Richard Sibbes in his work A Description of Christ considers the word “Behold” in Matthew 12:18, “Behold my servant, whom I have chosen.” There are thigns to note in his consideration of the word (I have picked up mid-way through his consideration). First, what passes for exegesis often concerns itself with merely what a word means. But Sibbes asks a more useful question, Why is this word here? What is doing to us when we come upon it. This requires far more work than the Greek Word here means “Behold” which was an interjection with the meaning “to look at”. Sibbes asks, “What am I seeing? Why should I care?”

Next, consider what he does: He does not merely tells why the behold is here, he tells us what will happen when we do behold. Why should we change our attention? What will happen when we look.

He then applies the work of beholding to you: it becomes an encouragement and joy: that there is nothing that is dejecting and abasing in man, but there is comfort for it in Christ Jesus; he is a salve for every sore, a remedy for every malady; therefore, ‘Behold my servant.’

But that is not all. Another use of this word ‘behold,’ was to call the people’s minds from their miseries, and from other abasing objects that dejected them, and might force despair. Why do you dwell upon your unworthiness and sin? raise up your mind, ‘Behold my servant whom I have chosen,’ &c. This is an object worth beholding and admiration, especially of a distressed soul that may see in Christ whatsoever may comfort it.

A third end of it is to raise the mind from any vulgar, common, base contents.* You look on these things, and are carried away with common trivial objects, as the poor disciples when they came to the temple; they stood wondering at the stones. What wondrous stones! what goodly building is here! Mark 13:1. So shallow-minded men, they see any earthly excellency, they stand gazing. Alas, saith Christ, do you wonder at these things? So the prophet here raiseth up the minds of men to look on an object fit to be looked on, ‘Behold my servant,’ &c. So that the Holy Ghost would have them from this saving object, Christ, to raise satisfaction to their souls every way. Are you dejected? here is comfort; are you sinful? here is righteousness; are you led away with present contentments? here you have honours, and pleasures, and all in Christ Jesus. You have a right to common pleasures that others have, and besides them you have interest to others that are everlasting pleasures that shall never fail, so that there is nothing that is dejecting and abasing in man, but there is comfort for it in Christ Jesus; he is a salve for every sore, a remedy for every malady; therefore, ‘Behold my servant.’

This word ‘behold,’ it is a word of wonderment, and, indeed, in Christ there are a world of wonders, everything is wonderful in him. Things new and wonderful, and things rare, and things that are great, that transcend our capacity, are wonderful, that stop our understanding that it cannot go through them. Vulgar things, we see through them quickly, but when we see things that stay our understandings, that raise our understandings higher, and that are more capacious than our understandings, here is matter of admiration and wonder. Now whatsoever may make wonderment is in Jesus Christ, whose name is Wonderful, as it is in Isa. 9:7; therefore the prophet saith, ‘Behold.’

* That is, ‘contentments.’—Ed.

 Sibbes, Richard. The Complete Works of Richard Sibbes. Edited by Alexander Balloch Grosart, vol. 1, James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; W. Robertson, 1862, pp. 4–5.