15 May 2011

Psalm 63, 98; Wisdom 1:1-15; 1 Pet. 5:1-11; Matt. 7:15-29

True wisdom is linked with righteousness because righteousness is immortal. Over and over we are told that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and here is a solid explanation for why that is true. We tend to think of wisdom as related to earthly things but true wisdom is that which applies itself to eternal things. Is wisdom about things that will end truly wisdom if there are things that will not end? Jesus says the same thing in Matthew 6 when he tells the crowds to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all the other things will be taken care of. The writer of Ecclesiastes argues the same with regards to all things under the sun that might take up a man’s thoughts, they are nothing more than vanity, a chasing after the wind. Let us apply ourselves to those things that will last.

When Jesus taught we are often told that the crowds were astonished or amazed, because He taught with authority the scribes didn’t have. As I have mentioned before it is the authority of the author of the law as opposed to someone for whom the law is external. In our court system we attempt to get inside the minds of the people who wrote and adopted the constitution to determine what they would do in a given situation. Jesus is the wisdom of God so He knows what no one else knows, what was the original intention of the law and how to perfectly apply the law. To build our house on the rock is to build upon Jesus, the only rock that is eternal. By leaning on the Spirit within us, we have access to that same wisdom.

The wisdom Peter shares here is not worldly wisdom. For leaders to humble themselves before those they lead is counter-cultural and counter-intuitive. He gives these instructions to leaders because it is unnatural, they must be reminded of how Jesus would have led and how He would have them lead. His counsel is to lead like Jesus, surely recalling John 10 when Jesus says that He is the Good Shepherd and other leaders are hirelings rather than true shepherds. Peter tells his under-shepherds that the path to true exaltation and greatness is the path of humility and allowing the Lord to exalt them in His time but that it will likely mean suffering. If we follow the way of the world, our enemy will leave us alone but when we follow Jesus’ way, we will indeed be under attack.

O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and King,
The triumphs of His grace!