1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,200 Verses 6 through 8, he says, I tell you something greater than 2 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:06,200 the temple is here. And if you had known what this 3 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:10,640 means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would have not 4 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:14,920 condemned the guiltless, for the Son of Man is the Lord of the 5 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:16,800 Sabbath. So these verses kind of set up 6 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:19,680 the theme of the passage we're going to look at today. 7 00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:24,760 And what that theme is, it's that of justice and mercy, and 8 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:27,200 that Jesus is the source of both. 9 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:31,360 So when Jesus said he's the Son of man, that's greater than the 10 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:34,960 temple. When he said he is the Lord of 11 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:38,760 the Sabbath, he's in an indirect way claiming to be God. 12 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:41,760 And this fact wasn't lost on the Pharisees. 13 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:46,040 In fact, this is precisely why the Pharisees wanted him dead. 14 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:49,000 Because the Pharisees had elevated their man made 15 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:52,800 traditions and their their man made rules to the same level as 16 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,800 the commands of God, and they had prioritized them over the 17 00:00:56,920 --> 00:01:00,680 the weightier matters of the law such as justice and mercy. 18 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:04,280 In the beginning of chapter 12, we saw their legalism had gotten 19 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:09,520 so bad that they would rather see a man be left unfed than 20 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:12,120 break their tradition. And in the passage we're going 21 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:14,360 to look at today, we're going to see their their legalism had 22 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:18,520 gotten so bad they would rather a man remain crippled than break 23 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:22,040 their tradition. And even worse, their hearts had 24 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:25,840 become so hardened that they not only refused to recognize Jesus 25 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:29,360 for who he is, but they would conspire to put an innocent man 26 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:31,800 to death. And so it's against this 27 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:36,200 backdrop of the hard heartedness and the legalism of the 28 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:41,000 Pharisees that we we look into our text today and we see that 29 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:44,440 Jesus demonstrates the stark difference between the way that 30 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:48,240 he treats the people of God versus the way that the 31 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:50,280 Pharisees treated the people of God. 32 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:54,960 So in our text today, we're going to see that Jesus exposes 33 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:57,920 the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. We're going to see him 34 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:02,000 demonstrate gentleness, compassion, and mercy. 35 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:05,680 And we're going to see how he is the fulfillment of the servant 36 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:10,039 of the Lord in Isaiah 42. Let's go to our text, Matthew 37 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:13,840 12, starting in verse nine. I'm going to be reading from the 38 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:15,080 ESV version today. By the way. 39 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:20,320 Says he went on from there and entered their synagogue and a 40 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:24,120 man was there with a withered hand and they asked him, is it 41 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:27,760 lawful to heal on the Sabbath so that they might accuse him. 42 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:31,360 He said to them, which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls 43 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:34,560 into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it 44 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:38,600 out Of how much more value is a man than a sheep? 45 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:41,720 So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. 46 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:45,720 Then he said to the man, Stretch out your hand, and the man 47 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:48,520 stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the 48 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:50,800 other. But the Pharisees went out and 49 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:53,480 conspired against him how to destroy him. 50 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:57,920 Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there, and many followed 51 00:02:57,920 --> 00:02:59,680 him. And he healed them all, and 52 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:01,360 ordered them not to make him known. 53 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:05,920 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah. 54 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:11,080 Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved, with whom my 55 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:14,960 soul is well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him, 56 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:17,560 and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. 57 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:21,360 He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his 58 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:24,280 voice in the streets. A bruised Reed he will not 59 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:27,920 break, and a smoldering Wick he will not quench until he brings 60 00:03:27,920 --> 00:03:32,520 justice to victory. And in in his name the Gentiles 61 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:35,680 will hope so we're going to see in our text this morning. 62 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:39,600 The main point here is that Jesus is the servant of the Lord 63 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:44,720 who brings justice and mercy and hope to a broken world. 64 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:49,320 Before we continue, let's pray. Father, I thank you so much for 65 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:51,640 the opportunity to open your word. 66 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:55,120 God, I pray that your Holy Spirit would guide us into all 67 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:58,400 truth this morning, that you would guard us from error both 68 00:03:58,400 --> 00:03:59,960 in what is said and what is heard. 69 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:06,000 And God, we thank you that Jesus is the one who brings justice 70 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:09,760 and mercy and hope to this broken world that we live in. 71 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:14,880 In Jesus name, Amen. All right so first thing we're 72 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:16,800 going to walk through this text. The first thing we're going to 73 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:22,200 see is that Jesus exposes the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. 74 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:24,480 Verse nine. He went on from there and 75 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:27,320 entered their synagogue and a man was there with a withered 76 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:31,520 hand and they asked him, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath so 77 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:34,640 that they might accuse him. So there's kind of three main 78 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:36,720 characters in this story, right? There's the man with the 79 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:39,880 withered hand, there's the Pharisees and there's Jesus. 