1 Corinthians 2:7Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

A mystery does not allow embellishments. It is proclaimed exactly as it is. It will no longer be a divine and uncorrupted mystery if you add something of your own to it.

It is also called a mystery because in it we contemplate not what we see, but see one thing and believe another. Such is the property of our mysteries. I look upon them one way, and the unbeliever another. I hear that Christ was crucified, and I marvel at His love for mankind. The unbeliever hears this and considers it weakness.

I hear that Christ became a servant, and I marvel at His providence. The unbeliever hears this and considers it dishonor. I hear that Christ died, and I am amazed at His might: how, after undergoing death, He was not held by it, but even destroyed death. The unbeliever hears this and ascribes it to His weakness.

Hearing of the Resurrection, he calls it a fable. But I, being assured by the very events, worship the divine economy of God. Hearing of baptism, he imagines only water. But I see not only the visible thing, but also the invisible cleansing of the soul accomplished by the Spirit.

He thinks that only my body has been washed. But I believe that the soul too has become pure and holy. I set before myself the tomb, the Resurrection, sanctification, justification, redemption, adoption, inheritance, the Kingdom of heaven, and the gift of the Spirit. For I look at the visible not with simple sight, but with spiritual eyes. When the body of Christ is spoken of, I understand what is said one way, and the unbeliever another.

"Which God ordained before the ages for our glory." By the word "ordained," he indicates God’s love for us. For the one who truly loves us is the one who was prepared long beforehand to benefit us. So God ordained before the ages our salvation through the Cross, a salvation that constitutes the greatest wisdom. He said "for our glory" because He made us partakers of glory. For it is glory for a servant to share with the Lord in a hidden mystery.

"Which God ordained before the ages for our glory." The Apostle explains the importance of Gospel preaching by the pre-eternal decree in this sense. Philosophical and civil wisdom has its beginning and is destroyed in the course of later times. By contrast, Gospel wisdom laid its foundation before the ages and will abide without end.

In His pre-eternal counsel, the merciful God determined this most exalted and incomprehensible mystery: that the Son of God, the second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, should at the end of the ages take human flesh upon Himself. After assuming true humanity, He was pleased to accomplish the saving work of our redemption and deliverance.

This saving counsel of our God was ordained with this intention: that through heartfelt faith in Jesus Christ and through the knowledge of this saving wisdom, we might attain the inheritance of heavenly glory. The Apostle indicated this by the words: "for our glory."

Such were the scribes and Pharisees, who considered themselves wise and understanding (Mt 11:25). Such too were the self-deceived guides of men like them in the pagan world. The Apostle calls them together the princes of this age because they ruled in the world before the appearing of Christ.

This age means the world lying in evil, hostile to the Gospel and the Kingdom of God (cf. 2 Tim 4:10). None of these features applies either to Orthodox sovereigns, who reign by the mercy of God, or to the rulers of Christ's Church, who receive the duties of shepherding from the Lord.

This is the wisdom "which none of the rulers of this age knew. For had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ... God has revealed it to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God." He does this as easily as the human spirit knows its own inward actions and states (1 Cor 2:11).

All this, the Apostle adds, is what has been "given to us by God," and we proclaim it with unshaken hope of success. We speak "not in words taught by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Holy Spirit, comparing spiritual things with spiritual."

In all this one hears the Apostle's reproving thought. Perhaps the Corinthians still chase after outward signs of verbal wisdom, and are disturbed over their various teachers and preachers, because they themselves are still far from the Christian way of receiving the Gospel preaching. They cannot stand among those perfect ones among whom Christian wisdom is successfully preached by comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

The Apostle's saying about "comparing spiritual things with spiritual" (1 Cor 2:13) needs particular explanation. St. Chrysostom offers it in this sense: the Apostles took the subjects needed on various occasions to explain their speech from the same spiritual and sacred-biblical realm, for example, from types and prophecies, and by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

"For example," the holy Father reasons in the person of the Apostle Paul, "I say that Christ rose, and that He was born of a Virgin. For explanation I bring testimonies and types: Jonah's stay inside the whale and his subsequent deliverance from it, the childbirth of barren women, Sarah, Rebecca, and others, and the growth of trees in Paradise, when seeds had not yet been sown, rain had not fallen, and furrows had not been drawn. Future events were inscribed and prefigured, as in shadow, by earlier ones, so that people would believe them when they came to pass. Thus I explain spiritual things by spiritual things, and nowhere have recourse to external wisdom."

