Psalm 40, 54; Wisdom 6:12-23; Col 3:1-11; Luke 7:1-17
Wisdom in the Old Testament is generally seen to be Jesus by Christian teachers. Jesus is the wisdom of God personified, the wisdom and word through which God created all things. Here we see that wisdom if available if it is sought, wisdom does not hide from those who genuinely and earnestly seek her. If we would have perfect understanding then we would set ourselves to gain wisdom, and Jesus is the way we gain understanding. The seeking of wisdom begins with the humble acknowledgment that we lack something and that something is available to us if we will seek humbly. The next step in gaining wisdom is to walk in what we learn, not continue to make the same old mistakes and walk in the same paths, but to change direction based on the instruction we have received. By this we show that we are humble, teachable, and appreciate the truth as truth.
The people of Capernaum implore Jesus to heal the centurion’s servant because they have determined the centurion to be worthy of such. The basis is that he loves the nation and he built their synagogue, both extraordinary things from a Roman soldier but Jesus finds this man to be extraordinary for another reason, he has great faith. His faith was great enough that he believed that Jesus was essentially able to command disease and it would obey Him just as his own soldiers obeyed his commands. The centurion also said something interesting, that he was indeed not worthy for Jesus to come under his roof, whatever the Jews of Capernaum believed about this man, he believed more about Jesus than they. Jesus shows compassion on the widow of Nain by raising her son from the dead. This miracle would not have been judged as great as the raising of Lazarus as he was not buried yet, his soul was presumed to be still waiting for him to recover. Nonetheless, people began to believe some extraordinary things about Jesus based on these two events and word was beginning to buzz about the region.
If we are in Christ then the old self with its earthly desires has died and a new self, spiritually minded, has come to life. Does my life look like Jesus’ in this way? Have my desires changed by the power of the Holy Spirit working in me? I see some of the old man as being dead but I don’t see that completely in my life. Paul says that we are to die to those old things, our minds should be set on things above but that isn’t automatic, we have to fill our minds with the Word and spend time in prayer. We have to seek wisdom. When we receive Jesus we receive the Spirit that seeks those things but we must set our lives upon them, not neglecting our own role in sanctification. We have to literally change the focus of our lives if we would also change the trajectory of our lives, it is all about aim.
Glory to God, and praise and love
Be ever, ever given,
By saints below and saints above,
The church in earth and heaven.
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