Synoptic Gospels 2: Servant of the Lord (1)
Pray Psalm 72.12-15.
For He will deliver the needy when he cries,
The poor also, and him who has no helper.
He will spare the poor and needy,
And will save the souls of the needy.
He will redeem their life from oppression and violence;
And precious shall be their blood in His sight.
And He shall live;
And the gold of Sheba will be given to Him;
Prayer also will be made for Him continually,
And daily He shall be praised.
Sing Psalm 72.12-15.
(Martyrdom: Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed)
The LORD the needy rescues when he cries to Him for grace;
all they who suffer violence find mercy before His face.
Let Christ be praised and all the gold of Sheba be His right;
let blessings to His Name be told, and prayers made both day and night.
Read and meditate on Matthew 12.15-21.
Preparation
1. What role had God chosen for Jesus to fulfill?
2. How would He do that?
Meditation
Jesus’ ministry was, in the first place, to the people of Israel. But Jesus came as God’s Servant with a much bigger mandate and mission. Ultimately, as Isaiah showed (Is. 42.1-4), Jesus would serve the Lord by bringing salvation to the Gentiles as the larger aim of His mission.
But accomplishing this great work would take time. By warning the people to remain quiet about Him, Jesus intended to keep the enthusiasm for His work to a minimum, if any consideration of “multitudes” (v. 15) can be regarded as a minimum. He did not want to be taken into captivity before His proper time. The parables in chapter 13, the outreach to a Gentile woman in chapter 15, and the decisive parable of the unfaithful workers in chapter 20 would show the worldwide, all-nations scope of the work of God’s Servant and the Kingdom of God.
But He needed to be able to do all those things, to lay down a trajectory of teaching and serving that would confirm Isaiah’s prophecy (and many others, cf. Ps. 22.27, 28 and Mic. 4.1-8) and make it possible for the disciples, from Acts 10 on, to take the Gospel confidently and joyfully to the Gentile world.
Jesus came as the Servant of the Lord for the great work of salvation. He would demonstrate this calling by many good works, as we shall see. All who follow Jesus must embrace the role of a servant, for this is how the grace of the Lord spreads unto the progress of His Kingdom.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
God, through Isaiah, spoke words of love for His dear Son:
“Behold!
My Servant Whom I have chosen,
My beloved in Whom My soul is well pleased!
I will put My Spirit upon Him, and
He will declare justice to the Gentiles” (Is. 42.1; Matt. 12.18).
Then in this passage we see the protective nature of God, and Jesus’ wisdom, regarding His ministry:
“But when Jesus knew it
[that the Pharisees were plotting against Him]
He withdrew from there.
And great multitudes followed Him, and
He healed them all” (Matt. 12.15).
A similar situation arose in Galilee when He healed a leper.
The leper was told not to proclaim it; but he blabbed it all around, making Jesus’ life more difficult.
“Jesus could no longer enter the city, but was outside in deserted places…” (Mk. 1.45).
But there was a larger point at work, and it was about keeping the Law.
Jesus “strictly warned him and sent him away at once, and said to him” (Mk.1.44),
1. See that you say nothing to anyone
2. Go your way
3. Show yourself to the priest
4. Offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded (Lev. 14.1-32)
5. That will be your testimony to the priests, your family, your neighbors—your Personal Mission Field.
The Gospel of the Kingdom keeps the Law in its proper place. Keeping the Law is our witness.
“Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but
such as keep the law contend with them” (Prov. 28.4).
We, as well as the leper, have been cured and told to keep the Law.
“Preach the gospel always, and when necessary use words” (attributed to St. Francis of Assisi).
We are to go our way, follow Jesus to the end (Ps. 119.112) and keep the law (Matt. 22.37-40).
Rejoicing in the forgiveness, mercy, grace, love, and hope that The Servant of the LORD, Jesus Christ, has brought to Israel and the Gentiles—to us. “Who were once not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy” (1 Pet. 2.10).
Thus, “All who follow Jesus must embrace the role of a servant, for this is how the grace of the Lord spreads unto the progress of His Kingdom.”
Reflection
1. How did Jesus fulfill the role of a servant?
2. How did His being a servant mesh with His being the Messenger of the covenant?
3. What should we learn from Jesus’ example as the Servant of the LORD?
Let us with cheerful confidence commit our souls to so kind and faithful a Friend. Far from breaking, he will strengthen the bruised reed; far from quenching the smoking flax, or wick nearly out, he will rather blow it up into a flame. Let us lay aside contentious and angry debates; let us receive one another as Christ receives us. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Matthew 12.14-21
Pray Psalm 72.7-11.
The Kingdom of God—the Rule of King Jesus—comes on earth through His faithful and obedient servants. Pray that God will give you many opportunities to serve others today. Give thanks to the Lord for making you a servant.
Sing Psalm 72.7-11.
(Martyrdom: Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed)
Let righteousness abundant be where Jesus’ reign endures;
let peace increase from sea to sea ’til moonlight shall be no more.
And let the Righteous rule the earth, and let His foes bow low;
let nations praise His matchless worth, and all His bidding do.
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest this week: Our Read Moore podcast is concentrating on praying the psalms to seek revival—why we should and what we might expect. Do you ever wonder about what God’s will for you is? Patrick—echoing Paul—makes it clear, as you can see in last week’s Crosfigell. Our current ReVision series, “Pray for Your Church”, teaches us how to pray for the ministries of our church, beginning with worship. And new in our bookstore, our book, The Ongoing Work of Christ shows us how the book of Acts provides a template and footprint for all who take up the work of building Jesus’ Church.
And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
