Focus: The Foolishness And Weakness Of God

Text: 1Cor.1:25

"Because the FOOLISHNESS of God is wiser than men; and the WEAKNESS of God is stronger than men."

Is Paul really saying that the almighty and wise God is weak and stupid? Could God in any way be seen to be feeble and unwise?

I believe that when God chose to be born into the world in human form, He intentionally chose to become temporarily fragile, fickle, feeble, and limited. As a baby in the hands of Mary, He was weak. As a young boy growing up, Luke reports, "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man" (Lk.2:52). God is incapable of development in every sense of it, but Jesus Christ, being human, developed in mind and body, and that is human weakness. When God gave Himself to dying on the cross, He made room for weakness. The Jews looked at the cross, and all they could see was powerlessness. The Greeks looked at the cross, and saw nothing but sheer stupidity. Humanity saw the cross of Christ as a symbol of the weakness and foolishness of God.

Peter tells us, "Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously" (1Pet.2:23). Christ functioned with the spirit of non-retaliation. He demonstrated tamed strength. 

He held Himself back from unnecessary reactions. He kept Himself in check. He didn't explode emotionally. No outbursts of negative energy. He exhibited the might of meekness. That is what the world calls weakness.

Matthew reports, "And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads" (Mt.27:39). Mark says, "Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him" (Mk.15:32). He performed no self-saving miracle. He did not come down from the cross as a way of proving that He was powerful. In Mt.27:29, He was mocked, but He did not retaliate. Rather He prayed for the Father's forgiveness of His offenders. Luke says, "And the men that held Jesus mocked him, and smote him" (Lk.22:63). He says again, "And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar" (Lk.23:36). 

Paul declares that "he was crucified through weakness…" (2Cor.13:4). Christ displayed weakness on the cross. The writer of Hebrews says, "Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared" (Heb.5:7). This was utter human weakness and limitations. He suffered total humiliation.

So you see, in the eyes of the world, the cross lacks the charm of brilliance and the force of power. But what they fail to see is that the foolishness of God, that is, assuming that God is foolish, is wiser than the loftiest of human wisdom, and the weakness of God, that is, assuming that God is weak, is mightier than the mightiest of men.

At the end of the day the cross of Christ is the ladder by which every saved person is transported to heaven. 

By means of the cross of Jesus Christ, God takes the saved from the end of the tether to the top of the ladder. Paul declares Christ to be the power and wisdom of God.

By the foolishness and weakness of God depicted by the incarnation and crucifixion of Christ, man now has a creed to believe and a song to sing. The foolishness and weakness of God has achieved our eternal salvation. There is hope for every man. God's foolishness and weakness has led to Satan's ouster and utter defeat, the death of Death, the end of sin, man's spiritual rebirth, and the birth of a new universe. Divine weakness is power in disguise; divine foolishness is wisdom hidden from human eyes. At the end of the day, God is neither weak nor foolish. He is the all-wise and the all-powerful. We ascribe to Him omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. Hallelujah!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter