For Series C and the 3rd Sunday in Advent, the three readings are Zephaniah 3:14-20; Philippians 4:4-7 and Luke 7:18-35. The sermon text chosen for this week’s message is Luke 7:35, “But wisdom is justified by all her children.”

In most commentaries this sentence is interpreted as a continuation of Jesus’ words against the Pharisees. However, it makes better sense to understand it as the proverb it was in those days to refer back to Jesus in a derogatory sense. How so? It should not be translated, “but wisdom is justified by her children.” I don’t think that would be appropriate. I think it should be translated, “and wisdom is vindicated by her children” or “and wisdom is revealed by her children.” That is probably the best translation, if one wants to understand what this proverb is saying. You want to know if someone is wise. Take a look at the fruit of their wisdom. And the fruit of wisdom in Jesus case is terrible.

Number one, Jesus is sitting around eating with the wrong people. Number two, He’s even speaking with prostitutes. Remember the woman that came and washed his feet? Number three, He is not obeying the laws of Judaism. He heals people on the Sabbath and makes them pick up their bed, which is not allowed. That is too much work. He does other things on the Sabbath. For instance, His disciples go through the fields and they pluck and harvest food. That is also contrary to Judaism. Now I want to be clear on this, Judaism is a different religion than the Old Testament Israel. By the time Jesus came on the scene, they had over 600 laws just dealing with how to keep the Sabbath.

So what is wisdom according to Judaism? Wisdom is obedience to God’s laws. Obviously then from the Jews’ point of view, Jesus is not wise. Not only that, the Pharisees were not poor. They were wealthy. Jesus had no place to lay his head. Following Jesus is ridiculous. It’s like saying, “I just met a homeless man yesterday and he is one of the most wise men I have ever met; He had just wonderful advice for my life.” Who would ever say that? It would have to be a very unusual homeless man. Normally, if someone is homeless, you don’t want to follow his advice or you may end up being homeless also.

The theologian of glory looks at experience to decide not only his relationship to God, but how other people are to be regarded. In other words, they use outward signs, to find clear indications of inward realities; that is, if a person is wise, then his words and his actions will show it. Take at look at Jesus, He is the very opposite of wisdom.

What I’m trying to convince you is everything that Jesus did, went against the wisdom or the understanding of wisdom that Judaism taught. Their main idea was how do we get knowledge about God; how do we acquire knowledge? Well, guess what they thought? They thought they acquired knowledge by doing the law. They read the Torah and tried to put it into practice. That is why they thanked God that they were not like others. They were not tax collectors, they were not sinners; in fact, they fasted, they gave tithes, they went to worship regularly. Look how good they are!

But the wisdom from God is quite different. How does God say we come to know him? By obedience to His will? No! Because of original sin, which every person has inherited from Adam and Eve, it is impossible to get to know God by shaping up your life or by improving your behavior. It is just impossible. By works, no one will come to know Jesus Christ. For the only way to have a right relationship with God is through faith in the promises connected to His death and resurrection. And even that faith is a gift given to us by the power of the Holy Spirit as the Word is heard in its truth and purity.