Matthew 11: Jesus as Sophia’s Messenger
Sermon Notes Pentecost 5th July Matthew 11 by Desiree Snyman
An analogy
Imagine three people baking the same cake. The first glances at the recipe, decides they know better, ignores the instructions, and then wonders why the cake collapses. Applying this analogy to how some live their lives, the Bible often calls this person a fool, not because they lack intelligence, but because they refuse to be taught.
The second person carefully follows the recipe. They measure accurately, mix patiently, and produce a very good cake. This is knowledge and skill faithfully applied.
Then there is the master baker. She knows the recipe by heart, but she also knows when to depart from it. She notices the humidity in the air, the quality of the flour, the temperature of the butter. She instinctively knows when the mixture needs another minute, a little more liquid, or a gentler hand. She cannot fully explain how she knows; years of experience, intuition and love have become one. The result is something extraordinary. It is not merely a technically correct cake, but something beautiful, generous and unforgettable. What do we call that quality? It is more than knowledge. More than intelligence. More than following instructions. The Bible calls it wisdom.
Wisdom is the art of living well. It is knowledge transformed by experience, humility, compassion and love. Just as a master baker takes ordinary ingredients and creates something extraordinary, a wise person takes the ordinary ingredients of life; relationships, joys, disappointments, failures, hopes, and fashions them into a life of beauty, not perfection but the art of living well. It is this kind of wisdom that Matthew invites us to discover today.
What Is Wisdom?
For the ancient Semitic people wisdom was an invisible force at work a pattern to the universe. Although invisible, wisdom was a power as real as gravity. Wisdom is skill and knowledge and more than skill. That mastery of wisdom was personified as a woman.
In English we refer to Lady Wisdom. In Greek wisdom is Sophia. In Aramaic and Hebrew wisdom is Chochmah, pronounced hokkmah, where the k is guttural. The Aramaic/Hebrew word for bread is lachmah. Lachmah and Chochmah are closely related. In the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us our daily bread, lachmah” is often also heard as give as “Give us our daily wisdom or chochmah”. So, who is Sophia, or Woman Wisdom?
In Jewish wisdom literature, wisdom is portrayed as Woman Wisdom and appears throughout Proverbs, Job, Sirach, Wisdom of Solomon, and other wisdom books as God’s companion in creation. Woman Wisdom is described as a teacher, and a source of understanding, compassion, and authentic life. In Wisdom 7.22-29, Woman Wisdom is people loving, intelligent, holy, free moving. She collaborates with God and is responsible for creation:
26 For she is a reflection of eternal light,
a spotless mirror of the working of God,
and an image of God’s goodness.
27 Although she is but one, she can do all things,
and while remaining in herself, she renews all things;
in every generation she passes into holy souls
and makes them friends of God, and prophets;
According to Proverbs 8, Woman Wisdom stands out in the streets and invites the people to come and play, to tell jokes and to laugh at our mistakes: “Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice?”
Woman Wisdom is powerfully intelligent but also artistic and practical. She has built her own home. The wooden beams holding up the roof were crafted by her. On a regular basis she opens up her home to the most vulnerable. She walks through the markets handing out party invitations calling people to feast at her home. She prepares a feast for them with bread she has made herself and roast lamb from her small farm. People eat the best food at a table that she herself has made. After the meal she invites everyone to dance and even the most reluctant dancers with two left feet cannot help themselves and join in the ecstasy and joy of dancing the night away. She is warm and funny and sometimes plays tricks on people. She is also boldly outspoken; she points to the corruption of greedy businessmen and con artists exploiting the most vulnerable. Her home is a safe haven for those who need to recover from life’s worst stresses. She is a counsellor, a spiritual director, a community leader, a wealthy business leader, mentoring and advising politicians who serve the common good.
Matthew 11 is Woman Wisdom
Every feature of Matthew 11 can be traced back to the Jewish wisdom literature. The development we see in Matthew is that Jesus is now characterised as Wisdom. Just as Woman Wisdom received everything from God, so Jesus receives everything from God. Just as Woman Wisdom gives understanding as a gift, so too does Jesus reveal wisdom. Woman Wisdom is people loving (Wisd. 1.6) so too is Jesus. Just as Woman Wisdom calls people to play so too does Jesus. In the same way that Woman Wisdom condemns corruption, so too does Jesus.
“Come to me and rest” is a beautiful invitation from Woman Wisdom herself repeated by Jesus in 11.28. Ecclesiasticus, or Sirach 51.59, was written by a scribe in about 125 BCE:
Draw near to me, you who are uneducated,
and lodge in the house of instruction…
See with your own eyes that I have laboured but little
and found for myself much serenity.
As Woman Wisdom’s prophet and messenger Jesus calls out to all who tired and weary and promises them rest and restoration. As Wisdom’s messenger, Jesus offers rest to those burdened by religious legalism. He criticises the scribes and Pharisees for turning God’s law—intended as a gift that leads to freedom and flourishing—into an oppressive system of rules. Rather than liberating people, religion had become a heavy burden, especially for the vulnerable. Jesus was ultimately crucified not by irreligion, but by those who used law and religion to maintain power.
What does it mean for us?
The Wisdom scriptures describe that Holy Wisdom gathers a healthy sense of self within us, as one would gather various voices together for a dinner party. When the various voices within us respond to the call of Wisdom and we feel her embrace, a healthy ‘I am’ is born.
Most of us know what it’s like to feel torn by competing inner voices. One part of us wants to confront someone, while another prefers to avoid conflict. One part is eager to exercise, while another longs to stay in bed. One part offers kindness and understanding toward ourselves, while another responds with harsh self-criticism. Some researchers suggest that these competing inner voices of which there are many can be broadly divided into three categories.
· Managers: Protective parts or voices that keep life organized and controlled to prevent painful emotions from surfacing. They often show up as perfectionism, criticism, overthinking, vigilance, or emotional detachment.
· Firefighters: Protective parts that react when pain breaks through, using immediate, often extreme strategies (such as impulsive or addictive behaviours) to numb or escape emotional distress.
· Exiles: Vulnerable parts that hold unresolved trauma, fear, shame, or grief. They long to be seen, loved, and healed, but are kept out of awareness by Managers and Firefighters to protect the system.
At Wisdom’s Table, every part of us is welcomed, every voice is heard with compassion and curiosity. The Managers who have worked so hard to keep us safe can finally lay down their vigilance. The Firefighters who have spent a lifetime trying to extinguish unbearable pain no longer need to keep running. The Exiles, who have carried grief, shame, fear and loneliness in silence, can step out of hiding and discover that they are not rejected but embraced.
Integrating all the inner voices or parts within us is not simply an individual journey. Trauma is also carried between generations, within families, communities and cultures. Aboriginal wisdom reminds us that healing is found through deep listening, through belonging, through restored relationship with one another, with Country, and with the Sacred. Nothing is left outside the circle.
Perhaps this is what Jesus means when he says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." It is not an invitation to escape ourselves, but to bring our whole selves. Every voice. Every wound. Every fear. Every hope.
To come to Jesus, the embodiment of Holy Wisdom, is to discover that there is a place where nothing in us needs to be hidden, defended or silenced. At Wisdom's Table the different parts of us are gathered into the larger "I Am" of God, where our fragmented selves are gently held together in love. There we discover that rest is not the absence of struggle but the presence of belonging.
"Come to me and rest" is, finally, an invitation to come home. The fool fragments life. Knowledge orders life. Wisdom integrates life. Jesus embodies Wisdom and gathers fragmented people into wholeness.