14 Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.15 But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.16 Yet He warned them not to make Him known,17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:18 “Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen,My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!I will put My Spirit upon Him,And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.19 He will not quarrel nor cry out,Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.20 A bruised reed He will not break,And smoking flax He will not quench,Till He sends forth justice to victory;21 And in His name Gentiles will trust.”
The Portrait of the Rejected King (Matthew 12:14-21)
This passage is a portrait (உருவப்படம்) of Jesus Christ painted by Isaiah and placed by Matthew in the center of his Gospel. While chapters 11 and 12 chronicle the rejection of Jesus Christ—doubt, criticism, indifference, and finally blasphemy and plotting to murder—Matthew drops this prophecy to show what God says about Christ when the world rejects Him.
The rejection is sealed in verse 14: The Pharisees were so bent on killing Him that they enlisted their arch-enemies, the Herodians—unholy, irreligious, worldly secularists and supporters of Rome—to plot the murder. This strange union of legalists and secularists marks the climax of Israel’s rejection.
Matthew gloriously presents a picture of our Lord that should make us bow down and worship, causing us to set all our hope on Jesus Christ.
The prophecy starts with “Behold!” It calls us to stop looking and thinking anything else, to intently and deeply look at this Servant.
Attributes of the Chosen Servant
The Father defends His Son against the nation’s rejection, saying: “This is my true beloved servant.” John 5 says there’s no greater testimony than that of God the Father to the Son.
இதோ, நான் தெரிந்துகொண்ட என்னுடைய தாசன், The word for Servant is rich, not just any servant, but a very intimate, beloved, and trusted servant (nesa dasan), the royal one.
We will look at two of the ten attributes:
1. Servant Perfectly Fulfills the Will of God
The prophetic name “My Servant” (Isaiah 52:13) described the central motivation of Jesus’ life: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:34). He came to do—fully and exclusively—the will of the Father, not to be served, but “to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
This is seen in His response to the plot: Verse 14 Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him. Verse 15 But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. இயேசு அதை அறிந்து, அவ்விடம் விட்டு விலகிப்போனார்.
- He knew their mad rage but chose to withdraw. He could have done many things: called legions of angels, knocked the troops over with a word, or simply willed their hearts to stop beating. He also had great popular support and could have rallied the multitudes to fight.
- He did none of that. He withdrew because He was a servant of God perfectly fulfilling the will of God. The Servant would not act in His own self-defense or as He feels, but always follow the will of God.
- His revolution must not come by shedding others’ blood but His own blood. His rule must not come at the hands of a mob but on a cross.
- He restricted all personal prerogatives and power, willingly submitting everything to the Father’s will and the Father’s timing. This is the heart of a servant: totally submissive.
Verse 15 continues: திரளான ஜனங்கள் அவருக்குப் பின்சென்றார்கள்; அவர்களெல்லாரையும் அவர் சொஸ்தமாக்கி, And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. Verse 16: Yet He warned them not to make Him known, தம்மைப் பிரசித்தம்பண்ணாதபடி அவர்களுக்குக் கண்டிப்பாய்க் கட்டளையிட்டார்.
- He warned them not to make Him public (phaneros) because such a display of power could easily fan the flame of enthusiasm to make Him a potential political deliverer from Rome (like in John 6 after feeding the 5000).
- He was not seeking popularity or fame; as the Servant, all He wants to do is fulfill the will of God. This is the contrast to the Pharisees, who were filled with proud, selfish desires and were ready to murder the Anointed of God to save their popularity.
The clearest reason Matthew gives for why Jesus withdrew and warned people is in verse 17: “…that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet…” ஏசாயா தீர்க்கதரிசியால் உரைக்கப்பட்டது நிறைவேறும்படி இப்படி நடந்தது.
- Matthew, writing to Jews, proves that Jesus is the Messiah even in His rejection.
- The key is in verses 19 and 20: “He will not strive nor cry out… A bruised reed will He not break, and smoking flax will He not quench…”
- The character of our Savior’s ministry proves he is the Messiah. He did not come to do battle for temporary political power, but to conquer our eternal enemies and bring eternal deliverance. He fulfilled the kind of ministry God promised, even in the manner of His rejection.
2. Servant Had Care of God for the Sorrowing
Verse 15: And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all திரளான ஜனங்கள் அவருக்குப் பின்சென்றார்கள்; அவர்களெல்லாரையும் அவர் சொஸ்தமாக்கி,
- He healed them all, even those who didn’t believe. This demonstration of healing was because the True Servant has the heart of God for the sorrowing.
- His heart is toward those with deep, profound need, distress—the outcasts ignored by the religious leaders (who only used the withered man to trap Jesus).
