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how does this idea of god's 'higher ways' compare with jesus's teaching on god's will?

Adds the setting and its conversation across both testaments.

Isaiah 55:8-9

““For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” says Yahweh. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.””

This passage is from the book of Isaiah, written during or shortly after the Babylonian exile (6th century BCE). It's a message of hope and restoration to a people who had endured immense suffering, assuring them that God's plans for them are beyond their current understanding and human limitations.

When faced with circumstances that defy understanding, how might embracing a perspective beyond our own human ways shape our response?

Then — the setting

Isaiah 55 was likely written in the late 6th century BCE, either towards the end of the Babylonian exile or shortly after the return. The people of Israel had endured profound loss: their temple destroyed, their kingdom dissolved, and many forcibly removed from their homeland. In this context, they might have questioned God's faithfulness or their own understanding of justice. This passage serves as a divine reassurance that God's vision and plan for their future (return, restoration, salvation) are far grander and more certain than their present despair could comprehend, even if the 'how' remained mysterious.

Across the Testaments

The Old Testament, particularly the prophetic books like Isaiah, frequently emphasizes God's transcendence and sovereignty, where divine thoughts and ways are beyond human grasp. This serves to humble humanity and foster trust in a God whose wisdom is ultimate. In the New Testament, Jesus often speaks of 'God's will' not primarily as a mysterious, unknowable path, but as something to be actively sought, lived out, and embodied, especially in loving God and neighbor (Mark 12:30-31) and through his own obedient life (Luke 22:42). While Jesus demonstrates perfect submission to God's will (which indeed involved suffering and a 'higher way' of salvation), he also reveals it as accessible and inviting, particularly through his teachings on the Kingdom of God. The tension isn't a contradiction, but a development: the transcendent God of Isaiah becomes immanent in Jesus, making the 'higher ways' visible and, through the Spirit, participable, even if still ultimately beyond full comprehension.

Keep thinking

Read alongside it

Jeremiah 29:11
This verse speaks to God's plans for welfare and a future, despite the present suffering of the exiles.
Romans 11:33
Paul marvels at the unsearchable depth of God's wisdom and knowledge, echoing Isaiah's sentiment about divine thought.
Matthew 6:10
Jesus teaches his disciples to pray for God's will to be done on earth, linking divine will to earthly action.

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