“Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1 Cor.1:24)
I can understand how human beings can be foolish, because I interact with people every day. I can understand how I can be foolish because I have a long memory of many of the foolish things I’ve done. I can understand how politicians, athletes, teachers, scientists all sorts of people in this world can be foolish. But I cannot conceive how He, the one in whom are hidden all the wisdom, and knowledge of the universe can be foolish. Does it make sense, and if so how? How can the Creator of the Universe, be foolish or weak to any degree, and how can the Apostle Paul have the audacity to even suggest such a concept “the foolishness of God or the “weakness of God”? How then can God be foolish and how can God be weak?
I think that this concept, which cannot be taught but rather caught. And to do this I will illustrate some snapshots of the foolishness of God found in the Scriptures.
“The foolishness of God is wiser than men.”
There was a famous song, “what if God were one of us.” He was! God chose to save the world from its sins by divinely impregnating a common Jewish woman with the savior of the World in her womb. God allows an ordinary Jewish couple to raise the Son of God. Then Jesus gathers 12 rickety disciples to himself, trains them and eventually goes to the cross to die. The Jews expected a Messiah fully armed to rule the Romans with a rod of iron, but God chose death on a cross as His divine plan. His One and only Son Jesus, was crucified upon Calvary. The King on the Cross does not seem to make sense. Does this not seem to be foolishness? Jesus was given the death penalty, capital punishment. This was later on in history done away with because it became considered inhumane. In God’s foolishness His plan was to bring life through the death of His Son.
“The weakness of God is stronger than men.”
Christ was dead and placed in a tomb. The hope of Israel seemed to be lost. Any hope of restoration for the Jewish people was “buried” in the tomb with the Messiah which was quite dead at this time. There was Christ’s body, lifeless, hopeless, and at the time also seemingly meaningless, as this event did not live up to the expectations of a new Davidic Kingdom as was in the minds of the disciples and many others. He said that He would rise from the dead, “I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’ ” Mt 26:62 Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” Mt 26:63 But Jesus remained silent. The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Mt 26:64 “Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” The weakness of Jesus can be seen in His submitting to trial under Pilot, to be crucified and killed only to rise from the dead in power.
The foolishness and weakness of God seems like an oxymoron. The fact that God wants to use you to bring His Divine Truth to the unsaved is amazing. He fills our mouth with the foolishness of the cross, which seems to be a ridiculous plan. We preach the weakness of God in the fact that Jesus Christ defeated death, hell, and the grave. Men nailed Christ to the cross and killed Him. However, God still raised His Son from the dead for the entire world to see the foolishness and weakness of God. Preach the foolishness and weakness of God because that is what the world needs to hear in order to be saved. Use the Law to break the hard heart, and the Gospel to heal the brokenhearted.
Until the nets are filled…Blessings, Pastor Phil <><
He Has Magnified His Word 