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Bruised Reeds & Smoking Flax
Bruised Reeds and Smoking Flax by Paul Stevens
Matthew 12:20 has a phrase or two that we probably don’t understand fully without a little bit of effort.
A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench, Till He sends forth justice to victory…” – Matt. 12:20
The NASB makes it a little easier to understand. “A battered reed He will not break off and a smoldering wick He will not put out.”
When the stem of a plant is damaged (bruised), it is weakened. There is a chance of it losing its strength to a point that it breaks and falls over. A “smoking flax” is the same thing as the “smoldering wick” as translated in the NASB. Flax was the most common material used for lamp wicks in the first century. We have all probably seen a candle reaching the end, shrinking into a smaller and smaller flame, and flickering before finally going out. The reed and the wick are symbols of weakness, items that are on the edge of failure.
The context of this passage is Jesus healing the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath. The Pharisees are conspiring against Him, looking for ways to destroy Him, so Jesus “withdrew from there”. There were still prophesies to be fulfilled. There were still lessons to be taught. His time had not yet come, as He told the disciples in John 7:6.
If we look back to Isaiah 42, the passage that Matthew is quoting from in Matthew 12, we can draw even more from the passage.
Isaiah 42:3-4 says, “A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth. 4 He will not fail nor be discouraged Till He has established justice in the earth…”
There is a play on words in the Hebrew that we might miss in translation. He spoke here of a “bruised reed” and a “smoldering wick”, but Jesus is described as one who will not “fail”. This is the same Hebrew root word that means to grow faint (or go out in the case of a small flame). The Messiah will not be “discouraged”, the same root word in the Hebrew as bruised.
We know that Jesus would eventually be bruised – His physical body would be mutilated and eventually murdered. That famous prophesy just a few chapters later in Isaiah 53 would be fulfilled. Isaish 53:5 – “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” The physical flame of his earthly life was extinguished, but only temporarily.
There would come a time for Jesus to be bruised and for the flame of His fleshly body to be extinguished, but not until He had accomplished His purpose here on earth. Jesus would “lead justice to victory”.
Matthew 12:21 says “And in His name Gentiles will trust (have hope – NASB)”
The signs and wonders He performed during His life on earth gave hope to all mankind willing to see it and respond. That included the Gentiles. But why is Matthew talking about Gentiles in this case? When Jesus healed the man with the withered hand, he was in the synagogue. The man who He healed had to have been a Jew. It seems that the people who “followed Him” in verse 15 must have also been Jewish. It stands to reason that the ones who witnessed this miracle would be the ones following, and the only witnesses would have also been in the synagogue.
The answer can be found a few verses late in Isaiah 42. Isaiah 42:6 - “I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles,”
Jesus’s life and ministry was overwhelmingly spent among the Jewish people. The gospel would not be made open to the Gentiles until Acts 10, after Jesus ascended back into heaven. But what Jesus did, he did for all (2 Cor. 5:14-15). Jesus died for all people for all time. That also includes Gentiles like you and me. I love reading in the scriptures about the forethought and love shown to us centuries after it was first recorded. It gives me hope. I guess you could say that in a small way, we get to be a part of that prophesy being fulfilled. Jesus led “justice to victory”, and “in His name” Gentiles like you and I “will trust.”
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Romans 6:10 - For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
