What Does Wisdom Look Like?
Another compare and contrast between Luke and Job.
How often do you think of Jesus as wise? Of course, I don’t think anyone would say that Jesus wasn’t wise, but it’s just not one of the first adjectives most would choose to describe Jesus.
Yet it should be.
In today’s passage, Luke tells us that Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor. This is a wisdom that seems patient and quiet, not loud or defensive. It doesn’t rush to explain itself. Even in the temple, when his parents do not understand him, the moment ends not with argument but with quiet submission and continued growth. Wisdom in Luke looks patient, embodied, and relational. It’s not complicated or merely academic or sophisticated. Anyone can understand it, even if they don’t possess it. This wisdom unfolds over time. It leaves room for mystery. Mary treasures what she does not fully grasp, even as she ponders it in her heart.
Eliphaz, in Job 5, continues and concludes his speech we began yesterday. He speaks of wisdom very differently. We have searched this out; it is true. Hear it, and know it for yourself, he insists. His words sound biblical - God wounds and binds up; the one whom God corrects is blessed - but they arrive with certainty that leaves little space for what Job is actually experiencing, his lived reality. Luke shows wisdom growing. Eliphaz claims that wisdom is settled. One is humble and still forming; the other is confident and purportedly complete. Perhaps the contrast invites us to ask not simply whether something sounds wise, but whether it carries the humility that true wisdom requires.
We saw it in Simeon and Anna yesterday. We’ll continue to see it in Mary, too.
Luke 2:39-52
When Mary and Joseph had completed everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to their hometown, Nazareth in Galilee. The child grew up and became strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God’s favor was on him.
Each year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival. When he was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to their custom. After the festival was over, they were returning home, but the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents didn’t know it. Supposing that he was among their band of travelers, they journeyed on for a full day while looking for him among their family and friends. When they didn’t find Jesus, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple. He was sitting among the teachers, listening to them and putting questions to them. Everyone who heard him was amazed by his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were shocked.
His mother said, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Listen! Your father and I have been worried. We’ve been looking for you!”
Jesus replied, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that it was necessary for me to be in my Father’s house?” But they didn’t understand what he said to them.
Jesus went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. His mother cherished every word in her heart. Jesus matured in wisdom and years, and in favor with God and with people.
Job 5
Call out. Will anyone answer you?
To which holy one will you turn?
Surely anger can kill the foolish;
fury can kill the simple.
I’ve seen the foolish take root
and promptly curse their house.
Their children are far from safety,
crushed in the gate without a deliverer.
The hungry devour their crops;
it’s taken even from the thorns,
and the thirsty pant after their yield.
Surely trouble doesn’t come from dust,
nor does distress sprout from the ground.
Surely humans are born to distress,
just as sparks rise up.
But I would seek God,
put my case to God,
who does great things beyond comprehension,
wonderful things without number;
who provides rain over the earth’s surface,
sends water to the open country,
exalts the lowly,
raises mourners to victory;
who frustrates the schemes of the clever
so that their hands achieve no success,
trapping the wise in their cleverness
so that the plans of the devious don’t succeed.
They encounter darkness during the day,
and at noon they fumble about as at night.
Yet he rescues the orphan from the sword of their mouth,
the needy from the grip of the strong;
so the poor have hope
and violence shuts its mouth.
Look, happy is the person whom God corrects;
so don’t reject the Almighty’s instruction.
He injures, but he binds up;
he strikes, but his hands heal.
From six adversities he will deliver you;
from seven harm won’t touch you.
In famine he will ransom you from death;
in war, from the power of the sword.
You will be hidden from the tongue’s sting,
and you won’t fear destruction when it comes.
You will laugh at destruction and hunger;
you won’t be afraid of wild beasts;
for you will make an agreement with the stones of the field;
and the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.
You will know that your tent is secure.
You will examine your home and miss nothing.
You will know that you’ll have many children.
Your offspring will be like the grass of the earth.
You will come to your grave in old age
as bundles of grain stacked up at harvesttime.
Look, we’ve searched this out, and so it is;
listen and find out for yourself.
Prayer
God,
You are the source of all wisdom: steady, patient, and true. I’m sure there have been times in my life when I wanted to know it all. But now, just give me a wisdom that is quiet; a wisdom that listens before it speaks; a wisdom that leaves room for mystery and for others’ lived realities.
Guard me from the confidence that rushes to explain what I do not fully understand. Form in me the humility that marked Jesus, increasing in wisdom and in favor with you and with people.
Guide my thoughts, my words, and my steps today on the path of peace.
By your Spirit & in Christ,
Amen.