Would you please open your Bibles this morning to Matthew chapter 12? We'll be looking at these very well-known words in verses 15 to 21, where Matthew cites Isaiah 42 and the great prophecy of God's spirit. Anointed servant. Matthew chapter 12, beginning in verse 15. Hear now the word of the Lord. Jesus, aware of this, that is, of the Pharisees conspiring to kill Him. Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there and many followed Him. And He healed them all. and ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah. 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. He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench until he brings justice to victory, and in his name the Gentiles will hope. Amen. And this ends the reading of God's holy, inspired and inerrant word. May he add his blessing to us here this morning. Well, there are two ways to behold something. Or someone. Either as a casual observer. Or as a passionate follower. As a casual observer, you behold something with little interest or concern. And as a result, what you see has little impact on you. And so, for example, when we lived in Edinburgh, Angela and I used to enjoy visiting the exquisite National Portrait Gallery. that was held right in city center Edinburgh. And there we could see these glorious historic portraits of prominent dignitaries, of political leaders, of cultural icons. People like Mary Queen of Scots, the mother of King James, of the King James Bible fame. We could see portraits of Rabbie Burns, the great literary poet. Could also see one of my favorite authors, Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island. And yet when we looked at these portraits, we understood that they had very little impact on us. You see, no matter how long I stared at Robert Louis Stevenson. It was never going to make me a great author. No matter how long I looked at Mary, Queen of Scots, it was never going to make me a member of the royal family. You see, we can behold objects of admiration at a distance. We are disinterested observers. And as a result, those things or those people have very little bearing on our lives. I can look at a portrait in a museum and I can move on with my life. And in many ways, my life is no different having encountered that portrait. And how many of us see Christ that way? We look at him with a sense of admiration. But it is as a casual observer. We look at him as a portrait in a museum. And he has no bearing on our lives. But you also understand this morning there is another way to behold something or someone. And that is as a passionate follower. Here we seek to become like what we behold. We fix our attention on certain things because we want to become like those things that we see and admire and behold. And so, for example, an admiring boy Watches his father hammer. In order to learn how to mend a broken fence. A loving daughter. Watches with all her mother need the dough because she wants to learn how to bake an apple pie. A devoted fan studies with great interest the career of LeBron James in order to You know, learn how to shoot a better jump shot. We study those we admire because by beholding them, we become like them. As a passionate follower, you become like what you behold. You become like those things you prioritize, those things that you cherish, and your life begins to reflect those admirations and priorities. And so here in Matthew, chapter 12, verse 18. We are commanded in no uncertain terms to behold the glory of Christ. We are called to behold Christ, who is God's chosen servant. And this isn't some disinterested exercise like we might engage in if we were to visit a local museum and we behold a beautiful portrait. No, we are to behold Christ with great intensity and admiration. And the reason is very simple. When we behold Christ. We become like Christ. If you want to become like Christ, you need to be absolutely enthralled with this person named Jesus Christ. When we behold Christ, we become like Christ. And in this passage, we see at least three ways in which we are called to behold Christ, who is God's servant. So in the first place this morning, we see in verse 18, that we are to behold Christ as God's beloved servant. We are to behold Christ as God's beloved servant. After Jesus healed a man in the synagogue in verses 9 to 14, we are told that the Pharisees began to conspire together in order to exterminate Jesus Christ. They were threatened by him and his growing popularity. And yet the problem was. These Pharisees had nothing to pin to Jesus, it wasn't as though he was doing anything that was upsetting society. In fact, quite the opposite, he was healing the downcast. He was adding value to the Galilean culture. He certainly wasn't inciting any riots against the Roman Empire. Jesus was not a revolutionary leader who incited rebellion and riots. We see here, actually, he was a divinely appointed servant who healed the sick and gave rest to the weary. And as hard as the Pharisees tried, there was nothing they could nail Jesus with. He is not a revolutionary leader, he is God's divinely appointed servant, and he has come into this world to give rest to the weary. And so to validate this claim, Matthew here quotes Isaiah 42 to showcase Jesus as God's beloved servant. To showcase this prophetic portrait of Jesus Christ. Look at verse 17. We read this was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophets. And what is this that Jesus would heal