The Invitation of Jesus, God’s Wisdom

Scripture — Matthew 11:28-30 (NRSV)

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Devotion

In yesterday’s Life for Leaders devotion, I explained how, in the prologue to the Gospel of John, the depiction of God’s Word reflects the Old Testament portrayal of divine Wisdom. Yes, Jesus is the Word of God incarnate (John 1:14). But he is also the Wisdom of God in human flesh.

Other passages of the New Testament associate Jesus with divine Wisdom. For example, in 1 Corinthians 1:24, Christ is called “the power of God and the wisdom of God.” Colossians 2:3 says that “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” are hidden in Christ.

One passage in which Jesus fills the role of divine Wisdom appears in the Gospel of Matthew.

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

This invitation echoes the invitation of Wisdom in several ancient Jewish writings. For example, in Proverbs 9 Wisdom says,

Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight (Prov 9:5-6).

In the Jewish document known as Sirach, the writer urges,

Come to [Wisdom] with all your soul,

     and keep her ways with all your might.

Search and seek, and she will become known to you;

     and when you get hold of her, do not let her go.

For at last you will find the rest she gives,

     and she will be changed into joy for you. (Sir 6:26-28)

Then, later in Sirach, Wisdom herself speaks:

Come to me, you who desire me,

     and eat your fill of my fruits.

For the memory of me is sweeter than honey,

     and the possession of me sweeter than the honeycomb. (Sir 24:19-20)

Like Wisdom in Jewish writings, Jesus invites us to come to him so that we might learn from him and find rest in him. There is little doubt that Jesus’s invitation in Matthew 11:28-30 reflects, not only his familiarity with the Jewish Wisdom tradition, but also the truth that Jesus is indeed God’s Wisdom in human flesh (as in John 1:1-14).

The invitation of Jesus in Matthew 11 reframes our search for wisdom. To be sure, there is a sense in which we must seek wisdom if we want to be wise. We study the Scriptures. We read what wise people have written. We learn from those we know to be wise. We benefit from experience, learning from our losses as well as our victories. Yet if we take seriously the invitation of Jesus, then our search for wisdom focuses on knowing him deeply, truly, and personally. Moreover, we realize that wisdom will come to us, not mainly because we seek it, but because Jesus seeks us. We will be wise when we respond to his invitation to come to him, taking up his yoke and learning from him.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project’s online commentary. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: My Yoke Is Easy (Matthew 11:28-30).