True Wisdom

It has been said that the book of Job refutes all human attempts at wisdom. To recall, Job’s life was brought to ruin and he, in turn, tried to build his “case” to bring before God. While Job’s friends tried to explain away his suffering (he must be guilty of some sin, otherwise God wouldn’t have inflicted him with such suffering), Job maintained that he was innocent and that his suffering was unfair.

God met Job’s desire for a hearing with a harsh series of questions: “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me…” (Job 38:2-3) Job's response to his Creator: “I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know…I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:3, 6)

Job fell silent in the presence of God. Neither Job’s “case” nor his friends’ explanations could stand, because God’s wisdom is categorically different than human wisdom. Isaiah 55:8 speaks of this difference: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.”

Job illustrates a fundamental truth of our existence: human wisdom is folly before God. At one point, God asked Job, “Will you condemn Me that you may be justified?” (40:8) In short, our attempt to justify ourselves leads to the condemnation of God. Indeed, this is what happened when Christ was crucified: we condemned God in our attempt to assert our own righteousness. Ultimately, such wisdom is the peak of folly.

The truly wise are those who fall silent before their Creator. It is in this sense that Romans says, “Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.” (Rom. 3:19) Job fell silent, for he knew that his “case” led to the condemnation of God. In like manner, all should fall silent because the human project of self-justification (human “wisdom”) has climaxed with the crucifixion of Christ.

Insofar as we fall silent like Job, we will enter into the sufferings of Christ with docility. We will empty ourselves just as Christ “emptied himself, taking the form of a slave.” (Philippians 2:7) We will have “the mind of Christ”, which is true wisdom because “no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God.” (1 Cor. 2:11)

To human wisdom, entering the sufferings of the crucified Christ looks only like foolishness and death. However, to those who have the “mind of Christ”, the crucified Jesus of Nazareth is also the risen Lord of all. Denying ourselves and following Him into death, we find our true selves and eternal life. This is because the One that “emptied himself” is the same One that “God also highly exalted.” (Philippians 2:7, 9)

To fall silent before God (to be "dumb" in His presence) is simply the precondition to our hearing of God’s Word. Our silence is not the end, for God continues to speak. And it is in hearing and heeding that “foolish” Word – hearing and heeding Jesus Christ Himself – that we become truly wise.