He will not grow faint
Isaiah 42:1-4
Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
2 He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street;
3 a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 He will not grow faint or be crushed
until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching.
Themes we have already seen re-appear here.
God’s chosen one, my servant, will come bringing righteousness, not just for Israel but to “the nations” as well. God’s vision is much larger than the narrow confines of one nation or one nationality or a single ethnic group, God’s plan for the restoration of the creation is for the restoration of all things. In that all the nations of the earth will be transformed. The people of all ethnicities and races are among those who receive just and right treatment. This is a global renewal – a worldwide restoration.
The bruised reed and the dimly burning wick are metaphors for people who are hurting, for people who have no hope, for people regarded as useless as a bruised reed or a dimly burning wick. A wick that does not work well gets thrown out. If the reed used in an instrument like a clarinet is bruised, marred, misshapen it is thrown out, for it is useless. But the one who is coming will not throw out the broken and hurting, will not regard as useless those who everyone else does not see or care about. The justice the servant of the Lord will bring will not only declare what is right, it will offer restoration and healing.
The verbs used in vs. 4 – “grow faint” in Hebrew is same verb as “break” in vs. 3; and the verb “crushed” in vs. 4 is the same verb in Hebrew as “quench” in vs. 3. In other words, while Jesus was rejected by the powerful and the elites, while Jesus was bruised and worse by the military and the police, he was not broken, he was not crushed. And he promises that those who take up their cross to follow him will not be broken or crushed either, because he has gone ahead and he has guide the way. God’s justice will be revealed in the world.
At the end of the passage we are remined again that the new way of life in the kingdom of righteousness will require a re-learning of how to live. With eager longing we wait to learn the new ways of being.
PRAYER:
O Lord, we long for your kingdom’s full arrival, teach us even now how to live by that kingdom’s values, how to live its patterns and practices. In Jesus’ name. Amen.