The Wise Man Cometh

The Hebrew Talmud recounts a story about a man who came to the wise Rabbi Shammai (head of the rabbinic schools when Jesus was of age) and asks the Great Teacher to instruct him in the whole Torah in the time the man can stand on one leg. The respected Rabbi then sagely grasps a rod and savagely beats the man until he runs away. I love that story! I think Proverbs 25:2 sheds a bit of light on what the Rabbi might have been thinking as he “responded” to this audacious fool: “It is the glory of God to conceal a mystery, but the glory of kings is to search it out.”I’ll unpack that a bit this Sunday as we conclude not just one series, but three. (That feels pretty appropriate for a sermon on Trinity Sunday!) Over the past several months we have walked together through what it means to be disciples of Jesus, “For the Joy Set Before Us.” During Epiphany, we plumbed Psalm 119 to see how we might love God through the upward disciplines of the Soul Room. Then we followed Jesus throughout the inward disciplines of Lent, imitating Him who “came not to be served, but to serve,” loving people with everything he had. Finally, we spent the Eastertide season in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, seeing how we might develop a love for life that becomes an outward discipline: a magnetic light to the nations.We’ve been making much of the fact through this series that, in his Sermon on the Mount, Christ refers to his church as “a city set on a hill.” Any institution will have its officials, and if Jesus is the Hebrew Messiah that Matthew is trying to demonstrate he is in this gospel, then Jesus must be Prophet, Priest, and King over the great city. There’s a not-so-subtle structure to the sermon that shows us how he is just that: in chapter 5, Jesus is the Greater Moses, the True Prophet who gives the spirit of the law and fulfills it; in Chapter 6, Jesus is the Greater Aaron, the True Priest, who intercedes for us with the Father, teaching us to follow him in our devotional practices; and here in Chapter 7, we see Jesus presenting himself as the Greater Solomon, the True King who offers pure wisdom to those who will heed him.Just like Solomon, (and perhaps a bit like the old Rabbi Shammai), King Jesus gives us wisdom that is concrete, practical, and might just leave us feeling like we’ve been struck over the head! I can’t wait to worship with you all this Lord’s Day.- Josh