John Calvin Commentary 1 Corinthians 1:26

"For behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, [are called]:" — 1 Corinthians 1:26 (ASV)

Behold your calling. Since the mood of the Greek verb (βλέπετε) is doubtful, and the indicative suits the context just as well as the imperative, I leave it to the reader’s choice which of them he may prefer. The meaning is clearly the same in either case. If we suppose it to be the indicative (you see), he would in that case summon them as witnesses—as to something that is evident—and call them forward, as it were, to something that is present. On the other hand, understanding it in the imperative, he rouses them, as it were, from their drowsiness to consider the matter itself.

The term calling may be taken in a collective sense to mean the multitude of those who are called—in this sense: “You see what kind of people they are among you whom the Lord has called.” I am, however, more inclined to think that he points out the manner of their calling.

And it is a most powerful argument, because it follows from this that if they despise the lowliness of the cross, they, in a way, nullify their calling. In their calling, God had acted in such a way as to take away all merit from human wisdom, power, and glory. Therefore, he tacitly accuses them of ingratitude because, forgetting God’s grace and themselves alike, they regard the gospel of Christ with disdain.

Two things, however, must be observed here: first, that he wished from the example of the Corinthians to confirm the truth of what he had said; and further, that he intended to admonish them that they must be entirely stripped of pride if they properly considered the order of things that the Lord had observed in their calling.

To put to shame, he says, the wise and noble, and to bring to nothing things that are. Both expressions are appropriate, for strength and wisdom vanish when they are put to shame, but what has existence needs to be brought to nothing. By choosing the poor, the foolish, and the lowly, he means that God has preferred them over the great, the wise, and the noble.

For it would not have been sufficient for beating down the arrogance of the flesh if God had placed them all on one level. Therefore, those who appeared to excel he put in the background, so that he might thoroughly humble them. That person, however, would be an utter fool who would infer from this that God has in this way humbled the glory of the flesh so that the great and noble might be excluded from the hope of salvation.

There are some foolish people who use this as a pretext not merely for triumphing over the great, as if God had rejected them, but even for despising them as greatly inferior. Let us, however, bear in mind that this is said to the Corinthians, who, though they had no great distinction in the world, were nevertheless, even without cause, puffed up.

God, therefore, by confounding the mighty, the wise, and the great, does not intend to inflate with pride the weak, the illiterate, and the lowly, but brings all of them down to one level. Therefore, let those who are contemptible in the eyes of the world think to themselves: “What modesty is required of us, when even those who have high honor in the world’s view have nothing left?” If the radiance of the sun is obscured, what will become of the stars?

If the light of the stars is extinguished, what will become of opaque objects? The purpose of these observations is that those who have been called by the Lord, while of no esteem in the world’s eyes, should not abuse these words of Paul by becoming arrogant, but, on the contrary, keeping in mind the exhortation—

You stand by faith; do not be high-minded, but fear,
(Romans 11:20),

may walk thoughtfully in the sight of God with fear and humility.

Paul, however, does not say here that none of the noble and mighty have been called by God, but that there are few. He states the purpose of this: that the Lord might bring down the glory of the flesh by preferring the contemptible over the great.

God himself, however, through David, exhorts kings to embrace Christ (Psalms 2:12), and through Paul, too, he declares that he will have all men to be saved and that his Christ is offered alike to small and great, alike to kings and their subjects (1 Timothy 2:1–4).

He has himself provided a sign of this. Shepherds, in the first place, are called to Christ; then, later, philosophers come. Illiterate and despised fishermen hold the highest rank of honor; yet, in time, kings and their counselors, senators, and orators are received into their school.