‘For, I think, God has set forth us the apostles last of all, as men doomed to death. For we are made a spectacle to the world, and to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You have glory but we have dishonour.'
These Corinthians seemingly thought that they had been put first. That they were specially chosen. That they were commencing the Messianic reign as God's elect. Well let them consider the situation of those most spiritual of men, the Apostles, whose gifts from God far exceeded those of all others. They were seemingly doing the opposite of reigning. They had seemingly been put last. They were seemingly at the back of the queue when it came to prestige and honour and glory. Rather than being exalted they were doomed to death. This may refer to the fact that in the triumphal processions of Roman conquerors, in which their captives were made a spectacle, those captives who were doomed to death in the arena were made to walk last. So rather than reigning Christ's Apostles were being made a spectacle in the sight of the whole world, both of angels and of men, and being paraded, as it were, as doomed captives, as animal fodder.
‘Of angels and of men.' It may well be that the reference to angels had in mind that these Corinthians saw themselves not only as exalted above men, but also as exalted in the eyes of the angels, as almost angels themselves. Or he may be referring to the fact of the angels who are present to watch over God's people (Hebrews 2:14) and are therefore spectators to all that goes on on earth.
Rather than boasting of wisdom and strength the Apostles were looked on as fools and could only boast of weakness and humiliation Note how all this fits in with what Paul has been saying earlier about those who were Christ's (1 Corinthians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 1:23; 1 Corinthians 1:26-28). Indeed while the Corinthians were displaying themselves as wise in Christ the Apostles were being paraded as fools for Christ, as the truly wise. While the Corinthians rejoiced in glory, the Apostles, those especially chosen men of God, were despised and dishonoured. They were a show for others to jeer at or clap.
For Christ's sake the Apostles were prepared to be looked on as fools, and to say things and behave in a way that made men think they were fools, proclaiming openly the word of the cross. Their only desire was to honour Christ. They had died to their own ways and desires so that they might live to Him, and it had led to poverty and worldly dishonour. Clearly someone had got their bearings wrong somewhere. Either the Corinthians were right, or the Apostles were. Paul is making his final bid to show them how wrong they in fact are. They are being misled about spiritual priorities because they are overlooking the cross. They need to leave their study of ‘wisdom' and their experience meetings and take the word of the cross out to the world. They would then soon find then whether the Messianic age had come.
What a contrast then were these fleshly Corinthian Christians and their views when compared with the Apostles. They saw themselves as wise (sensible and prudent and with extra spiritual knowledge), and strong and glorious. But of course it was all an illusion based on their particular circumstances. They were really the opposite. They were not the spiritual giants that they thought they were. Rather they lived to excess in everything, in disputes about different Teachers and different wisdom teaching, in sexual misbehaviour (chapter 5), in legal disputes, taking fellow Christians before pagan courts (chapter 6), in partying and drunkenness (1 Corinthians 11:20-22), and in the misuse of spiritual gifts (chapter 14). They had no real concept of oneness in Christ, of chasteness and purity, of concern for others, and of the use of spiritual gifts for the benefit of others rather than themselves. Far from enjoying Messianic blessings they were Messianic misfits. They had not learned to live sacrificially, like the One Who had nowhere to lay His head (Matthew 8:20; Luke 9:58). And all this was evidence that the word of the cross was not pre-eminent in their lives.
‘God has set us forth.' But they should note what God has done. It is God Who has done what He has to the Apostles. He has deliberately set them forth as a spectacle. How then does this tie in with the Corinthians' way of thinking?
So we note here that in the last analysis it was God Who had brought these things on the Apostles. Paul is not complaining. He is giving them as an example. None need despair or lose courage for it was within His purpose and was the means by which He brought about His will. Those who are not God's true servants may seem to ‘prosper', but those who are His may expect to find themselves constantly assailed by trial and tribulation, (although their prayer must always be, ‘lead us not into testing, but deliver us from evil', for their confidence must be in Him and not in themselves).
‘To the world and to angels and to men.' For the idea of the angels as observers of men see 1 Corinthians 11:10; Hebrews 1:14. As suggested earlier this may indicate that the Corinthians had an exalted view of themselves as above angelic status. Or ‘angels and men' might be intended to define ‘the world' in which we operate, peopled by men, watched over by angels.