READ: 1 Corinthians 1.18 NLT
'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.'
Paul was absolutely sure that the cross of Jesus stood right at the heart of his life and ministry. Nothing was more important than the fact that God showed his perfect love for us by sending Jesus to die the most excruciatingly painful death for us. It was, if you like, the lens through which Paul saw everything. For him it was the most wonderful message in the world communicating God’s love and power and the way in which he could bring peace into the world. So Paul was determined to take every opportunity to speak about the cross.
But Paul was more than aware that the message of the cross sounded like nonsense to many people. The Greeks were looking for wisdom. They were very happy to listen to carefully reasoned arguments and to enter into learned debate. But the idea of a man dying at the hands of the Romans, showing that he was totally powerless and completely beaten by his enemies, didn’t sound at all wise. It sounded like foolishness. And to the Jews, Jesus’ own people, there was a fundamental problem. In Deuteronomy it was specifically stated that anyone who hung on a tree was cursed by God (Deuteronomy 21.23) It looked to the average Jew that hanging on the cross couldn’t possibly be something that God would allow to happen to his own son. The cross was, therefore, for Jews a total stumbling-block. It made belief almost impossible.
Paul is well aware of how foolish and problematic his message is. But he doesn’t try to change it to make it sound acceptable to his hearers. He simply declares that for those who believe it is the power of God and the wisdom of God. It turns all our normal thinking upside down, but that’s how God works. For those who want to get to the heart of understanding what love is all about, or who want to live lives that are full of God’s power there is only one place to look – to the cross of Jesus.




QUESTIONS: What does the cross mean to you personally?
PRAYER: Thank you Lord that when you went to the cross you showed us the full extent of your love. Amen

Released on 23 Apr 2021