October 4th

Job 30:1-32:22; Matthew 22:15-46; Psalm 18:16-24

Wisdom is not just something that old people have. Granted they have seen a lot in their time and they have learnt a lot as well. We can learn a great deal from older people but let’s be honest, old people also do the silliest things some times. Today we see that younger people can also be wise, but then we knew that anyway!

A new name comes into the mix today with Job. His three friends have been laying into him for some time now and Elihu, a younger friend comes into play. I emphasised the ‘can’ above when talking about being wise because Elihu gets it just as wrong as the other friends. But we should not discount vv6-9 where Elihu has a fair point about people of any age being able to exercise wisdom. Yesterday we talked about wisdom being God given, it is spiritual and it will be given to those who God wishes to exercise it. Now this may be the wisest thing that Elihu says for the rest of the book but here he is spot on. Throughout the Bible God has a habit of speaking to children and young people. So if God is giving you something to say then pray about it and speak it out.

The Gospel tells us that both the Pharisees and the Sadducees were amazed at Jesus’ teaching. I love v46 “from that day on no-one dared to ask him any more questions”. We have already identified a number of times when Jesus sent a rumble through the whole of Jerusalem, (like when Herod was worried and the whole city was with him and the triumphal entry into Jerusalem). In this passage Jesus does something just as powerful , he silences the lips of the powerhouse of the city. The Sadducees and the Pharisees were the local ruling council, the big cheeses, if you had a problem then you went there, if you were in trouble then you were taken there. These were seen as the wisest people around, you didn’t mess with them. And here Jesus amazes them so much they daren’t question him again. It is kind of like one of those situations today when the government messes up – everyone notices it. It would have been the same then and people will have seen the wisdom of Jesus, who was not that old, but then he was God!

In terms of the Gospel, check out Andy's comments on questions from God. When we listen to God’s questions and work through the answers  then we find we grow in wisdom. Don’t ignore what God is saying to you, especially the questions.