Matthew 12:42: The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
As I mentioned in the sermon, 1 Kings illustrates the international reach of Solomon’s kingdom by recording the visit of the Queen of Sheba. She came with tribute and gifts, and also with a good deal of skepticism. But Solomon’s kingdom was that rare thing that was better than the reports.
What particularly took Sheba’s breath away was the order and richness and beauty of Solomon’s court, and particularly of Solomon’s table:
“ when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, 5 the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers, and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the LORD, there was no more spirit in her (1 Kings 10:4-5) .
Solomon’s house was modeled on the house of Yahweh, and his table was modeled on Yahweh’s table. His servants were like the priests, and his food was like the food of the sacrificial offerings. This was the greatest display of Solomon’s wisdom: His table embodied that wisdom.
Think of the organizational effort it takes to put on a daily banquet for hundreds of people, to coordinate dozens of servants; to gather all the food and get it all prepared and served. It’s an organizational miracle, and the beauty and elegance of the table so display Solomon’s wisdom that Sheba is left without spirit.
But Jesus says something greater than Solomon is here. That means that Jesus has greater wisdom than the wisdom of Solomon. He not only has wisdom from Yahweh, but is Himself, eternally and necessarily, the Wisdom of Yahweh. He is the incarnation of Yahweh’s Wisdom.
But His wisdom, like Solomon’s, is displayed supremely at this table. Solomon entertained hundreds at His table every day; Jesus coordinates a regular banquet for two billion Christians. Solomon had hundreds of servants; but Jesus oversees millions of ministers who preside at His table. Solomon’s table was an earthly table; by the Spirit, we are caught up to heaven to Jesus’ heavenly banquet. People came from throughout the Middle East to dine with Solomon; but Jesus has gathered a people from every corner of the globe, from every point of the compass.
This is the table of Jesus, the greater Solomon. This is the table of Incarnate Wisdom. Come to it with the faith of Sheba, and let it take your breath away.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
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