- In chapter 9:36, Jesus saw the multitude as faint (skinned/flagellated) and scattered (thrown down/left for dead). They were ripped to shreds by the false shepherds who devoured the poor and bound them with incredible burdens (like the false shepherd of Zechariah 11).
- The true Shepherd comes and is moved with compassion. He heals the outcasts, tax collectors, and prostitutes. He tenderly says, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”
- Healed them all because that is the heart of God. Peter knew this: “Cast all your care on Him, for He cares for you.”
- Christ feels the pain of the hurting people. He sympathizes with our weakness, bearing our infirmity and sicknesses—not just on the cross, but with a sympathetic heart (like when seeing the leprous man).
- The healing of all is a little taste of what the glorious kingdom will be like, where disease and sorrow are totally eliminated. The True Servant perfectly fulfilled God’s plan and, at the same time, showed the care of God to the sorrowing.
He is Chosen by God
“Behold My servant, whom I have chosen.” That phrase, I have chosen, is a marvelous phrase. It’s a word that’s only here in the Greek New Testament and appears nowhere else. But it indicates great firmness of choice… firm commitment to make him king over all. He has chosen the Son. Not he had so many options, but he is appointed, chosen son for salvation of God, heir of all things.. who will redeem everything. Now so much was this a part of the Messianic identity that the Messiah became known as the Chosen One in the Jewish mind. And so when Isaiah says, “My servant, whom I have chosen,” he is designating a title for the Messiah that the Jews in Jesus’ time would know. And they would know that as Matthew is quoting this, he is quoting a Messianic passage. And they know he is saying Jesus is the Messiah, the Chosen One. You see Luke 23:35. The rulers are deriding Jesus at His crucifixion and they say, “He saved others, let Him save Himself if He be the Messiah, the Chosen of God.” And there’s that title; they were very familiar with that title. That is a Messianic title – the Chosen One of God. Christ is the Father’s elect. This servant didn’t undertake the work of redemption on his own initiative.. He was chosen and authorized by God… He was chosen in the eternity to be our redeemer by God. Peter said that we come to Him “as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious . . .” (1 Peter 2:4). Such a confidence for to trust him.. Jesus not only had compassion to come and die for us, but he is the authorized person. We can fully trust him.. he is officially designed person by Father and creator. Our confession says It pleased God, in His eternal purpose, to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, his only begotten Son, according to the covenant made between them both, to be the mediator between God and man; the prophet, priest, and king; head and saviour of the church, the heir of all things, and judge of the world; unto whom he did from all eternity give a people to be his seed and to be by him in time redeemed, called, justified, sanctified, and glorified.
4. He is Loved by God
என் ஆத்துமாவுக்குப் பிரியமாயிருக்கிற என்னுடைய நேசன்; And then He adds, “My Beloved.” The Beloved One. He uses the root agape, the deepest, richest, truest, highest kind of love, the most loved. He is precious to the Father. The intimacy that they enjoy is described in John 1:1 in the statement that He was pros ton theon, face to face, in close reality with the Father. Very loving to Father.. He was not only chosen, loved, and enjoyed by God. Is not just that he is chosen; he is also loved. One of the great mysteries is love of Father to the son… entire story of redemption is the expression of the this love. Father loves the son and gives him the gift of church, and son loves the Father and is willing to die for church and show his love for the Father. Like a fountain.. overflow of that love is what we experience.. And specifically the kind of love that God the Father has toward the Son is not a mercy… disinterested benevolence or a dutiful debt of honor; but a deep pleasure in God’s soul: This is great ministry.. infinite love between son and Father.. The value the Father places upon His Son cannot be measured or weighed. Christ is the “Beloved” of the Father in whom is all the divine delights. Father infinite God’s only delight is the son…. We might love someone because of what they have done for us, or the potential they have to do things for us. But the Father loves the Son with an inexhaustible, selfless, joyous, satisfying love! All that Christ did pleased the Father.
