A Bruised Reed He Will Not Break

A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth.  In his teaching the coastlands will put their hope.”

– Isaiah 42:3-4

In verse 3 of this passage, Isaiah writes about a ‘bruised reed.’ The English word ‘bruised’ does not fully convey what Isaiah is trying to teach us. The word ‘bruise’ is a weak word because we experience bruises all the time. So what’s the big deal with a bruise? But in the Hebrew language, the word we translate in the English as bruise, is a word that means crushed. It implies a deep contusion. This is not merely a break in the skin externally, but rather a break internally that has injured or destroyed a vital internal organ. Isaiah is talking about maybe something you don’t see on the surface. But on the inside you are so crushed, that you are literally dying. For Isaiah it is the reed that is crushed. This reed is a stalk of grain that is broken (crushed) at such an angle it will never produce grain. But at the same time this servant that Isaiah is writing about is able to do something that no one can do. He can heal the crushed reed so it can produce grain once again.

Unlike anyone in history, Jesus Christ, this suffering servant is attracted to hopeless cases. He loves the fragile. He loves healing people who have been beaten, battered, and bruised. Maybe these bruises don’t show on the outside, but on the inside they are so crushing that they can bring death. Isaiah is telling us that God knows just what to do to bring healing. He sends His Son.

Richard Sibbs, author of the book A Bruised Reed, describes how Jesus brings healing to those who have been bruised. He writes:

If you want to see his mercy to bruised reeds consider his borrowed names. He’s called a lamb / mother hen (Luke 13). We are told that Jesus will heal the broken hearted (Isaiah 61)…at his baptism the holy spirit sat on him in the shape of a dove to show that he should be a dove like a gentle mediator. Oh hear his invitation… Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest…He is a physician good at all diseases…he died that he might heal our souls with the medicine of his own blood. Never fear to go to God since we have such a mediator that is not only a friend but our brother and our husband and let this keep us when we feel ourselves bruised.

Christ is so attracted to the bruised, to the battered, to the hopeless cases, he is so invested in our wounded condition that he literally comes down to us in order to heal all our bruises. What a reminder as we walk through the bruising days of COVID19.

Prayer: If Christ be so merciful as not to break me, I will not break myself by despair. Amen.

Dr. Dave Lescalleet serves as the Director Chaplaincy for PruittHealth.