Wisdom of the whole
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.
Proverbs sings the virtues of a wife of ancient times who understood the wisdom from above. The psalmist sings of those who follow heavenly wisdom,
“Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.”
Like the virtuous wife, James challenges those who think themselves wise to show it with their lives. It is by following earthly wisdom and the lusts of the flesh that we find strife and conflict.
Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.
The psalmist sings with the suffering messiah. “For the insolent have risen against me, the ruthless seek my life; they do not set God before them. Selah” Jeremiah identifies with the fate of Christ, “… I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. And I did not know it was against me that they devised schemes, saying, "Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will no longer be remembered!"”
Jesus again predicts his suffering and in response we hear another argument of who will be greatest. Jesus is giving the example again and again. He will die, his whole body given, even for those who are nailing it to the cross. “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all”
