And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him. If you look at a baby or a child and only see the present state of that person without seeing the future potential for adulthood, then you are missing the full picture of who the child is. A baby only makes sense in light of the potential for growth. If you have ever seen artistic pictures of baby boy in a suit and bow tie, or a baby girl in a wedding dress with a veil, these pictures although they look unusual, they point forward to what young boys and girls aspire to, to be adults.
We celebrated the birth of the Savior as a baby just a little over a week ago, and now we see the connection that baby’s are not meant to stay babies- as cute as they may be. A baby cannot have all that much wisdom. Jesus did not stay put as a child as long as possible. He grew strong, filled with wisdom.
We talked last Sunday in the sermon about how the birth of Jesus paved the way for our own birth as God’s children through the waters of Holy Baptism. Who we are as children of God does not make sense unless we see the big picture that we were made to grow strong, to grow in wisdom- to grow in our faith.
It does not make sense to only see ourselves as infants in the faith with no direction for growth- for then what light could we possibly have to give to the world? We prayed in our collect prayer:
“Almighty God, You have poured into our hearts the true light of Your incarnate Word. Grant that this Light may shine forth in our lives; through the same Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.”
How could people in the world out there, people without a living faith in the Lord, how could people appreciate the full meaning of the Word becoming Flesh if they do not see evidence of how the birth of Jesus makes any difference to the world? How could people know that the light of His incarnate Word has filled our hearts, if our lives do not reflect that life- if we do not grow in strength and wisdom in our faith?
Wisdom is an interesting word for us as the church, in the world we live in today. You can scan the news and wonder where is the wisdom in our world today? God’s wisdom is something different than what we see from prominent figures of culture wars and political movements. This wisdom is not the same as the type of things Benjamin Franklin wrote: “early to bed, early to rise helps keep a man healthy , wealthy and wise.” “A bird in the hand is worth more than two in the bush.” “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”
A person can be wise in how to live life. But apart from faith in the living God, all this such wisdom is really only foolishness, temporary solutions to managing life predicaments.
Look at our Old testament reading: When Solomon became king he was in Gibeon making sacrifices to the LORD. And that night when he was sleeping the LORD appeared to him in a dream and offered to provide whatever was his heart’s desire: “Ask what I shall give of you?”
Instead of asking for a mighty military or a great palace or other earthly riches, Solomon answered in humility. He reflected on the magnitude of the LORD’s gifts to him and how much of an honor it was to rule over God’s own chosen people. “Although I am but a little child.” Solomon recognized that he had not yet met his full potential. He asked the LORD to bring him to the maturity in which he was designed for.
And Solomon indeed grew in wisdom. He was able to govern his people justly and none who came to him were disappointed by his wisdom. He even wrote through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit the book of Proverbs, where he especially gives young people direction in how to go about living life as they look toward the potential they have before them.
Solomon’s wisdom, you may recall, did not last. Solomon was ensnared by wealth and earthly honors and alliances with the world that he formed by means of marriage to many wives who believed in false gods. Solomon fell from being so godly and wise, from pleasing the LORD to becoming a complete abomination in the LORD’s sight. He built temples for his wives of foreign gods. Sacrifices made to foreign gods, and even child sacrifice. For whatever reason Solomon lost the first ingredient in wisdom, the fear of the LORD.
Solomon was not the king Israel needed, they needed a better son of David who was not only a wise king, but also able to save his people from their own self destructive nature.
Already as a boy Jesus was filled with wisdom beyond his years. In our gospel reading we have the account of when Jesus visited Jerusalem as a boy with his family.
Jesus’ parents were returning home from Jerusalem when they realized Jesus was not with them. Naturally they were worried and rushed back to the city. And where did they find the boy Jesus? He was in the temple with the great teachers listening to them and asking questions. “And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.” And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man.”
Jesus who was the wisdom from on high, the eternal wisdom through whom the world was made is recorded as growing in wisdom and stature.
How did Jesus exhibit this wisdom? He did so in his preaching. He showed himself to be as wise as Solomon as he taught. Think of the sermon on the mount where Jesus taught the same wisdom of Ecclesiastes: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.” And again listen to the wisdom from on high: “Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
Our Lord himself offers the true and lasting wisdom that evaded Solomon: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.” When we seek first God’s kingdom, everything else will be given to us in the life to come.
Jesus said do not lay up treasures on earth, because the true treasure is not found in gold coins or ancient artifacts, but in Him. Jesus himself is our treasure. Remember the great Hymn “Jesus Priceless Treasure” …..”Hence all earthly treasure! Jesus is my pleasure! , Jesus is my choice. Hence all empty glory, naught to me thy story Told with tempting voice. Pain or loss or shame or cross, shall not from my Savior move me, Since he deigns to love me.”
Our Lord offers to us a kingdom that is far better than the one Solomon ruled. For the kingdom of God, which comes through the preaching of the gospel, will never fall and can never be taken away from us.
The world in its foolishness says that the cross is a sign of weakness, a picture of shame. The world wants a king dressed like Solomon, it mocks a ruler whose throne is a cross and whose crown is made of thorns. The word is filled with foolish scoffers who think they are so wise. With people who look in the mirror and admire their wisdom.
But the folly of the cross is greater than the wisdom of men, for in that cross of shame we find all glory and honor.
How often have we like Solomon been led astray? How often have we forgotten the wisdom handed to us by parents or by church? Today we are once again reminded that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
And so we do well to keep hearing the words of wisdom of the Holy Scriptures. Thanks be to God who gave us his Son, the son of David, Thanks be to Christ the true wisdom on high who in love died on the cross so that we might live. Who paid the price for our sin and foolishness so that we might live forever in his kingdom. Amen.