“THE JUSTIFICATION OF WISDOM”
Luke 7:29-35
Introduction
No one wants to think that they are foolish or unwise. When adults are asked to rate their level of intelligence, most of them believe they are of above average intelligence. Of course, mathematics and statistics prove that, on average, half of adults must have below average intelligence. Therefore, some of these people are seriously mistaken about how they perceive themselves.
People want to believe they are wise, or at least smarter than most of the rest of us. However, people are not always as wise as they think. There is a story, which may or may not be true, that helps to illustrate that people tend to think more highly of themselves than they probably ought to believe. This story is about a medical doctor who immigrated to America from a foreign land. This doctor could not find a job in an American hospital, so he opened a clinic and put a sign outside that read,
“GET TREATMENT FOR $20. IF NOT CURED, GET $100 BACK.”
A lawyer thought this might be an easy to make a quick $100, so he goes to the clinic. The lawyer tells the doctor, “I have lost my sense of taste.” The doctor says to his nurse, “Bring medicine from vial No. 22, and put 3 drops in the patient's mouth.” After tasting the liquid, the lawyer gasps, “Ugh! That’s kerosene!” The doctor answers, “Congratulations, your sense of taste is restored. Give me $20.”
Angered at this turn of events, the lawyer goes back after a few days to try to recover his money. The lawyer complains, “I have lost my memory. I can’t remember anything.” The doctor says to his nurse, “Bring medicine from vial No. 22, and put 3 drops in the patient's mouth.” The lawyer protests, “That's kerosene! You gave that to me last time I was here to restore my taste.” The doctor answers, “Congratulations, you got your memory back. Give me $20.”
The lawyer, who now wants revenge, pays the doctor, and decides to come back a week later determined to get the $100. The lawyer tells the doctor, “My eyesight has become very weak. I can't see at all.” The doctor responds, “Well, I don't have any medicine for that, so take this $100 dollar bill.” The lawyer stares at the banknote and protests, “But this isn't a $100 dollar bill. It's a $20 dollar bill.” The doctor answers, “Congratulations, your eyesight is restored. Give me $20.”
This story shows us that sometimes people are not as smart, wise, or as honest, as they think they are.
Understanding Wisdom
In order to be wise, we first to understand what wisdom is, and then we need to know how to act wisely in our lives. Jesus made an interesting statement concerning wisdom. Jesus said, “Wisdom is justified of all her children.” (Luke 7:35) By saying this, Jesus was teaching people that wisdom proves itself by what it produces.
In the Greek language, the word for wisdom is “"sophia.” This is the word where we get the girl's name, Sophia. Given that knowledge about names, a wise person needs to be mindful when naming their children. Our children might take on the meaning of their names to characterize their lives. For our daughters’ names, Sophia would be a wise choice.
One way that wisdom can be described is to call it applied knowledge. If a person knows something to be true, then that person is wise when they apply that particular truth to their lives. If you know that a stove is hot, then the wise thing would be not to touch it, and thus avoid burning yourself.
Foolishness is the opposite of wisdom. Foolishness is when a person knows something is true; but, then they do not apply it to their life, and thus get burned. A lot of people get burned again and again by doing the same harmful things over and over, rather than learning from their mistakes and changing their behaviors. A person constantly getting burned seems rather foolish.
And so, we now turn to the passage of Scripture where Jesus said, “Wisdom is justified of all her children.” The knowledgeable thing to do would be to put Jesus’ saying into the context of the Bible story that He was experiencing. When we put Jesus’ words into the context of its Bible story, we will discover the reason why Jesus made this statement was because of what was happening to Him in His life. Then, we can take that knowledge about Jesus, His life, and His teachings, and apply it to our lives. This would be the wise thing to do.
We learn from the Gospel of Luke that Jesus faced opposition from two groups of people, the Pharisees and teachers of the law. These people verbally attacked both Jesus Christ and John the Baptist. They did this because they had rejected God’s purpose for them lives.
Jesus responded to His detractors by saying,
To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They
are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, and say, “We played
the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a song of mourning, and you did not
weep.” For John the Baptist has come neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you
say, “He has a demon!” The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say,
“Behold, a gluttonous man and a heavy drinker, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!”
And yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children. (Luke 7:31-35, NASB)
In the King James Version of the Bible, Jesus’ last statement is translated, “But wisdom is justified of all her children.” The knowledge and wisdom of this passage can be found in what Jesus said about the people He was dealing with, and also by what certain people said about Jesus Himself and John the Baptist.
Wisdom When It Comes to People
Jesus asked a rhetorical question in this passage. Jesus asked, “To what, then, shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like?” He then answered His own question by saying, “They are like children . . .” Jesus went on to repeat what the Pharisees and the lawyers, the religious leaders of that day, had been saying about John the Baptist and Jesus.
One of the things Jesus wanted everyone to know was “people are like children.” This is what Jesus said about the Pharisees. This is what Jesus could also say about us. Although adults appear to be mature because they are physically grown, they still can be mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, very childish. A way to illustrate this point is to think about a certain variety of drinks many people consume in the world today. We refer to these drinks as “adult beverages.” Adult beverage is another name for alcoholic drinks. These drinks get this name because they can only be legally purchased and consumed by those people who are a certain physical age; usually at least 21. In other words, adult beverages can only be legally consumed by adults. However, “when a person drinks adult beverages does that person start acting more like an adult?” “Do they become more mature, or more responsible?” Of course not. In fact, the more adult beverages any person drinks, the more childish they become. However, if the government would try to outlaw adult beverages, the populace would become outraged. Adults would begin to act illegally, maybe even violently, in order to meet the supply and demand of people wanting to drink and feel all grown up. Remember, the United States tried this once before.
