Today
is Good Friday, a remembrance Day that Jesus Christ was crucified for the
salvation of the whole world. It was a beautiful and yet a very painful design
by God the Father to give Jesus Christ for the whole world. It was God’s plan
and design to sanctify us through Christ Jesus.
The passage below was taken from the first
Book of Corinthians written by Apostle Paul. Corinth was the capital city of
Greece, and this was the major centre for art, culture and it is one of the
world trade centre for commerce. Corinth was a bustling commercial trading city
which hosted many businesses and also it is a place for idolatrous worship and
degraded moral culture during the period of Apostle Paul. This should not shock
any one of us who is reading this write up because we are living in a world of polluted
culture and very often pressured from all directions to conform to the image
the world projects as the right and the best.
This Book was written to the believers at
Corinth when the church was pressured and the struggles the believers and the
Body of Christ faced in a pagan culture. When we read through this Book we
notice that Paul addresses a variety of problems in the Body of Christ and
there are so many divisions in the Church because of varied beliefs and
doctrines. Factions, immorality, questionable practices, abusing the Lord’s
Supper and the abuse of spiritual gifts seem to be prevailing and there was
tremendous confusion about the relationships of singleness and marriage and believers
needed some clarification. It looked like there was no proper spiritual leader
to admonish, confront and correct and lead the people in the path of truth in
love. Questions were raised by the believers and Paul is addressing the above
issues with God’s wisdom and guidance.
Let us read 1 Corinthians 1:17-31:
17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with
wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but
unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring
to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
20 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?
21 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.
22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and
unto the Greeks foolishness;
24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power
of God, and the wisdom of God.
25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of
God is stronger than men.
26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the
flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things
which are mighty;
28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God
chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.
30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom,
and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord.
Preaching the Cross of Christ is the main
theme while Paul is addressing and he firmly says that for those who perish in
wickedness this message was foolishness. At the Cross the wisdom of the world
and all its’ intelligence comes to nothing and the wise are baffled and
eclipsed by the Christian revelation. This revelation and the glorious triumphs
of the Cross is foolishness in the eyes of the worldly men today. In other
words unless the Spirit of the Lord awakens our conscience and our spirit one
cannot fathom this mystery and it is the wonder working power of God to work in
the life of a person to unveil this mystery.
Christ crucified is a
stumbling-block to the Jews. They had a conceit that their expected Messiah was
to be a great temporal prince, and therefore would never own one who made so mean
an appearance in life, and died so accursed a death, for their deliverer and
king. They despised him, and looked upon him as execrable, because he was
hanged on a tree, and because he did not gratify them with a sign to their
mind, though his divine power shone out in innumerable miracles. The Jews
require a sign, v. 22. See Mt. 12:38. 2. He was to the Greeks foolishness. They
laughed at the story of a crucified Saviour, and despised the apostles’ way of
telling it. They sought for wisdom. They were men of wit and reading, men that
had cultivated arts and sciences, and had, for some ages, been in a manner the
very mint of knowledge and learning. There was nothing in the plain doctrine of
the cross to suit their taste, nor humour their vanity, nor gratify a curious
and wrangling temper: they entertained it therefore with scorn and contempt1.
We can safely assume and say that the Hands
of God which is full of love had twisted the crown of thorns into crown of
glory and we can be safe in His everlasting arms because of His great love for
humanity. There is beauty and pain in this Divine act and it is absolutely full
of love for the lost humanity. From the above passage we infer Paul’s saying
that we have to share the message of Christ crucified. We can celebrate the
resurrected Christ and His hope, but we have to remember Christ’s suffering. If
we do not remember His sufferings we are missing on the heart of the matter.
30 But of him are ye in
Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and
sanctification, and redemption: 31 That, according as it is written,
He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. The Word of God is very strong
in saying that when one glories let that person glory in the resurrected Christ
Who was crucified and it was designed by God that all flesh may glory in the Lord.
The theme for today is we should be humble enough to acknowledge the Divine act
in the salvation plan and Glory and exaltation must go to God in Christ Jesus
His only Son through the power of the Holy Spirit.
End Notes:
biblehub.com/commentaries/mhcw/1_corinthians/1.htm
Bible > Matthew Henry's
Commentary on the Whole Bible > 1 Corinthians 1 1 Corinthians 1 ... Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible by Matthew Henry ...
Website References:
biblehub.com/commentaries/mhcw/1_corinthians/1.htm
Bible > Matthew Henry's
Commentary on the Whole Bible > 1 Corinthians 1 1 Corinthians 1 ... Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible by Matthew Henry ...
www.christnotes.org › … › 1 Corinthians
Bible commentary about 1 Corinthians 1 (Matthew Henry’s Commentary). Bible Commentary. Christ Notes. Bible Search
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