The Bruised Reed: Christ Arrests the Beginnings of Evil

Maclaren draws a penetrating distinction between two metaphors in Isaiah 42:3-4. The bruised reed—a slender bulrush crushed by wind or foot, its head hanging by a thread yet not severed—represents evil in its incipient stage, a destructive process begun but still avoidable. The smoking flax, by contrast, is partially ignited wick in an ancient oil lamp, a process begun that, if continued, blazes into bright flame.…