Bible Study Sunday | A Bruised Reed He Will Not Break

Bible Study Sunday | Matthew 12:15–32

Welcome to this week’s installment of Bible Study Sunday. We’ve been exploring the work of God in the Gospel of Matthew for several weeks now. Today, we continue breaking down Matthew 12.

You can read today’s passage here.

After conflict comes quiet.

Jesus withdraws. He heals many. And Matthew quotes from Isaiah 42:1-4.

A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out.

Jesus is not the Messiah many expected.

He does not shout in the streets, crush weakness, or weaponize His authority.

Jesus restores gently.

There is something profoundly comforting we find here as well as something profoundly vulnerable.

When Light Is Called Darkness

Jesus heals a demon-possessed man. The crowd wonders if He is the Son of David. The Pharisees respond with accusation: “He casts out demons by Beelzebul.”

When faced with undeniable goodness, they reinterpret it to protect their position and accuse the Messiah of being in cahoots with the Devil. How crazy is that?

Jesus replies, “A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.”

Then He issues a sobering warning about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

This is not about a stray doubt.

It is about persistent resistance.

It is about watching God move and choosing to call it evil.

When you see God at work all around you what do you call it?

Spiritual Hardness Is Subtle

We rarely wake up intending to resist God. It happens slowly over a period of time. We value control over surrender. We defend our framework at all costs. We mistake familiarity for faithfulness.

Matthew 12 invites us to ask ourselves if we are tender and pliable enough to recognize God’s work even when it disrupts our plan. Perhaps, our hearts, like the Pharisees, are set in stone.

Reflection Questions

Where might God be moving in a way I didn’t expect?
Have I mislabeled something because it challenged my assumptions?

Jesus is strong enough to confront darkness and gentle enough to restore the fragile.

Join us next week as we finish Matthew 12. We’re nearing the halfway point of our journey through the Gospel of Matthew.

Until my next post…

Be salty, stay lit.

Rainer Bantau —The Devotional Guy™

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