Behold my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul has found its delight. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he shall shew forth judgment to the nations.
The religious leaders have just decided to destroy Jesus, and He answers by withdrawing and telling the healed crowds not to make Him known. Matthew explains that silence with Isaiah's words about God's chosen Servant: the King takes a servant's place, God delights in Him while men reject Him, and the nations come into view.
Jesus turns away from public fame here. The quotation names the place He takes instead.
Jesus knew what they planned and withdrew from the area. He was not afraid. He simply would not gather public support on His side against this evil... He healed all who came to Him for healing. This was clear evidence that He was the Messiah of Israel. Yet He told them not to make it known, for the time of His great public appearing had not come. Instead, in lowly grace He was fulfilling Isaiah 42:1-3. He took the place of God's Servant rather than that of the Messiah — but the one chosen Servant, loved by God, in whom God found pure delight, and on whom God had put His Spirit. These are precious words to say of a servant. A servant's place is a lowly one, of little outward importance in the eyes of men. But God's approval is what matters.
The opening word tells us to look at one particular Person. (The writers quoted here use an older translation, which says "judgment" where the ESV says "justice.")
Here we get the word "Behold" in another sense... "Look upon my servant" is the force here, the only perfect servant... Judgment here is grace that makes distinctions.
Commentators differ over what that judgment means. One calls it grace; another calls it everything set absolutely right:
In the fulness of that Spirit He is going to show judgment to the nations. Judgment is here the absolute right of things.
Matthew's wording is not the same as Isaiah's. The extra word ties this Servant to what the Father said at Jesus' baptism.
Matthew 12:18 quotes the first verse of Isaiah 42. It fulfils what had been written about Messiah so long before. It is easy to see why the Spirit of God adds in Matthew the words "My beloved." The Father had already called Him that, and drew the attention of others to it, when He came up out of the water at His baptism (Matt. 3:16-17). Only the beloved Son of God could do the great work needed to make God known... How infinite the love, how lowly the mind, how unspeakable the grace, that made the blessed Son of God become a Servant, for the pleasure of the Father and the eternal blessing of His creatures.
God's pleasure in Him looks back as well as forward, and God delights in Him in two distinct ways.
The verb in the original does not only mean "I am now well pleased." It also means "I was well pleased." From everlasting, the Father found His delight in His beloved Son. Elsewhere we read that Jehovah's soul delights in His beloved Servant (Isa. 42:1; Matt. 12:18). The first is delight in what He is Himself; the second is delight in what He is as Mediator.
The promised Spirit marks both how the Servant works and how sure His work is.
God's Servant showed nothing of independence. He obeyed God in everything. All that He did, He did by the Holy Spirit with which God anointed Him. God said, "I have put my Spirit upon Him." This was His seal, claiming Him for His service. It was also the mark of the deep pleasure He had in Him. And it expressed His confidence that the Servant would finish in full the work He had entrusted to Him.
The last clause widens the horizon past Israel — and one name is missing from the whole quotation.
But the quotation twice mentions Gentiles: "He shall show judgment to the Gentiles," and "in His name shall the Gentiles trust." What a clear sign this is of the great change in God's dealings that was about to take place. Israel is not even mentioned. In Matthew 12 she shows more and more of her smouldering hostility against this blessed Servant of God. She is to be set aside, while the Gentiles receive the blessings Israel might have had, but refused.
- Chosen — men plot to kill Him, and He steps into the Servant's lowly place. Men reject Him; God approves Him. That approval is what matters.
- Beheld — the verse opens by telling us to look at Him, the one perfect Servant.
- Beloved — Matthew adds a word Isaiah did not write, tying this Servant to the Son the Father owned at His baptism. God delights in Him both as Son and as Mediator, and that delight reaches back to everlasting.
- Empowered — the Spirit on Him is God's seal and the mark of His pleasure. It is God's guarantee that the Servant will finish the work.
- Extended — the promise ends outside Israel. Judgment goes to the nations, named twice here, while hostile Israel is not named at all.
He shall not strive or cry out, nor shall any one hear his voice in the streets;
Matthew quotes these words of Isaiah while men were bent on killing Jesus. Instead of a defence, we get a picture of quietness — and a question: why did the One with all power refuse to raise His voice in His own cause?
The setting is not peace but conspiracy. Jesus heals a man in the synagogue, the Pharisees take counsel to destroy Him, and He responds by moving away and healing the crowds who follow, telling them not to make Him known.
The hour would come when He would bring judgment to victory. Meanwhile He kept the place of complete lowliness, where grace and truth could commend themselves to those who valued and needed them. But while He showed this grace and bore witness to the truth, He would do nothing to act against that character. He would not draw people's attention in a way that would block His true work. He would not even let anyone suspect that He was seeking His own honour.
"Quarrel," "cry aloud," and a voice "in the streets" are the language of public campaigning. One writer starts from what a servant's place is like, then draws out what each phrase rules out.
A servant's place is one of relative obscurity and of little outward importance in the eyes of men; but God's approval is the vital matter… "He will not quarrel or cry aloud" — that is, He started no public movement for reform, and in no way advertised Himself. He was no opportunist. He did not use the large crowds to raise Himself up as the champion of some cause. Hearing His voice in the streets means His voice raised in public protest against wrongs, real or imagined. That has been a popular political tactic through history, and no less today. He avoided every such thing.
His silence was not weakness. He had the power to hold His ground, and one writer turns that into a word for everyone who serves Him.
He was Lord of all. True, He had become a servant, He had taken human form and become a man; yet He was Lord of all. If anyone could have used His power to hold His ground in acts and works of mercy, it was Jesus Christ… But you never find that, dear friends. He always withdrew. He never strove. May God help us to learn a lesson from that. May God, in His infinite grace, help us take in that blessed word: "The Lord's servant must not strive."
The Spirit pictured the same quietness when He came down on Jesus. Yet Jesus did not give His disciples that quietness as their rule for preaching.
The visible form the Holy Spirit takes matches this work. When He came down on Christ, the Spirit was like a dove. That was a symbol of the meekness and sweet calm of Him of whom it was written, "He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets"… But to the disciples He said, "What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops."
The prophecy runs on to "judgment to victory," so the quiet is a stage, not a permanent policy. One writer points to His return as the moment it ends.
Yet He, whose glory was beyond all rivals, showed it first in perfect, quiet lowliness. Even far-reaching power in testimony was not what marked Him then. What marked Him was meek withdrawal. He withdrew from murderous hatred, and also from the crowds that followed Him and from the praise of those He healed, who would have spread His fame… Here that state of things ends with the victory of His second coming.
His silence was not defeat. Accepting rejection made room for blessing to reach beyond His own people.
His people refused their Messiah, and so these words came true: "He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets" (Isa. 42:2; Matt. 12:19). The Lord accepted His rejection in meekness, though with deepest sorrow. He knew this would open the door to a greater service — bringing heavenly blessing to a people destined to be with Him in heaven.
- Plot — Faced with murderous hatred, He withdrew, kept on healing, and refused to advertise Himself.
- Restraint — No public movement, no self-promotion, no protest shouted in the street. He avoided all of it.
- Choice — He was Lord of all and could have used His power. He never did, and His servants get the same word: do not strive.
- Reach — He accepted rejection in silence. That opened the door to a greater service: heavenly blessing for a people who will be with Him.
- Victory — The lowliness is for now. It ends at His return, when He brings judgment to victory.