Consider your own calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, 28 and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, 29 so that no human being might boast before God. 30 It is due to him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord.”
The city of Corinth in Paul’s time had been rebuilt by the Romans to be an outpost of Roman influence and only Roman citizens could be citizens of Corinth. There were Jews living in Corinth and Paul spent about 18 months there (AD 50 – AD 51) gaining converts from among both Jews and Greeks. Most of the converts were not Roman citizens or from the aristocracy but were of humble origin. The Jews who did not convert were hostile against Paul and brought him before the proconsul Gallio who dismissed their complaint as an argument over doctrine (Acts 18). When Paul left Corinth some of the Jewish Christians whom Paul called false prophets (2 Cor. 11:13) tried to undermine his influence. Paul tried to guide the Corinthians back to the correct and normative understanding of Christ and Christ crucified.
Paul asked the Corinthians to reflect on their stations in life and social statuses before they became followers of Christ. By ordinary human standards, most of them were of humble origin since not many of them were wise, influential, or of noble birth. God chose the outcasts of the world to execute His plan of salvation (Jas. 2:5). God showed his sovereignty, power, and wisdom by choosing the humble, the weak, the lowly, and the despised, to shame the wise and the strong. By doing so no one could boast that they were saved by their own wisdom, strength, resources, or actions. It is only through God’s mercy and grace that they have been redeemed in Christ Jesus who became the wisdom of God for all. Jesus is the source of all righteousness and sanctification. We must acknowledge that we live by the grace of God, and for God; “Whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord (2 Cor 10:17; Jer. 9:22-23).”
Almighty God, grant us the grace to hear the words of Jesus in our hearts and the strength to follow your commandments so that we may be brought into the light of the risen Christ. This we pray through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
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