The Wisdom of God

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The Lord Jesus Christ's holy birth begot...

"The Wisdom of God"

"'Wisdom has built her house.' By this he means Christ, the Wisdom and Power of God the Father. Christ has built His house which is His nature in the flesh derived from the virgin" Hippolytus (c. 205).

In the City of David, inside an austere manger and out of the serenity of a glorious nativity, Wisdom transcended into a new prototype and a new heritage fulfilling that which was spoken of by the prophets. Born of the lineage of Abraham, the father of all Jews and of David, Israel's greatest king, Wisdom became God Incarnate. God's intervention in history, through the holy birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, caused wisdom to become a term of extraordinary importance marking the beginning of a new conception, a new creation.

Born in the simplest manner, the Lord Jesus Christ grew likewise and developed to reveal the kingdom of Heaven to the simplest and most uncomplicated hearts. Though the wise men from the East, acclaimed for their wisdom, presented the Lord Jesus Christ with gifts, yet those self-entitled wisest of men and noble by birthright, found in the Holy Bible narratives that often eluded God's commands.

Since conception a king sought to murder the Lord Jesus Christ thus bringing Wisdom face to face with hatred, fostering enmity with it; such enmity that existed from the beginning of time. Wisdom, in its earthly definition, was an illustrious characteristic often pompously sought out for reputed means by those who held themselves of importance such as rulers, leaders and teachers in the holy books. Often "wisdom" was descriptively utilized to convey significant importance, but not necessarily always an accurate portrayal of its existence in essence therein. The fullness of time for the Wisdom of the Kingdom arrived with the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. This heavenly Wisdom was sought out by some astute men from the East who must have been scholars of their time.

"Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying 'Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.'" (Matthew 2:1-2).

Those scholastic men sought the One wiser than them in order to worship and bestow their gifts upon. Not only were they inspired to worship the One wiser than them, but they were seeking the One from Israel, a nation not their own. Remarkably, foreigners from a distant land were seeking the birth of a Jew to bring their hearts and treasures to. In search of Wisdom. they were drawn to its source and origin.

Unlike the wise men's emulated wisdom which through their immediacy came and went, the Wisdom was manifest more firmly through the powerful exaltation of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ. This blessed, miraculous, supernatural birth was heralded by the angels and illuminated and held on high signifying the brightness of His Father's glory, as bright as the star from the East. Not only did the Wisdom of the Kingdom bring the wise men from the East but also the shepherds from the nearby fields seeking "the Anointed One".

The shepherds from whom kings such as the great king David had previously evolved, bore witness to the birth of Immanuel, thus annotating and preserving them forever in parables as symbolical representations of the Lord Jesus Christ. In His divinity, the Lord Jesus Christ remains the substantial and perfect shepherd in whom the wisdom of the invisible God is concealed.

Justin Martyr teaches us that...

"The word wisdom is Himself this Lord begotten of the Father of all things. He is Word, Wisdom, Power, and the Glory of the Begotter" (c. 160).

The Incarnation of the Son was God's plan from eternity for the transformation of the world; turning its heart and mind from the earthly to the heavenly; "for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:21). The Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect image of the invisible and the all knowing God, came to seek and save all the righteous Jews and Gentiles that would then serve God and not mammon. The Lord Jesus Christ came to teach man not to serve two masters, but either the earthly or the heavenly.

"But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—that as it is written, 'He who glories let him glory in the Lord.'" (I Corinthians 1:30-31).

The Lord Jesus Christ's teachings are accepted by the wisdom-prone, simple heart that is ready and willing to embrace an understanding of what must be done to obtain a heavenly life. Wisdom will not succumb to philosophical thoughts, nor attach itself to impractical rhetorical sermons nor will it consent to be clothed and masqueraded in purples and gold.

Wisdom will promote an understanding of how God desires us to live our lives, interact with one another, and seek the Kingdom of God the Father. True wisdom will not market rivalry, competitiveness or factionalism. Rather, true wisdom will call for unity, fellowship, and perpetual advancement of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is not divided; He is the Teacher of the One True Church.

St. Clement of Alexandria proclaimed...

"Pointing to the First-Begotten Son, Peter writes, accurately comprehending the statement, 'In the beginning God made the Heaven and the earth.' And He is called Wisdom by all the prophets. This is He who is the Teacher of all created beings" (c. 195).

A carpenter, a handmaiden, a birth ministering woman, some shepherds, and the three wise men all witnessed the birth and growth of Wisdom. On the other hand, the king, the Pharisees and Sadducees, along with the scribes of the day did not. Ironically, were not the latter people the ones supposed and meant to pursue, preserve and persevere in wisdom?

"He has sent His redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever: Holy and awesome is His name. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding has all those who do His commandments. His praises endures forever" (Psalm 111:9-10).

As astounding as it may seem to us today prudence, knowledge, and discretion were not among the so called "most learned" of the time of the Nativity. Neither did the Lord Jesus Christ abide with them.

"I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge and discretion. 'The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I have been established from everlasting, from the beginning, before there was ever an earth.'" (Proverbs 8:12, 22-23).

Certainly the Glorious Nativity is the affirmation of the predestined inspiration of the Wisdom Incarnate. It is the birth of a new Wisdom much different from human wisdom, much different from the wisdom of the ages, or the one that is derived from the foolishness of men.

The One possessing the dynamic Wisdom of God has been born. The Wisdom that was once a mystery is now manifested marking the appearance of the One Who was ordained before the beginning of ages. Whom no king knew but would fear from afar; and many would come to accept as their Lord and Savior, Lord Jesus Christ, Teacher of Immortality.

"For if that which from its being inherent in the Lord was of Him and in Him, was yet not without an origin—I mean His Wisdom, which was then born and made, when in the thought of God He began to assume motion for the arrangement of His creative works—how much more impossible is it that anything should have been without an origin that was extrinsic to the Lord" (Tertullian c. 200).

Glory be to God in the highest, peace and good will be with you all during this season of the Glorious Feast of the Nativity. Let us honor our Lord Jesus Christ's birth as did the wisest of men. Praise be to God.

Bishop Youssef
Bishop, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States