"By the princes of this age," says St. John Chrysostom, "he means not demons, as some think, but men clothed with honors and authority, who regard it as something great. He means philosophers, rhetoricians, and writers, who often possessed authority and were rulers of the people. He calls them princes of this age because their authority extends no further than the present age."

The chief power acting upon the hearts of believers was the content of the apostolic preaching. The Apostles proclaimed what none of the most distinguished philosophers had ever taught. More than this, this teaching was the proclamation of salvation through the sufferings of Jesus Christ for us. It had long been revealed as the greatest mystery of the Wisdom of God. Yet the wise men of this world did not know this mystery and did not receive it as revealed.

Pointing to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ as striking proof that this mystery was not understood, the Apostle first speaks, of course, about the princes and leaders of the Jewish people. At the same time, he also speaks partly about the Greco-Romans, who had their representative at the trial of Jesus Christ, namely Pilate.

According to St. John Chrysostom's explanation, "The Wisdom of God preached by the Apostle is called a mystery because in it we contemplate not what we see. We see one thing and believe another. Such is the nature of our mysteries. I look upon them in one way, and the unbeliever in another. Hearing of baptism, he imagines only water. But I see not only what is visible, but also the invisible: the cleansing of the soul accomplished by the Spirit."

In what mystery is this wisdom hidden? It was hidden in the mystery of the Godhead, and before its manifestation no one knew it as he should. “Neither angel nor archangel nor any other created power knew it before it was revealed. Therefore the Apostle also says: that now through the Church the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavens (Eph. 3:10). God so honored us that they too heard it together with us” (St. Chrysostom).

It is called a mystery also because in it we contemplate not what we see. We see one thing and believe another. Such is the nature of our mysteries. I look at them in one way, and the unbeliever in another.

I hear that Christ became a servant, and I marvel at His providence. The unbeliever hears and considers it dishonor. I hear that Christ was crucified and died, and I marvel at His love for mankind. I am amazed at His power, that after undergoing death He was not held by it, but even destroyed death. The unbeliever hears and attributes this to His weakness and helplessness.

Hearing of the Resurrection, he calls it a fable. But I, being assured of it by the events themselves, worship the divine economy of God. Hearing of baptism, he imagines only water. I see not only the visible, but also the invisible cleansing of the soul accomplished by the Spirit. He thinks that only my body has been washed. I believe that the soul too has become pure and holy. I set before myself the tomb, the Resurrection, sanctification, justification, redemption, adoption, inheritance, the Kingdom of heaven, and the gift of the Spirit. For I look upon the visible not by simple sight, but with spiritual eyes.

When there is speech of the body of Christ, I understand what is said in one way, and the unbeliever in another. So it is also with all the mysteries. Unbelievers, hearing of them, seem not to hear. But believers, having been taught by the Spirit, understand the power of what is hidden. Therefore Paul says that even now the Gospel is veiled: “it is veiled to those who are perishing” (2 Cor. 4:3). For some are soulish and do not understand. Others have a veil on their heart and do not see” (St. Chrysostom).

This wisdom is a hidden mystery also because even now, when it has been committed to writing, it is understood only by the illumination of the Holy Spirit. Without Him one reads and does not understand. But even if someone understood everything, he would know only a part of it, not the whole.

“Wisdom is a mystery of God,” says St. Chrysostom, “also because, although it is preached everywhere, it is not comprehended by those who do not have a sound mind. It is revealed not by the help of wisdom, but by the Holy Spirit, as much as we can receive. Therefore one would not err if for this very reason he called it an unknowable mystery. For even to us believers full and perfect knowledge has not been given, as Paul says: we know in part” (1 Cor. 13:9-12).

“Which God foreordained,” he says, expressing by this God’s care for us. For those are usually considered to care for us and love us most who have long been disposed to do us good, as parents act toward children. Although they give them their property later, they have been disposed to do so long beforehand and from the beginning.

So Paul also tries here to show that God has loved us from ancient times and always, even when we did not yet exist. For if He had not loved us, He would not have appointed riches for us. Therefore do not imagine that the enmity which existed between Him and us is ancient. Love is more ancient than it.

The words before the ages mean eternity, as it is said elsewhere: “He who is before the ages” (Ps. 54:20).

“For our glory,” “because He grants believers not only salvation, but also glory” (Theodoret). Glory in the future is the granting of the Kingdom. But it is preceded by glory here. This is the cleansing of our nature and its filling with the brightness of grace, until it becomes not only bright, but light-bearing. This is the glory of spiritual perfection in Christ Jesus.