ODJ: foolishness of the cross

April 19, 2015 

READ: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 

The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God (v.18).

On beaches around the globe you can find people sporting shorts, flip-flops and headphones as they comb the seashore with metal detectors. While many sun-lovers return from a day at the beach with a tan and a few seashells, these modern-day treasure hunters often bring back something more valuable—gold, mostly in the form of lost jewellery.

At first glance, these people may look a bit silly, even foolish. But when you see them through the lens of soaring gold prices, they don’t seem so foolish after all.

People who follow a crucified Jesus as Lord may appear odd and foolish to outsiders. To many people in Jesus’ day, those who followed Christ seemed absurd. Back then, being put to death on a Roman cross was reserved only for the worst of criminals. And it meant Rome won again, while everyone else lost.

No one in their right mind would believe that anything good could come from the crucifixion of their leader. But that’s precisely what the early Christians boldly proclaimed. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth: “The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18).

The apostle looked at the cross of Jesus differently because he saw it through the lens of the resurrection (Romans 6:8-10). He, along with others, recognised that something new and wildly powerful happened when the Saviour died and arose from the dead. It was the dawn of God’s new creation that Jesus will one day bring to completion. Until then, God calls us to live as new creation people—joining Him in the process of making His renewed creation flourish in our corner of the world. That’s not foolish at all!

—Jeff Olson

365-day-plan: 1 Kings 18:16-46