Listen to the audio of today’s Reflection:
https://soundcloud.com/hapearce/reflection-for-february-20-2024
I Corinthians 1:18-31
Christ the Wisdom and Power of God
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.22 Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
26 Brothers [and sisters], think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
I’m struck in reading this passage by how very relevant it is to the world we live in today.
In writing this letter to the church in the city of Corinth, the apostle Paul raised some important issues that followers of Jesus in the digital age should make a point to think about from time to time. And I can’t help thinking that’s probably especially true for those of us who are from the Reformed theological tradition that includes Presbyterians. We’ve traditionally put a high value on theological education and focused on the intellectual side of the faith. That orientation has its benefits, but it can also lead us to an over-reliance on human wisdom.
Paul starts out this part of First Corinthians by saying that “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.” Those of us who have been more-or-less raised in the church have been taught since childhood that Jesus died on the cross for us. We’re so accustomed to thinking of God coming into the world as Jesus that we have to remind ourselves what a shocking idea it would have been for people in the ancient Greco-Roman world. The idea that the God who created the universe had come down personally into the world, and had allowed himself to be crucified? It would have seemed ridiculous.
In the ancient world, crucifixion was the most shameful death imaginable. So from a marketing perspective, trying to recruit people to a new religion by saying that its founder was crucified would seem like the worst possible strategy. But the followers of Jesus appeared making exactly that shocking claim and calling others to join them in following this crucified leader. And as shocking as that claim must have been, it must have been even more shocking that it was working – some people were actually joining this new religious movement.
But we know that God has done a lot of shocking things throughout history. Just look at the people God has chosen to work through – some of the most unlikely people imaginable. Jacob – a pathological liar who cheated just about everyone in his life. Moses – a murderer called to speak publicly even though he had a speech impediment. Saul – a gawky kid who was so shy he ran and hid when they wanted to make him king. David – the youngest son of a family of soldiers, considered so unimpressive they didn’t even take him along to the anointing ceremony. Rahab – the prostitute who saved the spies of Israel. Abraham and Sarah – the couple in their nineties who had a child. All shocking people to choose as leaders.
God has consistently chosen to exercise great power through weak and humble people. God has consistently chosen to speak deep and profound truth through simple, uneducated people. God has embraced the rejected and exalted the humble. And in Jesus, he had begun a movement that would change the world – and he had started that movement by allowing himself to be crucified.
You might think it’s kind of ironic that Paul is the one writing all this about how God chooses the ignorant and foolish and rejects the wise and the learned. After all, as we said in a Reflection last week, Paul himself was one of the best-educated people of his time. He knew the Hebrew scriptures inside and out, and it’s pretty clear from the New Testament that he was also very knowledgeable about Greek philosophy and rhetoric.
But Paul didn’t seem to lean on that great learning. Instead, he kept his focus on one thing – the death of Jesus on the cross. In Paul’s understanding, that act of self-sacrifice by God proclaimed a truth more profound than any expressed by Hebrew theology or Greek philosophy. And that truth was that God loves us fiercely – so fiercely that he was willing to pay a great price on Good Friday to reconcile us to himself. And then he rose from the dead as a sign of his victory over evil and death. As far as Paul was concerned, if that’s all you really know about Jesus, that’s enough.
It seems to me that we’re meant to take seriously the teachings of Jesus in the gospels. But it also seems to me that Paul is making an important point: Unless we keep the cross in sight, Jesus could be just another smart rabbi or an ancient moral philosopher. But it’s his willingness to die for us – and then rise from the dead – that really gives power to his teachings, and lets us have the peace of knowing that the creator of the universe loves us to such an incredible degree and invites us to share in his resurrection.
Let’s pray. Lord, we ask you to give us a hunger to study your word and to grow in our knowledge. But we also ask that you help us never to lose sight of the simple truth that you demonstrated your great love for us – and gave us new life – by the shocking act of dying on the cross. Amen.
Blessings,
Henry
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