The Bruised Reed and the Faintly Burning Wick - Isaiah 42:3
2nd December 2025
Is 42 1Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
2 He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
3 a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 He will not grow faint or be discouraged
till he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his law.
We know that these four verses from Isaiah ch42 refer to Jesus himself because the New Testament applies them to him. But I want to pick out these two precious lines about Jesus’ character in our reading: “A bruised reed he will not break and a faintly burning wick [or “smoking flax”, in KJV] he will not quench”.
Isaiah 42:1-4 is one of the four so-called ‘Servant Songs’ in the Book of Isaiah. These songs were written 700 years before Jesus was born. They speak of the humility and gentleness of Jesus in his ministry as the Suffering Servant. This morning I want to encourage with good news those whose trust in him is sometimes weak, that Jesus is a gentle saviour - as is fitting for one with such a humble, lowly birth.
Some of you who may know of the outstanding Prison Care Ministries based here in Hamilton, which places prisoners on parole who have made professions of Christian faith in prison, into half-way houses surrounding them with discipling and support. This is to get them back on their feet, out of trouble and away from unhelpful friends - fufilling the conditions of their parole. These are people whom society does not trust, sometimes for good reason. Prison Care Ministries has Isaiah 42:3 as their motto. Such an appropriate motto for a ministry of Jesus like that! Giving bruised reeds and faintly burning wicks a second, or is it a 4th or 5th chance, when others would write them off.
Interestingly, Matthew in his 12th chapter quotes these four verses in response to the behaviour of the Pharisees, the self-righteous religious specialists, who were passing judgment on Jesus for wonderfully healing the man with a withered arm in a synagogue on the Sabbath Day. The implication being that the Pharisees were breaking this bruised reed and quenching the smouldering wick of a crippled man.
And the secular world also mercilessly crushes bruised reeds and smouldering wicks all too quickly and easily. Some of you may have heard of the so-called ‘cancel culture’ which piles on to people who do not agree with the latest moral craze of our messed up societies.
Evangelical Christians like me, who tend to see everything very black-and-white, can be the worst - quickly passing judgment on other Christians who are in a muddle about their faith or whose personal lives don’t quite line up with biblical norms. All too easily making the Christian life performative. We should not be crushing bruised reeds because in fact we are all bruised reeds, it is just that we are all bruised in different places. “Judge not lest ye be judged,” as Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount. Forgetting that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone. With the judgement we give we too will be judged, so let us be careful. We all live in glass houses and should be careful not to throw stones and break a bruised reed or quench a faintly burning wick.
But looking at the matter from the other side … Are you a bruised reed or a faintly burning wick? Just about burning, but burning very dimly. Perhaps you cry out to God: “I believe! Help thou mine unbelief!” Are you struggling? Hanging on by your fingernails. Perhaps you find everything about the Christian life too hard, and are tempted to give it all up. Is reading your Bible or praying privately becoming a battle? Not wanting to go to church even when you can perfectly easily go. Not getting along with your fellow-believers. Maybe even doubting some of the most important truths of Christianity.
Perhaps you are all too aware this, and you are tempted to write yourself off as a spiritual failure with too many shortcomings. I believe that even to be concerned about the fact you are a smouldering wick or a bruised reed shows that there’s still spiritual life in you. But, praise God, as Spurgeon wrote, our Lord Jesus is not a breaker down, but a builder up. Even to the hypocritical Pharisees, Jesus was surprisingly gentle at times, how much more to us, timid and weak believers.
As our text says: Jesus will not break the bruised reed nor quench the faintly burning wick. This is a promise. He is not spiteful. He doesn’t despise our weakness - he knows them better than we do. So, what does Jesus do with the bruised reed and the smoking wick? If we ask him, he gently blows his Spirit on us and brings us back to life and light again. He will gather the right people around us again to encourage us.
I pray for you all, and for myself, “Come Holy Spirit! Blow Spirit, blow!” He longs to make us alive, burning brightly again.