ToGather: Interrupting the Silence of Foolishness (April 17, 2022)

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18).

To believe in a crucified savior was considered by most people in Jesus' day to be ridiculous, hopeless, futile, and foolish!

For a Jewish person, to be crucified meant that the person was cursed and rejected by God (Deuteronomy 21:23; Galatians 3:13). So the phrase "cross of Christ" was blasphemous and a cause for stumbling into the sin of unbelief for God's people of Israel (1 Corinthians 1:17, 22-23).

The Greek words "cross" and "crucify" were not permitted in a respectable conversation or context in Greek society. A crucified savior or lord was considered to be as unthinkable as it was stupid — "utter moronity"! (The Greek work translated "foolishness" in 1 Corinthians 1:23 is μωρίαν, which is pronounced moe-ri'-ahn and is a form of the root word for "moron.")

"Christ" was the Greek term equivalent to the Jewish word "Messiah." So, the phrase "cross of Christ," along with the idea of a crucified Messiah, made absolutely no sense to most people and at first offered no hope to Jesus' earliest followers, regardless of their background.

So, Jesus' disciples hid behind a locked door for fear after their Lord had been crucified (John 20:19). Their hopes were shattered. Their dreams were crushed. They had proved to be failures and utterly foolish. They thought that they had wasted three-and-a-half years of their lives following a man rejected and crucified!

Without the resurrection, Jesus' death was an utter waste, an atrocity, a disgusting thought. Paul, the apostle, told the Corinthians:

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins (1 Corinthians 15:17).

The resurrection of Jesus is also directly tied to the future resurrection of Jesus' followers:

If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied (1 Corinthians 15:19).

We believe that God raised Jesus from the dead! We know the apostles weren't foolish to follow Jesus. We now see the crucifixion of Jesus as the sacrifice for our sins and the gift of God to make us whole (Romans 5:6-11; Isaiah 52:13-53:12).

These truths make our Verse of the Day for Resurrection Sunday so significant (whether you are celebrating Resurrection Sunday this week or next week):

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18).

This declaration from the apostle Paul is the heart of our ToGather message and worship today: Because of the resurrection, the message of the cross is the proclamation of the power of God for us!

You will find Phil's video message on this verse and then the whole ToGather.church worship video below.

The full worship video celebrates the truth of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection in song, communion, and blessing and includes Phil's message. We pray God blesses you and the Spirit fills you as we celebrate the gift of Jesus' triumph over sin and death!

Special thanks for the use of images related to Jesus' ministry from The Lumo Project and Free Bible Images for use in both ToGather videos.