1 Corinthians..again

1:18-19 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside."

- "foolishness" is "Stupid Folly!" The word "cross" or "crucify!" (Staurow) was the greatest offense in first century Rome. Crucifixion is how disloyal slaves were killed. Just mentioning the word could get a slave killed.
- "destroy the wisdom of the wise" - The message of the cross was stupid to the people of the world!

Crucifixion was considered the pinacle of humiliation in Rome, they were experts at torturing and humiliating people. The person being crucified was naked and hung on display for everybody to see. They typically took 20+ hours to die. They couldn't just come down and use the privy when they needed to and then hop back up on the cross, they were forced to hang there and soil themselves. Towards the end when their lungs started to burst because of the pressure on them they would start spitting up blood and choking to death. After the person died, they weren't even given the right to a propper burial. The reason that Joseph of Arimathea's asking for Jesus's body was such a big deal is because most people were left to hang on the stick while the birds and other scavengers came and tore apart the body. The idea that God (whom the jews thought would be coming back and immediately starting His rule as king) would let Himself be crucified was ridiculous. People made fun of the early Christians because of the foolishness, this made it a hard thing to tell people. One piece of first century graffiti has a picture of a man worshiping Jesus on a cross but Jesus is drawn with the head of a donkey. They said "You worship an Ass God."

1:20-21 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

- The "Where is.." statements are rhetorical statements that were made in a courtroom. The most common past time in the first century was going to the courts and listening to the rhetoric of the lawyers.
- The world thinks that they are wise. Caesar thought that he was a god. Even today we have the same thing with Science. In spite of this, God saves the world through a message of foolishness, bringing humility and persecution.

1:22-25 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, but to those whoa re the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

- Jews and Greeks looked for answers through signs and wisdom but we preach Christ "having been crucified" - "Stumbling block" is the word "skandalon" where we get "scandal." That is the type of emotion that a crucified God stirred up in the "wise" people of the world.
- The literary device in verse 25 can be translaged "Because the foolishness of God, the message of the cross, is wiser than the wisdom of men and the weakness of God, the message of the cross, is stronger than the power of men." The cross was foolishness and weakness because of the humiliation. People used euphamisms to talk about crucifixion because it was so unmentionable. Apollo called it "death bound with iron," Tacitus called it "extreme penalty" and Manicus Felix called it "on the fatal wood of the cross."

The message of the cross has been one that is foolish to the world since day one. People couldn't understand it then and they can't understand it today, that's why responding to God requires an act of faith. As wise as the people in the world think they are, God saves the world through His means which are foolish according to the wisdom of the world - responding to the Gospel requires humility.