In Luke 11:49, the Lord speaks about the “wisdom of God.” This wisdom has “…said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles…’ ” This is an unusual expression, and the identification of this wisdom has been somewhat debated.
Some have said that the “wisdom of God” here is Jesus Christ. That is always a safe answer in theological discussions! If something is good, we can identify it with Christ.
There is some support for that view. In 1 Cor 1:24, Paul calls Jesus the “wisdom of God.” He is certainly the embodiment of perfect wisdom. I have often heard that when the book of Proverbs speaks of wisdom calling out in the street (Prov 1:20), this points to Jesus Christ.
In some Evangelical churches, the “wisdom of God” in Luke 11:49 will be seen as the gospel of eternal life. The unbeliever would be wise to believe. This view comes from the tendency of many to see salvation from the lake of fire on every page of the NT.
I would like to suggest another meaning for the “wisdom of God” in Luke 11. It is not as popular as other suggestions, but I feel pretty confident that it is what the Lord meant. Jesus is talking to the nation of Israel—specifically the generation of His day (notice “this generation” in vv 50, 51). He tells them that God had sent prophets to their ancestors, but their ancestors killed those prophets (v 47).
The Lord had sent prophets and apostles to Jesus’ generation. He had sent John the Baptist. The Lord, the greatest Prophet of them all, had come to them. The apostles would go to them. That generation would do what their fathers had done. They would kill and persecute the ones sent to them.
And what did these messengers say to that generation? They offered the nation of Israel the kingdom of God. The kingdom would have come if the nation had believed in Jesus and repented of their sins.
The OT prophets, sent to their ancestors, also told the nation to repent. If they repented, God would bless them. If they did not, God would judge them. Their ancestors did not like the message these prophets preached, so they killed them. Their ancestors were judged by God and taken into captivity.
The generation of Jesus’ day would suffer the same thing. It would not be blessed with the coming of the kingdom. Another generation of Jews will receive that blessing. The generation of Jesus’ day was, instead, judged. The Romans destroyed the city and the temple in AD 70.
What is the wisdom of God? God blesses His people when they obey. Sin brings judgment. That is what the prophets told the people in the OT. That is what Jesus and John told the nation of Israel in their day.
Wisdom in the book of Proverbs is not a type of Christ. Instead, it cries out in the street with the same message regarding obedience and judgment. How we live can result in either blessings or curses. Christ, John, and the apostles presented this wisdom to the Jews of their day.
Even though Jesus was referring to that generation, there is a lesson for believers today. We are saved from the lake of fire by grace through faith. How we live does not impact that in any way. However, how we live is important. We have the wisdom of God in the words of the Scriptures. That wisdom says that we will be blessed in this life and rewarded in the world to come if we listen and obey. We will experience significant loss if we do not. That is the wisdom of God.