80 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:44,080 So the man with a withered hand that we don't typically use the 81 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:47,480 word withered to describe ailments in, in our culture, but 82 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:49,520 it's, it's just what it sounds like, right? 83 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:52,280 The muscles would have been contracted and atrophied. 84 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:54,280 There would have been no circulation. 85 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:57,880 Basically, his hand was was dried up and paralyzed and 86 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:01,400 useless. Luke's account of this same 87 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:04,680 story in Luke chapter 6 tells us that this was the man's right 88 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:06,840 hand. So remember, this is a 89 00:05:06,840 --> 00:05:08,720 right-handed culture in the 1st century. 90 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:11,680 So this man most likely would not have been able to work a 91 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:13,880 trade, wouldn't have been able to make a living. 92 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:16,320 He most likely would have been poor. 93 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:19,040 He would have been an outcast. He would have been looked down 94 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:21,920 on by society because of his physical, his physical 95 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:25,920 condition. And next are the Pharisees. 96 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:28,960 Now Mark and Luke, when they tell the same story, they 97 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:31,160 include a detail that Matthew doesn't that I think is 98 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:33,120 interesting. He they both say that the 99 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:37,640 Pharisees were watching Jesus to see whether or not he would heal 100 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:41,840 on the Sabbath. Now, some commentators speculate 101 00:05:41,840 --> 00:05:45,520 that this man was in the synagogue because the Pharisees 102 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:47,760 actually brought him there as a trap for Jesus. 103 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:50,400 Now that's speculation. We don't know that, but it 104 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:53,480 certainly seems possible. And I want you to notice 105 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:56,680 something about the hard heartedness of the Pharisees. 106 00:05:57,440 --> 00:05:59,680 They know Jesus can heal this guy. 107 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:04,720 They suspect that Jesus will heal this guy. 108 00:06:04,840 --> 00:06:08,880 So they know he's not only able, but they know he's merciful. 109 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:12,400 But this Jesus is not going to be able to resist healing this 110 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:16,680 guy. And yet rather than recognize 111 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:20,600 who Jesus is, recognize that this is the Messiah and rejoice 112 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:24,760 in the fact that he's not only able but willing to heal, they 113 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:29,360 want to use it as a means of trapping him, use it as a means 114 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:34,760 of of putting him to death. And Mark's account of this story 115 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:37,880 tells us that Jesus looked around at them with anger, 116 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:39,640 grieved at their hardness of heart. 117 00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:43,520 Mark 35 says So Jesus in this moment is motivated by two 118 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:45,400 things. He's motivated by his compassion 119 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:48,400 for this man, but also his anger towards the Pharisees. 120 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:53,720 As James 46 says, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the 121 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:55,680 humble. So there was one man in the 122 00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:58,960 synagogue that day with a withered hand, but the Pharisees 123 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:01,600 in the synagogue that day all had withered hearts. 124 00:07:02,280 --> 00:07:06,480 Their condition was far worse. And as John Michael explained 125 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:11,120 last week, the Pharisees, they had placed laws upon laws upon 126 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:14,120 laws around the Sabbath. He, he used the example of 127 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:16,800 building a fence around the law. I thought that was a helpful 128 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:21,680 picture of, of what happens when we try to add to the law of God. 129 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:25,560 And they had done this their, their legalistic traditions had 130 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:29,320 added so much and, and the Sabbath became a burden to the 131 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:33,800 people of God rather than a blessing and healing or giving 132 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:36,840 medical care would have been expressly against their 133 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:40,160 traditions. So they had actually made 134 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:43,320 exceptions on the Sabbath for treating life threatening 135 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:47,240 conditions, right. So if somebody's life was at 136 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:50,160 risk and and they needed something and in order that they 137 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:54,000 wouldn't die that they said was OK, but for non life threatening 138 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:55,800 conditions, they would not make an exception. 139 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:58,760 In fact, they wouldn't even allow a broke a boat, excuse me, 140 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:03,500 a broken bone to be set on the Sabbath because it was quote UN 141 00:08:03,500 --> 00:08:09,800 quote working. And so they're they're man made 142 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:12,680 traditions. They not only forbade healing in 143 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:15,280 the miraculous sense, but they forbade healing and, and just an 144 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:18,080 ordinary medical natural means as well. 145 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:22,920 And this these were merely man made traditions because God's 146 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:27,480 law made no such prohibitions against providing medical help 147 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:30,560 to people. And so the Pharisees are trying 148 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:33,760 to use these rules and these traditions to trap Jesus and 149 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:35,919 accuse him of being a Sabbath breaker. 150 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:39,679 And we sometimes look at these situations in the scripture and 151 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:42,640 it seems like the Pharisees are the ones trying to uphold the 152 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:44,640 law and take God's word seriously. 153 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:47,400 And, and Jesus is the one trying to bend the rules. 154 00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:49,280 But, but no, it's actually just the opposite. 155 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:52,920 No, it's the Pharisees who are reviling the Sabbath because 156 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:56,640 they've taken what God intended to be a gift, what God intended 157 00:08:56,640 --> 00:08:59,880 to be rest for his people, and they've turned it into a burden. 158 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:03,640 And it's Jesus who is the Lord of the Sabbath. 159 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:06,920 Jesus who is, who is communicating the true purpose 160 00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:09,680 and meaning of the Sabbath because he is the Lord of the 161 00:09:09,680 --> 00:09:12,200 Sabbath. He, Hebrews, tells us he is our 162 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:15,720 Sabbath and he's inviting us into his rest. 163 00:09:17,840 --> 00:09:20,840 Then we see Jesus in this story, and as he often does, he answers 164 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:24,160 their question with a question they ask him, is it lawful to 165 00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:26,120 heal on the Sabbath? And in verse 11, he said to 166 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:30,520 them, which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on 167 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:34,640 the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out of how 168 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:36,920 much more value is a man than a sheep? 