For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; (23) but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, (24) but to those who 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.
The letter to the Corinthians was written by the apostle Paul. In chapter one he had been addressing the divisions in the church at Corinth and in the verses we study today, Paul draws attention to one of the chief causes of conflict which was/is two different points of view regarding the gospel. The first lens through which man views the gospel is a secular one which rejects the idea of absolute truth – men think they are in control of their destiny and relativism is king. (How has this advanced the world?) Through the second or biblical lens man sees the gospel as the power of God.
The Jews expected the Messiah would be a great and temporal prince – Christ was lowly in the world’s eyes and His death was shameful and cursed for a deliverer and king. The Greeks (everyone else) laughed at a story of a crucified Savior and despised Paul’s way of telling it. They sought wisdom as cultivated and “sophisticated” men of learning and would not accept the plain doctrine of the cross. But man does not know God by human wisdom as that exalts man. Not just the message of the gospel was rejected but also the manner of preaching. Paul was not eloquent and God chose unlikely men – not of learning or authority or wealth or power – to carry the message to the world. God does not seek as man seeks.
Christ is to the faithful wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption; all we need or can desire. Christ is God’s will. Man is humbled and God is glorified by the whole scheme and experience has shown the insufficiency of human wisdom – left alone man is unable to attain any saving knowledge of God. Christ is the power of God and those called not only see but experience this. The gospel does infinitely more than human wisdom could ever conceive much less accomplish. If men don’t believe the fault is not in the doctrine taught or the mode in which it is taught but in the objector.