“Reeds into Rocks”

I heard it on the radio one morning. I wish I could have gotten the name of the host giving the sermon / encouragement. He said, “Jesus can turn a reed into a rock.” I don’t think the point was that Jesus called Peter a rock, etc., or any of the implications that come with that line of thinking or teaching. Side note, on that particular story, this is the best explanation I’ve read, coming from the book, “A God Named Josh” by Jared Brock:

As far as turning reeds into rocks, I do like the analogy. The language of reeds is not something Jesus is unfamiliar with using. He used it in telling who John the Baptist was and was not:

“And the messengers of John having departed, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: What did you go out into the desert to gaze on? A reed shaken and swayed by the wind?”
‭‭—Luke‬ ‭7‬:‭24‬ ‭AMPC‬‬

And now in a more obscure passage, pointing back to a prophecy out of the Book of Isaiah:

“A battered reed He will not break, And a smoldering wick He will not extinguish, Until He leads justice to victory.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭12‬:‭20‬ ‭AMP‬‬

What’s wild is the fact that Jesus does not deny the reality of reeds being broken. In this day and age of “You Do You,” “Upgrading,” and the worship of Self, as if we are naturally “good” and simply need to become “better,” Jesus comes to us as a Realist, showing us we are not simply reeds, swaying in whatever direction the wind blows, but also battered, bent, and broken to the core. But not without hope. Made for more.

Battered by the prince of the power of the air (Satan), bent by sin, sin’s effects, and sin’s stain, and broken… often by the world’s demands.

What’s comforting is that Jesus encountered many a battered reeds. I like the rendering of this passage that the Amp Classic translation uses. “A battered reed He will not break.” Jesus didn’t come to kick a man down. But when he “saw a man down, he put a hand down,” as someone recently told me, and encouraged me to always do.

We see it in the Samaritan story Jesus tells. “See a man down, put a hand down.” And the part about the smoldering wick? This is fire. I’m a millennial, that’s what we sometimes say when referring to an amazing thing. He will not quench a smoldering wick. He will not come to douse our barely burning fire with water but to stir it up again, igniting it all over. So is the Spirit of God trying to get your attention today? I have never known Him to overstep His bounds.

He pursues.

Those circumstances are not “coincidences.”

Jesus is the Name above every other Name.

Come to Him. He will not reject you!

AJ Oram

April 21, 2024