Matthew 2024

Matthew chapter 12 from verse 14.

But the pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. Aware aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him and he healed all who are ill. He warned them not to tell others about him. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah.

Here is my servant whom I have chosen the 1 I love in whom I delight. I will put my spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not quarrel or cry out. No 1 will hear his voice in the streets. A bruised read, he will not break.

And a smoldering wick he will not snuff out till he has brought justice through to victory. In his name, the nations will put their hope. Thank you, Abby. Well, good evening and my welcome to Dean's. My name is Tom.

If we've not met before, it's a real privilege to, be opening up this glorious passage, to you this evening, and we need the lord's help, don't we? So let's ask him for it together. Heavenly father, we do thank you so much that you are a speaking god that you've spoken to us through your word. We thank you for the truths that we've already sung about that. Your mercy is more.

And lord, we pray that this evening, we would gaze on our king of glory, help us in Jesus' name, amen. Well, to set this scene this evening, I'm going to read a quote from The psychologist Jonathan Hate, who I think makes a very good observation, he says this, we've made a world that is far too stressful, far too performative, and far too isolating for young people to thrive. It's interesting that theme of will you thrive came up this morning. Well, he thinks that our world is far too stressful, far too performative, and far too isolating. There's a lot of truth in that, isn't that?

It's not enough simply to enjoy something anymore. You have to prove it. Your life has become a performance. That's stressful. Have to make an Instagram account for your hobby.

Share on your story post a day in the life and it's not enough to be healthy. You can't even go for a walk without counting your steps. You have to track your calories, even monitor your heart rate, post your run on strava. It's not enough to have a job anymore. It's an expectation of having a side hustle.

Getting financial freedom, building your personal brand on LinkedIn and we could go on trust me. We could go on but even when we want to rest, rest has become another task. Track your sleep. My colleagues wear sleep trackers. Reduce your screen time.

If you go on holiday, make a TikTok about it. Every moment of our lives is measured. Every part of life has become something to prove and you have to think, is this really the way things should be? The relentless pressure of comparison and expectation is crushing. And for so many, it's bruising.

And maybe you feel it too. The weight of never being enough. Feeling like you're running through life as fast as you can, but you will never be fast enough. The exhaustion of constantly having to prove yourself. And it's no wonder people feel like damaged goods, is it?

I wonder if that's you this evening. If you feel like a flickering flame, If you feel like a bruise read, as I was writing this, a song came on on the radio, and it's words where sometimes it's hard to be human. Sometimes it's hard to be human. What do we do with that? If we feel crushed by life's demands and disappointments, if we feel like this world is far too stressful, is far too performative and far too isolating.

What hope do we have? Matthew 12 begins with Jesus saying in verse 6 something greater than the temple is here. And it ends in verse 41 with jesus saying something or someone greater than Jonah is here. And then in verse 42, he says something greater than Solomon is here. What is here that could be greater than the Great Temple, the dwelling place of God, the center of worship where priests offered sacrifices for sin.

Who is here who could be greater than the great prophet Jonah, who preached to the exceedingly great city of nineveh, the gentile nation that then repented and was saved. Who is here? That could be greater than the great king Solomon whose kingly rule was marked by enormous wealth and prosperity and extraordinary wisdom. Who is here? Verse 18, here is my servant.

It's as if the spirit instructed Matthew as he's writing writing this narrative on Jesus like to take a step back and say, open your eyes. Can't you see? Can't you see who is here? Matthew applies this prophecy from Isaiah, a prophecy made over 700 years before this moment here is my servant. The s ESV translates it.

Behold my servant, and that's my prayer for us this evening. We behold Christ as god's servant who came to bring hope to a bruised world. We'd be whole Christ as god's servant who came to bring hope to a bruised world. So my first point, verses 15 to 18, the calling of god's servants. We started our reading at verses verse 14, but before that, Jesus proves it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.

Remember by healing a man with a withered hand in the synagogue. Imagine just for a second this man's situation, in a labor intensive society, he probably couldn't wear because of his disability, which meant he was poor. Not just poor, but in Jewish culture, his disability would have would probably have been seen as some sort of impurity see. So he was socially outcast as well, but Jesus restores him. It says completely, physically socially economically.

This is a wonderful act of mercy, but what happens next? Verse 14 where we read, but the pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. Remarkable, isn't it? The response to goodness, beauty, and mercy is darkness. Jesus gives new life to this man and in return they plot his death.

