30 August 2010
Psalm 25; Job 12:1-6,13-25; Acts 11:19-30; John 8:21-32

Job’s response to Zophar is as sarcastic as it should be. Where Zophar has questioned Job’s wisdom, Job responds by sarcastically speaking of what great wisdom his friends possess which is actually no wisdom at all, “Who does not know such things as these?” Job rightly speaks of the wisdom of God in ways that Paul would certainly appreciate when he writes to the Corinthians in his first epistle and speaks of the wisdom of God and the foolishness of man. Job makes no claim to wisdom, it comes from God alone and His wisdom makes our thoughts seem as silliness. We stand by grace not by wisdom and understanding.

Jesus speaks from the wisdom of God, the wisdom of which Job spoke. His words have a far deeper meaning but they must be understood spiritually. When He speaks of origins, He speaks of His true origin, not of His earthly birth. Twice in this passage Jesus uses the words “I am,” the name of God. His claims are clear, and here we see that some actually believe in Him. Jesus says that the way to knowledge is to continue in belief and in His ways. If we are true disciples, walking in His way, we will know that He truly is the Lord. As GK Chesterton said, “The Christian faith has never been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried.”

Those who were scattered were only preaching the Good News to the Jews they encountered until those from Cyprus and Cyrene began to tell the Gentiles. Barnabas lives into his name as the encourager and his work among the Antiochian church begins to collect this new thing with great success. It must have been a strange thing for the early church to understand what God was doing and what it meant to them. Their collective identity had been tied up in Judaism with a very specific way into the community and the laws that governed every aspect of life that set them apart from these people who were now coming into the kingdom. Jesus hadn’t prepared them for how to assimilate Gentiles into the covenant community. In His life, Gentiles came and Jesus did things for them but what were they to do about bringing them into the church which saw itself as the fulfillment of Judaism. Paul’s mission and ministry were about to begin in Antioch.

Good and upright are You Lord;
therefore You instructs sinners in the way.
You lead the humble in what is right,
and teach the humble Your way.
All Your paths are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep Your covenant and Your decrees.