The Artful, Skillful and Precise Master Manipulator! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Matthew 12:18-21,

"Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,
till he has brought justice through to victory. In his name the nations will put their hope."

As Jesus was healing all who were ill in a crowd that followed him, he warned them not to tell others about him. Just previous to this Jesus had healed a man with a shrived hand publicly in a synagogue and after the Pharisees witnessed it, and went to plot how to kill Jesus, he left and went to the place where he healed those ill in the crowd. Matthew cites this as a fulfillment of Isaiah 42:1-4.

Isaiah 42 is a prophetic message about the "servant" of the Lord who will bring justice "to the nations."  The servant, of course, is Jesus and he both proclaimed justice as well as brought justice. I note that as he did so, he did it on his own terms in a very calculated way. At times he would withdraw from people, other times he intentionally brought together a crowd, as when he did so at the sermon on the mount. At times he would publicly perform miracles, as when he healed the paralyzed man brought to him on a mat, while at other times, like here, he warned those he healed not to tell others. It seems to me the part of Isaiah 42 where the servant will not be heard in the streets are these occasions like this one where Jesus tells those he healed not to tell others about him.

It is not difficult to see that Jesus was a master manipulator of people. With precision he brought about events such they would culminate in the way he wanted. He artfully engineered his own death, his sacrifice on the cross to pay the penalty for sins for all mankind with precise skill.

With Jesus, nothing "just happened". Events and people were managed and manipulated by him as he carried out the work he came to do.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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