This isn't the first death sentence in Matthew's Gospel, right at the beginning in Matthew 2, herod responded to the newborn king of the Jews by ordering a massacre of innocent children in Bethlehem. The Faracies do the same here. And later in Matthew 27, the crowd will once again choose death over life when they cry crucify him. It's the same story. We resist goodness.

Remember the sycamore gap tree Anyone remember that tree? Yep. The beautiful hundred and 50 year old tree. It was a landmark next to Hadrian's wall in Northumberland, and it was just sat beautifully in the valley there. It was cut down.

For no reason other than to destroy beauty. And that's exactly what we did in Eden. We took what was good. The god and god gave us and we vandalized it. We rejected the giver of life.

And in doing so, we issued our own death sentence. And Jesus faces the same rejection here. And what does he do? Withdraws. Read with me from verse 15.

Aware of this. That is that the fire seized 1 plotted to kill him. Aware of this. Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him and he healed all who were ill.

He wanted them not to tell others about him. He warned them not to tell others about him. Sorry. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah. I think it's pretty incredible to think that Matthew is prompted by the spirit here recording his gospel account and then suddenly stop this narrative because he thinks hang on.

This reminds me of a prophecy and I want us to see how this prophecy is fulfilled in the narrative that we've just read. So we too can stop and enjoy this rich picture of the work and the person of Christ. Aware of this. That's how it starts. Aware of this.

It doesn't say how Jesus knew. It just says he knew. Could have been told he also could not have been told aware of this. Jesus withdrew from that place. This is a familiar pattern too, isn't isn't it?

Where Jesus preaches. There's a response. There's opposition and Jesus withdraws. And he withdraws because he is devoted to the father's plan at all costs because he is called as god's servants, chosen by god for a particular task, look with me at this beautiful description of Christ in verse 18. Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the 1 I love in whom I delight.

We see lots of different titles given to Jesus and scripture, and each 1 revealing something different about his character, but something precious about his mission. And 1 of the most striking is this title of servants. Later in Matthew, Jesus will use this title himself to describe his role. Paul in Philipp, remember when he describes and and explains the incarnation, god becoming man, he says Jesus took the very nature of a servant. And Peter, when he begins a sermon in acts 3, he says god glorified his servant Jesus.

A servant has a job to do, a role to play. And a servant is called to obedience, fully devoted to the will of the master, doing whatever the master calls him to do. But the master servant relationship It's not just one-sided because a master always has responsibility to care for and provide for his servants. And this imagery becomes richer when we see that in Greek This word for servant can also mean son. Jesus is both.

The father's obedient servant and his beloved son. My servant behold my servant. Who might have chosen? God has chosen his servant son, and we see here that he is loved He's enjoyed and he's anointed. Here is my servant whom I have chosen the 1 I love.

The the words here, the the term used for love is Agapay, which is the highest form of love Jesus is the deeply supremely loved 1. And it's the same word if you remember in Matthew Matthew 3, Jesus's baptism, and it will see it later in Matthew 17 at the transfiguration where the father declares Here is my beloved son. In whom I am well pleased. God's chosen servants, the servant's son is loved is loved by the father. We also see that he's enjoyed in whom I am well pleased at the Batism and transfiguration in here in whom I delight.

God has a particular delight in Christ because of who he is. And who he is is what he has come to do. Matthew warned to save his people from their sins. The servant's son is chosen for a task that delights the father. At Jesus, baptism when the father says, this is my beloved son whom in whom I am well pleased.

What happens next? The spirit descends on him like a dove. Here, Isaiah says, I will put my spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice donations. God's chosen servant, the servant son is the loved 1, the enjoyed 1, and the anointed 1. And his identity is directly tied to his mission of what's proclaiming justice to the nations.

He has come to save a people from a death sentence by taking it that sentence on himself. And the father loves him for that. He is well pleased with him because he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will accomplish the salvation of his people. Behold my servant.

Behold my son, the calling of god's servant. Secondly, in verses 19 and the start of 20, you see the compassion of god's servant. Jesus withdrew from the pharisees who are plotting to kill him because he is j god's chosen servant, chosen for a task that was not yet complete. And he didn't go off on his own because what happens next, a large crowd followed him and he healed all who were ill. Even after he after he knows the religious elite wants a bounty placed on his head because he healed a man.

Jesus still heals all who were ill. Doesn't turn anyone away. He heals them a 100 percent success rate. Everyone who needed healing got it. And he was probably tired.

Ready for some rest. Police god's compassionate servant and his healing ministry reflects his mercy. Reflects the greater task he has come for. But, no, did you notice he warns the crowd not to tell others about him? Know how this fulfills Isaiah's prophecy.

