jim henson

John draws an obvious parallel in this weekend's Gospel between Jesus and Wisdom from Ecclesiasticus.

In the first reading, the Old Testament writer tells us that  Wisdom speaks her own praises, in the midst of her people, she glorifies in herself.

God told Wisdom to pitch your tent in Jacob, make Israel your inheritance and Wisdom says that in the beginning He created me, for eternity, I shall remain.

At the start of his Gospel, John tells us

In the beginning was the Word:
and the Word was with God
and the Word was God.


The Word was made flesh,
and pitched his tent among us,
and we saw his glory.

Ecclesiasticus, by the way, is one of the so-called "apocryphal" books of the Bible, that were removed by Protestant groups after the Reformation because they include such teachings as praying for deceased persons.  It is also objected to because they believe that Jesus and the disciples do not quote from those books, but as we have seen, that is obviously false.

Ecclesiasticus is also called Sirach or The Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach, or The Wisdom of Sirach,
not to be confused with either Ecclesiastes or The Book of Wisdom.

If you have a Catholic Bible, peruse Ecclesiasticus and partake of its wisdom.

The illustration, above, is a portion of Ecclesiasticus in Hebrew.