“Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God” – 1 Corinthians 1:30
As Paul writes this to his friends in Corinth, I wonder who the “us” in that sentence applies to? Clearly, Christ Jesus had become Paul’s wisdom from God, but I wonder if those reading this letter for the first time would agree? Was Jesus’ way of humility and even humiliation on the cross considered to be wise to them yet?
The truth is that this is not the most evident truth to recognize by the empirical evidence alone. In other words, it makes sense that people might think it strange that the way to life is through death, or that the way to hope is through humiliation. That might be considered strange because that is, well, strange! Dying to ourselves and choosing the path of humility goes against every natural instinct that we were born with. How does this unnatural path become wisdom? How does someone go from seeing the cross as foolishness to seeing it as the most beautiful, loving event in the history of the world?
By experiencing it.
The wisdom of the cross is one of those things that is really hard to see until you do, and then once you’ve seen it, you can’t unsee it and it even starts to affect the way you see everything else.
But the truth is that the validity of the wisdom of Jesus is best seen in retrospect, that is, after experiencing it. C.S. Lewis made this point in an essay entitled “Is Theology Poetry?” (which let me just say, YES!! That title is such a great question), as he writes: “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it but because by it, I see everything else.” This is so good! The truth is that we never actually look at the sun (at least not directly), but have you ever questioned whether the sun exists? Of course not. But not because you look up at it every day, but because it is the way you see the world. This is what the wisdom of Jesus can do for you… it can change the way you see the world. And once you see it, you can’t unsee it. You will notice the truth of Jesus’ way, and it will eventually become like second nature. Eventually you will say, of course, I believe in Jesus, because the world wouldn’t make sense without him.
So, let me ask you today . . . is the way of Jesus, the way of the cross, the way of humility and even humiliation, the way of wisdom for you? If not, maybe it is time to try it out. Maybe it is time to choose Jesus’ way. Many of us have believed things about Jesus, but maybe it is time to actually change the way we live because of it. That is what wisdom is, it is living in accordance with reality. So, are you a part of that “us?” Has Christ Jesus become the wisdom from God for you? I hope he does today.
Josh Rose
Teaching Pastor