He will establish justice

Matthew 12:9-13 records a story of Jesus healing a man on the Sabbath. Upon seeing this, the Pharisees were convinced that Jesus was flagrantly breaking the Law of Moses and the traditions of the elders, and verse 13 tells us that they immediately, “went out and plotted how they might kill Him.” Jesus was aware of their plot, and verse 15 tells us that his response was simply to withdraw from there to another location. Verse 15 tells us that the crowds followed him, and he healed them all, and then warned them not to make him known.

Matthew 12:17 then tells us that these things happened in order to fulfill the following prophecy about Jesus found in Isaiah 42:1-4: “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth.”

This prophecy contains several powerful revelations about the ministry of Jesus and what he would accomplish through it. The first thing we see is that God referred to Jesus as “My servant whom I uphold” and “My Chosen one in whom I delight” before his ministry had even begun. Even as a carpenter, Jesus was both servant and a delight to his father. Many people have the idea that only those people in “full-time ministry” can be truly pleasing to God, but this prophecy clearly proves otherwise. (See also Matthew 3:17)

The next thing this prophecy tells us about the ministry of Jesus is that it would be done in the power of the Holy Spirit. There are numerous passages that show us how this prophecy was clearly fulfilled in the ministry of Jesus. In Luke 3:22 we are told that, “The Holy Spirit descended upon” Jesus; in Luke 4:1 we are told that Jesus was “Led by the Spirit;” in Luke 4:14 we are told Jesus returned from his temptation “In the power of the spirit;” in Matthew 12:28 Jesus declared that he cast out demons “By the Spirit of God.” The fact is the only way for any God ordained ministry to be fulfilled is through the power of the Holy Spirit. (See Zechariah 4:6)

We then are given an overview of the entire ministry of Jesus, and told that its ultimate purpose was to “bring forth” and “establish justice” to all nations on the earth. The word translated “justice” in this passage is the same word translated “judgment” in many Old Testament verses. The idea conveyed by the word is of a judge making a judgment in a case that results in justice to party in whose favor the judgment was made. In one sense, this prophecy will be fulfilled only when Jesus returns to earth and takes his seat on the throne in the New Jerusalem as “king over all the earth.”

But in another sense, this prophecy was fulfilled at the cross. In John 12:31 Jesus said that, through the cross Satan would be “cast out” from his position as “the prince of this world.” This was a partial fulfillment of Daniel 9:22: “Judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the highest one.” Through the Judgment of the cross, Jesus has brought Justice to all nations in the sense than all men can now be free from the tyranny of Satan and the bondage to sin!

Thank God Jesus has fulfilled his ministry and established justice on the earth! And thank God he will continue to fulfill his ministry until his judgment reaches every heart and every nation on earth!