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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. [1 Corinthians 1:18 NIV]
You can sum up Paul's teaching in two words - 'the cross.' In other words, he told his Corinthian audience either in the synagogue or in the house of Titus Justus that Jesus of Nazareth who had been crucified in Jerusalem was the Messiah. He majored on the cross- even though his listeners did not like his message. They would have preferred some words of wisdom or some clever ideas. This talk of someone being crucified as being good news sounded ridiculous. How could anything good come from such a disgusting, despicable death? Paul spoke of this death as being essential in God's plan of salvation.
The Jews were offended by this message. They wanted a Messiah to deliver them from the Roman occupation of their country and to set up his glorious kingdom on earth with Jerusalem as its centre. Jesus of Nazareth's life on earth had come to a shameful end. He could not be the Messiah if he was crucified by the Romans. In today's Blog, I am going to provide 8 headings relating to Paul's preaching and teaching at Corinth. I will provide references if you want to follow up on any of this.
The Message Paul preached at Corinth
Described as 'the preaching of the cross.' [1 Corinthians 1:17-18; 1 Corinthians 2:2]
Considered foolish by the world [1 Corinthians 1:18]
Considered powerful by Christian believers [1 Corinthians 1:18]
Rejected by the religious Jews [1 Corinthians 1:23]
Rejected by intellectual Greeks [1 Corinthians 1:22-23]
Not understood by natural man [1 Corinthians 2:14]
Revealed by the Holy Spirit [1 Corinthians 2:10-14]
Demonstrates the wisdom of God [1 Corinthians 1, 25, 27-31]
Paul says that the Jews looked for signs and yet Jesus had given them many signs but they still did not believe him. Paul describes the message regarding the cross as a 'stumbling block' to the Jews. The Greek word is skandalion and the word comes from a trap for animals. The skandalion was the part of the trap where the bait was laid. This is a metaphor or a word picture of something that arouses a prejudice or becomes a hindrance or a barrier to others and causes them to fall. They found the idea of their Messiah hanging on a cross so ridiculous that they stumbled over it. There is no way that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah. He was given the punishment he deserved. But Paul continued to preach that the message of the cross was good news for the world. The Greeks and the Gentile world were into human wisdom and the preaching that someone who died a humiliating death could bring life and salvation to the world did not fit in with their reasoning or logic. They thought it was foolishness.
At the heart of the message of the cross are two fundamental truths. Firstly, the holiness of God - he cannot tolerate sin. Secondly, the sinfulness of the human race. We are by nature and practice sinners who have offended a holy God. Apart from the cross of Jesus Christ, there is no salvation for the human race. I want to end this Day Share with a quote from a book by Jeremy and Elizabeth McQuoid entitled, The Amazing Cross.
God is angry at sin - every shade of sin. And when Paul begins to explain the gospel in the book of Romans, it is not the love of God he points to, but this difficult concept of the wrath of Go: 'The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men' (Romans 1:18)
If there is one concept that we need to get into our heads before we can properly understand the cross, it is this notion, so foreign to our culture, so unpopular even in our churches, of the wrath of God. What happened at the cross of Christ is intricately tied up with God's wrath against our sin. We cannot understand the most basic confession of Christian belief, 'Christ died for our sins', until we get to grips with God's wrath. [The Amazing Cross: Jeremy and Elizabeth McQuoid (IVP) page 44].
This is why the message of the cross is unpopular. It is a recognition of our sinfulness before a holy God and an admission that we are totally dependent on the death of Christ for our salvation.
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