Journey Through The Bible
  Old Testament Reading: Ezekiel 16-19
  New Testament Reading: 1 Corinthians 1

For the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength (1 Corinthians 1: 22-25).

Our journey through the New Testament takes us to Paul’s letters to the church at Corinth. Paul started the church here on his second missionary journey and stayed eighteen months (Acts 18:1-11) Later, Paul received word that there were problems in the church which prompted him to write them a letter that we do not have (1 Cor 5:9). This “lost letter” apparently did not accomplish what Paul desired because further news came to him that there were still serious problems and divisions in the Corinthian congregation. In response, Paul wrote a letter that we know as 1 Corinthians.

Paul warned the Corinthians not to mix man’s wisdom with God’s revealed message. God’s wisdom is revealed primarily in the cross of Jesus Christ, but not everybody sees this. Paul pointed out that there are three different attitudes toward the cross.

The Jews stumbled over the cross because their emphasis was on miracles and signs. The Jewish nation did not understand their own sacred Scriptures. They looked for a Messiah who would come like a mighty conqueror and defeat all their enemies. Because the Jews were looking for power and great glory, they stumbled at the weakness of the cross. How could anybody put their faith in an unemployed carpenter from Nazareth who died a shameful death of a common criminal?

The Greeks laughed at the cross. They emphasized wisdom, and today we still study the profound writings of the Greek philosophers. They looked for a proud, enlightened king who would satisfy their intellectual curiosity. They laughed at a divine ruler who humbled himself to be born a Jew and spent three years speaking in mysterious parables and healing illnesses. A person who was betrayed by his own people and executed by the most despised form of capital punishment.

The third attitude is from those who believe and experienced the power and wisdom of the cross. Paul never changed his message. To every audience he preached Christ crucified. Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength (v24b-25).

Human wisdom divides, but Godly wisdom unites. Whenever we allow human philosophies, political opinions, or intellectual arrogance to creep into our theology, like the church at Corinth, there will be division and disagreements.

It is in the death of Christ that God has revealed the foolishness of man’s wisdom and the weakness of man’s power. We are called into fellowship because of our union with Jesus Christ. He died for us, we were baptized in His name, and we are identified with His death and resurrection. What a wonderful basis for our spiritual unity!