The Wisdom of Jesus
Recently
I was privy to a situation where a friend who was hurt by another took the
initiative to write to the other to explain the hurt. This resulted in an
apology that brought full healing.
When
I heard of the outcome, I wrote, “This shows the value of Jesus's instructions -
that it is the responsibility of the HURT person (not the offender) to initiate the
correspondence. If everyone followed
this advice, there would be more honest and wholesome relationships – and less
needless introspection.”
That
incident illustrates the wisdom in Jesus’s counterintuitive counsel for good
living. I say “counterintuitive” because at first thought, we think the
opposite is true. Jesus steered clear from teaching what “we think is true” or
what “should be true.” He got to the heart of what IS true. He effectively said – over and over again:
“Hey folks, this is the way the world really is - you’ll do well to realize it
and live accordingly.”
Here
are some other examples - all counterintuitive at first blush, but upon
reflection and practice, found to be true.
“Store
up for yourselves treasures in heaven, for where your treasure is, there will
your heart be also.” Normally don’t we
tend to hear the converse? A typical lesson might go, “Get your heart in the
right place, and then you will do the right things – your actions follow your
heart.” Jesus is claiming just the opposite: Concentrate on your actions - something
you have control of – and don’t sweat the heart - it will follow. Liberating! And powerful!
Jesus wasn’t unconcerned with the heart. He just understood human nature enough
to realize that the heart follows actions as much as guides them. Indeed, even the physical act of smiling can
uplift your mood.
In
a previous column I’ve addressed the counterintuitive nature of Jesus’s command
to “turn the other cheek” not in order to submit to authority, but for precisely
the opposite reason, in order to keep control and keep one’s dignity. Again, counterintuitive.
Another?
Consider the parable of the lost coin and sheep. Logic would suggest that a
shepherd with 99 safe sheep would stay with them and accept his losses of an
errant lamb. Similarly, why would a person spend all day hunting for a rather
insignificant object? Neither make sense, but, darn it!, that’s what I do all
the time. If I’m missing a spoon or favorite sock, I keep looking until I find
it. Suspect you behave similarly. Jesus
understood, and used that behavior to illustrate a point.
The
gospel writer arranged the “lost” parables saving the best to last. Consider
the lost son. Here is an ungrateful kid who deliberately turns his back on the
good life that his father intended to share with him. After blowing all his
money and totally messed up, he realizes that his father’s servants fare better.
So he heads back home.
All
of this is understandable. People blow it. They come to their senses. The young
kid was looking out for himself from first to last. That’s natural. The
father’s reaction, though, is the kicker.
He had many options: His son had
just rejected him, wasted his entire share of the inheritance, and was coming
home only to put food in his belly. A “Good
riddance!” would have been fully
understandable. But a second reaction is
equally sensible: “Glad to have you back – we’ve been shorthanded with the
animals since you left. Get out there - - you’ll have a meal awaiting you at
dinner and a fair wage.” This is what the son expected and would have been
fully satisfied with.
The
father gives neither of those a thought. Instead, he calls for a feast, puts a
robe on his son and leads him back home.
As others have noted, this is not a story about a wayward son, but about
a loving father. Powerful! Jesus was calling attention to the very best
in human nature.
Recently
I was invited to be a guest “devil’s advocate” in an apologetics class of a
local college. My role (which comes rather naturally) was to challenge the
students about the truth of Christian claims. When I asked why they believed
Jesus was divine, they pointed to fulfilled prophecy, miracles, and the
resurrection. Personally, none of that counts for much; human reporting even of
current events is often unreliable. However, the power and wisdom of Jesus’s
words - that gets me thinking.
