A Bruised Reed He Will Not Break

In our weakness, we are as bruised reeds and dimly burning wicks. But Jesus, in His mercy, mends His people and fans them into life. Today, Sinclair Ferguson examines a tenderhearted picture of Christ from the book of Isaiah.

We were talking yesterday on the podcast about the need to think carefully about how the Old Testament points to the Lord Jesus. I wanted to say that as a kind of preface to our thinking in the rest of the week because we’re going to think about four Old Testament passages that the New Testament itself makes clear would’ve been in Jesus’ own mind during His own lifetime, and then in His teaching after the resurrection about the things in the Bible that concerned Himself. I wonder if you guessed that the passages I was thinking about are all in the second half of Isaiah in what we often call the Servant Songs. You’ll find them in chapter 42, 49, chapter 50, and then in chapter 52:13–53:12.

Isaiah had foreseen that since the people of God had breached God’s covenant, they were destined for judgment. And as He had promised, God would send them into a far country, into exile. But now, as he looks into the future, Isaiah sees deliverance and restoration to the promised land coming on the horizon, and it would come, remarkably, through Cyrus, the pagan king of Persia. That’s why Isaiah 40 begins with the words that we are familiar with from Handel’s Messiah: “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.”

But remember Isaiah’s own experience that he describes in chapter 6, how he became profoundly aware of his own sinfulness, and he equally becomes profoundly aware of the fact that the people’s geographical exile was simply a reflection of a much more sinister exile. And so, he knew that political deliverance was not an adequate solution to the real problem, which was spiritual—their sin. What the people really needed was deliverance from their deeper bondage in sin and their exile from God.

And so, God gave Isaiah insight into the way in which God would bring that deliverance. The Lord would make Cyrus His servant to bring about political restoration, but it would take a different kind of servant to rescue them from the power and consequences of sin. And so, over the horizon, a shadowy figure begins to appear. His presence is announced in these words in Isaiah 42:1, “Behold my servant, whom I uphold . . . I have put my Spirit on him.” That poem or song is worth meditating on, and I want to select only one of its amazing statements, but one that’s cited in Matthew 12:18–20 and referred to there specifically to the Lord Jesus. Here are the words:

He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench. (Isa 42:2–3)

That’s such a beautiful description of the Lord Jesus, isn’t it? I love it that Isaiah’s poem begins with the words, “Behold my servant,” in other words, “Look at Him.” I hope you can find time to do that today, to actually look at Jesus in these words, not just see the words, but focus on the One to whom the words point and admire Him, love Him—because I’m afraid it’s the lack of doing this that tends to weaken our Christian lives.

But think about these two pictures of Jesus. There He is walking through the fields. He comes across a slender reed that’s been damaged. I know my own instinct would be to do what I would’ve done as a boy: pull it up, break it off completely, and throw it away—just finish the job. It’s had it day; it’s done. But not Jesus.

Then think of the other picture: a dimly burning wick. Sometimes where we live in Scotland storms cause power outages, and occasionally we’ve had to resort to using candles. But eventually they burn down, the light begins to flicker, there’s smoke. What do I do? Well, I just snuff out the candle. It’s useless now, and I discard it.

But what if the bruised reeds and the dimly burning wicks are people—weak people, frail people, people life has damaged, even people we don’t see any use for any longer? Does Jesus ignore them, snuff them out? After all, they’re just dimly burning wicks. Now, truth to tell, we’re all bruised reeds and dimly burning wicks in the Lord’s sight, but He doesn’t throw us away or snuff us out.

I’ve met Christians who live in fear that Jesus is going to do exactly that to them, and that’s why this word “behold” is so important. Behold Jesus—look, see what He is really like. He’s a gracious, kind, tenderhearted, and patient Savior to His people. He doesn’t break bruised reeds or snuff out dimly burning wicks; He mends them, fans them into life.

But before we finish today there’s something I want to point out to you. A couple of verses later in this passage, the Servant is described in this way: “He will not grow faint or discouraged” (Isa. 42:4). And these words actually echo what was said earlier about Jesus. The Lord Jesus is able to help bruised reeds, dimly burning wicks, because He was victorious when His heel was bruised. And although the darkness sought to extinguish the light, the Light of the World still shines on, and that’s what makes Him exactly the kind of Savior I need and you need—we all need. So let’s make sure we behold Him today.