169 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:40,600 So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. 170 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:44,920 So Jesus, here, he's referencing an actual exception that the 171 00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:48,960 Pharisees had made in order for saving livestock if they were to 172 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:56,000 fall into a pit or or whatever. And by doing so, he's pointing 173 00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:57,760 out their hypocrisy because what are they doing? 174 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:01,360 They are placing a higher value on their property than on a 175 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:05,880 human being, right? And he's exposing them and 176 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:08,640 pointing out that while they might affirm the value of human 177 00:10:08,640 --> 00:10:12,480 life with their words, in their actions and in their attitudes, 178 00:10:12,680 --> 00:10:15,760 they're showing less value and less respect for human life than 179 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:20,440 they are for their livestock. And Jesus highlights that even 180 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:24,480 this broken, poor outcast of a man is highly valuable to God. 181 00:10:25,800 --> 00:10:28,280 And so our application here this morning is if we're going to 182 00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:31,360 minister to people like Jesus did, we have to love and value 183 00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:34,360 people the way that Jesus does, right? 184 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:37,880 We have to be moved by moved by our compassion for people the 185 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:41,880 way that Jesus is. We see next in verse 13. 186 00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:44,280 That's what he does. Jesus demonstrates compassion 187 00:10:44,560 --> 00:10:46,880 and mercy to the man with the withered hand. 188 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:50,720 Verse 13. Then he said to the man, stretch 189 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:53,680 out your hand, and the man stretched it out and it was 190 00:10:53,680 --> 00:10:58,960 restored healthy like the other. So Jesus not only says, yes, 191 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:03,360 it's lawful to do good on the Sabbath, but watch this and he 192 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:05,280 tells this guy, stretch out your hand. 193 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:10,120 He heals this man instantly in front of everybody, and by by 194 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:13,400 demonstrating this compassion and this mercy towards this man, 195 00:11:13,760 --> 00:11:17,280 he's, he's putting into practice this principle that it's never 196 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:20,280 contrary to God's law to do good for someone else. 197 00:11:22,560 --> 00:11:25,640 The Pharisees, they had created this system of oppression that 198 00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:28,880 condemned the guiltless and it put people under a burden of 199 00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:31,400 legalism. But Jesus came to bring justice 200 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:34,240 and mercy to bear in this situation. 201 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:37,000 He told the man to stretch out his hand. 202 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:39,920 Think about that for a moment. He's telling this man to do 203 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:42,240 something that's impossible for him to do, right? 204 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:46,040 This man's hand is paralyzed. He can't stretch it out. 205 00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:51,360 And yet Jesus is telling him to do the very thing that's 206 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:55,160 impossible for him to do, this stretching out of the hand. 207 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:58,920 This was an act of faith. This was an act of obedience. 208 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:04,320 This man could not heal himself. He could not stretch out his 209 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:07,040 hand in his own power. The only thing he could do in 210 00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:11,760 that moment was believe and obey Jesus by faith, right? 211 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:15,200 And he could have chosen not to, right? 212 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:19,240 I imagine looking at the the Pharisees in the room all 213 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:21,800 leering at him, waiting to see, is he going to do it? 214 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:24,080 Is he going to stretch out his hand like this Jesus has told 215 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:26,400 him to? Or is he going to shrink back 216 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:28,520 from fear of what they might do to him? 217 00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:33,080 But no, He chose to obey Jesus by faith, and his faith was 218 00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:35,880 rewarded. He was healed in an instant. 219 00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:41,080 And the irony of this story is, although the Pharisees looked 220 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:45,480 physically whole and spiritually holy on the outside, they were 221 00:12:45,480 --> 00:12:49,920 the ones with the greatest need. They were the people in the room 222 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:56,000 who needed Jesus more than anyone, But it was the man with 223 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:58,360 the withered hand who was restored, both body and soul, 224 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:01,440 because he believed in and obeyed Jesus. 225 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:04,400 Now, friends, I don't see any withered hands in the room among 226 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:07,720 us today. But there may be among us some 227 00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:10,280 that have a withered heart. There may be among us some that 228 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:14,440 have a withered mind. It's been withered by sin. 229 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:21,080 It's been withered by rebellion against God, withered by self 230 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:25,200 righteousness, trying to earn God's favor rather than receive 231 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:28,120 it by faith. And the fact is that we are no 232 00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:31,600 more capable of healing our hearts and our minds than this 233 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:33,640 man was capable of healing his hand. 234 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:39,200 And so Jesus is calling you to to respond today if you if 235 00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:41,800 you're in here this morning and you have a withered heart or a 236 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:46,360 withered mind, stretch out your heart, stretch out your mind in 237 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:50,960 an act of faith and obedience and allow him to reward your 238 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:52,720 faith and make you new this morning. 239 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:59,320 We see the response of what happens in verse 14 says the 240 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:03,720 Pharisees went out and conspired against him how to destroy him. 241 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:08,640 Jesus aware of this, withdrew from there and many followed him 242 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:11,920 and he healed them all and ordered them not to make him 243 00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:15,240 known. So again, this is mind blowing. 244 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:20,480 Despite seeing this man healed right before their very eyes, 245 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:24,480 they they go out and their first response is, oh, we got to kill 246 00:14:24,480 --> 00:14:28,520 this guy. It's crazy. 