The Foolishness of the Cross
Part Two
Albert Mohler
Wednesday, April 26, 2006

In 1 Corinthians chapter 1, Paul argues that God's purposes in the world are accomplished "through the foolishness of the message preached." The message that the cross of Jesus Christ saves those who believe--this is what is well-pleasing to God. There is no "gifted program" in heaven. There is no fast track. There is no special education class. When we get to heaven, we will have a perfected knowledge. We will no longer see though a glass darkly, but once glorified, we shall see him face to face. But until then, we have to recognize that God uses intelligence and wisdom, but only the intelligence that He has sanctified, and only the wisdom He himself gives. It is a counter-intuitive wisdom--a wisdom that runs entirely counter to the wisdom of the age.

Paul sets all this in his own historical context in verse 22, "For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness." We must look at this sympathetically. First of all, from the perspective of the Jewish mind, the cross was not the answer to their theological equation. They did not see what we can see, and in humility we must admit that we are looking with 20/20 revelation hindsight. We do not read Isaiah without already having read the gospel of John. We must understand that what we now clearly see, they did not understand. the rest