The hunger for freedom from oppression will drive people to rise in revolt against their oppressors. That has been the history of humanity over the centuries. We know that the Jewish people revolted militarily from Rome not once but twice. It was during the second revolt in 132-135 A. D., the Roman Emperor, Hadrian killed 580,000 Jews, destroyed 985 villages, forbid the Jewish people to enter the city of Jerusalem, what was left of it, and scattered many of the remnants of Jews people to other parts of the empire. It was under Hadrian that the land was renamed Palestine.

In contrast to this political and military uprising, Church historian Philip Schaff (January 1, 1819 – October 20, 1893) relates the impact that Jesus and his message had over human history in his book, The Person of Christ. He writes: “And yet this Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon; without science and learning, he shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of schools, he spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of any orator or poet; without writing a single line, he set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and sweet songs of praise, than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times.”

What an amazing contrast between the human approach to life’s problems and God’s approach in addressing the great injustices of life. While the zealots in Jesus’ day murdered and revolted against Rome, ultimately destroying themselves in the process, Jesus’ message of love and forgiveness prevailed over that very Empire. The kingdom that Jesus ushered into our world still captures the human heart today.

In James 3, we discover the difference between a wisdom that originates from God and a wisdom that defies God, whose origin is demonic and destructive. It is a wisdom that alienates human relationships, while Jesus’ message transforms them. James concludes chapter 3, which began with a challenge regarding our words, now focuses on the core issue of their origin, within the human heart. What is the condition of our heart? The state of our soul is affected by either wisdom that comes from above or wisdom that originates from below as we evaluate the nature of the two sources of wisdom that shape our hearts and affect our speech, which in turn brings either peace and harmony or conflict and strife. We are going to examine how wisdom affects the condition of our hearts.