1 Corinthians 1:20-31

1Co 1:20
Where          is            the one

who is wise?

Where          is            the scribe?

Where          is            the debater

of this age?

Has not    God                      made foolish

the wisdom

   of the world?

 1Co 1:21

For since,              in the wisdom of God,         the world                            did not know God

through wisdom,

it pleased God                                                              through the folly

of what we preach

to save           those who believe.

We most Christians have learned the little song: Jesus Loves Me in Sunday School as we were growing up.  Unfortunately our understanding of God’s love does not go much deeper than that and so our appreciation of who God is and what Jesus has provided for us through his death on the cross is less than it should be. This lack of depth of understanding leads us to take lightly our position before God and to even be cavalier about it to the extent that we will knowingly disobey and not feel any concern for the consequences.

This deep understanding of the powerful “word of the cross” is seen throughout the gospels and Paul’s writings.

Joh 3:16-17
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

 Philippians 2:6-8

who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

God the creator of all that is, of a universe of billions of galaxies, the planet earth and all on it, that God loved mankind so much that he made himself one of us and surrendered himself to our demonic brutality just so he could provide a way for that same evil creature find salvation and a life in his presence.

Even a “wise” person could never have foreseen that God would love mankind so much that he would submit himself to our brutality and murderous efforts. I seems ridiculous: man attempts to murder God. Yet that is exactly what we did. Even more absurd is the fact that while we were attacking him in a murderous rage, he was presenting himself as a sacrifice for our sins and making a way for us to live forever in heaven. What wiseman could have foreseen such a thing.  To the worldly mind, such an approach is ludicrous. 

1Co 1:22-23

For                       Jews                     demand signs

and                      Greeks    seek                     wisdom,

but                       we                        preach    Christ crucified,

a stumbling block

and                                                                  folly                      to Gentiles, to Jews

So-called wisemen would have asked Jesus for a sign to prove who he was. And, they did.

Mat 16:1
And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven.

Others looked for some form of secret insight into the spiritual realm. 

Jesus offered neither. Instead he offered himself.

Mat 16:4
An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed.

1Co 1:24

but to     those who                           are called,

both                                                                    Jews

and                                                                              Greeks,

Christ             the power of God

and                                                                                                                        the wisdom of God.

 1Co 1:25

For the   foolishness of God               is wiser                 than men,

and the   weakness of God                 is stronger                          than men.

The only ones who will understand the depth of God’s love and what he is doing are the called ones; those who accept his invitation to the Kingdom of God through Jesus.

1Co 1:26

For                       consider your calling,          brothers:

Calling = κλῆσις = klēsis = an invitation (figuratively): - calling.

not many of you were            wise

according to worldly standards,

not many were                      powerful,

not many were of    noble birth.

1Co 1:27

But                       God                      chose

what is foolish         in the world

to shame the wise;

God                  chose     

to shame the strong; what is weak           in the world

The ones who, generally speaking, are the lower classes, the lesser educated, the ones society doesn’t necessarily hold in esteem are the ones who accepted the invitation into the kingdom. They are the ones, by and large, who are his best supporters to this day.

1Co 1:28

God                  chose

what is      low

and                                                                                                          despised               in the world,

even                                                                            things     that are not,

to bring to nothing          things     that are,

1Co 1:29
so that    no          human being                      might boast

in the presence of God.

1Co 1:30
And because of     him        you                      are

in              Christ Jesus,

who       became to us

wisdom from God,

righteousness

and                                                                                                                        sanctification

and                                                                                                                        redemption,

 1Co 1:31

so that, as it is written,

“Let the one who                  boasts,

boast in the Lord.”

God has turned everything upside down.  No one can claim special wisdom or knowledge because God’s methods are nonsense to them.  They do not comprehend the depth of God’s love, the heinousness of their sins or  the sacrifice Jesus has made on their behalf.