IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 167

YES, HE is Talking to YOU! (continued)

Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

We spent the last post exploring the relevance of reincarnation to the sayings of Jesus that we have been discussing. Today we come to the subject of Wisdom which is, another word that is largely misused today. There is that spiritual Wisdom, that Wisdom from above that the Apostle James speaks of, and there is worldly wisdom which ranges from the commonness of worldly knowledge to insightful knowledge of a man in his particular field of expertise. We have discussed Wisdom in the past and today we will take it with some more depth as to bring forth the right understanding of what it is as well as how it is used. Let us begin with the way Wisdom is framed in our subject verses from what we have called  the Parable of Jonas. The Master says: “The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here” (Matthew 12:42). For the world and especially for the Jews in this time, the Wisdom of Solomon is world renowned. We know from the Old Testament the story of King Solomon abbreviated here:

“In that night did God appear unto Solomon, and said unto him, Ask what I shall give thee……..Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people: for who can judge this thy people, that is so great? And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thine heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honour, nor the life of thine enemies, neither yet hast asked long life; but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king:  Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee; and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and honour, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like” (2 Chronicles 1:7, 10-12).

The allied story from the Book of Kings says it this way:

“And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore. And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about. And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five. And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes. And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom” (1 Kings 4:29-34).

There is a beauty in this part of the Old Testament that gives us a picture of the overall importance of Wisdom and we should see two things here as we start; first that Solomon had already possessed some degree of Wisdom, albeit of the more worldly kind, because without this Wisdom and cunning in his field of expertise, royalty of the House of David, he would not have asked for that Wisdom from above. And second we must take note of the fact that he was, after this gift of God, “wiser than all men“. Here then is the relevance of the saying above by the Master: “behold, a greater than Solomon is here“. In this saying is, from our perspective, another overlooked part of the whole of this parable. Again, common interpretations lump this part about Solomon with the part about Jonas together as Jesus’ spoken derision of the scribes and Pharisees and those who still doubted in the crowd. This statement is however the resounding proclamation of the Master that He is the Wisdom of the Ages; greater than Solomon who was wise above all men. This is also a testament to the power of Wisdom and to the idea of Wisdom as THE thing to possess. Jesus could have chosen many ways of comparison for Himself to others of renown as He is Greater that them ALL but He did choose Wisdom, about which Solomon, among his 3000 proverbs, wrote much including this that these people, especially the religious, knew well:

“Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.  Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee” (Proverbs 4:5-9).

As much as Wisdom is a thing to get, it is also a thing that we have. Like Love, Wisdom is inherent in the human psyche and like any other human facet it has both a higher and a lower correspondence. It has a worldly state of which the Master tells us in the Parable of the Unjust Steward (In the Words of Jesus parts 95-96) saying that “And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world arein their generation wiser than the children of light” (Luke 16:8). Here we see the lower correspondence of Wisdom spoken highly of by the Master in the respect that men of the world are so astute in their worldly doings that they can be and are wiser that those who ask Wisdom from above. The Master speaks also about that Wisdom from above as it is an aspect of God telling us that Wisdom speaks: “Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute” (Luke 11:49) which saying goes well with the ideas from Proverbs like this one, as we saw recently, with Wisdom saying that: “Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth” (Proverbs 8:25). We have here in these sayings the idea that Wisdom IS much like we have previously seen that Love IS God and God IS Light.

We have here also, in our subject saying  by the Master,  the idea that Wisdom is a possession of the Christ and His Wisdom is greater the Wisdom of Solomon  who the Jews believed was the wisest man ever. Following our understanding of the correspondences between the Christ and the Christ within, we should also see that this Wisdom is within our reach and it is inherent in the Light and the Love and the Power that we bring into our conscious personalities when we are focused on His Presence and His Kingdom as True Sons of God.

We should also see that the ideal of Wisdom from above is intimately tied to all the virtue found in Life in form. It is in Wisdom that we shed fear and hatreds, it is in Wisdom that we lose sight of selfishness and greed and it is in Wisdom that we lose also the lusts and the anger because we see clearly our demise in them. These same things we see in Love as the Master frames it in His sayings: “.….Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” and “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 19:19, 7:12). Much like the Trinity of God is yet ONE GOD so the Great Powers of Love and Wisdom can be seen as ONE with both being resolved into the Son, the Christ and therefore the Christ Within.

We leave today with this from the Book of Proverbs and, although some of this has been posted before, it is well worth reading again either from here or from your favorite bible translation:

• “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding“(Proverbs 9:10) .
• “I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions. The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength. By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. By me princes rule , and nobles, even all the judges of the earth. I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver.20 I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment: That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures. The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men. Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways” (Proverbs 8:12-32).
• “Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.  Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her. The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens. By his knowledge the depths are broken up , and the clouds drop down the dew. My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion: So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck. Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble” (Proverbs 3:13-23).

These are from the of words of Solomon regarding Wisdom and in the next post we will conclude this with more words from the Master and His Apostles regarding Wisdom, beginning with His saying from our subject verse “But wisdom is justified of all her children” (Luke 7:35 and Matthew 11:19).

Note on the Quote of the Day