28 March

Jesus is saying it is almost impossible to avoid criticism. As Aristotle said, ‘The only way to avoid criticism is to do nothing, say nothing and be nothing.’ Whatever you do, some people will find fault, but Jesus was not put off by criticism. He says, ‘But wisdom is proved right by all her children’ (v.35). Perhaps he means that, in the end, wisdom (and Jesus’ actions) will be proved by the results, or as we would say, ‘the proof of the pudding is in the eating’ (v.35, MSG). Jesus and John the Baptist were very different but they were both ‘wisdom’s children’.

‘No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll always be there to help you come through it’ (1 Corinthians 10:13, MSG).