What proof would you seek?
Early in Jesus’ ministry something happened that, at first glance, seems rather out-of-character for him. He went to the temple for the Passover, and the temple court was full of people selling stuff. It was, in many ways, a matter of convenience. People came to Jerusalem from all over. The Passover was the biggest religious festival of the year. People needed to buy animals for their sacrifices. They needed people who could convert their money. And of course those animal-sellers and money-changers could have set up shop anywhere in Jerusalem, but the temple court was a great big open space and it was where everyone was going anyway, so why not set up right there?
When we think of Jesus we usually imagine a gentle Savior. We picture him as the Good Shepherd or as the one who welcomed the little children, took them in his arms, and blessed them. But on this day he was full of righteous anger. He made a whip of cords and drove the merchants and animals from the temple. He overturned tables and scattered their coins. He rebuked them, “Get these things out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a place of business!”
Unsurprisingly, this got the attention of the Jewish leaders – the priests and Levites, the Pharisees and Sadducees. And they asked him, “Who do you think you are? Who are you to do this? What sign are you going to show us to prove that you can do these things?”
They wanted proof. And the kind of proof they wanted was a miraculous sign.
Years later the Apostle Paul was traveling, having been called by the risen and ascended Jesus to be his apostle to the Gentiles. On his second great missionary journey he made it to the famous city of Athens in Greece. This was the city of Socrates and Plato and many other renowned philosophers. It was a city where people loved to sit and talk and listen and debate. Paul had no trouble finding himself an audience. The marketplace was full of philosophers eager to debate him. Even the council of the Areopagus gave him an opportunity to tell them about his new and strange teaching. And for these people new wasn’t bad. They loved strange thoughts and ideas. They loved new.
But when Paul told them about the resurrection of the dead, they scoffed. “This isn’t the kind of thing we’re looking for here, Paul.” They wanted open-ended, endlessly debatable philosophy. They wanted the science of the here and new. They wanted secret knowledge. They wanted proof, and the kind of proof they wanted was wisdom.
What proof would you seek?
“Jews ask for signs. Greeks desire wisdom.” Paul wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians. But they’re both looking in the wrong places. They’re looking for the wrong satisfaction, the wrong proof. What God gives us is something entirely different. “We,” Paul says, “preach Christ crucified.” And though to some that may be offensive and foolish, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
We find this in the first chapter of Paul’s first letter to the Christians in Corinth. Corinth was a large city on the coast of Greece, and Paul spent a fair amount of time there. It was the first city he came to after Athens, and he found both Jews and Greeks who were eager to hear the gospel. But missionary work wasn’t easy then or later on after Paul left the city. While Paul was there he came under attack from people who opposed him, and later when Paul wrote his letter to them he knew full well what sorts of difficulties they faced. They were the same sorts of things he had gone through. And those were the same sorts of things Jesus had gone through.
“What is this seed-picker trying to say?” the Athenians asked of Paul in Acts 17, basically calling him a “bird brain.” What sign are you going to show us to prove that you can do these things?” the Jews asked Jesus.
And so Paul writes and says,
Yes, Jews ask for signs, Greeks desire wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified—which is offensive to Jews and foolishness to Greeks, 24but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
It sounds here as if Paul might be writing to people who are under attack. He did that many times and we can certainly imagine what that would be like, and not just because we can read those many accounts of the people who opposed Jesus and who opposed his apostles. We see it still today. Our godless culture grabs onto both of these things and uses them to mock the gospel and all followers of Christ. When tragedy and disaster strikes and Christians respond with prayer, the world sneers and says, “Your prayers are useless. Your God is not real. He does not hear you.”
And the world considers Christians to be the most foolish fools. Try being a being a Christian in the scientific community. Try being a Christian academic. Or in our government, the only kind of Christian who won’t be derided for his faith is the kind of Christian who doesn’t really have faith, who doesn’t really believe anything at all.
But in the context of this chapter Paul doesn’t actually reference any external threats to the church. They did exist, but here he focuses on those things that are tearing them apart from the inside. The church was divided. They were turning against each other. That’s the main thing that concerned Paul here. Not attacks from the outside, but the temptations that divide them, and what it is that ought to unify us all as Christians.
It isn’t just the unbelieving world that loves powerful signs and worldly wisdom. We all do. We all want to hear success stories. We want to hear of the Christian who prevailed, the congregation that grew, the church building that stood tall while the buildings around collapsed in the storm. How often are we like Emperor Constantine searching the sky for a bright cross in the clouds and the words, “In hoc signo vinces” - “In this sign you will conquer.” How often have visitors to church told me, “I can feel God’s presence here.” Really? What does God’s presence feel like? You can feel the Christian love we have for each other. You can feel at peace because of the forgiveness of sins. But can’t you also feel good in a place where you are lied to? And when God calls us to repentance, driving us from the comfort of our sins just as Jesus drove the merchants and money-changers from the temple, doesn’t his truth make us not feel so good? Are you sure it’s God’s presence you’re feeling? They’re looking for miraculous signs.
And what about wisdom? Don’t we too want to fit in with the wise voices of the world around us? Aren’t we wowed by those who have a sharp wit and a quick tongue? Don’t we long for hidden knowledge and higher planes of enlightenment? Do we tire of the simple message of the cross?
No, Paul says. We preach Christ crucified. That’s a message that’s offensive to the Jews. Why? It’s just so lowly. It’s so humble. It’s the opposite of the glorious miracles they wanted. And it’s foolishness to the Greeks. Everyone knows that the dead do not rise.
“But to those who are called,” Paul says, “Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.” What is it that makes the difference? Why do some Jews and some Greeks see it differently? Why is it that they aren’t offended by the message of Christ crucified? It wasn’t a miraculous sign that convinced them or hidden wisdom that changed their mind. It was God’s gracious call in Christ.
And what a great thing this is to know, because you’ve been called the same way. It wasn’t some flashy miracle in your life that convinced you of God’s love for you. It’s not because you are so much more intelligent than the world around you. God called you out of the darkness of your sin and your unbelief and he opened your ears to hear, your eyes to see, and your mind to know just how great his love for you is.
How else could it possibly be that when you see a cross with a man hanging from it bloody and dying you give thanks and praise to God? How else could it be that you know that the death of that man means life for you? How else could it be that you could go through life with no burden of guilt, no fear of death, no terror of the grave?
God has called you. The message of the cross is the very tool the Holy Spirit uses to bring you to faith. The word proclaims, “Christ has been crucified for you.” What more do you need? No other proof of God’s love could possibly compare to the cross. That’s where he took on all of our weakness and conquered it with his mighty strength. That’s where he took on all our foolishness with his all-surpassing wisdom. That’s where he took on our guilt and gave us his righteousness.
What power and wisdom there is in that humble and foolish cross! God himself comes to be our Savior! Can any miraculous sign be greater than that? Can anyone’s wisdom better solve our problem with sin? This is the power that destroys Satan, death, and hell. This is the only way that we can have access to the Father. This is the certain seal of our salvation.
And so we preach Christ crucified. That’s the message you’ll always hear here in God’s house. Our mighty and holy and all-knowing Lord came in simple humility to save us from sin. Cast out the old leaven of human wisdom and human strength. Cherish the simple and sublime love of your Savior, Christ crucified for you. Amen.
— Pastor Seth Georgson