Christ as Sophia

In 1 Corinthians 1:24 we read these words: “...Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” The word for “Wisdom” in Greek is σοφία (Sophia) - a common woman’s name then and now.

Many scholars think that the beginning of the Gospel of John is another reference to Jesus as Wisdom. Note a couple of parallels:

• Both Wisdom and Jesus were both with God at the beginning of time

  I was formed long ages ago, at the very beginning, when the world came to be. - Proverbs 8:1
  In the beginning was the Word... - John 1:1

• Both Wisdom and Jesus were involved with God in creation
  I was there when he set the heavens in place - Proverbs 8:27
  He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made - John 1:2

Wisdom was consistently a female figure in the Old Testament, and now in the new we see this same feminine image being used for Jesus Christ. This gives many people a certain freedom to approach Jesus in ways different than they were taught growing up, including even using female pronouns or other female images for Jesus. This doesn’t need to be the case for you, but it could be. What might the Spirit be saying to you in these insights today?