“but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness…”
Verse 23 contrasts God’s method of salvation with that of mankind. Human beings prefer their way of coming to God rather than His way. Unbelief has different causes, but the problem goes back to rejecting how God reveals Himself.
but we preach Christ crucified,
The word “preach” is the action of a herald, so the message is God’s, not the preacher’s. The term “preach” means to announce or declare something important.
The Romans crucified thousands of people. Nothing was unique in the crucifixion itself, but there was something special in Christ’s crucifixion. He was the God-man who came to die for sin. The Greek for “crucified” indicates that the work of Jesus stands permanently in its effect and efficacy (perfect tense). The crucified Christ is the heart and soul of the message of Jesus Christ. This truth was a problem for both Jews and Greeks.
to the Jews a stumbling block
The crucified Christ was a “stumbling block” to the Jews. At first, it was the part of the trap to which they attached the bait. Later, it came to mean the trap itself—an occasion of offense. The finished work of Christ on the cross hindered current Jewish doctrine; they expected a triumphant Messiah who would establish a kingdom, but Christ was a crucified Messiah.
and to the Greeks foolishness,
The Greek view of the cross differed radically from that of the Jews; they viewed it as foolish. There was no way they could squeeze a crucified Christ into their system of thinking.
PRINCIPLE:
God’s method for reaching those without Christ is to declare the message of Christ crucified.
APPLICATION:
Biblical evangelicalism is the declaration of Christ’s crucifixion for our sins. God’s method for winning the lost does not cater to their system or criterion for coming to the truth. God uses His own system to reach them. The content of the cross convicts of sin and supernaturally touches the heart. This approach via message content flies in the face of much evangelism today. We want to do anything but tell the essential meaning of the gospel. Christ is the personal instrument of our salvation.
God’s wisdom and power extend far beyond the finite capacity of man to comprehend. People can only find God’s power and wisdom in and from God because it comes from His eternal counsel before the world began. God’s plan centers on the person and work of Christ. This plan transcends man’s capacity to understand that God does not attempt to stoop to man’s method for determining truth. God uses His own plan. Since God’s capacity is infinite and man’s capacity is finite, there is no way a man can fully comprehend God, so God reduces His plan to the simple message of Christ crucified.
Acceptance of the death of Christ for the individual is the beginning of the plan of God for the individual. The believer understands God is perfect and can only accept perfect people in His presence. No one is perfect (Ro 3:10, 23), so God declares believers perfectly righteous because of the death of Christ for every sin, past, present, and future. God’s plan is, therefore, based on His essence and character. That is why it is foolish for a finite man to figure it out.
