WISDOM IN THE NATIVITY STORY

 

 

Jesus with the Doctors: After Dore' (paper collage, 2011)

Twice in my life I have been asked by very intelligent and educated friends of mine how in the world someone like myself who appears to have the same attributes as they have could possibly believe in the Bible. This brings up three terms applied to people which are often mixed up with one another in various combinations: intelligence, education, and belief. For example, in the same church I attended for years there were loyal attenders who were PhD scientists, those who had never attended college but were wise, and others who were reasonably intelligent yet firmly believed that we lived on a flat earth. And in my own immediate family while growing up, I had (a) a father who was intelligent and wise and became an elder in his church but never had the advantage of a higher education; (b) a mother who was intelligent and had faith but never attended college and was a bit scatter-brained at times; and (c) a brother who was very intelligent but never completed junior college nor attended church on his own volition once he had left home.

In my workplace, I have also encountered people with every possible combination and permutation of the three attributes of intelligence, education, and belief. We see the very same thing in the Nativity story as related by the four Gospel writers. Those coming to honor the new-born King included both shepherds and magi. There couldn't be a greater difference between two such groups of people although both of them demonstrated a great deal of faith. The Magi (popularly called Wise Men) were pagans who had a very high position in their society and might be called the scientists of their day due to their vast knowledge regarding the movements of the heavenly bodies. By contrast, the Jewish shepherds were ignorant peasants who had such a bad reputation in Israel that their testimony was not even accepted in a court of law. The clear implication of the Gospel narratives is that Jesus came to save all mankind, not just one particular ethnic group or those with a certain level of intelligence or education.

In fact, Paul for one appears to feel that God often had a reason for singling out those not generally considered wise by others:

“Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were influential, not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things...to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God...” (I Corinthians 1:26-30; NIV)

Grosheide explains this passage: “The foolishness of God is that work of God which the world considers foolish and feeble, namely the death of Christ, is salvation for believers. It saves whereas the world cannot save. That is why the foolishness of God is wiser than man.These words denote man in all his knowledge and power.”

Now consider for a moment the two stories bracketing Jesus' birth and early youth before the start of His ministry. First is the testimony of the wise men (magi), which we read about in Matthew 2:1-12. France defines these men as follows: “Magos, originally the title of a Persian priestly caste who played an important role in advising the king, was applied more widely to learned men and priests who specialized in astrology and the interpretation of dreams, and in some cases magical arts.”

But then, in Luke 2:39 we are given a summary statement regarding Jesus progress as a boy: “And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was up on him. The next thing Luke tells us about is Jesus' journey to Jerusalem when he was twelve years old. There we see him as a young boy discussing theological matters in the temple with another group of wise men, this time the noted teachers of that time. They are totally amazed at his intellectual maturity, and Luke caps off the story with a similar summary statement in verse 52: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man.”

So whatever your current status in the eyes of the world or your inborn abilities are, the lesson at Christmas time is that God loves you for neither of these, and all are welcome to exercise the wisdom to follow His will as revealed in Jesus Christ, His Son.