Growing in Wisdom

“And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” Luke 2:52  

Jesus, on whom rested the Spirit of wisdom and understanding (Isaiah 11:2), needed to grow in wisdom. Let’s pause right there and gaze upon this for it is a wondrous thing to behold! The eternal Son of God in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden (Col. 2:3), who emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant and being born in the likeness of men (Phil. 2:7) would need to grow in wisdom.  The Son of God became an embryo nestled in the womb of a woman. The Holy Spirit of God as He hovered over Jesus’ mother formed His inward parts; knitted Him together in His mother’s womb. He was fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps. 139)! And He grew in stature. He grew in utero. He grew from a baby to a toddler, to a little boy, to a young man. And He grew in wisdom and in knowledge. 

How did this come about? We catch a brief glimpse of the boy Jesus in Luke 2 and we discover that God had placed Him into the care of godly earthly parents who sought to raise Him in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We see their obedience to the Word of God; we see them faithfully offering sacrifices, taking Him on the annual journey to Jerusalem. They would have raised Him in the synagogue and taught Him the Scriptures. How does the sinless Son of God grow in wisdom in a fallen sinful world? Stunningly through the very same way we do... through gathered worship and regular teaching of God’s Word!

Again, this is amazing! Let us allow that to sink in a bit. The Old Testament Scriptures, which were written through men by the Holy Spirit, were the very means by which Jesus’ earthly parents taught their sinless Son to grow in wisdom! When  Solomon penned the Proverbs (the most famous work of wisdom literature in Scripture) to his son so that he would grow in wisdom, God is breathing out His wisdom through Solomon to HIS beloved Son... Jesus. When we look at Jesus in the gospels we can see all the wisdom and knowledge of God that had been poured into Him through the Word of God! We can see it in His life. We can see it in His words. We hear it in His teaching. He truly is the Living Word of God! The understanding that Jesus was shaped and filled by the Word of God has radically deepened my own love for the Word of God!

Paul tells us in Romans that those whom God called He predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29). We so often get caught up in the predestination debate and miss the point of what Paul is telling us. He tells us that those who are saved have been saved so that they will not only bear the Father’s Name, but they will bear the family resemblance. They will look like Jesus. But in order for that to happen, we too need to grow in wisdom through the very means Jesus did... faithfully putting ourselves in the Word of God.

Right now in our current cultural context, there are a lot of voices that are shouting...both outside and inside the church. The sound is deafening and divisive and it is difficult to discern the counterfeit world views from the true and biblical one because more often than not, God’s Word stands at the periphery rather than at the center of our Christian lives. We give lip service to God’s Word without actually dwelling in it. We talk about the Word without being in the Word. We spend more time reading books and articles about others’ thoughts rather than spending time reading God’s thoughts. We meditate on other’s viewpoints rather than meditating on God’s. We post articles about what this person said or that person believes, but very little time actually talking about what GOD says. 

The Apostle Jude tells us that there will be teachers in the church that are waterless clouds, swept along by winds (verse 12). All form and no substance. In the midst of a desert, a cloud which promises rain but doesn’t deliver is deadly. The same is true of the church. When we don’t pour forth the Word of God it is deadly for the souls of the people in our churches. Perhaps they teach in this way because we are a people who only want to hear teaching that tickles our ears (2 Tim. 4:3). May this not be true of us! May we NOT be waterless clouds swept along by the winds of culture. May we not be a people who only listen to teachers who tell us what we want to hear.  Instead may we be a people who don’t just give lip service to the Word of God, but be a people who are dwelling in God’s Word richly (Col. 3:16). May we be a people who have our ears tuned to what God is saying and not what culture says and find teachers who are not waterless clouds but filled with the life-giving Word of God. May we be a people who truly receive God’s Word and treasure up His commandments within us; making our ears attentive to wisdom and inclining our hearts to understanding. May we call out to God in prayer asking Him for insight and understanding. And may we seek for it in Scripture like it is silver and search for it as for hidden treasure.  Then we will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God, for the LORD gives wisdom; from HIS MOUTH come knowledge and understanding (Prov. 2:1-6). Then and only then will we understand  righteousness and justice and equity, and every good path (Proverbs 2:9). Then and only then will we grow in wisdom. Then and only then will we begin to look like Jesus!