Month: September 2020

On Sunday I read through the genealogy from Matthew 1:2-16. A few of you remembered the song “Matthew’s Begats” from our “Behold the Lamb of God” concert last December. I didn’t sing the song on Sunday (although it was tempting!) but here’s Andrew Peterson’s latest recording of it for you to enjoy.

Jesus Christ proclaimed himself greater than Solomon, challenging his disciples to hear his incomparable wisdom (Matt. 12:42). His superiority to Solomon and to his wisdom can be seen in the following contrasts, citing Solomon’s proverbs first and then New Testament references.

– The Queen of Sheba testified to Solomon’s wisdom in this world, but she will rise at the judgment to condemn people for not listening to Christ’s superior wisdom (Matt. 12:46).

– Solomon taught his disciples to wait for God to repay the wrongdoer, but Christ himself will repay them (Prov. 24:12; Matt. 25:41–46; Rev. 2:23; 22:12; cf. Rom. 2:6–8; 2 Tim. 4:14; 1 Pet. 1:17; Rev. 20:12–13).

– Solomon depended on God to discipline those he loves, but Christ himself disciplines those he loves (3:11–12; Rev. 3:19).

– Solomon taught that those who share with the poor will be rewarded by God, but Christ identifies himself with and as the poor and as the one who rewards those who sacrifice for them (Matt. 25:31–45).

– Solomon focused on health and wealth now and minimized present sufferings; Christ focused on present suffering for righteousness and maximized future, eternal glory (3:1–10, 34; Matt. 5:3–12; 25:1–13)

– Solomon offers eternal life opaquely, but Christ by his resurrection brought immortality into the full light of day (8:35; Matt. 25:46; 2 Tim. 1:10).

– Solomon motivates his disciples to please their parents, but Christ, while upholding the honor of parents, teaches his disciples to love the triune God more (10:1; 19:13; 23:22–25; 27:11; 29:3; Matt. 5:45; 7:21; 10:32, 33, 35, 37; 15:4; 23:9; 25:34; Luke 9:60).

– Solomon’s wisdom is a bubbling brook, but Christ offers streams of water from within (18:4; John 7:38).

– Solomon offers a banquet of food and drink, but Christ himself is the Christian’s food and drink (Prov. 9:1–3; John 6:53).

– No human ascended into heaven to comprehend the whole, but Christ both descended from heaven and ascended into it (30:4; John 3:13; 6:33).

– Solomon depended in part on the sayings of others, but Christ speaks as the authoritative Son of Man from heaven (Prov. 20:23; Matthew 12).

– Solomon calls on his disciples to write his teachings on their hearts, but Christ sends his Spirit to write God’s word on their hearts (Prov. 3:3; 2 Cor. 3:3).

– Solomon calls for obedience, but Christ’s Spirit empowers his elect to obey (Prov. 1:20–21; Rom. 8:1–8).

– Solomon anticipates a future ideal king (16:10–15), but Christ is the Messiah (Matt. 27:37).

– Solomon pointed to atonement by showing reliable love to others, but Christ showed such reliable love to his own that he died to atone for their sin (Mark 10:45; 2 Cor. 5:14).

– Solomon himself failed to obey his wisdom, but Christ is the perfect example of his (3:2; 25:26; 1 K. 11:9–10; Luke 2:52; Heb. 4:15).

– Solomon lost his kingdom, but Christ builds his (1 K. 11:10; Matt. 16:18).

– Solomon called on his disciples to feed their enemies, but Christ died for his enemies (25:21; Rom 5:8).

Nevertheless, even though Christ’s wisdom is so much greater than Solomon’s, we do not discard the latter any more than we would throw away a five-dollar bill because we also owned a twenty-dollar bill.

Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs, Chapters 1–15, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004), 131-132.

This Sunday, we are planning to celebrate the Lord’s Supper together. We’ll be in two different rooms in the same building—perhaps not all that different from how it would have happened in the early church—but we’ll be together, at the same time, and I can’t wait.

It might be helpful to review some of what we learned about the Lord’s Supper back in May. Below is a link to that message—called “Do This in Remembrance of Me”—which you can read, listen to, or watch.

Below you can also listen to Andrew Peterson’s excellent song “Remember and Proclaim.” It’s a song that captures perfectly the fact that communion is something we should celebrate; it shouldn’t feel like a funeral.

I am so looking forward to remembering and proclaiming with you on Sunday!

We heard on Sunday that Christians aren’t afraid of beauty. God is the creator of beauty, and the Bible teaches us to recognize and celebrate it. Furthermore, it teaches us that true beauty is an inner quality, reflective of God’s character, of which outer beauty should be a signpost (1 Peter 3:4, Proverbs 11:22, 31:30, 1 Samuel 25:3).

The sin that Solomon warned against in Proverbs 6:25 is the sin of coveting beauty, of wanting it for ourselves. The following prayer, from Douglas McKelvey’s “Every Moment Holy,” is written to help us guide our hearts away from coveting beauty, and towards celebrating beauty in a way that honours its Creator.

Lord, I praise you for divine beauty
Reflected in the form of this person.
Now train my heart so that my response
To their beauty would not be twisted
Downward into envy or desire,
But would instead be directed upward
In worship of you, their Creator—
As was your intension for all such beauty
Before the breaking of the world.

Douglas Kaine Mckelvey, Every Moment Holy. Nashville, TN: Rabbit Room Press, 2017. Page 248.