“For I determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2).
In these famous words Paul announced to the Corinthians a resolution which he had settled on before ever he preached the gospel in their city. It seems clear that there is a negative and a positive aspect to his decision; he had resolved to avoid certain things and he was equally determined to emphasise certain other things.
In the narrow context of his words it is clear that Paul was announcing his avoidance of one particular matter. He had not come among them with the arts of a rhetorician, nor with the airs of a philosopher (v.1). These ostentatious styles he had determined to avoid, for they clashed with the spirit of his message. Paul had such a solemn sense of being God’s mouthpiece that he trembled to think of any artificiality of form detracting from the message he had to declare: ‘Jesus Christ and him crucified’.
We take it that this is the significance of Paul’s words, limiting them to their immediate context. However, it may be permissible to see their significance also in relation to a broader context in the Epistle. And if we do allow such a broadening of the background to v. 2, there is one particular matter which Paul had clearly decided not to do, before his arrival at Corinth. He had determined not to become embroiled in the divisions within the church. That the Corinthian church was in fact split into various rival camps is clear from 1:12, ‘ . . . every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ’.
The group which championed Paul against these others would doubtless have been delighted at the news that their hero was to visit their city. They would have anticipated many gains from opposing ranks while the apostle preached among them. But they were to be disappointed. Paul had resolved that question in his mind long before he set foot in Corinth. He was to have nothing whatever to do with their envy, their strife, and their carnal divisions (3:2). He was to preach on a higher plane; he was to move in a more spiritual sphere.
If Paul turned his back on these things, what did he turn towards? He turned to one theme — Jesus Christ and him crucified.
He could not have turned to a theme more closely allied to the glory of God. As Paul himself said elsewhere, Christ is the brightness of His Father’s glory. The pride of men could feast on divisions in the churches and on other carnal subjects, but here was a theme which put every man in his place. Here was a subject which glorified the name of God and which made every man who understood it say, ‘Woe is me, for I am undone . . .’
Another point about this chosen theme of the Apostle’s is that it was calculated to do the Corinthians nothing but good. Jesus Christ and him crucified had been the means, through the first promise, of striking the first cheering light since darkness settled on the world. Jesus Christ and him crucified had been the subject of all the songs of the church since the beginning of time, and will be the theme of the church’s songs when time shall be no longer. How did lost sinners ever get to sing of wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption (1:30) if it was not by faith in Jesus Christ and him crucified?
There would be no regrets after this campaign, nobody would be misled, no-one would be needlessly hurt, for the theme of the campaign was simply, ‘Jesus Christ and him crucified.’ We cannot tell what harm is being done in men’s minds when matters alien to this are raised. We cannot tell how many are discouraged from seeking Christ, when profitless matters are entertained by the church. But we know that, when we adhere to ‘Jesus Christ and him crucified’ there can come from it nothing but good.
This was no doubt the fruit of Paul’s ministry in Corinth. The effect of his preaching was to edify his hearers’ minds and elevate their thoughts, to sink their differences and deliver them from all that barred their way to Christ. How much evil was thus avoided, how much good was thus achieved!
And how much cause for heart-searching among the apostle’s successors, to see if they can say as he could, ‘I determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified!’
J.T.