Bruised People

Jesus put much value on bruised people.

One of the prophecies about Jesus as written in Isaiah chapter 42 was, "A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth" (Isaiah 42:3). In those days a bruised reed referred to an object that had no value and should just be discarded. People would take reeds that grew near the water’s edge, cut a piece of it, cut some holes in it, and thus they would have made a flute or a recorder on which they would play music. These instruments were very fragile and would bruise easily. Once they were damaged the owner would break it and discard it. It would be much easier to make a new one than to attempt to repair the bruised one.

The smoking flax was a wick from a lamp that was so worn out that it would no longer burn it would simply smoke. Therefore the owner would discard it and purchase or make a new one.

The prophecy says that Jesus would not do that. He would see a bruised person and see their value. He would see the prostitute, the tax collector, and see their potential. He would see the victims of divorce and failure, the financial failures, the moral failures, and instead of discarding them, He would heal them and fix them. He would see people who were burned out with trying to make their lives work and consider them the finest potential for His Kingdom. As a matter of fact, He felt that they had more potential for His Kingdom than the strong, proud and successful.

Reader, take hold of this concept! This is our God! He loves you as you are. If you have failed, if you have not been able to make life work, you have just the potential God wants. When you allow this to soak in, you will realize the love He has for you, and how valuable you are to Him. Knowing that God loves you just the way you are is the most powerful step in healing. A person will never really be spiritually and emotionally healed until the love of God towards them becomes their identity. If you are continually attempting to establish your identity by your work, your appearance, your ministry, your friends, or even by your spouse, you will most miserable. You need to know that Jesus the creator loves you in your poverty and sees great potential in you.

When we see the apostle John in Heaven we might expect him to identify himself in many different ways. He might say that he knew Jesus personally on earth, or that he wrote the Book of John, and the epistles of John, or that it was he who wrote the Book of Revelation. But I think he will simply tell us what he said many times in his writings, that he was simply one of His disciples whom Jesus loved. "Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved" (John 13:23).

Jesus treats poor people different than the rule keepers do. In Matthew chapter 12 Jesus states in verse 20 that the prophecy of the bruised reed and smoking flax is fulfilled in the stories told in that chapter. The stories therein include breaking the traditional law of the Sabbath so that people could be helped. One story had to do with the disciples plucking heads of grain from a field because they were hungry. Another story was about healing a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. If you are a broken reed or a smoking flax, don’t allow the rule keepers to condemn you, rather allow Jesus to heal you. Then go and find another bruised reed and another smoking flax and do the same for them.

Larry Chkoreff - November 2001