God's saving wisdom

This week’s Bible Lesson, titled “Mind,” is full of inspiring examples of God’s wisdom succeeding where human wisdom fails. They are the fruits of obeying the command in the Golden Text, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5, 6 ).

By turning to God in prayer, Joseph successfully interpreted Pharaoh’s dream when Pharaoh’s magicians and sages failed to do so (see Genesis 41 , citation 6, Section 2). Joseph became a vehicle for God’s saving wisdom not only for the Egyptians, but also for the children of Israel during seven years of famine as a result of what God revealed to him. 

In Section 3, we read Paul’s teaching to Greek converts at Corinth, who were previously influenced by the Greek culture’s emphasis on human intellect and philosophy (see I Corinthians 1:19, 20 , cit. 9). They had been grumbling against Paul’s teaching on the importance of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection for Christian salvation, calling it foolishness. Paul told them that they were wrong. He told them that worldly wisdom was foolishness, while true wisdom could only be found in God through Christ (see I Corinthians 2:12, 13, 16 , cit. 10). 

Mary Baker Eddy understood this as well. Her sixth tenet of Christian Science begins with the words, “And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; …” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 497 , cit. 15). Eddy saw that “Spirit imparts the understanding which uplifts consciousness and leads into all truth” (Science and Health, p. 505 , cit. 29). Careful to make a distinction between the human intellect and spiritual understanding, she continued, “Spiritual sense is the discernment of spiritual good. …

“This understanding is not intellectual, is not the result of scholarly attainments; it is the reality of all things brought to light.”

Jesus’ parable of the good Samaritan given in response to the question of a self-justifying lawyer (Section 5) is another example of the wisdom of God. This story is a rebuke of legalistic and harsh interpretation of God’s law or Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament), and replaces it with a higher interpretation based on the fundamentally loving nature of God at the core of those laws (see Luke 10:25–37 , cit. 16).

This Lesson also shows the wisdom of God in Jesus’ healing of the demoniac in the country of the Gadarenes (see Luke 8:26–35 , cit. 12, Section 4). The man was living in tombs, built into the rocks at the foot of mountains (8-feet square with a low 5-foot ceiling and small narrow passageway), with floor plans similar to the floor plan of a typical Israelite four-roomed house. The ancient Israelites saw them as houses for the dead. 

The corresponding citations in Science and Health help us understand how Jesus healed the man. For example, we learn that “Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God’s own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick” (pp. 476–477 , cit. 20).

All these biblical examples reassure us that when we seek God’s wisdom and guidance we, too, are able to find healing and deliverance.