247 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:32,000 And what does that teach us? I think a lot of times we buy 248 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:37,120 into the lie that if people just have enough evidence, if people 249 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:41,680 just have a sign and a wonder if people just have something that 250 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:46,120 they can see that will cause the unbelief in their heart to to 251 00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:48,280 vanish and they will, they will believe by faith. 252 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:51,160 But friends, that's not the way it works. 253 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:57,640 Unbelief is not rational. Unbelief is not just waiting for 254 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:00,680 evidence. No, Unbelief is a is a sick and 255 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:03,760 dead condition of the heart, and it's only healed through the 256 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:09,600 power of the Holy Spirit. So the Gospels record many 257 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:12,160 examples of Jesus finding himself in the middle of 258 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:15,680 controversy, right? Jesus always manages to end up 259 00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:19,120 in these controversial situations with the Pharisees, 260 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:22,800 and we often see him withdraw himself when things start to 261 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:26,520 escalate. Jesus wasn't going to defend 262 00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:29,160 himself. He wasn't going to overthrow 263 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:33,440 them with violence. His appointed time had not come. 264 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:35,360 It wasn't his time to go to the cross. 265 00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:37,560 It wasn't his time to lay down his life. 266 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:40,760 His mission from the Father was not yet complete. 267 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:44,520 So he withdrew. And verse 15 says many followed 268 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:49,120 him and he healed them all. So even when Jesus is trying to 269 00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:52,160 get away from the crowds, even when Jesus trying to get away 270 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:56,280 from the notoriety and get away from all the recognition, it 271 00:15:56,280 --> 00:16:00,320 follows him everywhere he goes. He can't get away from it. 272 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:05,040 And in Mark's account of this story, he actually, Jesus tells 273 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:07,880 the disciples to get a boat ready because the people are 274 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:11,120 crowding around him so much so that they're going to crush him. 275 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:13,960 He's like, these people are literally going to crush me to 276 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:15,280 death if we don't get out of here. 277 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:19,920 That's, that's how earnest these people were to come and be 278 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:23,440 healed, to have their unclean spirits taken by Jesus. 279 00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:26,800 But Jesus doesn't get angry with them or annoyed by them. 280 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:29,720 No, he, he has compassion for them. 281 00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:32,080 Matthew notes He healed them all. 282 00:16:33,160 --> 00:16:35,680 So even in the midst of trying to withdraw and trying to get 283 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:37,480 away, he's still healing this, these people. 284 00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:40,040 He's still responding with mercy. 285 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:42,640 This reminds me of an earlier passage. 286 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:45,560 You guys probably studied it several weeks ago. 287 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:49,800 At this point in Matthew Chapter 9, starting in verse 35, it says 288 00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:53,240 when Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages teaching 289 00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:55,320 in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the 290 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:58,440 Kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction, 291 00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:01,920 when he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they 292 00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:04,960 were harassed and helpless like a sheep without a shepherd. 293 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:08,520 Then he said to his disciples, The harvest is plentiful, but 294 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:11,960 the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the 295 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:16,240 Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 296 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:20,520 So Jesus earthly ministry from its very outset was marked by 297 00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:24,000 his compassion for people and his ministry in heaven is no 298 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:26,440 different, right? He's currently at the right hand 299 00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:29,000 of the Father interceding on our behalf. 300 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:32,200 He's our high priest and he continues to have compassion 301 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:35,120 toward us. His ministry from beginning, and 302 00:17:35,120 --> 00:17:39,600 it will never end, but from beginning until forever is, is 303 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:43,720 marked by compassion. And so the kind of laborers that 304 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:46,680 the Lord of the harvest is looking to send into the harvest 305 00:17:47,120 --> 00:17:51,080 are people that have compassion. If we're going to be followers 306 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:54,320 of Jesus, if we're going to do ministry like Jesus, we must be 307 00:17:54,320 --> 00:18:00,120 people of compassion. Verse 16 says after healing them 308 00:18:00,120 --> 00:18:02,720 all, he told them not to make him known. 309 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:06,280 Now this is another common thing we see throughout the gospels. 310 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:09,000 Jesus will heal someone or do something and he'll say, now 311 00:18:09,360 --> 00:18:12,240 don't tell anybody. And do they usually listen? 312 00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:14,560 No, they usually do the exact opposite. 313 00:18:14,800 --> 00:18:18,320 In fact, in Mark chapter one, it says Jesus, because the guy 314 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:20,040 didn't listen and he went and told everybody. 315 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:22,520 It says Jesus wasn't able to go into the cities openly, but he 316 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:25,240 had to kind of skirt around the outskirts of town. 317 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:28,960 And you know, there's lots of reasons we could look at for why 318 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:31,840 Jesus would would tell people not to tell anyone. 319 00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:35,160 But the reason that Matthew gives in this passage is that 320 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:39,560 this was a fulfillment of Isaiah 42 one through 4. 321 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:50,000 Verse 17 says this was to fulfill what was spoken by the 322 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:54,120 prophet Isaiah. So it's important to understand 323 00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:58,680 the the backdrop of the previous chapter before we look at 324 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:03,880 chapter 42. So in chapter 41, these chapters 325 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:07,600 are pretty closely connected, but in chapter 41, it begins 326 00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:11,320 with God is using a poetic language of sorts. 327 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:14,480 And he's he's calling to the nations of the earth and he's 328 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:16,920 proclaiming his sovereignty over all the nations. 