Jesus didn’t behave.  The religious people couldn’t get Him to act the way a Savior was supposed to act – that is, how they thought a Savior should act!  They wanted to call the tune and make Him dance,  They wanted to be in control.  In His defense, Jesus said;

“… wisdom is proved right by her actions.” (Matthew 11:19b)

Translation: i know you don’t think I’m doing the right things, but you will discover the wisdom that guides Me when you see the results of what I do.  Doesn’t look right to you now, but you don’t know what I know.  Simply put, “Oh yeah? Watch this!”

Is your mechanic good?  Does your plumber know what he’s doing?  Has your doctor read the test results correctly?  All these questions are ultimately answered by the results of what they do.  Wisdom is proved right by her actions.  The proof is in the doing.  And in how well it works.

Jesus’ actions didn’t make sense to the hyper-religious, because He didn’t follow their rules.  He had an occasional drink. He wasn’t afraid to touch the lepers.  He was compassionate with broken sinners.  He hung out with the boys.    But those religious critics hadn’t seen anything yet.  He allowed them to crucify Him.  He called out for their forgiveness from the cross.  He died.  What kind of a Savior does that?  But wisdom is proved right by her actions:  He came back to life after being buried.

Most people have the same trouble with Jesus today.  He doesn’t behave.  They want Him to stay up on the crucifix, silent and safe.  They want to approach Him through religious ritual.  They want to polish their shoes, sit in a pew, hear about Jesus and sing about Jesus, say the prayers about Jesus and then go on about their life.  But Jesus doesn’t behave.  He isn’t on the wall and He isn’t in the grave.  He comes to us personally.  

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20)

That may seem like the wrong way for a Savior to act.  But if you open the door and let Him in, if you allow Him to sit at your table, eat with Him and talk Him in all transparency and honesty, if you trust Him and do what He tells you to do, you will discover something astonishing:

“Wisdom is proved right by her actions.”