Wisdom 9 – Here Solomon pleads with the
Lord to grant him Wisdom: “‘God of our ancestors, Lord of mercy who by your
word have made all things, and in your wisdom have fitted man to rule the
creatures that have come from you, to govern the world in holiness and justice
and in honesty of soul to wield authority, grant me Wisdom, consort of your
throne, and do not reject me from the number of your children” (9:1-4).
We – like Solomon
– are “feeble . . . with little time to live, with small understanding of
justice and the laws” (9:5). How can we order human society, manage our
presence on this earth with all the demands we bring, all the problems we are
so good at multiplying? It is so interesting how the author sees Wisdom as a
“consort” – cohabiting heaven, the realm of the spirit, with the Source of All.
Wisdom – the Logos – Christ: interesting to see these three as somehow ONE.
“With
you is Wisdom, she who knows your works, she who was present when you made the
world” (9:9). “Dispatch her from the holy heavens, send her forth from your
throne of glory to help me and to toil with me and teach me what is pleasing to
you, since she knows and understands everything” (9:10).
He
asks for her so he may govern God’s people justly. I like this: “The reasonings
of mortals are unsure and our intentions unstable; for a perishable body
presses down the soul, and this tent of clay weights down the teeming mind. It
is hard enough for us to work out what is on earth, laborious to know what lies
within our reach; who, then, can discover what is in the heavens? (9:14-16) Our
only hope is to be blessed with Wisdom, God’s “holy spirit from above” (9:17).
1 Peter 1 – Peter writes this
letter to the churches of Asia Minor, “living among foreigners in the
Dispersion of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia” (1:1)
He
sends his blessing on those who have been given a “new birth” as sons of God
“by raising Jesus Christ from the dead” (1:3). Though they may be “plagued by
all sorts of trials” (1:6) for a time, they will eventually have praise, glory
and honor before God. Unlike the apostles, who knew Jesus in the flesh, they
“did not see him, yet [they] love him” and are “filled with a joy so glorious
that it cannot be described” (1:8).
Peter
calls the salvation he describes as one foretold by the prophets. “Remember, the
ransom that was paid to free you from the useless way of life your ancestors
handed down was not paid in anything corruptible, either in silver nor gold,
but in the precious blood of a lamb without spot or stain, namely Christ; who,
though known since before the world was made, has been revealed only in our
time, the end of the ages, for your sake” (1:18-19).
He
urges them to let their love for each other be real and from the heart—your new
birth was not from any mortal seed but from the everlasting word of the living
and eternal God. All flesh is grass and its glory like the wild flower’s. The
grass withers, the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever What
is this word? It is the Good News that has been brought to you” (1:23-25).
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