Sunday, September 14, 2025 – 1 Corinthians 1:18-24
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 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.
In an article titled “The Other Jesus” from a Newsweek magazine published in 2000, religion editor Kenneth L Woodward wrote:
Clearly, the cross is what separates the Christ of Christianity from every other Jesus. In Judaism there is no precedent for a Messiah who dies, much less one who dies as an innocent criminal as Jesus did. In Islam, the story of Jesus's death is rejected as an affront to Allah himself. Hindus can only accept a Jesus who passes into peaceful samadhi, a Yogi who escapes the degradation of death and enters into a state of oneness with God and the universe. “The figure of the crucified Christ”, says Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh, “is a very painful image to me. It does not contain joy or peace, and this does not do justice to Jesus.” There is in short, no room in other religions for a Christ who experiences the full burden of mortal existence—and hence there is no reason to believe in him as the divine son whom the father resurrects from the dead.
And so, the idea that claiming the crucified Christ as the power of God and the wisdom of God falls flat to those who don’t believe and is considered foolishness.
Being smart and strong pays great dividends in a world where great value is placed on wisdom and power — the ability to control one’s present and future place in the world. It’s therefore a strange irony that neither being wise nor being powerful — as the world and culture define it — aids anyone in their ability to understand this faith that leads us to trust in the cross and the power and wisdom of God. Worldly wisdom and power has not, does not and can never explain nor give evidence of the reality of God. Nor do worldly wisdom and power explain — nor can it understand — the power of the grace of God that leads us to know God the way those of us who believe do. Some people believe we are foolish to believe what we do. Those who are skeptical continue to ask for something verifiable, something tangible that will give evidence that what we say we believe is real. And yet, everything that explains it is explained by a wisdom that only God possesses. And the power that shaped our salvation could only have come from a power beyond that of human power — from God and God alone.
- How do you witness to others about the power and wisdom of God through Christ to award your salvation?
- In what ways does “God’s grace” become a part of that conversation?
Todays Prayer
Today’s Prayer —
Holy and Gracious God, despite the ongoing search for power and wisdom in the world, enable my faith and trust in You and belief in Your power to be the only wisdom and power I ever need to save me.
