Papias' Logia: Bruised Reed

Monday, March 17, 2008

Bruised Reed

This passage has ministered to me lately:

A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. Is 42:3

Puritan Richard Sibbs, in his book The Bruised Reed, has this to say about the passage:

“When struggling against the corruptions of our own hearts, buffeted by temptations, and mourning over the weakness of our faith, and the coldness of our love, let us still remember, that Christ will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax. As Captain of our salvation, he combats and conquers our rebellious inclinations, as well as our outward and spiritual adversaries, and hath furnished us with the shield of faith, wherewithal to defend ourselves, and enable us to repel the fiery darts of the devil. Satan, however, will sometimes endeavor to persuade us, that we have no faith, that we are destitute of love to Christ, that we are great sinners, and that the mercy of God, and the love and compassion of Christ, are blessings we have forever forfeited. To all these suggestions of the enemy of mankind, we are warranted and encouraged to reply: That albeit we are great sinners, Christ is an almighty Saviour; and though our faith be weak, and our love cold, Christ will not quench the smoking flax, but fan it into a flame that shall never be extinguished. Abimelech could not endure the thought, that it should be said concerning him, after his death, that he died by the hands of a woman; and how mortifying must it be to Satan, to find that all his arts have been unavailing, his threatenings vain, and his power inadequate to the task of extinguishing an almost imperceptible spark. To find that the soul, influenced by the grace of God, stands secure as an impregnable fortress: that the wiles of Satan cannot sap the foundation, nor all the artillery of hell batter down the walls of her defense; and that a weak child, a silly woman, or a decrepit old man, should, by the exercise of faith, force all his veteran legions to a shameful and precipitant retreat. Let us therefore rejoice in the promise—'My grace is sufficient for you;' and let the assurance, of an ultimate triumph, invigorate our resolution to fight the good fight, and lay hold on eternal life. For though the warfare be arduous, if we strive, Christ will help us. If we faint, he will cherish, animate, and support us. If we follow the directions of our Leader, we shall assuredly overcome; and, overcoming, the crown of unfading glory awaits our reception."

1 comment:

Nichol said...: This is good! I think so often we feel like the bruised reed from the weight of the world. So glad to see the fire for spreading God's word still in you. (You never know how things change when you lose track of people.) Keep it up! I know that God is putting this "in your account".; 11:03 AM

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About my namesake...

Papias wrote in the first half of the second century and was one of the early leaders of the Christian church. Church historian Eusebius calls him the "Bishop of Hierapolis" (modern Pamukkale, Turkey) which is 22 kilometers from Laodicea near Colossae (see Colossians 4:13).

His “Interpretations of the Sayings of the Lord” (his word for "sayings" is "logia") in five books, would have been a prime early authority in the exegesis of the sayings of Jesus. His treatise, however, has utterly disappeared, and is known only through fragments quoted by later writers, with approval by Irenaeus in "Against Heresies", and later with scorn by Eusebius of Caesarea in "Ecclesiastical History."

Eusebius calls Papias "a man of small mental capacity" (Hist. Eccl. 3.39.13), who mistook the figurative language of apostolic traditions. Whether this was so is difficult to judge without the text available; it is thought that perhaps Eusebius objected to Papias' premillenialism (chiliasm), which by the fourth century had been supplanted by the common church doctrine of amillennialism.

It was thought that Papias was "a hearer of John, and companion of Polycarp, a man of old time." According to another tradition, Papias shared in the martyrdom of Polycarp, (c. AD 155). Eusebius, who places him with Clement and Ignatius under the reign of Trajan, suggests that he wrote about AD 115. In all likelihood, he wrote his treatise in the first quarter of the second century. What remains today are only fragments of his Treatise quoted in the writings of Irenaeus and Eusebius.