The Wisdom And Power Of The Cross

The Wisdom and Power of the Cross

1 Corinthians 1:19-31

We see crosses portrayed on many coats-of-arms which serve as a badge of power. Royal families have crosses. But this was not always the case. In Jesus’ time, wearing a cross would have been utterly shocking. Crucifixion was so horrible that it wasn’t even talked about in polite society. So, why does polite society today have crosses on their family crests? How did the symbol of utter shame and foolishness become jewelry that even non-Christians wear today.

We pick up this morning from last week, where Paul is dealing with severe factions in the church. This is because Christianity was treated as a new philosophy rather than as an invitation to join the people of God. We see that Paul’s message was treated that way in Acts 17. They thought it a new and strange philosophy worth musing about. So Paul was invited to the Aeropagus to present his case. It was not that they thought much of Paul’s message, but they wanted to be entertained by this seed spitter. They had thought Paul was preaching about a male-female pair of gods, Jesus and Anastasia.

Corinth as a Greek city was full of philosophers and would-be philosophers as well. There was a particular group called the “Sophists” who would debate on the spot the most trivial of issues. They were graded on style and not content. The one who could make the most foolish topic palatable, won. This made one “sophisticated.” Today, they call themselves, “woke.” They were wise in their own eyes, and everyone else were deplorable fools. There is a lot of similarity today between Corinth and our American elite today.

So those who heard Paul and Apollos were seeing Christianity in this way. It wasn’t about the message; it was the skill of the orators. In some respects, Paul and Apollos might as well been talking about whether a single dandelion was lonely or not. This is overstating the case as some at least heard about Christ, and another party of Jews know the Scripture and held it in high regard as God’s word. But there were many who saw the preaching of the cross as utter foolishness and/or a scandal, or else Paul would not have addressed the topic.

The strife in Corinth was eclipsing the message of the Gospel. The cross was being emptied of its power. The attention was being placed upon the messengers rather than the message. This was the message of Jesus Christ, whom God had sent to offer forgiveness to a lost world. The means of this forgiveness was Jesus becoming a curse by hanging upon the cross. The validity of Christ’s death for sin is demonstrated by the resurrection and the promise of His return at the end of the age. Paul needs to get things back on the right track, to fix attention again on what God did in Jesus Christ and why He did it.

Paul sets up this morning’s text in verse 18 where he notes that the preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. And who are the perishing? The Gospel says that all humanity is perishing, every single person, save Jesus who died for our sin, not His, and rose again. The natural man finds the idea of the cross either utter foolishness or an absolute scandal. This is the environment in which the Gospel is preached. The rescue has to come from God. The rebellious sinner needs to be converted by the Gospel. Then the message change from one of foolishness and weakness to one of power.

In verse 19, Paul cites Scripture to show that the cross was part of God’s plan from the beginning to save those who believe. He quotes Isaiah 29:14 that it was His intention to “destroy the wisdom of the wise.” The word “destroy” is a very strong verb. It wasn’t to put human wisdom into its proper place. It was to entirely trash the idea that salvation comes from the plans of men. Plato and Aristotle cannot cure the rebellion in man’s heart against God. Neither can Oprah or Dr. Phil. Even Paul and Apollos can not be saved or saved by their considerable learning. Paul was very wise in both Greek philosophy and in the teaching of the Pharisees. But on the way to Damascus, he did not simply come to his senses. He was utterly undone by the grace of God. He did not find God, but Jesus found him.

He strings Psalm 33:10 to add weight to hi argument. There is says that he will set aside the understanding of those who have understanding. It is not the message of the cross which is to be emptied. It is all human endeavor to save one’s self. It is we who need to be shown that we are all for naught apart from Christ. God chose to deal with sin His own way and not ours. So Paul asks several rhetorical questions. Where are the sophists? Where are the scribes? Where are the debaters of this age?” Paul answers these with another question expecting an affirmative answer: “Has not God made the wisdom of this world utter foolishness. The word for “foolishness” here is the word we get “moron” from. The world calls itself “sophos” but God calls them “moros.”