This morning, we continue our short series on Jesus as the revelation of
true God and true man. And the focus of this morning’s sermon is, I am sure,
quite obvious from the text. ‘Jesus increased in wisdom.’ Once again, the
common notions of Jesus being somehow so very different from us are shown to
be so clearly false. In terms of His human nature, Jesus was – and still
is – just like us. It’s just that He never gave in to the temptation to sin.
And so, that tells us something about who we are called to be. We are
intended to be wise. That’s what humanity was created for and that is one
goal of our redemption. It’s this that we are going to be looking at today.
The first thing that we’ll want to do is to be clear about what this wisdom
is. And it’s not complicated. Wisdom is skill at living well. Do I buy this
car or that one? Should I buy a house or just rent one? Is this the right
person to marry? How much should I be spending on that? These are all common
questions of life that require wisdom. Now, to decide well, one needs
knowledge. But knowledge alone won’t make you wise. There are many very
knowledgeable people who are very foolish when it comes to life decisions.
Wisdom is the necessary skill that takes what you know and applies it well.
So, that’s what we are talking about. Jesus increased in this kind of skill.
All of this might have been quite simple for us, but, because of sin, it isn
’t. One problem is that there are competing kinds of wisdom. There is the
wisdom of God and the wisdom of the world. Paul talks about this in 1
Corinthians. The wisdom of the world starts by looking at this life as if,
practically speaking, the true God didn’t exist. And that ruins everything.
The reason I say that is clear. The true God does exist and that fact
affects everything that you do. One way of seeing the conflict between Jesus
and the Pharisees is that Jesus knew the true God exists and lived
accordingly. He was wise. The Pharisees, their words notwithstanding, lived
as if He didn’t exist. They were fools. They adopted a wisdom of the world,
and everything fell apart because of that. We are still confronted with a
wisdom of the world. And that makes increasing in true wisdom all the more
difficult. But Jesus was in the same situation, and He became wise
nonetheless. If we follow Him we will grow in this as well. So, the normal
Christian life is one in which there is growth in wisdom. And that growth
doesn’t stop at some arbitrary point. There is more to know about how God
runs this universe, and so there is more wisdom to be gained. I suppose that
we will still be growing in wisdom in eternity.
Now a question. How does someone grow in wisdom? Let’s start with our text.
How did Jesus grow? How did He increase in wisdom? The ‘zap’ theology crowd
assumes that at some point, maybe simply at the point of conception, Jesus
was given all the wisdom that He would need. But that’s not what the text
says. ‘Jesus increased in wisdom.’ In fact, the text actually says, ‘Jesus
increased in wisdom and stature.’ So, how did Jesus increase in stature? How
did He grow from a little baby to a boy to a man? That’s not complicated. He
ate His vegetables just like His mother told Him to, and He grew up. He grew
in stature by the use of means like eating. Jesus grew in wisdom also by the
use of means. No ‘zap’. Now, what means did God use so that Jesus might
increase in wisdom? The first means was His parents. Please don’t forget
that Jesus had two very pious parents. The Scriptures make that quite clear.
And I say that this is the first means of growth because of the book of
Proverbs. Much of Proverbs is structured as the instruction of a father to
his son. And in that context he says things like, ‘Listen to your father who
gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.’ [Proverbs
23:22] God uses pious parents to develop wisdom in their children. That says
something to you who are parents. And one thing it says is that you need to
increase in wisdom yourselves. You cannot pass on to the next generation
what you do not have.
Another means that God uses is older saints and especially teachers in the
Church. Our text comes right after the account of Jesus’ visit to the Temple
when He was twelve years old. What was Jesus doing there? What does it say?
‘After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers,
listening to them and asking them questions.’ [Luke 2:46] Jesus was having a
conversation with the teachers of the Church. He listened and then He asked
questions. They had knowledge about some things that He didn’t. He listened.
