For at the same moment that our Lord took the measure of the Pharisees and withdrew from them, He also announced that the days of His humility would not last forever. The evil heart of man will take advantage of the one who does not strive or cry, and whose voice is not heard. The world has learned to call the tempered steel of the sword of the Lord "softness," simply because He does not flash its cutting blade as the world would do in His place. But listen to these words that at the same time strike terror and bring joy: "A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, UNTIL . . ." Ah! So there is to be an end of His patience! He shall not act in full strength "until He send forth judgment unto victory." Listen to those two words: judgment, victory. They sound out like the ringing of a death knell, or they peal forth with the joy of the wedding. It all depends where you stand in relation to this Man, the Christ of God. You must have Him in one of these two ways—judgment or victory. We thank God that we know forever just what our situation is with reference to this Man. He has taken our judgment, that is past forever. There is nothing left for us but His victory. You can know this too.
Every member of the human race has the trait of destruction within him, but the Lord Jesus Christ did not have this trait in His being. His was the strong tenderness of the Creator God. He did not lift up His hand to hurt nature, so we know that we may approach Him in the most implicit confidence. The slightest roughness would quench the smoking flax, but the Lord Jesus will blow the feeblest light to flame.
As the Lord Jesus withdrew from these evil, unbelieving hearts, there were other multitudes which followed Him, and He healed them all. He told them not to make Him known. He knew that the hour of His death was not yet come, and He did not want to stir up the jealousy of these envious Pharisees until the time was ripe. Then, He would go forward to meet the enemies who would move upon Him with sword and stave, and would submit to their will.
This was a claim that they could not misunderstand: the temple was the place where the Lord Jehovah of Hosts was worshipped by His people. For Jesus Christ to stand up and say that He was greater than the temple can mean but one thing. Only the Being Who is worshipped is greater than the house of worship. This is another of the many declarations in which He claimed to be God Almighty. He continued His statement by saying that they, the Pharisees, would not have condemned the guiltless if they had understood the words of the prophet Hosea, "I will have mercy and not sacrifice" (Matthew 12:7; Hosea 6:6). It was redemption grace that God wanted, and not merely the blood poured out upon the altar.
This great Gospel invitation is also a revelation of the power of our Lord Jesus Christ. For this invitation to come unto Himself, is not to be classified in the field of theory and speculation, but rather as a most practical way, indeed the only way, to get out of theory and speculation and into contact with the real power of God. Christianity is worthless if it is not able to bring to the heart of the individual the reality of forgiveness from sin and the power of the risen life of Christ to dwell within our lives.