Verse 19, he will not quarrel or cry out. No 1 will hear his voice in the streets. This week, I listened to a New York Times podcast with a reporter who covered who's covered Elon Musk for years, and the key takeaway from me from for for me from this podcast *** was that Elon is clearly driven by 2 things attention and conflict. Attention. He is willing to take extreme.

Extremely reckless risks to ensure that he stays at the center of global attention, spending billions of dollars on a platform on a on a social media form just so we can stay at the center of attention. Imagine me. And then secondly conflict, he was described as a reckon ball on this podcast because his wealth gives him an almost unbeatable advantage in arguments because he can outlast and outspend anyone he comes up against. The power hungry, world richest man, is driven by conflict and attention. What about god's chosen servant?

He will not quarrel or cry out. No 1 will hear his voice in the streets. There's no loud or aggressive tactics here. He won't do anything drastic to emphasize as a achievements and gain power. He won't take extreme steps to stay at the center of the global stage.

In fact, he warns those he heals not to tell anyone about him because He's not driven by personal ambition, but by the father's greater mission. He's a true servant leader and his work will be done without fanfare. He withdrew from the pharisees. He will not quarrel. Even when he knew he was in the right, he withdrew.

He's no reckon ball. He is compassionate. He is gentle, he is humble. And that leads us to the next section here, a bruised read he will not break, and a smoldering wiki will not snuff out till he has brought justice through to victory. In ancient Israel, I'm told Reeds grew by the millions along the river banks, and they were used for a variety of things, like the pens, measuring rods, flutes, and all kinds of things.

But only if they were whole. A bruised Read was worthless. It had no strength, no purpose. So the obvious thing to do was to throw it away without a moment's thought, but Jesus is different. God's servant does not discard the bruise read.

He does not break the week. He does not cast off the weary. So who is this bruise read? The bruise read is the 1 weighed down. Crushed and empty brought to the end of themselves.

Sometimes god allows bruising to awaken the heart because it's necessary to reveal our desperate need of Christ. And this bruising leads to conviction over sin, which leads to sorrow over sin. Remember in ezekiel 9? God distinguishes the righteous from the unrighteous by marking the foreheads of those who were grieving over their sin, over the sin of Israel. That's what it means to be foreign spirit.

Being broken over our sin, realizing we have nothing to bring to god. The puritan Richard Sibs wrote a whole book on this verse, said this amazing quote none are fitter for comfort than those who think themselves furthest off. None are fitter for comfort than those who think themselves furthest off. It's when we realize we fall so far short of god's standard That's what the gospel is for. Those who have a holy despair of themselves because as another theologian said, helplessness, not holiness is the first step to accessing the presence of god.

And isn't helplessness exactly the state of that man that Jesus tells the story about, who's walking from Jerusalem to Jericho, and was attacked by robbers stripped of his clothes, beaten and left half dead. And then a Samaritan comes and takes pity on him, cares for him, loves him. Does not break him? That's the Bruce Read. The Bruce Read sees no helping themselves and so cries out to another for mercy.

And that cry for mercy is the smoldering wick, a faint flickering faith barely holding on. There may be more smoke than there is light or heat, but what matters is that it's alive. Because the compassionate servant takes that faintly burning wick and fans it into flame. Bruises draw the loss to Christ, but they also lead the believer deeper into grace. They humble us, don't they?

Cruisers? They strip away pride. They remind us of our need of Christ, and we shouldn't let them go to waste. And instead see them as a report of god's holiness to our souls and so help us to search our hearts and see why are they so hard and that it's been necessary for me to go through this bruising? But we can only do that.

We can only do that exercise in the context of the promise that the lord will not break us. In the Odyssey, the Greek epic, Adysseus is a bruise wreath. He's battered by war, shift wrecked by storms, his companions are dead, he's alone, and he's constantly on edge because he has no idea what move the gods of Olympus go and to pull next. Poseidon crushes him underneath wave after wave, Athena, let trial after trial come, Zeus watches on. There's no assurance of deliverance or for or safety for odysseus.

And I was blown away reading it by how he is in constant fear of the next wave, the next storm, the next whim of the gods, and that it will finally break in. God servant's son will not break a bruised reed. That's a promise we can enjoy. That's a promise we can delight in. A smoldering wick he will not snuff out.

Instead, he binds up the brokenhearted. What a beautiful image this is for those feeling bruised, those feeling damaged by life, those seeing the assisted bill assisted dying bill and feeling vulnerable? God servant is gentle, humble and compassionate. He says he'll never try drive away. Those are counseling.

