Untitled Sermon (4)
As with much that immediately preceded (in 1:18–2:5), what comes next is full of bite. The Corinthians, enamored by wisdom and thinking of themselves as “spiritual” (= “people of the Spirit”), are less than enchanted with Paul’s message, which they regard merely as “milk.” With fine irony Paul demolishes these various misperceptions and false boastings. The gospel of the crucified Messiah is wisdom all right, he affirms, but not of the kind they are now pursuing. True wisdom is indeed for those who are “spiritual,” meaning for those who have the Spirit, who has revealed what God has really accomplished in Christ. Because they do have the Spirit, and thus the mind of Christ, they should have seen the cross for what it is—God’s wisdom—and thereby have been able to make true judgments. But by pursuing sophia, they are acting just like those without the Spirit, who are likewise pursuing wisdom but see the cross as foolishness. The net result—and the irony—is that they are “spiritual,” yet “unspiritual”; they are pursuing “wisdom,” yet missing the very wisdom of God.