But then He put what they said together with other things that He knew and
came up with questions to ask, real questions. ‘I heard what you said about
the life of Joseph in Genesis, but I don’t see how that fits with what
Isaiah teaches about the Suffering Servant. Shouldn’t they match up? Can you
explain that to Me?’ Jesus was gaining wisdom as He interacted with these
men. You learn wisdom from those who have a bit more than you do. And that
should include teachers in the Church as well as older saints who have grown
in wisdom over the years. But let’s not forget that friends help each other
grow in wisdom. ‘Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.’ [Proverbs
27:17] I think that a good example of this in our case is the monthly women’
s group. From what I hear, they are helping each other grow in wisdom. Then
there is one other way that Jesus increased in wisdom. ‘Although he was a
son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.’ [Hebrews 5:8] I realize
that the word ‘wisdom’ is not in that verse, but if you think about it,
obedience to God is a form of being wise. Jesus increased in obedience, in
wisdom, by the hard life experiences He faced. And the same is true for us,
isn’t it? Our God brings you into hard situations, and He does that for good
reasons. For one thing He is giving you the opportunity to increase in
wisdom. You need to take advantage of these opportunities so that you might
become wise.
This leads to my next thought. Increasing in wisdom is by no means
automatic. That’s why I said that when hard times come you need to take
advantage of the opportunity. We may, of course, fail to do that and take a
step backward in the wisdom department. Growth in wisdom is not inevitable.
And so, if you are to grow in this area, if you are going to imitate Jesus,
there are things that you need to do. For one thing, you need to want to
become wise. Proverbs 2 tells us that ‘the Lord gives wisdom’. But it isn’t
enough just to utter some prayer when some important decision looms. In that
same chapter of Proverbs it also tells us, ‘…if you seek it like silver and
search for it as for hidden treasures…’ God telling you that, if you would
gain wisdom, you must want it, and want it badly. It needs to be like
seeking hidden treasures. And at the heart of this seeking is grabbing hold
of the teachings of the Scriptures. So, in same chapter in Proverbs you’ll
see, ‘My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with
you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to
understanding…’ This is a father speaking to his son and at the same time
our heavenly Father speaking to us, His sons.
Now, this will be difficult, very difficult. It will mean fighting with your
own sinfulness. There is a part of you that is still so very twisted. So,
you must fight it. In addition, there is the wisdom of the world, pressing
itself upon you. ‘No, this is how you spend your money. This is how you
spend your time. These are the goals that you should have for you and your
family.’ Seeing this worldly wisdom for what it really is, is not at all
easy. And when it comes to those difficult life experiences, it is so easy
to give in to self-pity or a complaining spirit, or just wanting to give up,
instead of taking advantage of them as opportunities to increase in wisdom.
But you must always remember that you are not in this battle alone. You have
a faithful high priest who has faced the same battle. He understands exactly
what you are dealing with. And He has not left you defenseless. He has given
you the Church. He uses the community of the saints, both lay and elders to
help you in this. He has also given you His Holy Spirit who guides and
corrects. So, even when it is hard, especially when it is hard, you can be
very optimistic. Jesus is near. The Spirit is with you. The people of God
are available to help. So, with whatever faith you can muster, cry out to
your God in the name of the Savior. He will not let you down.
As you do that there will be change. For one thing, you will be able to look
back on your life and say, ‘What was I thinking when I decided to do that?!?
’ Don’t beat yourself up when you see you past foolishness. Being able to
see it for what it is, is good. You have increased in wisdom so that you can
see your past foolishness. It’s evidence of growth. Instead, give thanks
that your God has blessed you with growth. In addition, as you increase in
wisdom, you’ll find that you are a better servant for Christ. With this
wisdom, you will make decisions that advance the kingdom and honor Jesus.
You’ll also find that your life becomes a very attractive billboard for the
Gospel. As your wisdom shows itself in the various aspects of everyday life,
those around you will notice. That will give you opportunity to explain the
source of your wisdom. Then last, but not least, you’ll have something of
real worth to pass on to the next generation. Imagine if you had even a
little more wisdom when you were younger. Think of the foolish decisions
that you wouldn’t have made. Think of how you can help the next generation
do a better job earlier on in their lives.
We live in a time when there is a dire lack of truly wise men and women.
There are plenty of knowledgeable people whose brains are filled with facts
but relatively few wise ones. Heed the Spirit this morning so that you can
become wise like Jesus.