329 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:19,960 He's proclaiming his sovereignty over all of human history. 330 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:24,280 And then he turned his attention towards the the remnant of 331 00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:28,320 Israel directly and he's reaffirming his promise to them 332 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:31,560 that he would be with them. He says, do not fear for I am 333 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:33,760 with you. And he tells them that he will 334 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:37,240 bring justice against all of her enemies. 335 00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:42,600 And so then in the last portion of chapter 41, God calls forth 336 00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:45,440 the idols of the world. And he says, prove your worth, 337 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:49,120 prove your value. And of course, the conclusion of 338 00:19:49,120 --> 00:19:53,360 this chapter is that they are in fact worthless, right? 339 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:57,880 It's the futility of men and women chasing after idols. 340 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:01,120 And in the chapter ends with verse 29, which says, behold, 341 00:20:01,360 --> 00:20:04,800 they are all a delusion. Their works are nothing. 342 00:20:05,120 --> 00:20:07,760 Their metal images are empty wind. 343 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:15,480 And so 41 ends right there in that bleak emptiness of the 344 00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:19,520 futility of idols, and 42 begins with the word Behold. 345 00:20:20,360 --> 00:20:25,000 Behold, God is presenting the answer to the futility of men 346 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:29,520 and women chasing after idols, and that answer is His chosen 347 00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:32,720 servant. And what Matthew is showing us 348 00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:37,000 is that Jesus is the chosen servant of the Lord and that he 349 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:40,680 is the fulfillment of Isaiah 42 one through 4. 350 00:20:41,360 --> 00:20:45,560 And before we get into Matthew's paraphrase of Isaiah 42, let me 351 00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:49,720 just say this. We live in a world that is 352 00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:54,480 steeped in idolatry, right? We live in a world where people 353 00:20:54,640 --> 00:21:00,520 are seem to be coming more and more aware of their need for 354 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:03,480 redemption. People seem to be more and more 355 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:06,800 aware of how broken the world is. 356 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:09,840 I don't know about you, but I don't find it difficult at all 357 00:21:10,120 --> 00:21:13,000 to have a conversation with unbelievers about how broken the 358 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:18,360 world is, right, people, man, did you see the news last night? 359 00:21:18,360 --> 00:21:20,400 This happened, this happened, this is going on. 360 00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:22,320 People are blowing each other up in this country. 361 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:25,200 This, you know, I'm not going to give examples of how broken the 362 00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:29,280 world is for the sake of the children in the room, but people 363 00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:31,080 are, it's just we're inundated with it. 364 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:35,280 It's it's, it's everywhere. Doesn't matter what age, doesn't 365 00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:38,560 matter what background, Everyone seems to recognize this. 366 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:45,400 And where you and I as believers differ is we, we understand why 367 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:48,800 it's broken and we understand what the solution is. 368 00:21:49,120 --> 00:21:53,680 And church, this is the core of our gospel message, that 369 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:57,800 humanity and the world are broken because of sin, which is 370 00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:01,560 rebellion against God. We are, we're all born into the 371 00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:05,920 sin of our Father Adam, and we justly deserve the wrath of a 372 00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:08,280 holy God. That's the bad news, right? 373 00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:12,880 That's the bad news. But the good news is that God 374 00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:17,200 was born as a man named Jesus, who brought the Kingdom of 375 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:21,400 heaven to the earth. Jesus never sinned, but He kept 376 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:26,360 the law perfectly on our behalf. And yet He died on the cross in 377 00:22:26,360 --> 00:22:30,720 our place, bearing the wrath of God and the penalty for our sin. 378 00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:35,080 And three days later he bodily rose from the dead, securing 379 00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:37,800 eternal life for all of his people. 380 00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:41,600 And then he ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the 381 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:45,840 Father, where he is now ruling and reigning until all of his 382 00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:51,120 enemies are made a footstool for his feet, and he's restoring and 383 00:22:51,120 --> 00:22:55,520 redeeming all things back to himself until he comes again and 384 00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:58,240 consummates His Kingdom here on the earth for all of eternity. 385 00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:02,840 Church, that message, that gospel, that is our mission. 386 00:23:03,800 --> 00:23:08,320 And when we allow ourselves to become distracted from that 387 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:13,600 mission and from that gospel, we are of no value to the world 388 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:16,920 around us. We're we're no different than 389 00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:19,440 the unbeliever sitting around complaining about how broken 390 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:23,280 everything is. When we when we lose sight of 391 00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:26,600 our mission, we're like salt that has lost its saltiness. 392 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:29,360 We're like a light that has been put under a basket. 393 00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:34,840 Alistair Begg once said, mission in many places has been replaced 394 00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:38,600 with admonition. And what he means by that is 395 00:23:39,120 --> 00:23:43,120 instead of saying, behold, the servant of the Lord, we're 396 00:23:43,120 --> 00:23:46,000 looking at the secular culture and saying, what's wrong with 397 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:47,880 you? Why are you like this? 398 00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:51,360 But the sad reality is they don't know why they're like 399 00:23:51,360 --> 00:23:53,200 that. We are the ones that have the 400 00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:56,560 answer, Amen. We know why the world's broken. 401 00:23:56,560 --> 00:24:02,400 We know what the solution is. And the answer is, it's the same 402 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:05,160 as it was in Isaiah's day. It's the same as it was in 403 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:07,480 Matthew's day. It's the same in our day. 404 00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:11,320 Behold the servant of the Lord Jesus is the answer. 405 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:19,680 So verse 18 he says, Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my 406 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:23,560 beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased, I will put my 407 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:26,480 spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the 408 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:29,160 Gentiles. He will not quarrel or cry 409 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:32,120 aloud, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. 410 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:35,760 A bruised Reed he will not break, and a smoldering Wick he 411 00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:39,040 will not quench until he brings justice to victory. 