Wisdom Is the Name of a Person

How Jesus grew: three kinds of wisdom

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

Luke 2:52

Jesus grew in four areas together: in wisdom, in body, in his relationship with God and in his relationship with people. He didn't start preaching until he was thirty. Before that, what did he learn at home? Jewish family education gives us a good hint. They teach their children three kinds of wisdom:

Wisdom for making a living: a trade. Jesus was a carpenter, and Paul could make tents. Before the age of thirteen, a Jewish child learns a trade from his parents, something to support himself with.

Wisdom for daily living: character and responsibility. They teach their children that money is a servant, not a master; it's for doing good. A father doesn't just pass on his trade. He's an example to his children by how he lives.

Wisdom for life itself: the fear of God. This is the foundation. From when their children are very small, they start memorizing God's word. There's an altar in the home, and there's the Sabbath. Just as Moses commanded:

And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

Deuteronomy 6:6–7

The order matters: life first, then living, and knowledge last. Lots of us have degrees and have made money, like I used to. But the wisdom for life, I only found after I came to know God and started reading the Bible every day. Outward skills are quick to learn, but only the life inside can be passed down from generation to generation.

Jesus is our wisdom

In the Old Testament, wisdom is like a gift and an inspiration that comes down from heaven. In the New Testament, wisdom has a name:

But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.

1 Corinthians 1:30

Wisdom isn't just an ability anymore. It's a relationship. Every morning, as we sit at Jesus' feet, read his word, worship him and wait quietly on him, a heavenly instinct and judgment slowly grows inside us. All these years I've done counselling, and while I listen I'm often asking in my heart, "Lord, how do you see this person? How should I help them?" The wisdom he gives me is often something I'd never have thought of myself.

Jesus himself was like this. Some people brought a woman caught in adultery to him, wanting to use the law to force him to take a side. He said just one thing: "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." One by one, from the oldest to the youngest, they all left. Then he said to the woman, "Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more." (John 8:7, 11) This is the wisdom from above: pure, and peaceable too.