Reading through the Bible-Christ crucified

1 Corinthians 1:22-25, "For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men."

For Jews request a sign: In Paul's day, the Jewish world was looking for a sign. Specifically, they wanted the sign of a miraculous Messianic deliverance. They were not looking for the message of the cross. Their desire for deliverance was not bad, but their rejection of God's way of deliverance was.

Greeks seek after wisdom: The Greek culture valued the pursuit of wisdom, usually expressed in high, academic, philosophical terms. They did not value the wisdom expressed in the message of the cross. Their desire for wisdom was not bad, but their rejection of God's wisdom was.

We preach Christ crucified: Instead of giving the Jews and Greeks what they demanded in deliverance and wisdom, God gives them something unexpected: a crucified Messiah.

The Jews regarded Christ crucified as a stumbling block; perhaps this is better understood as an offense or a scandal. The Greeks regarded Christ crucified as foolishness. But God did not respond to the polling data. He kept to His gospel, because for those who believed it (both Jews and Greeks), Christ crucified is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

If the cross and its message seem weak, they are not; they are powerful and wise. Paul knew this by experience. He was once scandalized by a crucified Christ; it infuriated him that one obviously cursed by God (according to Deuteronomy 21:23) should be honored as Messiah and Lord. So, he persecuted the church before being confronted by Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9).

The foolishness of God is wiser than men: God was at His most "foolish" and very "weakest" at the cross; but it was infinitely wiser and stronger than anything man could do.

Salvation is not the achievement of human wisdom; it is the embrace of God's dramatic, unexpected act of love at Calvary.

Dear God, I sit at the foot of the cross in humility of your perfect sacrifice for my sin.  My tears flow in gratitude.