people? And yet encourage them not to make him known to go about their lives in quiet devotion to him, not seeking to undo. Ministry of the synagogue. or upset the Roman Empire, they simply were to carry out their lives as faithful followers of the Lord Jesus Christ and to show that that was Jesus's modus operandi. Matthew quotes Isaiah 42 to showcase Jesus as God's beloved servant. And this is a glorious passage in God's word here from Isaiah 42. In fact, this passage here in verses 18 to 21 is the longest Old Testament quotation in the Gospel of Matthew. It is a prophetic portrait of the Messiah. It confirms that Jesus is the promised deliverer of God's people. What God promises, he fulfills in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so here in this prophecy of Isaiah. The Lord, the divine King Yahweh, the covenant God, beckons his people to behold his divinely appointed and beloved servant. Behold my servant in whom I have chosen. We are to behold him. That is, we are to pay attention to this servant. Now, most servants you never give any attention to, do you? They are to be. Seen and not heard, they are not to be noticed, you are not to give any attention to a mere servant, you are to pay attention to the king, and yet we discover in Isaiah, the king is the servant and the servant is the king. We are to behold this servant. That is, we are to take notice of him. We are to study him. We are to look at him, we are to admire him, we are to follow him, we are to love him. In Christianity, it's always a good idea to love what God loves and God loves Jesus the most. The Lord says in his wisdom and glory, this is my servant in whom I am well pleased. I love him. Behold him. This is not an option. We don't have an option here. This is a divine command that the father gives, behold, my servant. Follow him in his ways. Pattern your life after this servant. Give of your energy and of your time to this servant. Behold him. In other words, we are to behold Christ not as casual observers, but as passionate followers. We are to love what God loves and therefore we are to love Christ above everything else. And the reason why we are to follow or behold this Christ as passionate followers is because this Christ, this servant is God's chosen one. This is God's chosen servant. Behold, my servant, whom I have chosen. In this servant is God's master plan for the universe. If you want to know God's will, you look at God's servants. And so as God's divinely appointed servants, as God's chosen one, Christ came into the world to do God's work. That is to save his people from their sins. He came to serve God's people by giving his life for them. He did not consider equality with God something to be grasped. He laid aside those accolades that he might take upon himself the form of a servant by dying in the place of his people. You see, as Christians, we are called to behold the service of Christ, to behold the cross work of Jesus Christ, As Jesus himself will say in Mark chapter 10, verse 45. The Son of Man came into this world not to be served, but to serve. How? How is he serving? How is Christ, as God's chosen servant, serving God's people? Son of Man did not come into this world to be served, but to serve by giving his life. as a ransom for many. Jesus came into this world to do the work of the Father, to save His people from their sins by dying in their stead, by taking the death and the punishment that they deserve. And as a result, we are to behold God's chosen servant. As John the Baptist says to his disciples in John chapter 1, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. As Christians, we are always to be putting before our sights the crossed work of Christ. It is the center of God's work in this world, and it is the only way through which we glorify and honor God. is through the cross and our lives must seek to be conformed to the cross of Jesus Christ. We understand that the only way that God will embrace us is if we embrace his chosen servant on the cross. We are to behold the cross of Jesus as the only means through which men and women and boys and girls can be saved. We are to behold God's chosen servant. We are to say with Paul, our resolve to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified. I want to become like this crucified Lord who seeks to love the Lord his God by giving up everything he has. But Matthew here tells us that Christ is not only God's chosen servant, but he is also his beloved servant. Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased. Jesus is the object of his Father's love. Never was there a point in time when the Son did not know the Father's love or the Father know the Son's love. Even before the existence of time, there was this deep inner Trinitarian love between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And yet, in love, God so loved the world that He gave the Son of His love to redeem an unlovable people. It's a glorious thing. We are called here to behold this beloved servant. You know, this adjective, beloved, is used only three times in Matthew. And every time it is used, it refers to the love of God the Father for Jesus Christ. Jesus is the object of the Father's love. And the gospel has everything to do with sharing in the Father's love for Jesus Christ. That He is the chief object of our affection and delight. And so, at the baptism of Jesus, in Matthew chapter 3, right as Jesus commences His ministry, A ministry of identifying