“For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength” (1 Cor. 1:25, NIV).
“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him” (1 Cor. 1:27–29, NIV).
I am thankful this Christmas for the foolishness of Christ’s birth. The first recorded Scripture about His coming is found in Genesis 3: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring [seed] and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Gen. 3:15, NIV). It is pretty foolish to solve human problems with a “Seed”!
And Psalm 72 is certainly far-fetched: “May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores bring tribute to him. May the kings of Sheba and Seba present him gifts” (Ps. 72:10, NIV). Who are these guys—three kings?
Next is Numbers 24: “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel…. A ruler will come out of Jacob and destroy the survivors of the city” (Num 24:17, 19, NIV). How foolish! Balaam, in the fashion of his donkey, speaks only because God places the words in his mouth—just like God did in Balaam’s donkey in chapter 22.
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isa. 7:14, NIV). So an unwed, untouched, young maiden is going to bear a child, a son? Would anyone in their right mind ever think of that?
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6, NIV). Now this foolishness is getting worse: the son or baby is going to carry the government on his shoulders?
“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit” (Isa. 11:1, NIV). Oh, I get it, a dead stump is going to produce a shoot from a man who lived over 2,000 years back—foolish!
This last one sums it up. God has chosen the least important town in Judah for this most spectacular event: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times” (Mic. 5:2, NIV).
“The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness” (1 Cor. 2:14, NIV).
“Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become ‘fools’ so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: ‘He catches the wise in their craftiness’” (1 Cor. 3:18–19, NIV).
I am thankful for the foolishness of Christmas and the birth of Christ, for without the “foolishness” of the Christmas story, we would never know the foolishness of the cross! “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 Cor. 1:18, NIV).
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