GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
1 CORINTHIANS 1:22-24
In verse 21, Paul showed that “since the world did not know God through its own wisdom, God in his wisdom decided to save those who believe, through the foolishness of the preached message.” Now Paul brings out another causal, “since” clause. The first was about God’s saving; the second is about our preaching. Both are about the foolish message of the gospel.
22 Since Jews require signs and Greeks desire wisdom, 23 we preach Christ crucified– which is an offensive scandal to Jews and foolishness to Greeks, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
The Jewish demand for signs and miracles betrayed their lack of speculative thought and their stubbornness. Their theology was all about evidence, and had turned against the promises of God. The Greeks were famous for speculative thought; their pride was in the fame of their philosophers (even those who had been disproven but whose fame remained). The Greeks at the very least wanted logic. So what did God give to the Jews? Christ crucified. What did God give to the Greeks? Christ crucified.
The message of Christ on the cross is not just about an event in the past. The form of the words “Christ crucified” underlines Christ as still crucified now, today. He was and is crucified. Certainly Jesus was taken down from his cross and his body buried in a nearby tomb. More than that, he rose from the dead. Therefore, in that sense, he is no longer crucified. But in the theological and religious sense he remains the crucified one, the one who laid down his life only to take it up again (John 10:17). The fact of his crucifixion and the glorious result of his crucifixion– which is our forgiveness– remains even today.
For the Jews, the cross is a skandalon (σκάνδαλον), an offensive scandal. It is the object of anger and disapproval. How could, why would, the Son of God do such a thing or permit such a thing to happen? Isn’t the crucifixion, the Jews thought, proof in itself that Jesus is not the Savior? They refused to believe in the resurrection, but more than that, they refused to believe in the atonement in Christ’s blood.
There were many more Gentiles in Corinth than Greeks, but the Greeks were the majority. For the Greeks, philosophy was supreme, and so for them the cross of Christ was utter foolishness.
But what about those who are called? This is the call to faith. Without any distinction as to anyone’s background, family, nation, or anything else, the Holy Spirit calls sinners to faith through baptism and through the preaching of the gospel. This is the message of salvation through Christ offered and given with the very same words, and it comes on account of God’s mercy.
Whenever the gospel is preached or offered through the sacraments, it is always God’s will to bring people to salvation. It is earnestly intended, and the word is effective at carrying out this will. It is not as if the gospel is sometimes a closed book, and if opened accidentally or unintentionally, it has no power apart from, say, an ordained preacher or loving mother who wants to share the gospel. No, a little child might take a children’s Bible story book off a shelf to look at the pictures, but then read or observe the gospel at work, and faith can be planted or nourished simply by the power of the word of God on the human heart. Or a skeptic might be mocking the crucifixion or the resurrection on TV, soaking in the laughter of the crowd and basking in their applause and approval. Yet there can be any person who might tune in or go flipping through the channels who might only hear a small snippet of the comedian’s routine, the part where he quotes or paraphrases the gospel, even with wicked, cruel distortions and exaggerations and mockery, and that viewer can still be brought to faith or have a weak faith firmed up with what is, after all, the message of the cross of Christ. The unholiness of the speaker does not affect the effectiveness or holiness of the message. We would prefer not to have the gospel presented by the unbeliever (just as Jesus silenced the demons even when they were correct in what they said, Mark 1:25; Luke 4:35), but the gospel is always powerful and effective. This is especially our position on the effectiveness of the sacraments even if they are administered by “unworthy men” (Apology VII VIII:28), but surely it must apply to the Word of God itself, as it is, by itself, a means of grace.
“Christ crucified” is the message of the atonement, the forgiveness of our sins, proclaimed by the Holy Spirit to the world. Our Confession summarizes the matter this way: “Since we obtain justification through a free promise, it follows that we cannot justify ourselves. Otherwise, why would a promise be necessary? The Gospel is, strictly speaking, the promise of forgiveness of sins and justification because of Christ. Since we can accept this promise only by faith, the Gospel proclaims the righteousness of faith in Christ, which the law does not teach” (Apology, IV:43).
This forgiveness can be proclaimed by anyone to any repentant sinner. This is why Jesus gave the forgiveness of sins (sometimes called the ministry of the keys) to the whole church: “If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven” (John 20:23). Also, Jesus said, “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over” (Matthew 18:15). Doesn’t the one who has won over his brother have the authority to forgive? Didn’t Joseph, when his own brothers begged his forgiveness? “Please forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly” (Genesis 50:17). Yet why are there more and more churches teaching that forgiveness can only be administered by a pastor? A letter from a troubled Christian was handed to one of my colleagues: “The pastor… told me that only through him could I receive absolution. I specifically asked, ‘You are saying that if I kneel in prayer beside my bed, sorrowfully, and ask God to forgive me, he will not forgive me?’ ‘That’s exactly right’ (the pastor replied). ‘You must receive absolution from me before your sins are forgiven!’” But the Holy Spirit cries out to us through Paul: “Forgive whatever grievances you have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (Colossians 3:13). And didn’t the Lord Jesus Christ himself teach us to pray: “Forgive us our sins, as we also forgive everyone who sins against us” (Luke 11:4)? Or is it only pastors who say the Lord’s Prayer? “Forgive,” Jesus said, “and you will be forgiven” (Luke 6:37).
O, the mistakes we make! O, the sweet forgiveness we have from God! It may be a deathtrap to the Jews and foolishness to the wise and learned Gentiles, but to us, the humble followers of Christ, the message of the cross is the power of God that rescues us and brings us to heaven. Come, Lord Jesus!
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – 1 Corinthians 1:22-24 Christ crucified