God’s Wisdom: Homily for Sunday, July 5, 2026

God’s wisdom. This invitation of Jesus is a call to relationship, a call to come to know Jesus intimately. To know Jesus intimately by spending time with him in prayer, to read his word, the word of the Bible, to receive the sacraments. In confession, Jesus invites us to bring the burdens of our sins so that we can be reconciled with God and with others.

God’s Wisdom

In last week’s homily, I spoke of the promise of God as seeming to be too good to be true. Rather, too good not to be true. In the midst of a world filled with distress and trouble, the promise of God is something that allows us to hope for something eternal that is beyond our wildest dreams.

The first reading today is a case of just how much God can do. While we do not hear the eight verses that come before today’s first reading, where the Kingdom of Israel is promised restoration, they hear that the collapse of the Kingdom is over, and God’s promises something beyond anyone’s dreams.

But this is not a political solution. While the king does use royal privilege by riding a donkey, his entrance into the restored kingdom is anything but a triumphant military hero returning to his country. The triumph of this king is a king who is meek and riding on a colt.

As is often the case with much of the Old Testament, this reading from the prophet Zechariah foreshadows the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. And this reading offers many parallels to the gospel.

Just like the king, riding a donkey is a sign of royalty. But the king is humble, and so is Jesus. The divine Son of God is Jesus, is also both royal, but Jesus is also humble. The king in the first reading returns to a restored nation. Jesus offers a restoration of his kingdom, but does so much more.

The Kingdom of God does not just enable people to live well on this earth. In fact, when it comes to the Kingdom of God, the focus is entirely different.

In the world of politics, the king who returns in the first reading is one who is seeking to make things better here on earth. In the world of the Kingdom of God, the king who returns is seeking the eternal salvation of those on earth.

But the Kingdom of God is not about human wisdom. It is about God’s wisdom. And we receive this wisdom not by human effort, but by God’s free and gracious gift. The wisdom of God is so deep, the learned and the clever cannot access it through their own efforts.

The short answer is that God’s wisdom is not given to humans because they work hard. It is not given to humans because they put in a lot of effort. God’s wisdom is not achieved by reading a lot of books, spending a lot of time in the library, or hiring a sherpa to help us climb the highest mountain.

No, God’s wisdom is a free gift. And we all receive it at our baptism. It is placed in our hearts. The Old Testament tells us that God has written his law in our hearts. And in today’s Gospel, we see that Jesus, the second person of the Blessed Trinity, tells us that he is the revelation of God.

We know God because of God, because of Jesus, who is God. We know God not through any effort of ours, but through the effort of God. God’s wisdom is not far away. It is in our heart. It is in our soul. We know the wisdom of God because each one of us, every one of us, is loved by God.

This wisdom is not given to us because we deserve it. It is given to us because we are loved. We exist because of God’s love. And all we can do, the ways we can grow, are all because of this love of God. In fact, we can only love others because God has first loved us. This is the reason that Jesus invites us into relationship. “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart. And you will find rest for yourselves, for my yoke is easy and my burden light.”

Last week, we learned that God’s promise is beyond anything we could possibly imagine. God’s promise, couched in his love, is so powerful that we can love anyone. We can sacrifice for others. We can, in our lives, not only attempt to imitate Jesus, but we can serve Jesus in the very things we do for others.

This invitation of Jesus is a call to relationship, a call to come to know Jesus intimately. To know Jesus intimately by spending time with him in prayer, to read his word, the word of the Bible, to receive the sacraments. In confession, Jesus invites us to bring the burdens of our sins so that we can be reconciled with God and with others.

Jesus invites us to this church, to gather round this table, so that we can be truly fed by his body and blood. Burdens are lightened. Fatigue turned to rest. Our hearts and our souls are fed not by perishable food, but by the imperishable gift of Jesus himself.

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