People are like children. Jesus demonstrated this truth by using a children's song to illustrate what people were saying about Himself and John the Baptist. Jesus said that the Pharisees sang like they were children, “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.” What they were saying about Jesus and John was basically this, “We sang so you would be happy, but you were not happy. We sang to make you sad, but you were not sad.” They wanted to put Jesus and John in a “no-win” situation, “we cannot make you happy or sad.” The biggest problem was these people wanted to change Jesus and
John into what they wanted them to be; rather than listen to the messages of either Jesus or John. They didn’t want to accept them as men of God, who were the Messiah and His prophet.
People are like children. I sometimes wonder if a required course of study in every Christian seminary degree program that prepares Christian leaders for ministry ought to be “Child Psychology.” Such a course would help the minister get ready for dealing with many of the adults in the church congregation.
Jesus was trying to help us to understand who we are dealing with in our lives and in ministry. He wanted us to know the truth about people, and about ourselves. A wise person will apply this teaching to his heart. People are like children. Treat them accordingly.
Wisdom When It Comes to John the Baptist
In order to understand the Bible and the Christian faith, it is important that we know who John the Baptist was. The Pharisees in this passage made the following assumption about John, “John neither ate the food we eat nor drank wine; therefore we conclude, he has a demon.” Those people were complaining that even though they had tried to make John happy, he refused to be cheerful. He would not eat their bread nor drink their wine; nor accept their wisdom. And therefore, because John refused to be happy, he must be demon-possessed. I do not understand why abstaining from eating certain kinds of foods and not wanting to drink adult beverages proves a person is demon-possessed, but if it is true; then we need to be wary of a lot of Christian ministers who are neither gluttons nor drunks.
Fortunately, the Bible teaches us the truth about who John the Baptist was. First of all,
John lived an ascetic lifestyle for the sake of his relationship with God. He was described as wearing a garment of camel's hair with a leather belt, and not the fine linen robes of the rich and famous. He ate locusts and wild honey, which some consider to be a part of a healthy diet today. But more importantly, was the message John preached. He preached that people should turn away from their sin and return to God. This message of repentance, “You need to come back to God” would not be a message of a demon-possessed man. A mature person admits his sin and wrongdoing. He then seeks forgiveness and restoration with the one he has wronged, especially in relationship with God.
Knowing these two facts about John, his ascetic lifestyle and his message of repentance, a wise person would know he needs to accept John’s message, and return to God. He might also try to follow John's example of a simple lifestyle.
Wisdom When It Comes to Jesus
People say a lot of things about Jesus. The question is, “What is true?” when speaking about Him. We need to understand who Jesus was as well as know the message He proclaimed. In this same Bible passage from Luke, Jesus repeated what the people were saying about Him. Jesus used the name the Son of Man to identify Himself. Jesus' accusers said that Jesus “came eating and drinking.” So far, so good; but, then they criticized Jesus as being “a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” It is hard to follow their line of reasoning; if you don't eat and drink like John didn’t do, then you are demon-possessed; but if you eat and drink like Jesus did, then you are a glutton, a drunkard, and a friend of undesirable people.
It is a good thing we have the Bible, because it teaches us the truth about Jesus. He did eat and drink. In other words, Jesus lived a normal lifestyle. Furthermore, He did go to dinner in people's homes. Jesus became involved in the society in which He lived by making friends with people He met.
Jesus was accused of being a friend of sinners. We can all be thankful for that, because every one of us is a sinner in need of Jesus and His salvation. A great irony is found with this story. The people who accused Jesus of being a friend to sinners were the Pharisees. In Luke's Gospel, immediately following this story about wisdom, there is another story where Jesus goes to eat at the house of a Pharisee. “Did that mean that this particular Pharisee was also a glutton and drunkard?” No, he also lived a normal, sociable lifestyle.
While at this Pharisee's home, Jesus encountered “an immoral woman.” The Pharisee was surprised that instead of rejecting the woman as a sinner, Jesus accepted her as a friend. The Pharisee thought, “If Jesus was really a prophet, then He would certainly know this woman was a sinner.” One of my thoughts is, “If this Pharisee really knew this woman was a sinner, why did he allow her to enter into his home?” He judged Jesus but forgot to apply that judgment to himself. Apparently, childish people can be hypocrites as well.
Jesus lived a normal life, and He made friends with sinners; and instead of judging Him, we should all be grateful. Jesus also preached a message. His Gospel was a message of love and acceptance. Jesus told us that God loves us, and that He wants us to have eternal life. God's promise of eternal life is based upon our acceptance of Jesus as our Savior. Jesus also preached that we should love God, and we should love our neighbors as ourselves. Jesus said the proof that we are His disciples is when we love one another.
Knowing these two facts about Jesus, His normal, social lifestyle and His message of love, a wise person would accept everything about Jesus. A wise person would apply Jesus’ teachings about loving God and loving everyone we meet, including sinners, to his own life. As a matter of fact, a wise person would introduce his friends to the wisdom of Jesus and the salvation of God.
Conclusion
Wisdom is justified of all her children. The truth in this statement is wisdom produces results. Wisdom can be shown in two different ways. First, a person’s wisdom is identified by the type of person who follows them. At the same time, a person's wisdom is proven by the people they choose to follow. John's message of repentance produces mature adults who were concerned about repentance. Jesus' message of love produces mature adults who love God and other people.
Now that you have some knowledge about wisdom, “what are you going to do with it?” A wise person would apply it to their lives.
