In This Is Love (part 8)

The analogous relationship between Jesus and Solomon is straightforward, but at the same time, requires a bit of thoughtful application.  As son of God, Solomon was a king, and this is true for Jesus as well.  Certainly, the promises of the Davidic covenant, while applicable to Solomon, can almost all be seen through to Jesus.  Because the son of God was purposed to serve, like Israel, as a light to the nations, and as a destroyer of the works of the devil (in its most basic manifestation of idolatry, from which so much evil springs), one of the interesting ways to make a comparison between Solomon and Jesus through the lens of Israel’s and the Scripture’s understanding and presentation of the son of God (which, as always, must be the basis for any and all right understanding), is to be found in the first book of the Kings.  We read that “People from all nations came to hear Solomon’s display of wisdom; they came from all the kings of the earth who heard about his wisdom” (1 Kings 4:34).  It is said that “Solomon was wiser than all the men of the east and all the sages of Egypt” (4:30), while going on to list four prominent wise men of his day.  In relation to Jesus, we need merely consider the crowds that flocked to Him.  In Solomonic tradition, these crowds were composed of Jesus’ fellow countrymen, as well as Gentiles from within the borders of Israel and the surrounding nations.  As was said of Jesus, and which could also be fittingly said of Solomon, “No one ever spoke like this man!” (John 7:46)    

Presumably, those that heard did more than hear, but also acted upon what it was that they heard, as we can imagine that Solomon was not shy about sharing the source of the wisdom that caused kings to come before him.  Not only does this fit snugly into the son of God tradition, as Israel’s king becomes a light to the nations through his impressive displays of wisdom and understanding, but it also shares a continuity with the New Testament’s most often referenced portion of Hebrew Scriptures, that being the second Psalm.  There we find the Psalmist speaking in regards to the son of God, giving direction in accordance with His role, and saying, “So now, you kings, do what is wise; you rulers of the earth, submit to correction” (2:10).  Is this not, in a sense, what was occurring at the proverbial feet of Solomon?  More to the point, is this not what is being communicated when the Apostle Paul, as he reports the early church’s comprehension of Jesus, writes that “at the name of Jesus every knee will bow…” (Philippians 2:10a)? 

Yes, Solomon has great wisdom and great discernment and breadth of understanding (1 Kings 4:29); and certainly we can say this about Jesus, thereby linking the two in that manner as well.  More importantly though, it is interesting to note what is said about the breadth of Solomon’s understanding, in that it “was as infinite as the sand on the seashore” (4:29b).  This, of course, is an overt reference to the Abrahamic covenant, and serves as an indicator that we need to see God fulfilling some measure of His promise to Abraham in Solomon, to whom God refers as His son.  Furthermore, Solomon’s sharing of this wisdom with the people of all nations would have made him an exemplifier of divine blessing, thereby more solidly grounding him within the always important Abrahamic tradition.  The New Testament authors, to a man, see Jesus, together with His church, as the complete fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant, which once again forces us to reflect on such tremendous love. 

As we can see, Jesus’ identification as the Son of God has to, of necessity, take place on multiple levels and in multiple contexts.  It cannot be understood apart from Israel’s history.  Indeed, this means that the whole of Christian teaching must be grounded within this same history in order for it to carry any meaning whatsoever.  Divorcing the words and thoughts about Jesus from their historical context will inevitably lead to bad theology, Christology, soteriology, ecclesiology, and more.  Indeed, if we do not take the history and theology of Israel with all seriousness, then most of our words and thoughts and attempted deductions concerning Jesus will be little more than exercises in missing the point.  Though “no one every spoke like this man,” had His teaching, along with the things said about Him by His disciples after His departure been incredibly unique, it could have gained momentary notoriety, but eventually all of it would have been dismissed in much the same way the church would dismiss the Gnostics texts that sprang up as exhibitions of that very type of historical disconnectedness.  Unfortunately, much of what is said about Jesus, when it is not rooted in a sober treatment of the multiple points of His context, ends up looking and sounding like little more than the heretical Gnosticism that a church with a firm grasp of history and its deeply Jewish roots effectively pushed to the side.