“Too often the scholarly exposition of Scripture is an activity which circumnavigates the globe to get next door, obscures the simplest truth to the average person, and greatly impresses the scholar’s groupies.” Ed Ross

The world is drawn to wisdom that dazzles. It celebrates strength, esteems power, and prizes intellect. Yet, the Word of God turns these values upside down.

Paul tells the Corinthians that God deliberately chooses what seems foolish to shame the wise, what is weak to shame the strong, and what is lowly to bring down what is exalted. Why? “That no flesh should glory in His presence” (1 Corinthians 1:29, NKJV).

The wisdom of this age—its philosophies, its towering intellect, its self-congratulatory insight—has never led a single soul to God. Instead, it blinds men to their need for grace. The gospel is not an achievement to be grasped through reasoning, but a message that humbles the proud and lifts the humble. When Christ came into the world, He did not arrive in a palace. He was not trained in the schools of Athens. He did not seek out the influential, the strong, or the noble. Instead, He called fishermen, tax collectors, and sinners. He preached to the poor and the outcast. He revealed the mysteries of the kingdom not to the learned but to those who had the faith of a child.

God’s wisdom is foolishness to those who trust in their own understanding. The Greeks sought wisdom, the Jews demanded signs, but God gave them Christ crucified—a stumbling block to some, nonsense to others, yet the very power of God to those who believe. The cross is not an intellectual puzzle to be solved but a gift to be received. It silences human boasting because salvation is not earned by merit or reason but given freely by grace.

How does this truth speak to you?

Do you find yourself relying on worldly wisdom, seeking security in knowledge or status? Or do you rest in the simplicity of the gospel, knowing that God’s strength is revealed in weakness? If He has chosen what is low and despised, then He has chosen people like us—ordinary, broken, and in need of mercy. And in doing so, He shows that the power of salvation belongs to Him alone.

Consider the words of Jesus: “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children” (Matthew 11:25, BSB). And again, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of Hosts” (Zechariah 4:6, BSB).

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Inspired by Ed Ross. Written by Moe Bergeron