Christian Philosophy: How Christ Fulfills Proverbs 10:1

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As we covered earlier on this blog, Christ is the Wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24) and Proverbs is written "to know wisdom" (Proverbs 1:1-2). Since Proverbs is then written so that we may know Christ, who is Wisdom, Christian philosophy, the distinctly Christian love of wisdom, is based much off of this Biblical Book. We covered Proverbs 22:29 earlier [1], albeit not for this Christian philosophy series, and now we're going to try a different text in Proverbs: Proverbs 10:1.

The text begins by saying that the following proverbs are proverbs of Solomon. Next comes a proverb: "A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother” (KJV). Given the aforementioned facts about seeing Christ in the Book of Proverbs, what can we take away from this verse? We know this verse, somehow, is about Christ. It says that a wise son makes his father happy, but a foolish son is heaviness for his mother. Isn't it obvious how the first clause pictures Christ: Christ is the Wise Son who makes His Father glad. [2] We learn that Christ always, without exception (Hebrews 4:15), did those things that pleased God the Father (John 8:29). Indeed, God the Father Himself declared from Heaven that Christ is His beloved Son, in whom He is well-pleased (Matthew 3:17). What is it to say that Christ pleased the Father other than that He made His Father glad? And we know that the antithesis of Christ is the foolish son, who is heaviness for his mother. While Christ, in His Divine Nature, has no mother, it may be stated, in a positive way, that He, being a Wise Son, made His Father glad. It may also be stated, negatively, that, not being a foolish son, He is not heaviness for His Father. However, what is it about Christ that pleased His Father, according to Proverbs 10:1? In this text, it is clearly said that it is the wise son who makes his father joyful. So, in this passage, it is Christ's wisdom that pleases His Father. But that raises the question: what is Christ's wisdom? That question brings us back to John 8:29, which says that Jesus always did the things that pleased the Father. In other words, Christ's wisdom is doing what His Father tells Him to do, or His obedience. This reminds us of Matthew 7:24-27, where the Lord tells us the wise man is the one who hears what He says and does it, whereas the foolish man is the one who hears His Word and doesn't do it (and this fact helps us define the "foolish son," who, again, is the opposite of Christ).

Christian, by faith, meditate on your Lord, who is Wisdom itself, so that you may become a wise son, and thereby make your Father glad!

[1] To see the post on Proverbs 22:29, click here: https://www.awriterforchrist.com/post/how-christ-fulfills-proverbs-22-29

[2] The insight of Christ as the Wise Son, if I remember correctly, is one of Voddie Baucham's in his series on Proverbs. Since I don't know what specific sermon (or sermons) he said it in, I'll link to his Proverbs sermons here: https://www.sermonaudio.com/search.asp?subsetitem=Proverbs&subsetcat=bible&keyword=Voddie%5FBaucham&keywordDesc=Voddie+Baucham&SpeakerOnly=true&includekeywords=&ExactVerse=