“Lent and Life’s Big Questions”

March 23, 2025       Third Sunday in Lent 

SCRIPTURE                             1 Corinthians 1:22-25

FROM TODAY’S MESSAGE

“Lent and Life’s Big Questions” 1 Cor. 1:22-25 NASB

^“22 For indeed Jews ask for ^[signs and Greeks search for wisdom; ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, ²⁴ but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than mankind, and the weakness of God is stronger than mankind.”                            

1. Human wisdom and strength searches in vain.

In Paul’s day he wrote about how “Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom” (1 Corinthians 1:22 ).

1. Example: after Jesus fed the five thousand with five loaves of bread and two fish, the people wanted to force Jesus to be their king (John 6). Why? Look at the miraculous sign he had done.
2. Example: Greeks looking for wisdom, consider Paul’s missionary work in Athens. Athens was famous as a city of wisdom. Plato and Aristotle had taught here centuries earlier.
3. The philosophers are at first eager to hear Paul’s ideas. But when he mentions the resurrection of the dead, they dismissed him. (Acts 17).
4. Lent reveals God’s answer.
5. Before we can see how Lent reveals God’s answer we need to be clear what the big question in life is.

as Paul puts it: “We preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” (1 Corinthians 1:23-25)III. Lent answers life’s big questions. For Lent points us to Christ crucified