Christ, the anointed One, was not only silent and hidden; Isaiah also prophesied that He would not break a bruised reed nor extinguish a dimly burning flax (42:3). The fulfillment of this was referred to in Matthew 12:20, which says, “A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench.” The Jews were accustomed to making flutes of reeds. When a reed was bruised and unable to make music, they broke it. They also made torches out of flax with oil. When the oil ran out, the torch could not produce shining light but instead would smoke; hence, they quenched it. The prophet Isaiah used bruised reeds and dimly burning flax as types to prophesy concerning the poor situation of God’s people at the time of Christ’s earthly ministry. Despite their poor situation, Christ would not break a bruised reed nor quench a smoking flax; He kept the door of mercy and grace open to all the people. No matter how much opposition, persecution, and attack He encountered, the Servant of Jehovah, Christ, was always merciful and full of sympathy.
According to Psalm 18, a psalm of David, Christ trusted fully in God in His living on earth (vv. 1-2). When He was tested by the devil, He stood in the position of a man and declared, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). He cast out demons by the Spirit of God (12:28). In the matter of feeding the five thousand with five loaves and two fish, He trusted in and looked to the Father; He looked up to heaven and blessed the food (14:19). Peter testified, “Who being reviled did not revile in return; suffering, He did not threaten but kept committing all to Him who judges righteously” (1 Pet. 2:23). The Lord kept committing all His insults and injuries to Him who judges righteously in His government, the righteous God, to whom He submitted Himself. He trusted God fully in all things.
Psalm 69 prophesied that Christ would be devoured by the zeal for God’s house (v. 9a). This prophecy was fulfilled at the time Christ cleansed the temple, the house of God (John 2:12-17). When the Lord saw the corrupted situation of the temple, He could not tolerate it. He made a whip out of cords and drove the people, as well as the sheep and the oxen, out of the temple. He also poured out the money of the moneychangers and overturned their tables. After the Lord cleansed the temple, “His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘The zeal of Your house shall devour Me’” (v. 17). Out of the zeal for God’s house, He could not tolerate the corruption, greed, and defilement in God’s temple. His heart for the Father was absolute and pure. Therefore, in His zeal for God, He cleansed the temple.
The prophets prophesied both in Psalm 69 and Isaiah 53 concerning the suffering of Christ in His earthly ministry.
In prophesying concerning Christ’s suffering Isaiah said, “He was despised and forsaken of men, / A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; / And like one from whom men hide their faces, / He was despised; and we did not esteem Him” (53:3). According to the account of the four Gospels, the Lord Jesus was continually despised and forsaken, causing Him to sorrow and be acquainted with grief. The Jews did not like to see Him, and they did not esteem or regard Him (Matt. 13:54-57). Furthermore, in spite of all the Lord’s ministry on the earth, there was no response from the religious people. They did not receive Him. On the contrary, they rejected Him, just as it was prophesied in Isaiah 53:1: “Who has believed our report? / And to whom has the arm of Jehovah been revealed?” The arm of Jehovah is a figure of speech signifying the Lord Himself in His saving power. The Lord Jesus, the Savior Himself, is the arm of Jehovah coming to save man. But in the religious world no one knew Him as the arm of Jehovah, nor did they respond to or receive Him. On the contrary, the religionists forsook Him and even nailed Him to the cross. Christ, as the Servant of Jehovah, was full of sorrow in His human living, which fully qualified Him to be the Savior of the world.
Taking David as a type, Psalm 69 prophesied concerning Christ’s suffering: “More numerous than the hairs of my head / Are those who hate me without cause” (v. 4a). The Lord Jesus quoted this verse in John 15:25, saying that He was hated by many without cause. This indicates that Christ suffered not only for our sake, but He also suffered in bearing reproaches for the sake of God. Hence, Christ was not only our Substitute bearing our problems but was also God’s Substitute bearing God’s problems. Paul quotes Psalm 69:9 in Romans 15:3, saying, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell upon Me.” Paul quotes this verse in order to encourage the saints to receive the believers according to Christ and to bear the problems of others just as Christ bore God’s problems.