Greatest Wisdom

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

GREATEST WISDOM

Matt 12:38-42

38 Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, "Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you."

39 He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here. 42 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.

NIV

Having considered the wicked and adulterous generation, which includes the present time, we need to ponder in these comparisons Jesus makes of himself to Jonah and Solomon. The idea of Jesus being in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights at first seems not to be in accordance with the facts as we look at them. As He was on the cross on a Friday which would have preceded the Jews Sabbath day, which is sunup to sundown on Saturday, and then there is Sunday, the day of his resurrection, which we have determined to be our Holy Day. So, by our method of calculations Jesus was in the grave part of Friday, Friday night, all day Saturday, Saturday night, and part of Sunday morning. However, what we have learned is the Jews reckoned time differently to some degree. It was, and maybe still is, a Jewish maxim that any part of a day means the whole and including that day’s night. Thus, any part of Friday was seen as the whole day and night, same for Saturday and Sunday. This would have meant to the Jew that Jesus would be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights, just as Jonah was that amount of time in the fish. We are more that aware that Jesus is far greater than Jonah, however, that are some differences. Jonah did not what to go to Nineveh, Jesus did want to come to earth, yet it does appear He was not eager to go to the cross, nevertheless, he wanted the will of his Father over his own, knowing the suffering and pain he was having to endure. The people of Nineveh repented, and they were saved, but it appears the Jews are in no way wanting to repent and instead wanting to rid themselves of the only way of their salvation. John, in his gospel makes the point the Jesus came to His own and they did not receive Him. We still wonder how blessed we are that the Spirit broke through our hardened heart and open our eyes to the truth. Then we have Jesus saying that He is wiser than Solomon, which we have total proof of having His word, the compete scripture, to verify this truth. Who could ever be wiser than God? There are even today, people who think themselves both knowledgeable and wise about certain things, and that may be true in the sense of attaining various degrees in a particular field of study. However, when it comes to complete wisdom about all things, God stands alone, although, He has said that if any of us lack wisdom we should ask God and He will give generously without finding fault. We can have wisdom from God, which is far greater than any wisdom this world can offer through any of its means. This is wisdom that does not even require years of study. This wisdom is a gift from God just by asking Him. This is the wisdom of knowing the truth about Jesus and about our life in Him. We know a word of wisdom is one of the gifts of the Spirit, and that may be a one-time event of speaking some truth, but the wisdom God gives is a more complete life wisdom. Let us live fully in the truth of God, seeking Him for all things in our life, for we already have He who is greater than all, our Lord Jesus, who is in fact, our creator and our Savior.