I Corinthians 1:18-24
“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.”
This is a portion of the Second Lesson from today’s Morning Prayer. It is a very fitting portion of Scripture, for during Lent we are called to remember the cross, and are reminded to take up our own cross, because the cross is “unto us which are saved … the power of God.” How can an instrument of death and torture be the power of God? Once again, Christian theology is completely counter cultural. The world does not associate the cross, an instrument of death and torture, with power. No; health, wealth, popularity, beauty, “A” type personalities, and strength - these things the world reveres as power and strength and wisdom. No matter what the world says, or what the “wise” of the world consider to be power, the cross was and is still today the instrument of God’s salvation and the power of God to those who are saved.
This is the power of God. What power, indeed, the cross still wields in the lives of those who fall down before it today, which pick it up daily and carry it, following Jesus, the one who was crucified for us on the cross. This most heinous instrument of death and torture has become for us the emblem of eternal life and the highest sign of love God could show humanity. Jesus redeemed mankind from the cross while we were yet sinners, even absolving those who crucified Him, saying “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”. Jesus’ redeeming power is so powerful that he even redeemed the emblem of the cross, making something that was horrible into something clung to by those who follow Him. Is the cross in itself holy? No, the fact that Jesus Christ was crucified out of love for us unworthy sinners makes the cross what it means to us today.
While the cross is still foolishness to the “wise” of the world, and while people still seek signs and worldly wisdom and chase after false gods to their own destruction, unto us which are called “both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.”
Paul Thompson
