TRANSLATION MATTHEW 12:15

When Jesus got to know about this, he left there. Crowds followed him and he healed them all. And he admonished them not to make him known, so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled:

See this! Here is my child whom I have chosen

My beloved in whom my soul delights,

I have put my spirit upon him.

He will announce fair judgement to the nations.

He will not wrangle or shout,

nor will anyone hear his voice in the public streets.

A crushed reed he will not break

A smouldering wick he will not quench

Until he leads fair judgement into victory.

And in his name the nations will put their hope.

The quotation of (part of) the first sing of the servant from Isaiah 42, has two functions: one, is to confirm that Jesus was the servant of God, prophesied as such; two, that in serving God, Jesus did not use the means of the demagogue or quack healer. Rather he proceeded gently, sharing his message with indIviduals and groups, and healing as it were reluctantly, out of compassion rather than as a desire for fame as a miracle worker. Given the absence of reference to Jesus’ ministry by his contemporaries, he seems to have succeeded in these aims. Matthew is keen to emphasise the contrast between the great significance of Jesus, which he especially communicates in passages about judgement and the end-time; and the means used by Jesus, which are modest, with a preference for the poor and the insignificant. These means are used by those determined to serve God rather than human power-brokers.

The methods of Jesus are a contrast and a rebuke to many ‘ Gospel Campaigns’ which use modern advertising and spurious miracle-working to promote belief.

The translation “fair judgement” of the Greek word krisis, is intended to bring out its root meaning of judgment while adding its Jewish bible connotation of a judgement that leans towards the oppressed and needy.