What an amazingly powerful passage…(besides being the inspiration for several of my favorite soul-junk songs)… What does it mean that “wisdom is justified by her children”?
Matthew 11.12-19 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
“But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, and saying:
‘We played the flute for you,
And you did not dance;
We mourned to you,
And you did not lament.’
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 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.â€
Look at these examples (in Proverbs) of true verifiable wisdom being imparted…passed down…taking root, bearing fruit:
Proverbs 24.3 Through wisdom a house is built,
And by understanding it is established.
Proverbs 27.11 My son, be wise, and make my heart glad,
That I may answer him who reproaches me.
Proverbs 23.15-16 My son, if your heart is wise,
My heart will rejoice—indeed, I myself;
Yes, my inmost being will rejoice
When your lips speak right things.
Proverbs 23.15-16 My son, if your heart is wise,
My heart will rejoice—indeed, I myself;
Yes, my inmost being will rejoice
When your lips speak right things.
The wisdom of the life of Christ (in us) is that it will produce the Kingdom’s fruit! The life of Christ is reproducible, unmistakably supernatural, and totally uncontainable. The richness of the life of Christ is found in God’s wide-open invitation to the deep communion of the Father and the Son. Ask God to allow the love of the life of Christ to soak deep into your inner man, the words of the life of Christ to come rushing out of your mouth, and the actions of the life of Christ to overflow out of your life.
God has hidden every last treasure of wisdom and knowledge in the person of Jesus Christ – so dive headlong into experiencing Jesus, and reap the benefit of a life in which God holds you up as proof positive of his own undeniable wisdom >>