Behold My Servant, whom I uphold; My Elect, in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit on Him; He shall bring out judgment to the nations. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.
(Isa 42:1-2 MKJV)
Behold My Servant (Jesus Christ) … He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard.
cry
H6817
צעק
tsaÌâaq
tsaw-ak’
A primitive root; to shriek; (by implication) to proclaim (an assembly): – X at all, call together, cry (out), gather (selves) (together).lift up
H5375
× ×¡× × ×©××
naÌsÌaÌ’ naÌsaÌh
naw-saw’, naw-saw’
A primitive root; to lift, in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively, absolutely and relatively: – accept, advance, arise, (able to, [armour], suffer to) bear (-er, up), bring (forth), burn, carry (away), cast, contain, desire, ease, exact, exalt (self), extol, fetch, forgive, furnish, further, give, go on, help, high, hold up, honourable (+ man), lade, lay, lift (self) up, lofty, marry, magnify, X needs, obtain, pardon, raise (up), receive, regard, respect, set (up), spare, stir up, + swear, take (away, up), X utterly, wear, yield.voice
H6963
×§× ×§××
qoÌl qoÌl
kole, kole
From an unused root meaning to call aloud; a voice or sound: – + aloud, bleating, crackling, cry (+ out), fame, lightness, lowing, noise, + hold peace, [pro-] claim, proclamation, + sing, sound, + spark, thunder (-ing), voice, + yell.
Jesus obviously did some street preaching – but he did not scream at and attack sinners. He was humble, kind and gentle, all the while not condoning sin, as in his conversation with the woman at the well. Many Christians today would do well to tone it down a bit. Two hot topics for Christians today are abortion and gay marriage (homosexuality in general.) I used to picket the local abortion clinic – carrying a sign of an aborted baby so the girls and women could see that it’s not a “mass” or “tissue” or “cells.” I know people who have marched against gay marriage.
I stopped being involved with those things, not because I condone or accept abortion or homosexuality in any way, but because I’m tired of Christians acting like those are the “unforgivable” sins. Sin is sin. Period. My daughter struggled with this concept, excusing herself for some offenses because, “it’s not that bad of a sin,” or “at least I didn’t…” This is a really revolting analogy, but here’s how I got her to understand it: If I come into her room with a bucket of sewage, and throw some of it on her, if I only get a few cups on her, will she fail to shower? Does it take the whole bucket to be disgusting enough to call herself dirty? If it’s only 1 drop, does she really need to go clean up, or can she just leave it on herself?
Sin is like that. My (former) smoking habit and ongoing gluttony are sinful abuses of my body just as much as anal sex is an abuse – using the body in a way not intended by God. If I’m furious at someone and indulge in thoughts of punching them right in the face, that is sin equivalent to abortion. Jesus said,
“You have heard that people were told in the past, ‘Do not commit murder; anyone who does will be brought to trial.’ But now I tell you: if you are angry with your brother you will be brought to trial, if you call your brother ‘You good-for-nothing!’ you will be brought before the Council, and if you call your brother a worthless fool you will be in danger of going to the fire of hell.
(Mat 5:21-22 GNB)
This is a very uncomfortable teaching, but we need to get rid of the pride and really see ourselves from a more Godly perspective. Not one of us is “good enough” – this is something basic we acknowledge freely, but don’t usually walk it out. Recent sermons on pride (listen to “Grace, Humility and Self-Assessment” or visit my church’s Sermon page) have really shown me that I have gotten too complacent about my own sin, and that I need to work on getting the beam out of my own eye – the Holy Spirit can attend to the splinter in yours.
