Day 52

Chapter 42 of Isaiah is one of my favorites from this major prophet. In it I see the blessed image of a perfect savior, not a coming destroyer or strict disciplinarian. Just mediate on the third verse:

A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench (v. 3)

Jesus Christ has not come to break us. It wouldn't take much; the Scriptures illustrate us as plants with bruised stalks ready to snap at the slightest pressing of the wind. He did not come to deliver the deathblow.

We are also like the smoldering flax that won't quite burn out but is not producing any heat or light. We are like that fading candle that can only be extinguished by the pressing of the thumb. However, Christ did not come to deliver the coup de grace.

He came to establish justice. Just consider this parallel thought in John 3:17:

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Christ did not come to harm us, but to redeem us; to reclaim us. We are his victory!

In Christ Alone,

Jay Silvas