Jesus: Strong and Wise
Explore the life of Jesus in our “Portraits of Christ” series of online interactive life lessons.
“When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.” Luke 2:39-40
An angel appears at a faculty meeting and tells the dean that in return for his unselfish and exemplary behavior, the Lord will reward him with his choice of infinite wealth, wisdom or beauty. Without hesitating, the dean selects infinite wisdom.
“Done!” says the angel, and disappears in a cloud of smoke and a bolt of lightning. Now, all heads turn toward the dean, who sits surrounded by a faint halo of light. At length, one of his colleagues whispers, “Say something.”
The dean looks at them and says, “I should have taken the money.”
~ Betsy Devine and Joel E. Cohen, Absolute Zero Gravity, Simon & Schuster.
How do we get real wisdom? Barring angelic intervention, we should look to God’s Word. The first descriptive words (besides prophecy) about Jesus in the Bible describes Him as strong, wise, and full of God’s grace. Jesus demonstrated his wisdom time and time again, whether it was when he gave the greatest moral speech in history (Matthew 5-7) or when He shamed the religious leaders of the day who tried to trap Him (Matthew 22:15-33).
If we need wisdom, we shouldn’t hesitate to ask God for it: “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind” (James 1:5-6). We truly begin to become wise when we realize how little we really know, and how much we have to rely on God. And the only way to know God is through Jesus. (1 Corinthians 1:25)
What is the best way to step forward on the path to wisdom? The only way is to follow Jesus, the one who is full of “grace and truth” (John 1:14,1:17). Who better to follow than the strongest and wisest, the man full of grace and truth, God alone? Our teachers, pastors and friends can be an enormous help to us in our walk of faith, but they can never replace God Himself.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
Question: In what ways does your own life currently reflect Jesus? In what ways would you like it to?
About this Author: Darren Hewer
