“A bruised reed shall he not break,

And smoking flax shall he not quench . . .”

In today’s reading, the prophet Isaiah seems to be comparing Jesus’ adversaries to ‘bruised reeds’ and ‘smoking flax’ - - both symbols of murky thinking.

The Jews used reeds as writing instruments, cutting them to a point and dipping them in ink. As the tip of a reed broke down and softened, it would  be trimmed back to keep the writing legible. Flax was used as the wick in a lamp, shedding light on a text. Once the oil was spent, the wick would sputter and smoke; the flame that once burned brightly would obscure matters.

The Jewish leaders were entrusted with preserving and passing on the writings of the Old Testament. But, in interpreting and preaching from the written law, they obscured its true meaning.

After numerous attempts to win them over, Jesus saw no further point in trimming these broken reeds and smoldering wicks. Rather than work through the Pharisees and Sadducees, He chose to go around them and appeal directly to the people in the streets, even the gentiles. Rather than use the reed and lamp stand to communicate, He avoided publicity and self-promotion. He simply lived out His message in a way that attracted people to Him. In so doing, He earned the enmity of the Jewish leaders.

The Pharisees saw no contradiction in their preaching and plotting to kill Jesus. Their wrong-headed thinking is an example of how facile we all can be at rationalizing our actions. We may avoid responsibility, make excuses or blame others when things go wrong, but we can’t re-write the past. All we can do is learn from our experiences, bring them to prayer and call on Jesus’ name. As Isaiah said, “In His name the Gentiles shall hope.”