Day 52, Year 1 Jesus’ Humbleness and Wisdom

Jesus said, “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.… And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matthew 11:19, 23:12 NKJV)

In the first verse of today’s text, Jesus declared that He Himself is wisdom. The children of wisdom were the tax collectors and sinners who obeyed and followed Him. The version of “children of wisdom” conforms to the relevant meaning of wisdom in the Old Testament. But there is also a copy of ancient scripture, which writes the word “children” as “deeds” (NASB). This might be more compatible with the Greek meaning of “wisdom,” sophia means “wisdom that is widely applied, especially the  (successful) application of knowledge in different areas.” Thus, this word is closely related to human behaviors. In fact, these two different versions are from two different codexes. Eastern Byzantine (or Syrian) text manuscripts in church tradition, was written as “children of wisdom.” The Codex Vaticanus manuscripts in the early northern African style and the Codex Sinaiticus in the medieval monastic style were written as “deeds.” Meanwhile, James R. Edwards (2009) in The Hebrew Gospel … stated that the original manuscript of the Gospel of Matthew was written in Aramaic, close to Hebrew of the Old Testament. In other words, different manuscripts as stated above might just have different translations of the verse.

Jesus claimed to be the Son of Man, meaning a descendant of Adam with the power of man. He refers to Himself as 100% human. He also is the Son of God (1 John 5:20), the seed of the Father God, hence He is also 100% God. At that time, Jesus did not retort to them as the Son of God, nor argue with them by human reasoning. He only pointed out the fruit of wisdom and tried to convince them with evidence. This shows His humility. Jesus asked them: Did He become a glutton or drunkard, or did tax collectors and sinners become more like Jesus? If the latter is the case, it is wisdom that has had a positive effect on sinners and thus has set a good example for believers to imitate His life and work.

Jesus said, “He who humbles himself will be exalted.” Therefore, believers should learn His humility, acquire wisdom, resist the influence of the wicked and evil spirits of the world, and show evidence of wisdom just like Him, with the power of God’s truth to influence and change those around us.

Reflection questions:

1) Are you willing to learn extensively about the wisdom of the Lord Jesus with a humble attitude? If so, what adjustments would you need to make in your daily routine?

2) Do you long for Jesus’ wisdom to change yourself and others? If you do, what changes would you need to make first?