1 Corinthians 1:27-28, Things Which Are Despised
1 Corinthians 1:27-28 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are.
The word “despised” is a compound word consisting of the preposition “from” and the noun “to bring to naught”, meaning “treat with scorn, jeer at, look down on”. Those whom the people in the world disregarded, God regarded them. They are precious in God’s sight.
The National Geographic magazine July 1997 in the article “The Power and Glory of the Roman Empire” written by T.R. Reid, it is observed interesting the spread of the Christian faith throughout the Roman Empire, “In the empire where human life was held so trivial, we should perhaps not be surprised by the rapid growth of a new religious cult centering on a young man executed as a criminal in an unimportant province. When Jesus of Nazareth and a minor procurator named Pontius Pilate came face-to-face in the basilica of Jerusalem – it was around A.D. 30 – all the power lay on Pilate’s side. But Jesus had the power of an idea. His message, that every life was precious, addressed a human need that the caesars could not fill. Assisted greatly by the ease of travel and the general tolerance of new religions within the empire, the early Christians gradually converted the entire Roman Empire. The historian Eusebius tells of the civil war of A.D. 312, when two Roman leaders, Constantine and Maxentius, battled for control of the empire. Gazing up into the noonday sky, Constantine saw a brilliant flaming cross above the sun. Emblazoned on it were the words “In hoc signo vinces” – In this sign you will conquer…Emerging victorious, Constantine issued his famous edict of toleration. Much later, as he lay on deathbed, he was baptised, becoming the first Christian emperor of Rome.”
As Isaiah the prophet predicted the coming of Christ in Isaiah 53:1-5 “Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? 2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.“
To the Romans, Christianity was a new religious cult. But for the believers, it is the power of God to save. It brought new meaning to life, to have their sins forgiven and eternal life. Thank God for the gospel that spread from Europe to Asia, bringing God’s peace to this part of the world. Amen.