Is. 42:3 is not talking about "mental illness" and to claim that is to 1) believe the myth that there is such a things, and 2) read into that passage what isn't there.
The myth of mental illness is discussed here which includes the issue of termonology, lack of any scientific evidence including the lack of any biological markers, the use of drugs, "chemical imbalance"(another myth), the DSM handbook of mental disorders, and the history and background of psychology.
Is. 42 isn't talking about mental illness.
Isa 42:1 Behold 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.
Isa 42:2 He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street;
Isa 42:3 a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.
Isa 42:4 He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law.
Its talking about the righteous reign of the Lord Jesus Christ in the millennial kingdom. In verse 3 we see contrasts, which emphasizes Jesus' absolute righteous justice and mercy. It harkens over to Jesus' teaching on the Mount of Olives in Matt. 5:
Mat 5:1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
Mat 5:2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
Mat 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Mat 5:5 "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Mat 5:6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
The poor in spirit are those who see their spiritual bankruptcy, are humbled ("meek") before the thrice holy God and thus mourn over their sin and turn to Christ, finding mercy, forgiveness, eternal life, desiring His righteousness, and becoming co-heirs with Christ when He rules visibly this earth.
There's a similar teaching found in Luke 4 by Jesus which also gives clarity to the passage:
Luk 4:17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
Luk 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
Luk 4:19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
Luk 4:20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.
Luk 4:21 And he began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
A good example of this is the publican in Luke 18 as John MacArthur notes on Luke 4:
For example, the widow in Luke 21:2 is the widow who had just a few pennies, she was poor. She had very little. But ptochosmeans you have absolutely nothing, and that is the word here. The Messiah will come and bring good news to the people who are destitute, the people who have nothing. And spiritually speaking, this is talking about people who recognize that they have nothing by which to commend themselves. In Luke 6:20 Luke records Jesus saying, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God." And again it's a repeat ofMatthew 5:3, "Blessed are the poor in...what?...in spirit," not in money, but the poor in spirit. That is the condition of every sinner. Every sinner is morally bankrupt. Every sinner in the words of Isaiah could count his righteousness as filthy rags. Every sinner is destitute of anything to commend himself to God. And, of course, this goes contrary to the Jewish mentality, they thought that by their good works and by their self-advancement by keeping ceremonial law and obeying the Mosaic system, at certain points being fastidious legalists they would earn salvation. And Jesus comes and shatters that entire view and says, "The only people that Messiah is going to be able to bring salvation to are those who recognize their spiritual destitution." As long as you think you're a good person, as long as you think your religion counts for something, your morality counts for something, you're damned to eternal hell and you have an irremediable condition. The poor are those, on the other hand, who recognize their total spiritual destitution. They are completely unable to recover without help. They're like the people in Psalm 107 again, wandering in the desert, no food, no water and they know it. They're like those people sitting in darkness. They're like those people sitting in chains, like those people in the storm of the sea, there are no human resources to solve their dilemma, they can only cry out to God. They're the true poor, the true prisoners, the true blind and the true oppressed. So the person who comes to the realization there are no saving resources available, they can only beg for mercy from God alone, they and they alone receive the grace of salvation. All pride is gone, all self-assurance is gone. They are utterly empty-handed, without commendation, who alone can turn to God and receive from Him what they cannot themselves generate.
Their poverty is not an act, by the way, it's not a false piety, it's not a false humility, it's the real thing. They have the humble and broken spirit of Isaiah 66:2, the broken heartedness and crushed in spirit referred to in Psalm 34:18, or the broken and contrite heart of Psalm 51. They're like the publican in Luke 18 beating on his breast, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." And he falls down and he won't even look up, he won't lift his eyes to even look toward heaven because he's cringing and cowering in his spiritual destitution. And next to him is the Pharisee saying, "I thank You that I'm not as other men, but I fast and I tithe and I do all these good things. Aren't I great?" And Jesus said, "The man begging, the man with his face down went home justified, not the other one. It is the state of spiritual bankruptcy then where a person really sees their own helpless condemnation.
End quote.
No comments:
Post a Comment