Mt 12:14-21
Servant-Son: The longest Old Testament quotation found in his Gospel, loosely based on Is 42:1-4, allows Matthew to bring together some of the themes that he has been working with thus far.
Servant-Son: The longest Old Testament quotation found in his Gospel, loosely based on Is 42:1-4, allows Matthew to bring together some of the themes that he has been working with thus far.
First, Jesus is the Servant of the Lord. This recalls the voice from the heavens at Jesus’ baptism (3:17) and points ahead to the voice from the cloud in the transfiguration narrative (17:5). Jesus, the Servant-Son, is doing God’s will.
Second, the Servant-Son receives the Spirit. Mary conceived Jesus “through the holy Spirit” (1:20). At his baptism, “the Spirit of God” descended on Jesus “like a dove” and came upon him (3:16), after which “Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil” (4:1).
Third, the Servant-Son “will proclaim justice to the Gentiles and in his name the Gentiles will hope” (vv 18, 21). Justice for Matthew is righteousness, right behavior, doing God’s will. He has already presented Jesus’ mission to the Gentiles through the healing of a centurion’s servant (8:5-13) and of the Gadarene demoniacs (8:28-34).
Fourth, “he will not quarrel or shout out angrily, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets” (v 19). This explains why Jesus withdraws from the dispute with the Pharisees after the violation of the Sabbath observance (12:15).
Fifth, anyone who is broken in body or anyone depressed in spirit is healed by Jesus.
Sixth, the Servant-Son will bring “justice to victory” (v 20). Here Matthew gives a glimpse of what will happen later in the Gospel—by doing the will of God (justice), Jesus will be victorious. Through his death and resurrection, the Servant of God will complete his mission and God’s plan.