Foolishness or Wisdom, Weakness or Power?

  There is a striking verse in the New Testament, in which the apostle Paul
  refers to the Cross of Jesus Christ as foolishness to the Greek and a
  stumbling block to the Jew. One can readily understand why he would say
  that. After all, to the Greek mind, sophistication, philosophy, and
  learning were exalted pursuits. How could one crucified possibly spell
  knowledge?

  To the Jewish mind, on the other hand, there was a cry and a longing to be
  free. In their history, they had been attacked by numerous powers and
  often humiliated by occupying forces. Whether it was the Assyrians or the
  Babylonians or the Romans, Jerusalem had been repeatedly plundered and
  its people left homeless. What would the Hebrew have wanted more than
  someone who could take up their cause and altogether repel the enemy? How
  could a Messiah who was crucified possibly be of any help?

  To the Greek, the Cross was foolishness. To the Jew, it was a stumbling
  block. What is it about the Cross of Christ that so roundly defies
  everything that power relishes? Crucifixion was humiliating. It was so
  humiliating that the Romans who specialized in the art of torture assured
  their own citizenry that a Roman could never be crucified. But not only
  was it humiliating, it was excruciating. In fact, the very word
  “excruciating” comes from two Latin words: ex cruciatus, or “out of the
  cross.” Crucifixion was the defining word for pain.

  Does that not give us pause in this season before us? Think of it:
  humiliation and agony. This was the path Jesus chose with which to reach
  out for you and for me. You see, this thing we call sin, but which we so
  tragically minimize, breaks the grandeur for which we were created. It
  brings indignity to our essence and pain to our existence. It separates us
  from God.

  On the way to the Cross two thousand years ago, Jesus took the ultimate
  indignity and the ultimate pain to bring us back to the dignity of a
  relationship with God and the healing of our souls. Will you remember that
  this was done for you and receive his gift?

  You will then discover that it is sin that is foolishness. Our greatest
  weakness is not an enemy from without but one from within. It is our own
  weak wills that cause us to stumble. But Jesus Christ frees us from the
  foolishness of sin and the weakness of our selves.

  This is the very reason the apostle Paul went on to say that he preached
  Jesus Christ as one crucified, which was the power of God and the wisdom
  of God. Come to the Cross in these days given for our contemplation and
  find out his power and his wisdom.