1 Corinthians
Chapter 1
Greeting and Thanksgiving
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, and Sosthenes, our brother,
to God’s church of God that is in Corinth, to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, along with all who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I constantly thank my God for you and the grace he has given you through Christ Jesus.
For you have been completely enriched in Him with words and knowledge,
just as the testimony about Christ has been confirmed in you.
You possess every spiritual gift and are only waiting for the glorious return of Christ Jesus, our Lord.
He will keep you strong until the end, and you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus’ return.
The faithful God will not fail you after calling you into fellowship with his Son, Christ Jesus, our Lord.
Discord in Corinth
I urge you, brothers and sisters, in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord, to stay united and avoid divisions; please be perfectly united with one mind and one judgment.
I heard from people at Cloe’s house about your rivalries.
What I mean is this: some say, ‘I am for Paul,’ and others say, ‘I am for Apollos,’ or ‘I am for Peter,’ or ‘I am for Christ.’
Is Christ divided? Or have I, Paul, been crucified for you? Have you been baptized in the name of Paul?
I thank God that I baptized only Crispus and Gaius,
so that no one can say they were baptized in my name.
I have also baptized Stephanas’ family. Besides that, I do not remember baptizing anyone else.
The Message of the Cross17For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to proclaim his gospel. And not with eloquent words! That would be like erasing the cross of Christ.
The message of the cross remains foolishness to those who are perishing. But to us who are being saved, it is the power of God,
as scripture says:
I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise
nd frustrate
the intelligence of the intelligent.
Where is the wise person? Where is the scribe? Where is the speaker of this age? Hasn’t God made the wisdom of the world foolish?
Initially, God spoke the language of wisdom, and the world did not recognize God through wisdom. Then God chose, through the foolishness of what we preach, to save those who believe.
The Jews seek miracles, and the Greeks seek wisdom,
while we proclaim Christ crucified, a great scandal for the Jews and foolishness to Gentiles!
But he is Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God, for those called by God among both Jews and Gentiles.
The foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
Brothers and sisters, look and see whom God has called. Few among you are considered cultured or wealthy, and few come from noble families.
Yet God has chosen what the world considers foolish to shame the wise; he has chosen what the world considers weak to shame the strong.
God chose the lowly and despised in the world, using those who are considered nothing to bring to nothing those who are considered something,
so that no one can boast before God.
But by God’s grace, you are in Christ Jesus, who has become our wisdom from God and who makes us just, holy, and free. Scripture says: Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.
Commentaries
Greeting and Thanksgiving.
The introduction of the letter typically includes a greeting and thanksgiving. The first thing that stands out is the mention of Jesus Christ nine times across nine verses. This frequent reference to Jesus characterizes the writer, the recipients, and the letter’s content. Paul needs, from the very beginning, to establish his authority as “called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus” (1). His authority had been questioned among the Corinthians, and the Apostle must demonstrate it.
The Apostle addresses the recipients as the “church of God in Corinth” (2). The message is clear: the Corinthians are not alone; they are part of a great assembly called by God, which includes all men and women of every race and nation who have been “consecrated to Christ Jesus with a holy calling” (2) and who, therefore, invoke the name of Jesus wherever they are.
Among the gifts the community has received, Paul mentions eloquence and wisdom, qualities highly valued in the Greek world; by emphasizing them, the Apostle earns the goodwill of his readers. These charisms serve a purpose now, but they are aimed toward the ultimate revelation of Jesus Christ, when “his day” arrives. When writing the letter, Paul believed that the second and final coming of the Lord was imminent.
Discord in Corinth.
After this dense and systematic introduction, Paul gets straight to the central issue in the community: divisions and rivalries, ongoing problems for the Church of God throughout the ages. Paul doesn’t detail the divisions, but the tone of the letter makes the allusion clear: discrimination and differences among rich Christians (some) and poor Christians (the majority); slaves and free people; women and men; educated (some) and uneducated (the majority); charismatic and conservative; Jews and Greeks; public sinners and honest people. Christ and the Church are linked in such a way (cf. 12:27) that divisions within the Church are as foolish as if Christ were divided.
The Message of the Cross.
We enter the most critical section of the letter, where Paul, who has previously said his primary mission is to evangelize, explains what his gospel truly is—the message he proclaims as Christ’s ambassador. It is no exaggeration to say that this is one of the key texts of the entire New Testament, which will then validate or undermine everything we think, write, say, or do in God’s name throughout history. His message is the cross of Jesus. Through a series of bold and powerful contrasts, Paul brings us closer to the mystery of Christ crucified: “scandal” for the Jews who expect a triumphant Christ; “Foolishness” for the Greeks who seek and rely on reason and wisdom. Paul presents to the Corinthians—and to us—the project that Jesus announced in the synagogue of Nazareth (cf. Lk 4:14-21).