Jesus Christ Crucified – 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

I styled myself an agnostic at age 16.  I’ll never forget sitting in study hall and listening to a couple of guys talking about Christian faith and one of them asking me what I believed.  I said I was an agnostic, but he immediately retorted, “You don’t want to be that!”  He began to teach me about the faith.  But it was my dad making me go to a church meeting for a youth evangelist presentation that really did the trick.  I had argued with my dad that the Bible was a human product and therefore subject to error, but somehow, when this young evangelist presented the gospel and my need of forgiveness, it completely won me over, as if my objections had no merit or power.  It was the Holy Spirit converting me.

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.  (1 Corinthians 2:1-5 ESV)

It may be strange for us to think of the mighty apostle Paul feeling fearful and weak when he came to Corinth to preach the gospel.  We are told in the book of Acts that the Lord Jesus appeared to him and told him not to fear (Acts 18:9-11).  We certainly feel fearful to speak the gospel, and  Paul was not beyond feeling this as well. 

The Corinthians may have thought they wanted eloquence and philosophical speech, but Paul knew that the only thing that would save them was the message of Jesus Christ crucified.  And if they believed that message it was because of the powerful action of the Holy Spirit in their hearts.  And this should give them confidence that it was the truth and keep them from being swayed by the next smooth talker.

Paul is not saying that he wouldn’t or didn’t speak persuasively or with arguments for the truth (he just did that in Athens before he came to Corinth, Acts 17).  But the gospel is ultimately offensive to the unbelieving mind because it requires a recognition of Jesus as Lord, crucified for us and raised from the dead for our sins, to whom we must submit all.  This goes against the grain of our desire for self-rule.  So when we share our faith with another we must expect that there will be an unpleasant reaction.  That lets us know we’re hitting the mark.