Foolishness and the Power of the Cross
by Isaac Hubing
In the first chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul says that Christ sent him to “proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power” (1 Cor 1:17). What a wild concept - that eloquence and wisdom could take away from the power of the cross of Christ!
Lately, my reflections on the cross have surrounded not its cosmic grandeur, but how shockingly normal it would have been in its time. Criminals were crucified every day. Though it was certainly excruciatingly painful, and the death and resurrection of Jesus was the most important redemption moment in history, its outworking was (to the human eye) confusingly small. Ordinary. Regional, even. This was not near the level of a supreme court case or national news. One man died disgracefully at the hands of discreet political and religious corruption. And nobody stopped it. This is the foolishness of the cross: its littleness, its commonness, its global insignificance.
Paul is clear that this is, somehow, exactly what makes Jesus’ death and resurrection so pervasively powerful.
“For Jews demand signs, and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.” (1:22-25)
Jesus’ death was, in a sense, ordinary. His resurrection, then, has redeemed all that is ordinary and small. “Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” proclaims that our lives in the ordinary can be a powerful investment into the realization of God’s Kingdom. This is not built upon a rejection of responsibility, or apathy; it is a deep-rooted trusting of God’s power. As I go about my day as a college student learning to be faithful to the ordinary - trying to sleep well, encouraging a friend, being honest when someone asks “how are you?”, doing that reading I dreaded - I can be assured that though I am not exercising ‘powerful wisdom’ by the world’s standards, the power and wisdom of Christ is being worked out.
Brothers and sisters, believe today that God is working and present in the ordinary. Yes, in the sense that you may receive a vision while doing something tedious - but also in the sense that washing your dishes may be received by God as a holy act of worship, and that he holds the sun and the stars and the freezing cold air, and every good thing, including your morning coffee, comes from his hands as a gift, and in him we live and move and have our being when we defrost our cars before work in the morning. For the one who belongs to Christ, nothing is outside of God. There is no waste, nothing to earn, and nothing to prove for the child of God. Receive and believe that the grace and power of God are with you as you live faithfully in the ordinary. The cross has spoken a better word of value and purpose to our foolish smallness.
Even if you have not received the breakthrough or answer that you have prayed for and expected this fast, be assured that the power of God is greater than we know or can understand. Your prayers and your fasting are not wasted. God is setting the captives free and making everything new - but in a timing and way that may seem like foolishness to us.
“For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Cor 1:18)
In the first chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul says that Christ sent him to “proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power” (1 Cor 1:17). What a wild concept - that eloquence and wisdom could take away from the power of the cross of Christ!
Lately, my reflections on the cross have surrounded not its cosmic grandeur, but how shockingly normal it would have been in its time. Criminals were crucified every day. Though it was certainly excruciatingly painful, and the death and resurrection of Jesus was the most important redemption moment in history, its outworking was (to the human eye) confusingly small. Ordinary. Regional, even. This was not near the level of a supreme court case or national news. One man died disgracefully at the hands of discreet political and religious corruption. And nobody stopped it. This is the foolishness of the cross: its littleness, its commonness, its global insignificance.
Paul is clear that this is, somehow, exactly what makes Jesus’ death and resurrection so pervasively powerful.
“For Jews demand signs, and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.” (1:22-25)
Jesus’ death was, in a sense, ordinary. His resurrection, then, has redeemed all that is ordinary and small. “Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” proclaims that our lives in the ordinary can be a powerful investment into the realization of God’s Kingdom. This is not built upon a rejection of responsibility, or apathy; it is a deep-rooted trusting of God’s power. As I go about my day as a college student learning to be faithful to the ordinary - trying to sleep well, encouraging a friend, being honest when someone asks “how are you?”, doing that reading I dreaded - I can be assured that though I am not exercising ‘powerful wisdom’ by the world’s standards, the power and wisdom of Christ is being worked out.
Brothers and sisters, believe today that God is working and present in the ordinary. Yes, in the sense that you may receive a vision while doing something tedious - but also in the sense that washing your dishes may be received by God as a holy act of worship, and that he holds the sun and the stars and the freezing cold air, and every good thing, including your morning coffee, comes from his hands as a gift, and in him we live and move and have our being when we defrost our cars before work in the morning. For the one who belongs to Christ, nothing is outside of God. There is no waste, nothing to earn, and nothing to prove for the child of God. Receive and believe that the grace and power of God are with you as you live faithfully in the ordinary. The cross has spoken a better word of value and purpose to our foolish smallness.
Even if you have not received the breakthrough or answer that you have prayed for and expected this fast, be assured that the power of God is greater than we know or can understand. Your prayers and your fasting are not wasted. God is setting the captives free and making everything new - but in a timing and way that may seem like foolishness to us.
“For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Cor 1:18)