What would Jesus do
on the heels of crossing the Jordan and His forty wilderness days? Mark reports
that “Jesus went into Galilee and proclaimed the Gospel of God. He said,
‘The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe
the Gospel!’” (1:14b) Jesus embarked upon His kingdom establishing
mission, doing so as Israel had done, though it would take on a different
appearance.
In the book of
Joshua, Rahab informs the reader that the inhabitants of the land---presented
as the defiling usurpers in Israel’s promised territory (much like death was a
defiling usurper in the Creator’s good creation)---feared Israel greatly,
knowing that they had already destroyed great kings and gained decisive
victories over other peoples during their post-Egypt wilderness sojourn.
To this reported of Rahab can be equated the fearfulness expressed by the
unclean spirits with which Jesus is said to have dealt, who would cry out with
words such as “Leave us alone, Jesus the Nazarene! Have you come to
destroy us?” (Mark 1:24a) Like it had also been said of Israel (son of
God), Jesus (Son of God) is even referred to by these demons as “the Holy One
of God” (1:24b).
To accomplish the purpose
of His mission, Jesus first went to Galilee? Why? Because just like
Israel, who was to be a son of God that would shine as a light of the Creator God’s
glory to the world, Jesus was a Son that understood that He was tasked with
doing the same. If He was indeed the Messiah, and according to His own
messianic interpretation, He had to fulfill the messianic role as understood
through the words of the prophets. Matthew assists in informing the
answer as to why Jesus would do this, quoting from Isaiah from a
post-Resurrection-and-Jesus-mission-comprehension-position and saying “Galilee
of the Gentiles---the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light,
and on those who sit in the region of the shadow of death a light has dawned”
(Matthew 4:15b-16, Isaiah 9:1-2).
Moving along, it can
be seen that 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 comes to be
understood to be 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.
There it is reported
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 helpfully going on to list four
prominent wise men of his day. Relating this then to Jesus, one need
merely consider the crowds that were said to have routinely flocked to Him and
followed Him, presumably because of His displays of wisdom (among other things).
In Solomonic tradition, these crowds were composed of Jesus’ fellow
countrymen, and would also include Gentiles from within the borders of Israel
and the surrounding nations. As was said of Jesus, which could also be
fittingly said of Solomon, “No one ever spoke like this man!” (John 7:46)
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