The Preacher's Lectionary Notebook - Wisdom that Makes No Earthly Sense
The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany (Year A)
Paul’s words feel like a deliberate turning of the world upside down. He begins by drawing a sharp line between two ways of seeing reality. On one side is what he calls “the wisdom of the world,” and on the other is the strange, unsettling wisdom of God revealed in the cross. For Paul, the message of the cross doesn’t sit comfortably in the categories people usually use to judge what is impressive, powerful, or sensible. In fact, he says flat out that the cross looks like foolishness to those who are “perishing,” while to those who are being saved it is nothing less than the power of God. That contrast sets the tone for everything that follows. Paul isn’t trying to soften the shock of the gospel; he leans into it.
What makes the cross so offensive, in Paul’s view, is that it refuses to play by the usual rules. The Jews of his day expected signs—clear demonstrations of divine power that would remove all doubt. The Greeks, shaped by philosophy and rhetoric, looked for wisdom that could be debated, refined, and admired. But Paul says God gave them neither a dazzling sign nor an elegant argument. Instead, God gave them a crucified Messiah. That phrase alone—“Christ crucified”—would have sounded absurd or even scandalous. Crucifixion was a symbol of shame, weakness, and failure, not the kind of thing you would associate with God’s anointed one. Yet Paul insists that this is precisely the point. God’s wisdom does not simply outshine human wisdom; it exposes how limited and self-serving human wisdom often is.
Paul reinforces this idea by reminding the Corinthians of their own story. He asks them to look around at who they were when God called them. Not many were wise by worldly standards. Not many were powerful or well-connected. Not many came from prestigious backgrounds. This isn’t meant to insult them; it’s meant to underline how God works. God chooses what the world calls foolish to shame the wise, what the world calls weak to shame the strong, and what the world barely notices to bring down what seems important. The pattern of the cross is already written into the makeup of the community itself.
All of this leads Paul to a very specific conclusion—there is no room for boasting. If salvation were based on intelligence, strength, or status, then people could take credit for it. But God has arranged things so that no one can boast in God’s presence. Instead, believers are “in Christ Jesus,” who has become wisdom from God for them—along with righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. In other words, everything that truly matters comes as a gift, not an achievement. Paul caps it off by quoting Scripture: “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” The cross levels the ground at the foot of God’s grace, leaving nothing to brag about except what God has done.
FOR FURTHER EXPLORATION
Why does Paul think the message of the cross looks like foolishness or weakness to the world?
How does remembering who the Corinthians were when they were called challenge modern ideas of success and status?
What does it practically look like to “boast in the Lord” rather than in our own abilities or achievements?