5. He is Pleasing to God
Verse 18. இதோ, நான் தெரிந்துகொண்ட என்னுடைய தாசன், என் ஆத்துமாவுக்குப் பிரியமாயிருக்கிற என்னுடைய நேசன்; “Behold My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!” Was the Father pleased with the Son? Oh whereever you allow Father to speak from heaven about his son.. what is the one thing he kept saing… I am pleased pleased… Yes, He was. What did He say at the Son’s baptism? “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am” – what? – “well pleased.” What did He say at the transfiguration? “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him.” And what did He do when Jesus died and rose again, but exalt Him and place Him at His right hand and put all authority under Him and gave to Him to send the Holy Spirit, which is the ultimate act of His pleasure. And doesn’t that show you how far off the religious leaders were? The One whom God was commending, they were condemning. The One whom God made alive, they killed. Behold My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!” Surely what God means when he speaks of delighting in Jesus with his soul is that this joy, this pleasure is part of his very nature. Or to put it another way, God the Father loves the Son with spontaneous pleasure. God would be idolator if son was not God.. so much pleasure in the son. When he beholds the Son, he sees that which by nature brings forth his most passionate enjoyment. Jesus is God’s greatest delight because Jesus is God. His life was a pleasing aroma—a sweet savor to the Father. Paul spoke of the Father’s delight in the Son when he called Jesus, “the Son of His love” (Colossians 1:13).
Oh how thank we should be there was one like Christ who was so pleasing to great judge of the earth. Think about the implications of that for a moment. The Father sent His Servant on a mission – to secure the eternal salvation of all the elect from every age. It could not be done by anyone else of the human race because all are under Adam’s curse in the fall. No angel qualified since angels are not part of our race or part of the Godhead – so their sacrifice would lack adequate value to secure redemption. The price for the redemption of human beings must be paid by a human being, But the Beloved of the Father who always does what pleases the Father, and who gives the Father infinite delight is the One sent by the Father to obtain eternal redemption. Did He do it? Yes, indeed, for it is Christ alone with whom the Father is “well-pleased.” Is your trust in Christ alone?
6. He is Anointed by the Spirit
Fifthly, anointed by the Spirit. It says there in verse 18, “I will put My Spirit upon Him.” என் ஆவியை அவர்மேல் அமரப்பண்ணுவேன், That was a promise in Isaiah 42, that when the Messiah came, the Spirit would be upon Him. Now we know that that happened for certain in a unique way at His baptism, because it says the Spirit of God descended like a dove. We know that. But more so Jesus Christ was indwelt by the power of the Spirit of God from the time He was conceived. It says in Matthew 1:20 that He was conceived of the Holy Spirit. Now what does this mean? I mean, if He’s already God, and the Father and the Son and the Spirit are already one in Him, what does it mean to have this special putting of the Spirit on Him? The only way we can understand it is to see it in a twofold manner. First of all, it was a granting of power to His human nature. His divine nature didn’t need it, but His human did. You see, He was in every point tempted like as we are; He was truly human. His humanness needed the indwelling power of the Spirit of God in order for it to function in concert with His deity. And so He was granted that, and that’s why Acts 10:38 says, “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power.” It was for power in a unique and marvelous way. But there was a second feature, and I believe that’s tied to His baptism, and I think that was the unique anointing of the Spirit at that point for His royal service. For 30 years up until that time, He had been in obscurity, for all intents and purposes, but when it came time to initiate His ministry, He was given a very special declaration by the Father; He was attended to uniquely with an anointing by the Holy Spirit. And I believe that, in a sense, fulfills Isaiah 61:1 which Jesus Himself quoted as being fulfilled by Himself, when He said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He has anointed Me to preach.” And so there was not only the Spirit of God from the very conception to empower His humanness, but there was that special anointing at the baptism for His royal service. He was granted the Spirit. And so He functioned in the Father’s plan and by the Spirit’s power. Think of it… we earn for a drop of HS blessing.. he was conceived and anointed with the Holy Spirit above measure. What a person he must be.. having in Him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge… all the deity dwells in him… all grace and truth from him… all salvation in his name.. Behold him..
Peter said that “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him (Acts 10:38). And Jesus Himself even quoted Isaiah 61:1-3 and applied it to Himself; saying: “ The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD” (Luke 4:18-19)
7. Servant of God Will Preach Gospel of God to Gentiles
Finally Servant of God will preach gospel of God to gentiles அவர் புறஜாதியாருக்கு நியாயத்தை அறிவிப்பார். The end of verse 18, “He will show justice” – or rightness – “to the heathen.” The Hebrew in Isaiah says, “He will bring out right.” He will bring out what is right. He’s going to give the right message. I mean, there’s a lot of wrong ones. Would you agree? I mean, the world is full of bad answers to good questions. But Jehovah’s beloved servant will bring the message of rightness, the right message, the real truth, the good news, the gospel, what is in harmony with God’s will, true religion. Salvation, the gospel, and He will bring it to the world, to the heathen. And this tells us that all the way from the beginning, clear back as far as the prophets, He was prophesied to be the Savior of the world, not just Israel. “Justice” he will show God’s just laws… and God’s claims as creator and how much injustice we have done to God.. our creator.. to whom we are accountable… and how through his death he has fulfilled the law and satisfied the justice of God. For this reason, Jesus Christ can “proclaim justice to the Gentiles.” Justice was served at the cross by the sacrifice of God’s Servant. He will call us to repent and trust in him. This is proclaiming justice to the gentiles..
