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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Many followed Him, and He healed all their sick, warning
them not to tell who He was. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the
prophet Isaiah:
"Here is My servant whom I have chosen, the One 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 one will hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out, till He leads justice to victory.”
“In His name the nations will put their hope."
Matthew 12:15b-21
"Here is My servant whom I have chosen, the One 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 one will hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out, till He leads justice to victory.”
“In His name the nations will put their hope."
Matthew 12:15b-21
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be
to God.
Do you have hope?
Do you have hope?
If so, what is the source of your hope?
The answers to these questions may be varied.
Some people feel they have hope because they are
financially well off. Still others may feel hopeful because they have a great
job with lots of security. Still others may see themselves as being hopeful because
they are in good health and postured to live a long life.
One thing is for sure. The world offers us no shortage of things for people to attach their hope to. There is a buffet table full of options but there is only one problem and it’s a big one. For the things the world offer are fleeting. They could be here today and gone tomorrow, leaving us hopeless after their departure from our life.
One thing is for sure. The world offers us no shortage of things for people to attach their hope to. There is a buffet table full of options but there is only one problem and it’s a big one. For the things the world offer are fleeting. They could be here today and gone tomorrow, leaving us hopeless after their departure from our life.
For example, go back to the earlier examples of things
people may anchor their hope to.
A deep recession could cause someone’s financial status
to suffer and fail. Remember the housing bubble that burst a few years ago,
leaving many people underwater on their homes. Ditto for any stock market crash
on Wall Street or financial scandal duping unknowing investors who ended up
losing their fortunes.
Changes in corporate America or the economy can shake
even the most stable employers to the core and lead to job cuts or layoffs. The
number of people losing work and finding themselves unemployed ebbs and flows
with the nation’s economic growth or decline.
And as for health, how many different afflictions are
there, afflictions that can rock the world of a person who was in good health
before being struck by illness or injury?
Yes, we can certainly place our hope in the things of this world but too often, we do so to our own peril, experiencing disastrous results which serve to steal our hope away.
Well, as we look at our passage from the 12th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, we catch up with Jesus after He left the company of the Pharisees who were plotting to kill Him. Let’s see what happened next as we look again at our passage for today:
Yes, we can certainly place our hope in the things of this world but too often, we do so to our own peril, experiencing disastrous results which serve to steal our hope away.
Well, as we look at our passage from the 12th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, we catch up with Jesus after He left the company of the Pharisees who were plotting to kill Him. Let’s see what happened next as we look again at our passage for today:
Many followed Him,
and He healed all their sick, warning them not to tell who He was. This was to
fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
"Here is My servant whom I have chosen, the One 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 one will hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out, till He leads justice to victory.”
“In His name the nations will put their hope." Matthew 12:15b-21
"Here is My servant whom I have chosen, the One 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 one will hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out, till He leads justice to victory.”
“In His name the nations will put their hope." Matthew 12:15b-21
We read that many people were following Jesus as He
traveled and, as we have seen in the past, He took the time to heal “all their
sick.
So why did Jesus do this so regularly?
The scriptures tell us that it was done to fulfill these
words spoken by God through the prophet Isaiah:
"Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the One 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 one will hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory.”
“In his name the nations will put their hope." Isaiah 42:1-4
So what do we learn from the words of the prophet?
We learn the reasons that Israel highly anticipated the chance to receive their Messiah, and in learning this, we find where their hope was and where ours should be as well.
The first reason Israel looked forward to Jesus coming was because God was sending Him as a servant, and not just any servant, but a servant who was willing to offer up Himself fully and die for those He came to serve.
"Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the One 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 one will hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory.”
“In his name the nations will put their hope." Isaiah 42:1-4
So what do we learn from the words of the prophet?
We learn the reasons that Israel highly anticipated the chance to receive their Messiah, and in learning this, we find where their hope was and where ours should be as well.
The first reason Israel looked forward to Jesus coming was because God was sending Him as a servant, and not just any servant, but a servant who was willing to offer up Himself fully and die for those He came to serve.
And we know Jesus did just that, not just for the people
of Israel but for us as well.
A second reason that Israel longed for their Messiah was the promise of justice. Jesus would come to ensure that holy justice would reign supreme in the world, a world that was just as full of injustices in biblical times as it is today. As Christians, we live with hope, knowing that when Jesus returns as promised, the world as we know it will become cleansed and purified.
A second reason that Israel longed for their Messiah was the promise of justice. Jesus would come to ensure that holy justice would reign supreme in the world, a world that was just as full of injustices in biblical times as it is today. As Christians, we live with hope, knowing that when Jesus returns as promised, the world as we know it will become cleansed and purified.
Justice will reign supreme and Jesus will bring that
justice.
Finally, the third reason Isaiah shares as to why Israel anticipated Jesus’ coming is that He would bring peace. And indeed, Isaiah had given the coming Messiah the title, “Prince of Peace”, earlier in the book bearing his name (Isaiah 9:6). The coming hope for all the nations would not quarrel or take advantage of the weak. Rather, He would give strength to the weary, increase the power of the weak, and bring one more very important thing:
Finally, the third reason Isaiah shares as to why Israel anticipated Jesus’ coming is that He would bring peace. And indeed, Isaiah had given the coming Messiah the title, “Prince of Peace”, earlier in the book bearing his name (Isaiah 9:6). The coming hope for all the nations would not quarrel or take advantage of the weak. Rather, He would give strength to the weary, increase the power of the weak, and bring one more very important thing:
He would bring them hope just as He still does today, a hope
that allows the weak to renew their strength, to soar on wings like eagles, to
run and not grow weary, and to walk and not be faint (Isaiah 40:29, 31).
In the end translation my friends, there’s only one source of true hope in life and His name is Jesus, the Messiah who came to Israel to bring hope and salvation, not just for them but for all mankind and He is still our hope today.
In the end translation my friends, there’s only one source of true hope in life and His name is Jesus, the Messiah who came to Israel to bring hope and salvation, not just for them but for all mankind and He is still our hope today.
Let’s never hesitate to let everyone we meet know about
it (1 Peter 3:15).
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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