=θησω |
Isa. ἔδωκα “gave as a gift” נתתי) my
Spirit on Him”
- This was prophesied earlier in Isaiah
11:1-4 “…the Spirit of Jehovah will settle down upon Him, the Spirit of
wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of
knowledge and the fear of Jehovah… He will judge the poor with
righteousness, and He will reprove with equity for the lowly of the earth...”
(NAW)
- Empowerment with the Holy Spirit is
the way that God equips His servants to make them fit for His calling on
their lives. ~M. Henry
- John 3:34-36a “For He whom God has
sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure…”
(NASB) cf. Heb. 1:9
- “He will proclaim (Matt. απαγγελει | Isa. = εξοισει
“carry away” / יוציא “cause
to go outward”) justice to the nations (εθνεσιν = גוים=gentiles)
- Repeated later on
in the same chapter in Isaiah (v.3&4) – “He will cause judgment to
come out to truth (faithfully bring forth justiceESV)… He will
establish justice in the land, and the coastlands will wait for His law.”
- The servant is to accomplish a
difficult task that would lead some to expect He would faint and be
broken over, and that task is to bring justice to the whole world.
- “By the word ‘judgment’ is understood
a state with a good and orderly constitution, where equity and
uprightness flourish… At the same time he expresses the manner of putting
forth judgment – God shall place His Spirit in Christ. it is indeed true
that there was never any uprightness in the world which did not proceed
form the Spirit of God and remain in being by His heavenly power.” ~J. Calvin
- “[T]he Mediator carries out His
prophetic activity, namely, that of proclaiming ‘justice.’ that which is
right, in harmony with the will of God; that sinners repent, come to
(that is, believe in) the Savior, find salvation in Him, and out of
gratitude live to the glory of their Benefactor.” ~Wm. Hendricksen
- How did Jesus do this?
- by living a perfectly righteous life,
- by dying on the cross and appeasing
God’s wrath over our unrighteousness,
- by rising from
the dead, and ruling as Lord in heaven at the right hand of God,
- and, in the future, by bringing a
consummation to justice at His 2nd coming.
- Isaiah now makes seven negative
statements of what Jesus will NOT do. This
literary device of litotes is designed to make us think of what
Jesus is like by telling us what He is not like:
12:19 He will not quarrel [striveKJV
κεκραξεταιLXX יצעקMT =cry out]
neither will He shout [cry out/ ανησειLXX
“slacken”/ ישׂאMT
“rise up”], nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.
ουκ ερισει ουδε κραυγασει ουδε ακουσει τις εν ταις πλατειαις την φωνην αυτου
- This is the only place in the NT that the verb erisei
[quarrel] shows up. It is in 3 places in the O.T., describing:
- Esau’s wives (Genesis 26:35),
- the Israelites being disobedient to God (1 Samuel 12:14-15),
- and Amaziah king of Judah, trying to start a war with the
northern kingdom of Israel (2 Kings 14:10)
- But Jesus was not a debater.
He spoke His mind, but He didn’t get bogged down in back-and-forth
arguing. If people wouldn’t listen, He didn’t keep arguing. (Ecclesiastes
9:17 “The words of the wise heard in quietness are better than the
shouting of a ruler among fools.” -NASB)
- Jesus was not ostentatious:
- He spoke to Elijah in a “still small
voice” rather than in a whirlwind or an earthquake 1 Kings 19:11-13
- When he was born, “His advent did not
create a big stir” ~J Calvin
- John 1:10 “He was in the world, and
the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him.” (NASB) Why?
Because He did not flaunt it.
- When His miracles and teaching drew
crowds, He did not take advantage of His popularity. He often retreated
to get away from the crowds.
- and then He made His triumphal entry
into Jerusalem with a brass band, a loud P.A. system blaring in the
streets, and riding in a stretch limousine, right?
No! As the prophet Zechariah (9:9) predicted, He entered humbly on a
little donkey.
- Jesus taught His disciples to
be the same way: “And whenever y’all pray, you shall not be as the
hypocrites that love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners
of the streets [or plazas] in order that they might be put in the limelight
by men. I’m telling you truly, they are holding off on their reward. But
as for you, whenever you pray, enter into your closet, and after you have
closed your door, start praying to your Father who is in the secret
[place], and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matt.
6:5-6, NAW)
- Likewise His kingdom grows quietly and
unobtrusively: This is illustrated by the parables of the mustard seed
and the leaven: Matthew 13:31-33 “The kingdom of heaven is like a
grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the
smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the
garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and
make nests in its branches.” … “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that
a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”
- The wildfire growth of Christianity
all over the world and it’s complete outstripping of all other world
religions – including secularism – is the most important news happening,
but you won’t see it reported on the radio and TV. It goes unnoticed –
hidden until suddenly you look around and realize, wow God has been
working!
12:20 He will not break off a crushed [bruisedKJV,NIV,ESV/batteredNAS]
reed, and He will not extinguish [quenchKJV/putNAS/snuff
outNIV] [smoking flaxKJV] a smoldering wick up until
whenever He [sends forthKJV/bringsESV/leadsNAS,NIV]
dispenses justice in victory.
