Matthew 12: 14-21
The Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.
When Jesus became aware of this, he departed. Many crowds followed him, and he cured all of them, and he ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
“Here is 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 wrangle or cry aloud,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.
He will not break a bruised reed
or quench a smoldering wick
until he brings justice to victory.
And in his name the Gentiles will hope.”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Meek and Humble
The relationship between Jesus and the Pharisees was complex. Jesus was critical of the Pharisees in some respects but close to them in others. Though they contributed to the hostility of the Jewish leaders of the time to Jesus, their role in his death was not direct. The Gospel of John has two Pharisees, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, seeing to his burial, and Jesus was buried in the new tomb that Joseph of Arimathea had prepared for his own burial. The Pharisees survived and produced the Talmud (the Mishna and the Gamara) and gave us later and modern Judaism.
Here Jesus is threatened, withdraws, is followed, heals, and asks not to be made known. Matthew applies to him the first four verses of the first of Isaiah’s four songs of the servant of God (Isaiah 42:1-9).
Indeed, Jesus does not “break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick,” but is “meek and humble of heart” (Matthew 11:29). One is reminded of the proverb quoted by Saint Francis de Sales: "A spoonful of honey attracts more flies than a barrelful of vinegar."
—Fr. Bob Hagan, SJ, is a member of a community of senior Jesuits at Saint Ignatius Hall in Black Jack, Missouri. He does limited spiritual direction, mostly online; gives sacramental care to the lay Catholics at the adjacent retirement community; writes occasional reflections for Jesuit Prayer.
Prayer
Sacred Heart of Jesus, channel of divine love and mercy, may I grow in love of you each day. Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like yours. Amen.
—Fr. Bob Hagan, SJ