Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God’s folly
18 The word of the cross, you see, is madness to people who are being destroyed. But to us—those who are being saved—it is God’s power. 19 This is what the Bible says, after all:
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the shrewdness of the clever I’ll abolish.
20 Where is the wise person? Where is the educated person? Where is the debater of this present age? Don’t you see that God has turned the world’s wisdom into folly? 21 This is how it’s happened: in God’s wisdom, the world didn’t know God through wisdom, so it gave God pleasure, through the folly of our proclamation, to save those who believe. 22 Jews look for signs, you see, and Greeks search for wisdom; 23 but we announce the crucified Messiah, a scandal to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, the Messiah—God’s power and God’s wisdom. 25 God’s folly is wiser than humans, you see, and God’s weakness is stronger than humans.
Boasting in the Lord
26 Think back to your own call, my brothers and sisters. Not many of you were wise in human terms. Not many of you were powerful. Not many were nobly born. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose the insignificant and despised things of the world—yes, even things that don’t exist!—to abolish the power of the things that do exist, 29 so that no creature could boast in God’s presence. 30 Who and what you now are is a gift from God in Messiah Jesus, who has become for us God’s wisdom—and righteousness, sanctification and redemption as well; 31 so that, as the Bible puts it, “Anyone who boasts should boast in the Lord.”
The seed must die
20 Some Greeks had come up with all the others to worship at the festival. 21 They went to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee.
“Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.”
22 Philip went and told Andrew, and Andrew and Philip went together to tell Jesus.
23 “The time has come,” said Jesus in reply. “This is the moment for the son of man to be glorified. 24 I’m telling you the solemn truth: unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains all by itself. If it dies, though, it will produce lots of fruit. 25 If you love your life, you’ll lose it. If you hate your life in this world, you’ll keep it for the life of the coming age.
26 “If anyone serves me, they must follow me. Where I am, my servant will be too. If anyone serves me, the father will honor them.”
The hour has come
27 “Now my heart is troubled,” Jesus went on. “What am I going to say: ‘Father, save me from this moment’? No! It was because of this that I came to this moment. 28 Father, glorify your name!”
“I have glorified it,” came a voice from heaven, “and I will glorify it again.”
29 “That was thunder!” said the crowd, standing there listening.
“No,” said others. “It was an angel, talking to him.”
30 “That voice came for your sake, not mine,” replied Jesus. 31 “Now comes the judgment of this world! Now this world’s ruler is going to be thrown out! 32 And when I’ve been lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself.”
33 He said this in order to point to the kind of death he was going to die.
34 So the crowd spoke to him again.
“We heard in the law,” they said, “that the Messiah will last forever. How can you say that the son of man must be lifted up? Who is this ‘son of man’?”
35 “The light is among you a little while longer,” replied Jesus. “Keep walking while you have the light, in case the darkness overcomes you. People who walk in the dark don’t know where they’re going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may be children of light.”
With these words, Jesus went away and was hidden from them.
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.