The Bruised Reed: and the Smoking Flax

The Bruised Reed is the masterful exposition of Matthew 12:20 by the famous theologian Richard Sibbes, known in his time, as "the Heavenly Doctor Sibbes” and of whom the renowned C. H. Spurgeon wrote “He scatters pearls and diamonds with both hands.” It was Sibbes’ desire to expound upon the grace of God in the work of redemption and though he was eminently qualified to produce a text of a dogmatic nature expounding upon the cross of Christ, he chose rather to create a work of application respecting sanctification and assurance and to do so with a tender pastoral tone. In doing this, Sibbes explains what the reed refers to and what it means to be "a bruised” reed. He unpacks the metaphor of bruising to describe the process in which God humbles sinners by giving them a view of sin as he sees it. God often must wound before he can heal, and yet the goal of his bruising is always to lead us to a deeper love for Christ. Few literary works persist past the decade in which they were written, and even fewer persist past their century, however, The Bruised Reed lives on. The fact that readers today are still cut to the heart by the profound truths of which Sibbes writes, even in a time in which our society is barreling beyond postmodernism, is a testament to the quality of its author and of the timelessness of the material. “What a support to our faith is this, that God the Father, the party offended by our sins, is so well pleased with the work of redemption! And what a comfort is this, that, seeing God’s love rests on Christ, as well pleased in him, we may gather that he is as well pleased with us, if we be in Christ!” --from The Bruised Reed Speaking of this classic exposition, Richard Baxter wrote, “It opened more the love of God to me, and gave me a livelier apprehension of the mystery of redemption, and how much I was beholden to Jesus Christ.”