Bruised Reeds

Matthew 12:18-21

¹⁸ “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. ¹⁹ He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; ²⁰ a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory; ²¹ and in his name the Gentiles will hope.”

Richard Sibbes:

After conversion we need bruising, that reeds may know themselves to be reeds and not oaks. Even reeds need bruising by reason of the remainder of pride in our nature, and to let us see that we live by mercy. . . . Thus Peter was bruised when he wept bitterly. This reed, till he met with this bruise, had more wind in him than pith. ‘Though all forsake thee, I will not.’ The people of God cannot be without these examples. The heroic deeds of those great worthies do not comfort the church so much as their falls and bruises do.

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