Men had dared to call the preaching of the cross of Christ foolishness. But who and what were they? Those that perish! Was it wise to follow such? They might vaunt of their wisdom, but this would not save them from perdition.
Need we wonder it was to them foolishness, if they saw not the glory of the Person of Christ given to die in God's love to sinners? What could seem less reasonable to the natural mind than for a crucified man to be the only Savior from sins and the wrath of God?
Men naturally despise the cross, who do not believe either that their sins deserve divine judgment or that He in grace bore that judgment thereon.
Nothing is a man so slow to acknowledge as his own badness, and in such a state religion is only a blind for the soul and a sop for God-of all vanities the greatest and most pernicious. [101