Wisdom comes from knowing Jesus, knowing about eternal life,
the resurrection from the dead. The
writer here contrasts those who know such things with those who do not “In the
eyes of the foolish they (the righteous) seemed to have died, and their
departure was thought to be a disaster, and their going from us to be their
destruction…” Those who know and believe
in the resurrection from the dead can take a long view of life, we know that
this life isn’t all there is, it is actually the brief part of our lives. If we set our sights on eternity we find that
this world takes on a different cast, we see things as they really are, passing
away and we attach our hearts to things eternal. We are willing to risk all for the sake of
the kingdom of God, including our lives.
We are willing to be persecuted here for the reward which comes after
physical death. Our lives are important
so long as they give us opportunity to glorify Him, remembering that it was in
His death that Jesus most glorified the Father but that all that went before
was part of that glorification as well.
Jesus prayed all
night prior to choosing the disciples.
Is that how churches generally choose leaders? Too often we make it nothing more than a
popularity contest and ask people to vote for leaders. What that betrays is that we don’t know the
proper role of leaders in the church. We
need leaders who are disciples, leaders with wisdom, leaders who are people of
prayer. The Sermon on the Mount begins
with Jesus imparting wisdom to the disciples, telling them His own attitude
towards life. Luke tells us that Jesus
lifted up His eyes on His disciples prior to speaking. He is telling them how to understand and
relate to the world around them in these beatitudes. It is a radical departure for most, blessed
are the poor, the hungry, those who weep, the hated and despised. In what worldview is that true other than
Jesus’? Maybe we all need to pray so
that we might come into alignment with Jesus here, we tend to forget these
truths.
We aren’t far removed from Good Friday so it might be worth
thinking from the world’s perspective for a minute about the events of that
day. Does that look like someone making
peace and reconciliation? Reconciliation
and peace actually do often require people to lay down their claims to
innocence in order to see their relationship restored. Jesus was innocent of all sin but He laid
down the claim to righteousness in order to identify with sinners and rebels. If He had refused to go to the cross, refused
to allow Himself to be beaten, mocked and crucified, we would have no hope in
the world of reconciliation with God, we were committing the ultimate act of
rejection and rebellion. If He can lay
that aside for love, can we not do the same in our interpersonal relationships
when we know in our hearts that we are rarely, if ever, completely innocent in
the breach? Real righteousness seeks
peace and reconciliation.
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