412 00:24:39,360 --> 00:24:45,360 And in his name the Gentiles will hope so. 413 00:24:45,360 --> 00:24:49,640 These verses are the first of four what we call Servant Songs 414 00:24:50,360 --> 00:24:53,760 in the book of Isaiah, which are prophecies about the Messiah 415 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:58,000 which are fulfilled in Jesus. They tell us about Jesus 416 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:01,800 identity, about his character, about his compassion, and that 417 00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:04,560 we hope in him because he will one day bring justice to the 418 00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:08,000 nation's. So it says Jesus is the chosen 419 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:12,200 servant of the Lord, who is the beloved of the Father, in whom 420 00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:15,640 the Father is well pleased. He said He is the one on whom 421 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:17,480 the Father has placed his Spirit. 422 00:25:18,360 --> 00:25:21,760 And this calls to my mind the baptism of Jesus right in 423 00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:23,720 Matthew chapter 3, starting in verse 16. 424 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:26,920 It says when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the 425 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:29,480 water and behold, the heavens were open to him. 426 00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:32,640 And he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and 427 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:35,840 coming to rest on him. And behold, a voice from heaven 428 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:40,560 said, This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. 429 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:45,840 So from the very beginning of Jesus ministry, his identity was 430 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:50,920 found in the fact that he was chosen and loved by the Father. 431 00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:55,320 Jesus lived only to please the Father. 432 00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:58,120 And this is where you and I, as followers of Jesus should also 433 00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:01,480 find our identity, right? This is where we should find our 434 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:03,360 security. This is where we should find our 435 00:26:03,360 --> 00:26:07,000 value, not in who our family is, not in the fact that we're 436 00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:10,280 citizens of United States of America, not in what we do for a 437 00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:14,320 living, not take your pick. It should only be in the fact 438 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:16,320 that we are chosen and loved by God. 439 00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:23,680 Jesus ministry was done in full dependence on God the Father and 440 00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:27,000 through the power of God the Holy Spirit. 441 00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:30,360 Everything Jesus did while on the earth was through the power 442 00:26:30,360 --> 00:26:34,840 of the Holy Spirit. And after he ascended into 443 00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:38,120 heaven, what did he do? He poured out that same Spirit 444 00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:41,080 on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two. 445 00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:43,920 He poured out that same Spirit on the church. 446 00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:48,040 So now you and I are the chosen servants of the Lord. 447 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:52,480 We are His church. We have His Spirit, and He has 448 00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:57,360 empowered us by his Holy Spirit to do His mission in the earth 449 00:26:57,360 --> 00:26:59,400 because of our unity with Jesus Christ. 450 00:27:00,360 --> 00:27:02,480 So if we're going to live like Jesus, if we're going to 451 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:05,960 minister like Jesus, then we must recognize our full 452 00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:09,160 dependence on God. We must recognize our full 453 00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:12,840 dependence on being empowered by the Holy Spirit. 454 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:17,320 Because Jesus said apart from him we can do nothing, right? 455 00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:21,840 He poured out his Spirit on us to empower us to be able to 456 00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:23,760 fulfill the mission that he's given us. 457 00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:27,680 And apart from his spirit, we we could never even think of 458 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:32,280 fulfilling his mission. Verse 19, it says he will not 459 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:36,440 quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the 460 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:40,200 streets. So despite Jesus repeatedly 461 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:44,320 finding himself in the midst of these controversies, he wasn't 462 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:48,760 quarrelsome. He he wasn't angrily shouting or 463 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:53,440 or trying to talk over people. He wasn't spreading his own name 464 00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:56,080 and his own fame. He he did not defend himself 465 00:27:56,080 --> 00:27:58,040 with violence. He didn't he didn't try to 466 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:01,360 establish his Kingdom by force. In fact, he said to Pilate in 467 00:28:01,360 --> 00:28:05,040 John 18 verse 36, my Kingdom is not of this world. 468 00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:07,480 If my Kingdom were of this world, my servants would have 469 00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:10,360 been fighting that I might not be delivered over to the Jews, 470 00:28:10,360 --> 00:28:13,320 but my Kingdom is not from the world. 471 00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:19,880 So Jesus, Jesus message was clear, his Kingdom doesn't 472 00:28:19,880 --> 00:28:23,680 function the way the world does. His Kingdom functions 473 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:27,640 differently. And Jesus meekness and his 474 00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:31,600 gentleness were not what people were expecting of their Messiah, 475 00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:35,360 right? They were expecting the Messiah 476 00:28:35,360 --> 00:28:38,800 to come in guns blazing, taking out the powers that be. 477 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:40,880 That's that's what they expected. 478 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:44,400 That's what they wanted, but that's not what they got because 479 00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:48,600 that wasn't Jesus way. Think about the irony of this 480 00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:50,640 for a moment. Colossians one tells us that 481 00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:54,520 Jesus is preeminent. That means his greatness 482 00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:58,240 surpasses everything. So all things were made in him 483 00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:02,200 and through him and for him. He's the greatest authority in 484 00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:05,800 the universe. And yet we see him do things 485 00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:09,120 like quietly withdraw from a controversy. 486 00:29:09,680 --> 00:29:13,200 We see him tell people not to tell about who he is or what 487 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:17,360 he's done. We see him using this 488 00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:22,560 discretion, avoiding notoriety. And isn't this so unlike the 489 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:25,840 kings and the political powers that we see in our world today? 490 00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:31,200 I'm sure many of you are following the the disaster that 491 00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:36,040 is the 2024 election. I mean, just think about it. 492 00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:38,320 Would Jesus be on national television bragging about his 493 00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:43,840 golf game? No, it's the difference is so 494 00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:46,120 stark and it's, it's, it's unreal. 