Taught By The Spirit

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Reading: John 7:14-24

Reflection: This passage begins with a group of people who are astonished because Jesus appears to have great wisdom, and yet he has not gone through the typical educational processes of the Jewish synagogue. The amazement is not that a person can have great wisdom, but that this wisdom can be gained outside the academic halls of the Jewish people. How can a person get such wisdom?

Jesus answer is that the Father who sent Him has granted Him this wisdom. But how? While the text doesn't say how this happened, it seems reasonable to me that this wisdom was gained by the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is called the Spirit of Truth. The New Testament insists that the Holy Spirit illuminates a person's mind to understand and apply the truth. The Holy Spirit guides us in truth, illuminates truth, convicts of error and convinces of reality. Given the fact that Jesus is a man filled by the Spirit, it seems as though that Spirit has granted Him great truth and wisdom.

What a reminder this is that we should be careful in thinking that just because a person has a host of degrees granted by the academic institutions that he or she is wise. Likewise, just because a person doesn't have a host of degrees doesn't mean they are ignorant and uninformed about important issues in life. It is much more important to be committed to God and filled by the Spirit than it is to have academic degrees. This does not mean that there is anything wrong with academics. It means that the source of all truth is ultimately the God of truth rather than the academic halls of men.