That's the hope of the gospel. What a comfort. Thirdly in this passage, we see the conquest of god's servant, and that's the rest of 20 to 21. A bruise read, he will not break, and a smoldering wick, he will not snuff out till he has brought justice through to victory. In his name, the nations will put their hope.

When Matthew says Jesus will proclaim justice to the nations and bring justice through to victory, he means god will fulfill his plan. Justice will 1 day fill the air. Yes. Things are disordered in this world by sin and evil, they're not as they should be, but Isaiah's prophecy points to a servant who will faithfully execute justice. Justice is the servant's central task.

But if we're honest, we've got quite a small sense of justice, don't we? I was gonna sing if I'm not going to. If there's any justice in the world, Lamar, I would be your man, and you would be my girl. Do you know the song? If there's any justice in the world.

I love that song. You can you can really feel his longing for this girl. He's just out of reach and the only explanation he has is that there's no justice in the world. We do have a small sense of justice, but justice in the biblical sense is the revealed truth of god, and it's rooted in the idea of an authority figure making writer's judgments. God will 1 day write every wrong.

Everything will be in its right place. And it's not just fairness. It's the universal rule of god's kingdom. The universal rule of goodness and life. That trickle of water from the temple in ezekiel, which flows into a river and brings life wherever it goes, Jesus came not only to proclaim his just, this justice, but also to bring it through to victory, verse 20.

And how he does that is by laying down his life in the ultimate act of justice, which satisfied god's righteousness. That's the only way he will be victorious over sin and bring salvation to the nations. Christ victory is already won. And it's still and justice is still unfolding as the gospel spreads to the nations and more people come to him in his name, the nations will put their hope. The conquest of the servant.

In a world that is far too stressful, here is someone who heals. In a world that is far too performative, here is someone who offers rest. In a world that is far too isolating, here is someone who draws near. So 2 points of application to close. Firstly, what are you doing about your bruising?

I think Jonathan Nate's comments about life being too performative, isolating, and stressful are helpful, but the truth is even if it wasn't even if we didn't live in this measured world and obsessed with, performance, we'd still be bruised. But there's good news for the brewers because Jesus became bruised for us, The pure perfect servant who god delights in, the son, the father loves, took the weight of sin, the burden of sin on himself, the sinless became sin and the Bible tells us the ways of sinners death, so Jesus took that death sentence that we have earned on himself, and this was the only way to bring justice to victory by becoming a Bruce read becoming a bruise Reed that was broken for us. So you and I didn't have to be. What a wonderful exchange? He invites us to come to him.

Remember the invitation from the chat before come to me or who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest, come to me, or you are you who are bruised over your sin, and I will not break you. Prime gentle and humble in heart. God 7 is a tender savior for those suffering under the sorrow of Essin. He will not snuff out the flickering flame of faith. His victory on the cross is a victory for even the weakest believer.

What about if you are a believer and you're bruising? Perhaps our bruising is a result of yet another failed experiment with an idol as we saw this morning. And so we are to see it as a kind discipline from the lord. Can I encourage you to take this phone as a reminder to draw near? No matter who we are or how far we may have come in the faith, We're all in need of the lord.

All in need of grace, and the lord uses bruising for us to come to him to depend on him to pour out our hearts to him. And in order to purify us and refine us, and so glorify himself may our bruising not be wasted. May it lead us to see any unconfessed sin in us or unaddressed pride that we need to deal with, and we need to bring to him. And we can do that with the absolute security that he will not break us. Second point of application, behold God's servants.

I hope this evening we've been able to see and behold God's servant, and I hope this week that you are able to find time to do that in the scriptures to actually look at Jesus who is loved enjoyed and anointed by god because it's the lack of that which weakens our faith, isn't it? But as we behold god's servant son, as we claim his victory over our sin, it should change us. I love what the Psalmus says. What shall I return to the lord for all his goodness to me? What shall I do for all the goodness that God has given me as we behold God 7?

It reminds us of the lord's goodness in our lives, doesn't it? And it drives us to give ourselves in service of him. Let me close with these words from a him. His robes for mine, a wonderful exchange, clothed in my sin, Christ suffered beneath God's rage. Draphed in his righteousness, I'm justified in Christ I live for him in my place he died.

I cling to Christ and marvel at the cost. Jesus forsaken. God estranged from god. But by such love, my life is not my own. My praise my all shall be for Christ alone.

Heavenly father, we thank you so much for your great love for us in sending your servant's son who took our place and we just marvel at this great cost and we want to thank you for your kindness and your mercy. And as we respond to that lord, we want to give you our lives. And we want to say, our praise are all shall be for Christ alone, and we pray that in his name, amen.