The reality is that Jesus never desired to put on a show. Though He often drew big crowds, that was never His intent. Though He often created a stir where He went, He didn’t plan to create a “big to do”. He did not come as a “steamroller” but as a servant. He never presented Himself as the Grand Jesus . . . but more as the Gentle Jesus.

In the first part of Matthew 12, Matthew records a couple of clashes between Jesus and the Pharisees regarding the Sabbath. In the first, the Pharisees take Jesus to task because His disciples picked some heads of grain to eat on the Sabbath. In the second, they want to see if Jesus would “do work on the Sabbath” by healing a man’s “withered hand.” Jesus answers these Pharisees with Scripture on the one hand and by healing the man on the other. His point? That “The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath” (12:8), and that “It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath” (12:12). Jesus then leaves . . . a crowd follows . . . He heals their sick . . . and then orders the crowd “not to make Him known” (12:16).

Jesus told the crowd not to reveal what He’d done. You kind of get the feeling that if Jesus were walking the earth today He wouldn’t have a public relations team . . . or a press secretary . . . or be buying air time on network television. I don’t sense that He would advertise His arrival in a town with a billboard campaign . . . or have t-shirts made up listing all the cities where He’d taken His “2010 Healing Tour.” Not Jesus’ style. And Matthew, instructed by the Holy Spirit, understands Jesus’ warning to the crowd to not make Him known as fulfilling that spoken by the Isaiah the prophet:

“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. He will not quarrel nor cry out, Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench, Till He sends forth justice to victory; And in His name Gentiles will trust.” (Matt. 12:18-21, Isa. 42:1-4).

As I meditate over it, I am so drawn to the gentle character of God’s Beloved . . . His Servant . . . the One in whom the soul of the Father is well pleased. He had come to declare justice. But this lowly Servant wouldn’t quarrel or pick a fight. His style wasn’t to shout it over others. No standing on a soap box on some corner and raising His voice with some “turn or burn” message. Instead, He viewed those He encountered as bruised reeds . . . crushed souls . . . on the verge of snapping should anymore weight be forced on them. And His determination? . . . He would not to break them. He would look upon the multitudes and see individuals who were like smoking flax . . . a smoldering wick . . . flickering candles in danger of going out if too great a wind were cast upon them. And His approach? . . . He would not quench them.

Oh, there will come a day when He will send forth justice . . . when He will arrive with trump and sword and judge the living and dead who have refused Him. But, for now, He comes as God’s gentle Servant. Not with great fanfare, but quietly wooing the hearts of the lost to Himself. Not as lording it over His followers, but as a Shepherd who knows His sheep and seeks to lead them beside still waters. He is the meek and lowly Jesus.

And, knowing what it is to be a bruised reed at times, and a smoldering wick at others, I am so grateful to the One who so patiently and carefully draws along side to call me to Himself . . . to restore me to Himself . . . and to reveal Himself to me afresh as the Lord of all. Not too flashy . . . no neon lights . . . no bullhorn . . . just the quiet witness of His Spirit with mine. Praise God for His Beloved Servant! All glory be to Gentle Jesus!