himself with sinners and there at the baptism of Christ as he devotes himself to the work. Of God's servants, and as the Spirit of God comes down in the form like a dove to anoint this servant to do the work of the father there, A voice comes out of heaven and says, behold, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. The father delights in Christ giving up of himself by identifying with sinners to die in their stead. The father delights in the work of Christ in redeeming sinners. So much so that in Matthew 17 at the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus is resolute on his way to the cross, bearing the wrath of God due our sin. And there with James and John and Peter. who have a chance encounter with Moses and Elijah as they discuss amongst themselves the glorious, redeeming grace of God, hear a voice from heaven and says, Behold, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. So at the beginning of his ministry, Jesus hears this declaration of the Father's love as He goes to the cross. He hears the declaration of the Father's love and right in the thick of His ministry here in Matthew 12, as Jesus faces intense opposition, we hear this time, Behold, This is my beloved servant in whom I am well pleased. The picture here is of a father who loves his son. And the question is, do you? Do you share in the father's estimation of Jesus Christ? Is he altogether lovely in your sight? You see, as we saw last Sunday evening in Revelation, the greatest need in the church is a glorious vision of Christ, because as his people, we tend to think less of Christ than we should. And yet our greatest need as the people of God is to know our need of Jesus Christ. Because what the gospel tells us is that the father loves those who love his son. It's a glorious thing. We are sinners. We are an unlovable lot. We have rejected God's word. We have rejected God's ways. We have rejected God's will. We are an unlovable people. And yet he sends the son of his love to die for these sinners so that all who love the son receive the father's love. If you want to be in the center of the will of the Father, if you want to know the grace and goodness of God, you must love the Son. He must be your delight, your joy, your satisfaction, your salvation, your righteousness. He is your life. The Father has given the Son of His love to us so that all who love the Son will receive the Father's love. It's an extraordinary thing if you go back and read John 17. John 17 is a picture of the prayer of Jesus that he prays for his people even now with the right hand of the Father. And Jesus begins by saying, as a servant, I have done the work that you have given me. Now return me to the love that I enjoyed with you before the foundation of the world. That is the hope of Christ as he goes to the cross. And then at the very end of John 17, he says to the father, I desire that those whom you have given me will see, will behold my glory and share in the love that you and I have shared before the foundation of the world. For people who have been rejected, for people who may never have known the love of a parent or friend, Here you have an offer from the Lord God to receive his eternal love that is never waning, a love that is for you in Jesus Christ. This is my beloved servant. I love him. Do you love him? Do you love him? Oh, my friends, if you do not know Jesus Christ, come to this savior, come to the servant and cling to his cross that you might know the father's love. But, my friends, those of you who do, whose love for Christ has diminished because of the weathering of life, my friends, I encourage you today to cultivate again your love for Christ. Discover the joy of your salvation, the love you had for Him when you were first converted, when you couldn't get enough of time with Christ. Come to Him. Come to His Word. Come to the Father in prayer and love this servant whom the Father loves. Well, we see here that we are called to behold Christ, who is God's beloved servant. But secondly, in verse 19, we are to behold Christ as the Spirit anointed servant. Verse 18, excuse me, behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my servant upon him, my spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. You see, the Pharisees hated Jesus. And they began a smear campaign to publicly besmirch the character of Christ in the eyes of the people. And as we will see next week. They leveled the charge against Jesus that he was not empowered by the spirit, but by some demonic power. And here Matthew quoting Isaiah says that Jesus was not filled with some demon, but he was empowered by the spirit of the living God. He was anointed by the spirit to proclaim justice to the nations, that this savior was not only for Israel, but for any who would delight in this servant. Spirit of God was empowering Jesus to bring good news to all people, to anyone who would love this servant. There is a message of righteousness. The Spirit empowers Jesus to bring redemption to the nations, to proclaim justice to the Gentiles. Now, justice Biblically speaking is another word for the righteous character of God. And here, Jesus is offering this righteousness to all nations, a righteousness that he earns with his own obedience and a righteousness that he offers with his own death. A righteousness that secures for us a place in the presence of God who himself is righteous. Here this Spirit-empowered servant is offering a way for you and