καλαμον συντετριμμενον ου κατεαξει και λινον τυφομενον ου σβεσει εως αν εκβαλη εις νικος την κρισιν
- “The grandeur and completeness of Messiah’s victories
would prove, it seems, not more wonderful than the unobtrusive
noiselessness with which they were to be achieved. And whereas one rough
touch will ‘break a bruised reed, and quench the flickering, smoking flax,’
His it should be, with matchless tenderness, love, and skill, to lift up
the meek, to ‘strengthen the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees, to
comfort all that mourn, to say to them that are of a fearful heart, “Be
strong, fear not.”’” ~ A Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
by Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
- I translate this “reed” in 11:7 and 27:29 as a “cat-tail.”
The image is that of a stalk sticking up from the ground near a stream,
but somebody has brushed past it and stepped on it so that the stalk is
bent over halfway, and the top is being trodden into the mud on the path
as people walk by. It would be natural for a passer-by to absentmindedly
grab that bent stalk and rip it apart at its weak point, play with it for
a while, then throw it off to the side, but that is not the way the
Messiah will be. He will not cause further brokenness and discard you like
trash the way all the other masters in the world will do.
- The only place in the Greek O.T. where this word for
“break” occurs is in the prophecy of Zechariah 1:21, where it refers to the
empires (or “horns”) that “scattered Judah and broke Israel in
pieces” during the time of the exile.
- It is possible that this prophecy contrasts the way that
God dealt with His people during the Babylonian exile with the way that
God would deal with His people during Jesus’ ministry years on earth.
- There was a time when God broke off the Jews from the
promised land, but that was not what Jesus was coming to do during
Matthew’s time; Jesus was coming to heal and save. (John 12:47)
- The time would come soon enough afterward that God would
once again break off the Jews from their land in 70AD.
- While God’s power to judge is very terrifying, yet His
power to save is very gentle.
- The wick is a piece of linen or flax that sits in the oil
or wax of a candle and is lit.
- In the O.T.
- the wrath of God burned without being
quenched (2 Ki. 22:17, 2 Ch. 34:25, Isa 1:31 & 34:10, Eze. 20:48,
Amos 5:6),
- thus the fire on the altar had to be kept
burning without ever being extinguished (Lev. 6),
- and the fires of hell are spoken of as
un-extinguishable (Isa 66:24).
- But there were those upon whom God set
His love whose lives would not be consumed by the fire of His wrath
against sin, and their lives would be preserved like a flame kept burning
(Prov. 10:7, 13:9).
- Thus King David’s buddies talked about
keeping him out of dangerous combats after a close call with another
giant sometime after Goliath so that he could stay alive and keep leading
the country of Israel. They said, “You’re not going out any longer with
us to battle, so you don’t extinguish the lamp of Israel.” (2
Samuel 21:17)
- Again, God had dealt with Israel and
Judah justly against their idolatry by extinguishing them in the exile
into Babylon (Jer. 4:4, 7:20, 10:27), but the God would show His gentle,
saving nature in the coming of Christ. A generation later, those who did
not follow Jesus were consumed in the fire of God’s wrath in 70AD.
- But “He will not break a bruised
reed or extinguish a smoking wick”
- A smoky candle is irritating to the
nose and eyes. It’s the sort of thing any normal person would want to
extinguish so it doesn’t stink up the house and make your eyes sting, but
Jesus is so gentle with us when we are obnoxious, He is willing to put up
with the offensive sights and sounds we generate by our sin. Matthew
Henry noted that this is especially true of young believers who just need
time to grow in the faith and who mess up frequently. God is patient.
- When Jesus encountered gentiles who knew
little of the Bible, He encouraged their faith.
- When He encountered prostitutes whose
bodies and family relationships were weak, He was forgiving and kind.
- When the man who had given himself to
Satan and ended up blind and mute from demons was brought up to Jesus in
v.22, Jesus healed him as a further demonstration of His kindness to
someone who didn’t deserve it.
- Isa. 40:11 “…He will
shepherd His flock: With His arm He will gather lambs, And in His bosom
carry; Those who are nursing He will lead gently.” (NAW) cf. Isa. 57:15
- Hebrews 5:2 “he can deal gently with
the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness”
(NASB)
- Jesus’ ministry will be gentle…
until whenever He [sends forthKJV/bringsESV/leadsNAS,NIV]
dispenses justice in victory
- Matthew departs from the Hebrew and
Septuagint text of Isaiah with the word “victory” instead of the word
“truth.” I suppose that since Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life”
(John 14:6), “victory,” in terms of Christ conquering all His enemies,
means that truth and life will triumph over lies and death, so there is
a relationship between the ascendency of truth and the victory of Christ.
- Our savior “will be persistent until He wins” (D.A. Carson).
I think that this time when justice flows out victoriously from Jesus is
the time of His second coming when everyone finally acknowledges that
Jesus is their Master and death is conquered.
- In Revelation 6:2 Jesus is portrayed as this conqueror,
“I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and
a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.” (NASB)
12:21 and in His name, nations [gentilesKJV,NAS,ESV]
will hope [trustKJV].
