“Behold, My Servant whom I have chosen; My Beloved in whom My soul is well-pleased; I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel, nor cry out; nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. A battered reed He will not break off, and a smoldering wick He will not put out, until He leads justice to victory. And in His name the Gentiles will hope.”
Matthew 12:18–21 NASB
“That’s not right!”
It’s the cry that screams from the heart that feels mistreated. This cry longs for things to be made right. We have all uttered this cry—whether as a child receiving the hidden gut-punch from the school bully on the playground, or as the new high schooler being ostracized by the in-crowd because differences are deemed as threats, or as the spouse receiving unexpected divorce papers after twenty-five years of marriage, or due to some other item on the never-ending list of possible misdeeds that occur in this world. When a misdeed happens, one way or another we all hope for someone to make things right.
Enter Jesus—God’s loved, chosen, and well-pleasing servant who did not argue with nor trample the weak but vocalized His provision for our heart-deep need, securing hope that our hopeless situation will be made right. He’s not what the religious elite expected two thousand years ago, but He’s what was needed. He came to proclaim “This is right,” “That is wrong,” and “Look to Me.”
Whether we are an individual pursuing social justice or a parent practicing kitchen-table diplomacy, we must realize that neither money nor possessions nor home-spun wisdom is the answer. The answer is Jesus. All of our noble efforts to make the world a better place must be anchored in Jesus because in HIS name the nations will hope.
One day Jesus, who came before as a baby and grew proclaiming justice to the nations, will come again announcing the same and fulfilling our anticipation as our Living Hope. When He returns, our hearts will cry in response, “This is right!”