me as sinners to dwell in the presence of God by receiving the righteousness of this servant. The Spirit empowers him. The Spirit anoints him to do the work of the Father. It's why we saw in the baptism that at the beginning of Jesus's ministry, the spirit anointed Jesus and empowered him to do the work so that in Matthew four, Jesus will face the onslaught of hell itself with the temptations of Satan. And he will do so through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He is a spirit empowered servant. And you understand for us today, that is an extremely important point. It may seem like some rarefied theological point to be made, but my friends, your life depends upon this Christ who was endowed by the spirit of God to obey the father. So often we think that Jesus simply relied upon his divinity to do the work of the father. But if he did that, how could he represent us? How could he represent us as a frail people? Who are tempted in every way. To struggle with the world, the flesh and the devil. You see, when facing ministry and facing temptation, if Jesus relied upon his divinity, he would be relying upon something that you and I can never rely on because we are a finite people. But Jesus, in the course of his ministry and Jesus, in the course of facing temptation, relies upon the spirit of God given to him to do the work of the father. And isn't it significant that when you come to Christ and you embrace him by faith and repentance, the Bible tells us that we are given the spirit of the living God. The same spirit that empowered Jesus indwells us to keep in step with the spirit and to obey the will of the father. You see here, Jesus provides a model for us in pursuing ministry and facing temptation. He provides a model for us in the way that we relate to God as Christians. We relate to God through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. That's why Paul says this in Romans, chapter eight, verses three and four. For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do. OK, here's the law, here's God's righteousness, here's God's standard, and none of us can meet it. How many of us have even kept the Ten Commandments, let alone the hundreds of commandments in the word of God? In and of our own flesh, we cannot do it, so God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do by sending his son in the likeness of sinful flesh. And for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be filled in us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. Jesus is the pattern of the Christian life. If you want to know how to honor the father, you look at the son who was empowered by the spirit to obey the law and to do God's work and to resist temptation. As Christians, we have been given the spirit of the living God who indwells us that we might do the work of the father. It's the spirit of God, isn't it? who takes out hearts of stone and gives us hearts of flesh that we might respond to the gospel offer in faith and repentance. It is the spirit of God who is our helper, as Jesus will say in John 15, who literally guides us in all truth and draws us to Jesus Christ. It is the spirit of the living God who is given as the guarantee of our future inheritance and glory. It's the spirit of God who conforms us into the image of Christ so that we can put to death the deeds of the flesh and put on the qualities of Christ. The spirit of God who teaches us to pray when we can only groan with words that cannot be expressed. It is the Spirit of the Living God who provides assurance for us when we doubt that the Father loves us. The Spirit helps us to cry, Abba, Father. It's the Spirit who illuminates our understanding of the Word of God that we can see in this book as life. It's the Spirit of the Living God who gives us courage and boldness to witness to others about the good news of Jesus Christ. The whole of the Christian life is dependent upon the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of those who come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus as God's spirit anointed servant is the pattern of the Christian life. But thirdly and lastly, we see here that we are to behold Jesus. As a gentle servant. Verse 19, he will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets, a bruised reed, he will not break a smoldering wick, he will not quench until he brings justice to victory and him his name, the Gentiles will hope. Jesus is not characterized by attributes that would incite an angry mob. He does not quarrel. He does not cry aloud. He does not shout in the streets and draw attention to himself. Rather, he deals tenderly with people. He does not cast them aside, but he welcomes all who come to him. No matter their background, no matter their problem, all who come to Christ will be welcomed by him. You see, this is quite the contrast to the popular understanding of Messiah in the Roman world. There, the people of God had an idea of a Messiah who was going to exercise his authority by crushing the opposition. But here we see the king is not a despot. The king is a tender servant. Here he deals with the helpless and the downtrodden. And so we have these beautiful images that Isaiah gives us of this tender or gentle servant. A bruised reed he will not break. A bruised reed he will not break. Now, a reed was a common plant in the Greco-Roman world. It was growing literally by the millions. You could go down by the riverside or go into a marsh and literally