και τω ονοματι αυτου εθνη ελπιουσιν
- Remember that Mark’s gospel tells us that there were
people from other nations hearing Jesus at this time. I think this may be
the reason that Matthew begins and ends his quote of Isaiah with a
reference to Gentiles hearing and believing in the Messiah.
- It is interesting that the Greek O.T. as well as Matthew’s
quote of Isaiah render the object of the gentiles faith and hope the
“name” of the Messiah instead of the original Hebrew word “torah” (law).
Until the time that our Savior arrived in Bethlehem, all that the world
knew was the law of God, but now we know the name of God, Jesus,
who is also the word of God.
- Thus Matthew Henry wrote: “Christ, in His own person
preached to those who bordered upon the heathen nations (See Mark 3:6-8),
and by His apostle showed His gospel, here called His ‘judgment,’ to the
Gentile world. The way and method of salvation, the judgment which is
committed to the Son is not only wrought out by Him as our great High
Priest, but showed and published by Him as our great prophet… The great
design of the gospel is to bring people to trust in the name of Jesus
Christ… Observe also, that the law we wait for is the law of faith, the
law of trusting in His name. This is now His great commandment, that we
believe in Christ (1 John 3:23).”
- Hope is future-oriented, and Christ offers us even
greater things in the future: “…at last, at the great consummation,
sin and all its consequences will have been banished forever from God’s
redeemed universe… and in His name, that is, in ‘Christ as revealed’ to
the world, shall the Gentiles hope… The period of secrecy will be
gradually replaced by that of wide publicity, when the church fulfils its
mission among the Gentiles…” ~Wm. Hendricksen
- God spoke of His plan that the Gentiles would hope in His
savior through the prophets:
- Gen 22:18 "In your seed all the nations of the
earth shall be blessed
- Ps. 72:8-11 “Let His glory fill the whole earth”
- Mal. 1:11a “For from the rising of the sun even to its
setting, My name will be great among the nations”
- And when Jesus was on the earth, Gentiles did indeed come
to put their faith in Him:
- Matt 2:1-2&11 (magi); 8:10-12 (Roman centurion);
15:21-28 (Syrophonecian woman); John 4 (Samaritan woman at the well); John
12:20-23 (The Greeks who came to see Jesus in the temple);
- Then Jesus sent His disciples out to bring people of all
nationalities to faith in Him:
- Matt. 28:18-20 “going into all the world, make disciples
of every nation”
- He told Nicodemus: John 3:16 “God so loved the world
that He sent His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him will not
perish but have everlasting life”
- And he sent Paul to preach to Gentiles like the Ephesians
(Acts 22:21, Eph. 2:11-22)
- Finally, the Revelation Jesus gave to John indicates
that some people from every nationality will indeed end up in heaven: “…I
looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every
nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne
and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in
their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation to our
God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’” (Revelation 7:9-10, NASB)
- I tell you what, that’s the kind of leader I want to
follow!
- Even though Jesus retired from
publicity and was despised by the religious leaders of the day, Matthew
makes a strong case from prophecy that Jesus is indeed the person we
should follow and put our hope and trust in to make us right with God. Let
me close with four more…
Applications
1. Let us root out of ourselves the attitude of the Pharisees whose
rebellion against Jesus’ authority became murderous. Let us submit to His
leadership:
a. “The doctrine He preached was directly opposite to their pride and
hypocrisy and worldly interest, but they pretended to be displeased at His
breaking the Sabbath day” ~M. Henry
b. We should ask ourselves, “Am I like that?”
c.
“All those are acting
wickedly who reject Christ because His outward state does not match up to their
wishes. For we must not imagine a Christ who corresponds to our ideas, but must
simply embrace Him as He is set forth by the Father.” ~J.Calvin
2. Let us also follow the example of Christ by being people who retire
from limelight:
a. One way of doing this is to stay out of trouble – to have the
wisdom not to get people more excited or upset than necessary. “Though we must
boldly go on in the way of duty, yet we must contrive the circumstances of it
so as not to exasperate more than is necessary those who seek occasion against
us. ‘Be wise as serpents’ (Mt. 10:16)” ~M. Henry
b. Another reason to avoid the spotlight is that we are to give glory to
God rather than to ourselves. Matthew Henry wrote, “Wise and good men, though
they covet to do good, yet are far from coveting to have it talked of
when it is done; because it is God’s acceptance, not men’s
applause, that they aim at.”
3. A third thing that this passage brings out is the fact of our own
weakness and the importance of humbly thanking God for His grace toward
us. “Because each of us is aware of his weakness, we should consider how much
we all need to be cherished tenderly by Christ…” ~J. Calvin
4. And finally, let us join with
Christ in His global strategy of calling the nations to faith in Him,
especially following His example of being gentle with the weak and strong with
the rebellious (like the Pharisees), “Just as faithful ministers of the Word
must take care to spare the weak and cherish and increase God’s grace, yet weak
in them, so on the other hand they must beware not to indulge the obstinate
malice of those who are far from being a smoking wick or a shaking reed. …
those who are strong enough and to spare must have their hardness beaten
violently with a hammer.” ~J. Calvin