In Colossians 2:3, Paul makes the claim that “in [Christ] are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” This is a staggering claim.
Jesus as astonishing
In studying the intellectual life of Jesus for my book Logic and the Way of Jesus: Thinking Critically and Christianly, I was struck by how many times Jesus’s audiences were astonished, amazed, or otherwise astounded by him. In a variety of stories, the following is a familiar refrain:
When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at his teaching (Matt. 7:28)
On one hand, this might seem unsurprising. Of course people are astounded by a guy healing folks, casting out demons, multiplying fishes and loaves, and walking on water. These events of course merit astonishment, but this is not the only or even the primary thing about which people were most commonly astonished. People were constantly amazed by Jesus’s teaching and the ideas that he defended. It was minds’ blown, ah-ha moments, and downright shock and awe at what Jesus claimed.
Part of this is of course due to the fact that this was the small-town carpenter’s son who lacked a formal rabbinic training. What’s more, he didn’t appeal to any rabbinic tradition when he taught. He said “truly I tell you”, which for a Jewish culture should make him immediately dismissible. But they didn’t dismiss. In fact, they followed him wherever he went.
Why? What about his teaching caused people to follow him?
The brilliance of Jesus
I think there’s a lot here, but I’d like to suggest that one aspect, perhaps a primary aspect, of this is the sheer brilliance of Jesus. He was very often and quite literally unassailable in the positions he defended. He put on an astonishing display of intellectual virtue.
We often fail to see Jesus in this way. He’s often much tamer than this and we therefore don’t involve him in our intellectual pursuits. However, the Bible presents Jesus as the preeminent intellectual of humanity and the very embodiment of wisdom. As Dallas Willard was known to say, “Jesus is the most intelligent person who ever lived on earth.” Indeed, in Christ “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3).
Just as Jesus is, for most of us, our moral exemplar, he should be our intellectual exemplar as well. But how do we do this? What does this look like?
Jesus as critical thinker
I have a suggestion. To see it, I want to look at something of a snapshot of Jesus’s early life that may shed some light on what it looks likes to follow Jesus in this way. The Bible makes clear that Jesus actually grew in wisdom. Let that sink in for a minute. And yeah, I don’t get that either, if I’m honest…at least, not entirely! How is it that divinely omniscient Son of God grew in wisdom? Well, here’s my best stab at it: it’s best to see wisdom as skilled and virtuous thinking. As Jesus grew, he, in his humanity, had to learn and develop the skills of an embodied existence. Just as Jesus became more skilled at, say, walking, talking and carpentry, he became more skilled at thinking, as he grew.
In Luke 2, Luke tells us twice that Jesus grew in wisdom.
Now the Child continued to grow and to become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the favor of God was upon Him. (40)
And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and people. (52)
Sandwiched between these passages we have a one-of-a-kind account that seems intended to elucidate what it means for Jesus to grow in wisdom. We get a story about 12-year-old Jesus.
The story is familiar. Jesus’s family is in Jerusalem for the Passover feast and, on their return to Nazareth, they realize 12-year-old Jesus is not with them. While this is not atypical 12-year-old behavior, where he is found and what he is found doing is quite extraordinary.
And when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, looking for Him. Then, after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers. (45-47)
There are a few things to notice.
First, these are the elite Jewish teachers and they are amazed at 12-year-old Jesus. These are the same ones that would later call for his execution. These are also the same ones that Jesus himself condemned as, in effect, false teachers. And yet here he is sitting in among them listening and asking questions.
Second, 12-year-old Jesus has a certain posture. He is a learner. He is, in a way, a truth seeker. He’s not merely accepting what they say, but he is listening and asking questions. This is a posture of a critical thinker.
The posture of a learner
So in making Jesus our intellectual exemplar, we should very often and regularly take the posture of a learner. We need to spend time listening and asking questions of those with whom we sit.
There are many with whom we should sit, listen to and ask questions. And, at times, this should include those of differing views. We can learn a lot from these sorts of conversations (notice I didn’t say debates!).
But most importantly and most fundamentally we must apprentice under the Lord Jesus Christ and be taught by him. I think we too need to sit with him, we listen and ask him questions. He is brilliant. He is the embodiment of wisdom. “For, in him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” We need our souls refreshed and our minds renewed by regularly sitting with Jesus as our teacher.