Second Sunday before Lent John 1:1-14 Proverbs 8:1, 22-31

The book of Proverbs begins with the following: ‘The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: For learning about wisdom and instruction, for understanding words of insight, for gaining instruction in wise dealing, righteousness, justice and equity; to teach shrewdness to the simple, knowledge and prudence to the young – let the wise also hear and gain in learning, and the discerning acquire skill, to understand a proverb and a figure, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. Hear, my child, your father’s instruction, and do not reject your mother’s teaching.’ (Proverbs 1:1-8). The purpose of the book is to offer insights for learning to cope with life, based on the teachings of the elders and experience. The basic wisdom theme as mentioned in verse 7, is reverence toward God as the prerequisite to knowledge. It is addressed to the young, the simple and the wise. For even those who have already gained wisdom can do with a little more. It is interesting to note that although the opening of the book has Solomon’s name to it, the authorship of the whole of Proverbs is probably multiple, part of it credited for example to ‘the officials of King Hezekiah of Judah’, or attributed to King Lemuel’s mother. Be that as it may, the wisdom of the sayings comes through and invites the reader to reflection, ethical concern and piety. When we come to chapter 8, and the verses for today’s reading, we are reminded of the call of wisdom; wisdom personified as a woman who offers life. In verses 22 to 31, wisdom is proclaimed as being the first of God’s creation at the beginning of his work, and it is stated that wisdom was beside God when he ‘marked out the foundations of the earth’ and made everything that was made.

If the book of Proverbs is calling us to gain wisdom, to hear her voice and take her instruction, John’s Gospel calls for faith in Jesus as the incarnate Word, as in the Prologue: ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.’ In just a few sentences, John proclaims and presents Jesus as the one who was instrumental in creation and that he is light and life. Those opening words of John chapter one bring us back to Genesis one, and the story of creation. When God created the heavens and the earth, God spoke and it came to be. God’s power was revealed in his words that brought the material world into existence. We could perhaps say that wisdom went with his words and that Jesus was the Word, as God’s mediator of creation. And if God created the world ‘in the beginning’, now he re-creates it through Jesus. The Word that was in the beginning with God is now here in physical human form, to recreate the world that has gone wrong and to redeem it, to bring it back to God. In the accounts of Jesus’ work that follow, we see God’s power in the miracles that Jesus performed, sometimes by touching, but often through speaking for healing and forgiveness. We have the saying that ‘sticks and stones may hurt my bones but words can never hurt me’. Not really true but as a defence it may sometimes work. I would say the opposite, though, in the context of God’s spoken word and the living Word, Jesus: that God’s word is so powerful that it can heal and mend, and change outcomes and offer hope and a future. God’s word – both with lower case and upper case ‘w’ – is literally life-giving. What is more, it is complete, as Jesus said while on the cross: ‘It is finished’ (John 19:30). God’s word and God’s wisdom, together they have accomplished the eternal purpose of God. God’s living Word – in his love – has done it. Amen.