495 00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:49,680 The one person in the universe that actually does have 496 00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:54,400 something to brag about, that does have something to be over 497 00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:57,960 the top about. He chooses to be gentle and meek 498 00:29:58,280 --> 00:30:02,440 instead. And this is not only true in the 499 00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:04,120 political sphere, but even in the church. 500 00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:07,000 I think a lot of times as Christians we're tempted to show 501 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:11,880 our spirituality by being loud, by being harsh, or, or by trying 502 00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:17,640 to put on a show for people. And Jesus just did his work and 503 00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:22,080 tried to avoid notoriety. Jesus did what he saw the Father 504 00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:24,040 doing. He was concerned about 505 00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:27,240 fulfilling the mission that his Father gave him, not about 506 00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:31,160 making a name for himself. And even in his moments of 507 00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:34,840 retreat and in his moments of withdraw, he was still healing 508 00:30:34,880 --> 00:30:38,000 people. He was still showing mercy to 509 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:41,440 those who came to him. Which brings us to verse 20. 510 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:43,560 A bruised Reed, He will not break. 511 00:30:43,560 --> 00:30:46,640 A smoldering Wick He will not quench. 512 00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:50,760 This speaks to the gentleness and the compassion that Jesus 513 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:53,920 has toward his people. Now, most of you I'm sure, know 514 00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:56,840 what a Reed is, right? It's a tall grass like plant, 515 00:30:56,880 --> 00:30:59,440 grows by the water. There's millions of them. 516 00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:02,760 They're, they're everywhere. And in ancient times they would 517 00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:06,840 use these for writing utensils or musical instruments, 518 00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:10,920 whatever. But reeds, they're, they're so 519 00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:14,320 abundant, they're everywhere. So even a really good straight 520 00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:18,240 one that's like perfect, it's, it's not really worth much 521 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:20,160 because they're so readily available. 522 00:31:20,720 --> 00:31:24,560 And so when you're talking about a bruised Reed, a messed up Reed 523 00:31:24,760 --> 00:31:28,360 that you can't actually use for anything, it's completely and 524 00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:33,480 totally worthless. And in these days, lamps were 525 00:31:33,560 --> 00:31:35,600 were made by lighting oil on fire. 526 00:31:35,600 --> 00:31:37,080 And you didn't just light the oil on fire. 527 00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:39,880 You had to have a Wick to put in the oil Wick would be made of 528 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:42,760 flax. And when the Wick was all but 529 00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:45,760 burnt up and was just smoldering and no more lights being 530 00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:49,560 produced in the lamp, that Wick is no no longer of any value, 531 00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:50,320 right? What are you going to do? 532 00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:52,480 You're going to throw that Wick away, You're going to get a new 533 00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:55,440 one. And so the metaphor being 534 00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:59,560 employed here is simple. It's that Jesus is kind and 535 00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:01,680 gentle towards those who are bruised. 536 00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:06,400 He's kind and merciful and compassionate towards those who 537 00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:10,600 are just barely holding on. He doesn't discard people. 538 00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:15,680 He doesn't give up on people. He doesn't throw people away and 539 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:17,720 say they're no good, I can't use them. 540 00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:21,880 No, he does just the opposite. He says, come to me, all who are 541 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:24,640 weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. 542 00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:28,360 He says to the withered hand, stretch out your hand and he 543 00:32:28,360 --> 00:32:31,080 makes him whole again. And maybe you're here this 544 00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:34,840 morning and you you got guilt and shame, maybe from your own 545 00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:38,360 sin or maybe from sin that was done to you and you think 546 00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:41,600 there's no way that God could ever love me. 547 00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:45,240 Or maybe if God confide him in his heart to love me, there's 548 00:32:45,240 --> 00:32:47,200 certainly no way he could ever use me. 549 00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:54,200 And if if it's you hear me today, a bruised Reed he will 550 00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:57,320 not break. A smoldering Wick he will not 551 00:32:57,520 --> 00:33:00,680 quench. Behold the servant of the Lord 552 00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:05,360 come unto him, for his yoke is easy, and his burden is light. 553 00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:09,200 He has compassion towards you. And I just want to tell you, 554 00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:12,080 receive his compassion. Receive his mercy today. 555 00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:18,920 Jesus is, is the kind of king who can take a bunch of broken 556 00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:22,320 reeds and or bruised reeds and smoldering Wicks and build a 557 00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:26,760 Kingdom out of them. He can, he can take those things 558 00:33:26,760 --> 00:33:31,160 which which seem useless, which seem discarded, and he can 559 00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:34,040 fashion them into something useful. 560 00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:36,760 Now these are comforting words, right? 561 00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:39,880 These are comforting words. For whom? 562 00:33:41,120 --> 00:33:43,120 Who are whom are these words intended for? 563 00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:46,480 The bruise reads in the smoldering Wicks. 564 00:33:46,680 --> 00:33:50,600 These are the people who are beat down by sin and beat down 565 00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:54,960 by circumstances, and they're crying out to Jesus for mercy. 566 00:33:55,760 --> 00:34:00,240 And Jesus is gentle toward them. But he doesn't give that same 567 00:34:00,240 --> 00:34:04,880 treatment to everyone, does he? Now think of the parable in Luke 568 00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:07,640 chapter 18 of the Pharisee and the tax collector, right? 569 00:34:07,640 --> 00:34:10,840 It says two men went up to the synagogue to pray, a Pharisee 570 00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:13,440 and a tax collector. And what does the Pharisee do? 571 00:34:13,639 --> 00:34:17,239 He he stands and says, oh God, I thank you that I'm not like all 572 00:34:17,239 --> 00:34:19,880 these other yahoos, that I don't do this and do that. 573 00:34:20,080 --> 00:34:22,880 And but I tithe and I do this and I do that. 574 00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:25,800 And then what does the tax collector say? 575 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:29,440 Jesus said he couldn't even lift his head, but he just beat his 576 00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:32,159 breast and said, have mercy on me, a Sinner. 577 00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:37,080 And he said one of those men went home justified and not the 578 00:34:37,080 --> 00:34:43,400 other, because God opposes the prowl, but gives grace to the 579 00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:49,840 humble. And so we see Jesus deals very 580 00:34:49,840 --> 00:34:54,800 differently with unrepentant sinners and very differently 581 00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:58,480 with the self-righteous. The unrepentant should not 582 00:34:58,480 --> 00:35:00,760 expect gentleness or mercy from Jesus. 