collect as many of these reeds as you could possibly imagine. Reeds used to make a flute or to use to make a pin for writing. Reeds used as a measuring stick, a yardstick that you would have in your own home. Everyday utensils used with this everyday plant, easily accessible by anyone who wanted one. And these reeds, of course, were delicate. Delicate plants that were malleable could be used for a multiplicity of reasons. And because they were so accessible, if you found one that was broken and bruised, you certainly wouldn't keep it. You would just throw away and get another read because they were so accessible. Who needs a bruised read? In our office, we have literally thousands of sheets of paper. Every so often we get a piece of paper that has an imperfection or a wrinkle in it. And when I find one of those wrinkled papers, I don't print my sermon on it. What do I do? I throw it away and get a clean sheet. Because it's so accessible. I don't keep those things that are, in my eyes, useless. Because of their imperfection. Well, here the text says that a bruised reed. He will not break. He will not throw away. He will not treat as trash those who are broken and bruised by the fall. Ravaged by sin and disappointment and heartache. Those who come to Christ and who are absolutely broken in misery. Those who are hurting and aching, those who have no hope and no life and no comfort, those who see themselves as dirty. And worthless, who have no place in society, no place in the church and no place in their neighborhoods and no place in their families. He will not cast aside a bruised and broken reed. You see, he sees in these people who come to him something redeemable. We understand that there is more mercy in Jesus than sin in us. So no matter how broken or bruised, he can restore these bruised reeds. So they're not useless, but valuable in the eyes of God. All my friends, today I hope you see, no matter your background, no matter your pain, there is more mercy in Jesus than sin in us. No matter how broken you are, He can restore you. But not only that, we are told here that a smoldering wick He will not quench. How many of you have ever tried to light a candle that really didn't have a wick or had a short wick. And you try in vain to light the candle and rather than get a beautiful flame, all you get is smoke. It's especially hard if you're trying to have a romantic evening, right? And you're trying to light a candle and all you get is smoke and not light. And what do you do? You throw it away and get a new candle. Here, Jesus sees even in the smoke of our lives, even of the sin that we produce, the odious smell of our own sin, there He sees a flicker and produces in that a flame of burning devotion to God. Oh, my friends, let us not be cruel to ourselves when Christ is gracious to us. So often we beat ourselves up because we see the smoke and we forget that God looks at those who are in Christ and he sees a flame. You see, God looks at us and he sees us as we are in Christ and as we will be one day in Christ, and he does not throw us away. We see the smoke. It burns our eyes. It leaves a disgusting smell on our nose. But God looks at us and he sees the flame. Flame of grace, the flame of devotion to Christ, he looks at us and sees us in Jesus as we are in him and as we will one day be. And he does not cast us aside. Oh, my friends, let us not ever throw away anyone because we see in them the smoke. Help us to remember that God sees them in Christ and He sees the flame. See, the church is a place for sinners. People like you and people like me who are broken and bruised by the fall and who have been redeemed by the love of God in Christ. And so, the church is not a country club for people that have it together. The church is a hospital. We offer the hope of the gospel to all who come to Christ. Because the glorious thing is when you behold this Christ, you become like him. You become like him as one loved by God. When you come to Christ, you are loved by the father. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life. When you behold Christ, you become like him. You are loved by the father. When you behold Christ, you become like him and you are endowed with the spirit of the living God. Who conforms you into the image of Christ. And when you behold Christ, you become like him, you become gentle in heart, you begin to exhibit the fruit of the spirit of joy and love and peace and patience and gentleness. Suddenly, you begin to look at your brothers and sisters and you no longer see the smoke. You see the flame. You see them as God sees them in Christ, clothed in the righteousness of Jesus. We become like what we behold. So, Paul says this in 2 Corinthians 3, verse 18, As we all with unveiled face behold the glory of the Lord, we are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. You become like what you behold. Oh, my friends, may we behold Jesus not as casual observers, but as passionate followers. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the power of the Gospel. We thank you for the beauty of Christ as portrayed in this prophetic portrait of Isaiah. We pray that as we behold Christ, we will become like Him, loved by the Father, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and gentle to the bruised and broken. O Lord, we pray that you would remind us today of our need of Christ, and as sinners may we come to Him. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.