He Will Not Break You

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” — Matthew 11:28 (KJV)

Sibbes’s big point is simple: Christ will not break the bruised reed.

He explains it with ordinary pictures. A doctor may cause his patient pain, but he does it to heal them, not to destroy them. A surgeon will cut, but not cut off a limb he can save. And a mother with a sick, grumpy child does not throw the child away. Then Sibbes asks:

“Shall there be more mercy in the stream than in the spring? shall we think there is more mercy in ourselves than in God, who planteth the affection of mercy in us?”

In other words: if a human mother can be patient with her sick child, how much more patient is God, who made mothers and gave them that love in the first place? Any kindness you have ever received from a person is like a stream. God is the spring it came from.

Then Sibbes looks at how Jesus describes himself. He calls himself a shepherd, a brother, a husband. He compares himself to the gentlest creatures, a lamb, and a mother hen gathering her chicks. His very name, Jesus, means Saviour. And at his baptism the Holy Spirit came on him in the shape of a dove, to show, Sibbes says, that he would be “a dove-like gentle mediator.”

Look at what Jesus actually said. He blessed the poor in spirit. He invited people who were tired and weighed down to come to him. He looked at crowds and felt deep compassion because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And Sibbes adds:

“He never turned any back again that came unto him, though some went away of themselves.”

That is worth reading twice. In the Gospels, nobody who came to Jesus for help was sent away. Some people walked away from him. But he never turned anyone away.

Sibbes also points out that Jesus was tempted himself, so that he can help us when we are tempted. He is not a distant king who doesn’t understand. He knows what it is like to be human, tired and under pressure.

So if you feel weak, ashamed or like you’ve messed up too many times, here is the truth: you can come to Jesus. He won’t turn you away.

One thing to do this week: this week, pick one of the Gospel stories where someone comes to Jesus for help, for example Mark 1:40–42 or Mark 5:25–34. Read it slowly and notice how Jesus treats them. Then come to him yourself in prayer with whatever you are carrying.