Wisdom 5:1-16: a reflection

1Then the righteous man will stand in great boldness before the face of those who afflicted him, and those who make his labors of no account. 2When they see him, they will be troubled with terrible fear, and will be amazed at the marvel of salvation. 3They will speak among themselves repenting, and for distress of spirit they will groan, “This was he whom we used to hold in derision, as a parable of reproach. 4We fools considered his life madness, and his end without honor. 5How was he counted among sons of God? How is his lot among saints? 6Truly we went astray from the way of truth. The light of righteousness didn’t shine for us. The sun didn’t rise for us. 7We took our fill of the paths of lawlessness and destruction. We traveled through trackless deserts, but we didn’t know the Lord’s way. 8What did our arrogance profit us? What good have riches and boasting brought us? 9Those things all passed away as a shadow, like a rumor that runs by, 10like a ship passing through the billowy water, which, when it has gone by, there is no trace to be found, no pathway of its keel in the waves. 11Or it is like when a bird flies through the air, no evidence of its passage is found, but the light wind, lashed with the stroke of its pinions, and torn apart with the violent rush of the moving wings, is passed through. Afterwards no sign of its coming remains. 12Or it is like when an arrow is shot at a mark, the air it divided closes up again immediately, so that men don’t know where it passed through. 13So we also, as soon as we were born, ceased to be; and we had no sign of virtue to show, but we were utterly consumed in our wickedness.” 14Because the hope of the ungodly man is like chaff carried by the wind, and as foam vanishing before a tempest; and is scattered like smoke by the wind, and passes by as the remembrance of a guest who stays just a day. 15But the righteous live forever. Their reward is in the Lord, and the care for them with the Most High. 16Therefore they will receive the crown of royal dignity and the diadem of beauty from the Lord’s hand, because he will cover them with his right hand, and he will shield them with his arm.

The Wisdom of Solomon pictures a great reversal at the end. The righteous man, who was mocked and afflicted in life, will stand in confidence before those who oppressed him, and they will be seized with astonishment and dismay. They will say, repenting too late: This is the one we held in derision, whose life we thought was madness and whose death we counted disgrace. How is he now numbered among the sons of God? We went astray; we spent ourselves on lawlessness; and it all passed away like a shadow, like a ship's wake that leaves no trace.

Notice the two things this vision holds together. First, the vindication of the mocked righteous: those who were derided for their faith, whose devotion the world called foolish, will be seen, in the end, to have been right, honored by God, numbered among his own. And second, the utter transience of the wicked's triumph: their arrogance, their riches, their boasting, all of it passes without a trace, like a ship's wake closing behind it, like an arrow's path through the air that leaves no mark. What seemed like winning proves to be nothing.

That is a steadying perspective for anyone who is mocked or feels foolish for following God while others seem to prosper by ignoring him. The mockery is not the last word. In the end, the righteous are vindicated, numbered among the sons of God, and the boasting of the ungodly vanishes without a trace. Do not be moved by the world's derision of faith, or envious of the wicked's fleeting success. Live for what lasts. The mocked righteous are vindicated forever; the arrogant leave no trace.

Lord, you promise a great reversal: the righteous, mocked and afflicted, will be vindicated and numbered among your own, while the arrogance and riches of the wicked pass without a trace. When I am mocked or feel foolish for following you while others prosper by ignoring you, steady me with this. The derision is not the last word. Help me not to be moved by the world's scorn or envious of fleeting success, but to live for what lasts. Vindicate me in your time, and hold my hope.