583 00:35:01,960 --> 00:35:04,600 Romans 2, starting in verse four says this. 584 00:35:04,680 --> 00:35:08,520 Or do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance 585 00:35:08,520 --> 00:35:11,920 and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead 586 00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:16,320 you to repentance, but because of your hard and impenitent 587 00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:19,560 heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself. 588 00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:22,440 On the day of wrath, when God's righteous judgment will be 589 00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:26,280 revealed, He will render to each one according to His works. 590 00:35:26,520 --> 00:35:29,840 To those who by patience and well doing seek for glory and 591 00:35:29,840 --> 00:35:32,720 honor and immortality, He will give eternal life. 592 00:35:32,960 --> 00:35:35,720 But for those who are self seeking and do not obey the 593 00:35:35,720 --> 00:35:39,840 truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 594 00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:47,800 So those who are unrepentant dare not presume upon the riches 595 00:35:47,800 --> 00:35:50,880 of His kindness and His forbearance and His patience. 596 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:54,760 But make no, no mistake, Jesus is patient. 597 00:35:55,360 --> 00:35:57,880 He is patient even towards the unrepentant. 598 00:35:57,960 --> 00:36:00,600 He's patient even toward his enemies. 599 00:36:00,600 --> 00:36:03,320 Why? Second Peter chapter 3 tells us 600 00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:06,240 it's so that all of his people will reach repentance and be 601 00:36:06,240 --> 00:36:09,280 saved. Says Lord is not slow to fulfill 602 00:36:09,280 --> 00:36:13,320 his promise, as son counts slowness, but is patient towards 603 00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:16,400 you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should 604 00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:19,320 reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will 605 00:36:19,320 --> 00:36:22,800 come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a 606 00:36:22,800 --> 00:36:26,560 roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, 607 00:36:26,800 --> 00:36:30,560 and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 608 00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:35,600 And this is what is meant by the phrase in Matthew 12/20. 609 00:36:35,840 --> 00:36:39,640 Until he brings justice to victory, right? 610 00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:45,440 Jesus is gentle and He's merciful for now, but there will 611 00:36:45,440 --> 00:36:49,160 come a day where He brings justice. 612 00:36:49,480 --> 00:36:53,560 There will come a day where justice finds victory. 613 00:36:53,760 --> 00:36:56,480 There will come a day where He will right every wrong. 614 00:36:56,480 --> 00:36:59,320 There will come a day where He will judge the wicked with the 615 00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:02,320 fury of the wrath of God. And what's that going to look 616 00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:06,240 like? Revelation chapter 19. 617 00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:09,280 We see this depiction of Jesus starting in verse 11. 618 00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:13,000 Since then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a White Horse, The 619 00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:16,360 one sitting on it is called faithful and true, and in 620 00:37:16,360 --> 00:37:18,560 righteousness he judges and makes war. 621 00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:22,040 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many 622 00:37:22,040 --> 00:37:25,240 diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but 623 00:37:25,240 --> 00:37:27,920 himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped 624 00:37:27,920 --> 00:37:32,000 in blood, and the name by which he is called is the Word of God. 625 00:37:32,520 --> 00:37:35,560 And the armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen, white and pure. 626 00:37:35,680 --> 00:37:37,800 We're following him on white horses. 627 00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:41,520 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down 628 00:37:41,520 --> 00:37:45,840 the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, and he 629 00:37:45,840 --> 00:37:48,640 will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the 630 00:37:48,640 --> 00:37:50,960 Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he 631 00:37:50,960 --> 00:37:55,360 has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 632 00:37:57,560 --> 00:38:00,960 That depiction of Jesus doesn't exactly sound gentle. 633 00:38:02,040 --> 00:38:08,840 It doesn't exactly sound meek, doesn't exactly sound merciful. 634 00:38:09,440 --> 00:38:14,440 It sounds like a conquering king coming to make war, and I think 635 00:38:14,640 --> 00:38:18,120 it's difficult for us sometimes to reconcile these ideas in our 636 00:38:18,120 --> 00:38:20,040 head, right? That Jesus is both our 637 00:38:20,040 --> 00:38:22,560 conquering king and our suffering servant. 638 00:38:23,560 --> 00:38:27,840 He is gentle, He is merciful, he is meek. 639 00:38:28,120 --> 00:38:31,640 But you better believe a day's coming where he will be a 640 00:38:31,640 --> 00:38:38,000 conquering king, because the where the justice of God and the 641 00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:40,760 mercy of God meet is in the person of Jesus Christ. 642 00:38:42,280 --> 00:38:46,400 And that is why we hope in him church, because he shows 643 00:38:46,640 --> 00:38:50,440 gentleness and mercy to his people, but he brings his 644 00:38:50,440 --> 00:38:52,480 perfect justice and his perfect timing. 645 00:38:53,960 --> 00:38:55,520 He's the only one who can do that. 646 00:38:56,720 --> 00:39:00,960 He's the only one. He's the only one that can show 647 00:39:01,040 --> 00:39:04,320 true mercy. He's the only one that can bring 648 00:39:04,440 --> 00:39:07,600 true justice. And church, This is why we can 649 00:39:07,600 --> 00:39:11,440 be compassionate and why we can be merciful toward other people, 650 00:39:12,080 --> 00:39:14,440 right? Because when we're wronged, when 651 00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:19,160 we're sinned against, we know that Jesus is going to bring 652 00:39:19,160 --> 00:39:22,240 justice. We know that vengeance belongs 653 00:39:22,240 --> 00:39:25,320 to the Lord. We know that one day Jesus will 654 00:39:25,320 --> 00:39:29,480 right every wrong. And so we are free to follow the 655 00:39:29,480 --> 00:39:33,800 example of Jesus, to be merciful and to be compassionate towards 656 00:39:33,800 --> 00:39:36,880 those around us, even our enemies, even those that sin 657 00:39:36,880 --> 00:39:41,200 against us, because we serve a God that will one day bring 658 00:39:41,360 --> 00:39:45,280 justice to victory. And as it says in Revelation 21, 659 00:39:45,440 --> 00:39:49,000 he will wipe every tear from their eyes, and death shall be 660 00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:51,320 no more. Neither shall there be mourning 661 00:39:51,480 --> 00:39:54,880 nor crying nor pain anymore. For the former things have 662 00:39:54,880 --> 00:39:57,360 passed away. And he who was seated on the 663 00:39:57,360 --> 00:40:00,040 throne said, behold, I am making all things new. 664 00:40:00,800 --> 00:40:05,160 Let's pray. God, we thank you so much. 665 00:40:06,240 --> 00:40:11,120 Lord, we thank you that. Although this world is broken 666 00:40:11,120 --> 00:40:14,360 and and seemingly spiraling into chaos, God, we know that this 667 00:40:14,360 --> 00:40:18,000 chaos is not outside of your control, not not outside of your 668 00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:22,520 sovereignty, God, but you saw fit to send your chosen servant, 669 00:40:22,640 --> 00:40:28,360 Jesus and God, He is modeled for us what it looks like to be a a 670 00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:31,320 person of compassion, a person of mercy. 671 00:40:31,320 --> 00:40:35,040 And God, I pray that we as your church, empowered by your spirit 672 00:40:35,400 --> 00:40:39,000 would show your compassion and your mercy to the world and God. 673 00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:42,480 I thank you that we can hope in you God. 674 00:40:42,480 --> 00:40:46,200 We can hope in the fact that you will one day set everything 675 00:40:46,200 --> 00:40:48,960 right. You will one day make all things 676 00:40:48,960 --> 00:40:54,240 new when you bring justice to victory in Jesus name. 677 00:40:54,360 --> 00:40:58,840 Amen. So from what I understand, Don 678 00:40:58,840 --> 00:41:00,960 and Karen are going to be up here at the end for if anyone 679 00:41:00,960 --> 00:41:02,960 has a prayer need. Is that the case? 680 00:41:03,240 --> 00:41:05,320 Yeah. All right. 681 00:41:05,400 --> 00:41:08,640 Well, we're good. All right. 682 00:41:08,640 --> 00:41:09,880 Thanks for being here, everybody. 683 00:41:10,480 --> 00:41:11,000 Love you. Thank 684 00:41:31,070 --> 00:41:31,550 you. Thank you. 685 00:41:31,550 --> 00:41:35,230 It's worth it. Oh, yeah. 686 00:41:35,670 --> 00:41:36,590 I'll get charity to count. OK.