Read: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (v. 18)
Today we see crosses everywhere—decorating churches, hanging from jewelry, printed on T-shirts, and tattooed on forearms. We’re so familiar with the cross that we fail to realize just how shocking Jesus’s crucifixion really was.
To the Christians in Corinth, the apostle Paul wrote: “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” (v. 18 NRSV). The cross really was foolishness to the Greco-Roman world. It represented the most brutal kind of death by torture. Even more than the physical agony, the cross was a symbol of shame and utter disgrace. Crucifixion was reserved for the worst criminals—the scum of society like murderers, traitors, and rebellious slaves. It was also a clear warning to anyone who dared go against Roman authority.
And yet this is the way that the triune God has chosen to bring salvation to the world! The cross takes our assumptions about wisdom and power and turns them upside down. When Jesus, the Son of God, willingly chose to die the most horrible and shameful kind of death, we see just how far God was willing to go to rescue us in our sin and set this world right. In the words of G. K. Chesterton, this is “Glory to God in the Lowest”!
As you pray, ask God to help you receive his power and wisdom in Christ, though the world considers it foolish.
Brian Keepers has been an ordained pastor in the Reformed Church in America for more than 20 years. He is currently serving as the lead pastor of Trinity Reformed Church in Orange City, Iowa. Brian is married to Tammy, and they have two daughters and a granddaughter.