This is proclaiming justice.. He trained his disciples remember to do that. He does it even today through his church us. We have taken that responsibility of proclaiming justice to the nations. We have a clear mission: to declare God as God – the Creator and Sustainer of the world; to declare God’s law as the just, moral demands upon His creation; to declare that all men are accountable to God for breaking His law; and to declare that God has provided satisfaction for His justice through the death and resurrection of His own Son. We can make such bold proclamations because Jesus Christ succeeded in the divine mission of redemption He didn’t come just for Jews, they were a channel. They were to be His agency to reach the world, but the world was always the goal. So proclaim justice to all the gentiles.
So we have seen the servant.. Servant perfectly fulfills the will of God Servant had care of God for the sorrowing Servant was chosen by God Servant was pleasing to God Servant was loved by God He is anointed by God with Holy Spirit He will preach the gospel of God. What a perfect savior…. Beholding him.. is salvation… Your eternity rested in the effectiveness of Christ as God’s Servant. If he was not any of this.. we don’t have perfect savior. He fufulled God’s mission as servant… even though he had suffer terribly on the cross and go through horrible insults and pain. What a wonderful servant… there are more.. we have just seen superficial first 7.. more next week… Now; all of these things of who Jesus is. It’s important that we obey the command of God from this prophetic passage; and that we truly “behold” Jesus. One of the reasons God led Matthew to record His Gospel is so that we might do so. Is it difficult.. is there anything more easy than beholding.. That is God says behold my servant.. Salvation comes not by looking at us or anybody… but as it says in Is Look unto Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other” IS 45:22 . பூமியின் எல்லையெங்குமுள்ளவர்களே, என்னை நோக்கிப்பாருங்கள்; அப்பொழுது இரட்சிக்கப்படுவீர்கள்; நானே தேவன், வேறொருவரும் இல்லை.
Who else can be a servant like this.. What a glorius person is Lord Jesus Christ…. How thankful we should be to God for him. Imagine.. we have offended a great king.. and we are under his wrath… but he has a very loving darling of his eye… son. What a blessing it would be to plead forgiveness and mercy through him. Do you see why it is so important for us to come to God through Jesus Christ… not just when we saved.. even today morning…. Only reason God bears with us and accepts us and listens to us because of seeing us in Jesus Christ. Who else can save us from God .. but him who chosen by God, so pleasing to God, loved by God, anointed by God without measure by HS… all deity dwelling not only in his deity but humanity.. and proclaims justice of God not just to Israel but all gentiles.. which is were…. he has fullfiled all the will of God in our behalf and has a heart of God towards sorrowing sinners like this… very compassionate and mercy… All this should make us do what the end of this prophecy says.. in verse 21 And in His name Gentiles will trust. அவருடைய நாமத்தின்மேல் புறஜாதியார் நம்பிக்கையாயிருப்பார்கள் என்பதே. Do you trust in him…. who else can you trust.. If you don’t have that trust.. only way it comes is Behold him.. .. keep meditating about him.. It is the sound from heaven.. when he was on earth and even today.. Behold him… until you put all your trust in him. We can never be pleasing to Father unless we trust and are united to him. Frankly, with us, the Father is not well pleased. It says in Romans 8:8, “They that are in the flesh cannot” – you remember the verse? – “please God.” If anyone is to please God, it is to be in Christ, because He is well pleased with Christ. He said come to me… I will give rest. All rest comes from beholding him… Christ has completed his mission as servant and is exalted above every name by Father in heaven today. If Christ has indeed faithfully completed the redemptive work the Father sent Him to accomplish, then why would any among us scramble around trying to justify himself before God? Can you add anything to what Christ has already completed? He was faithful in His mission to secure our salvation for all eternity. But in spite of this, there are multitudes that will not trust in what Christ has faithfully accomplished, turning instead to their own energies and merits. My friend, if that is the case with you, then I plead with you, look to Jesus Christ, God’s faithful Servant that finished the redemptive mission the Father gave Him on your behalf. You know the most divine exercise that strengthens our faith is not looking at ourselves, but look at Christ. Oh he is cure for both sinners and saved sinners.. Only way we progress in spiritual life is to forget self and be occupied with Christ. When you read the Bible, see His beauty, His majesty, His compassion and His grace. As you keep beholding and meditating on His glory, the Holy Spirit inside you goes to work in you. He will transform you into the very same image of Christ. You will be changed from glory to glory, experiencing true and lasting inward transformation!
Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore 