Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, "What does this babbler want to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods," because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean." For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing. Acts 17:18-21

It is little wonder that unregenerate people do not understand the gospel when they hear it. Doesn’t 1 Corinthians 2:14 say:

But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

This passage underscores that even the smartest and most educated (frequently not the same thing!) have no more ability to understand spiritual truth than the less intelligent and/or educated. In fact, superior intelligence and advanced education often make it harder for those who possess such things to understand spiritual truth. Why? It may be that these are also afflicted with pride concerning their intellectual prowess. But that aside, the fact is, spiritual truth must be revealed by the Holy Spirit. It cannot simply be discovered or deduced by human intellect—no matter how great it may or may not be.

Let we, who know Christ and the gospel, be therefore humbled that the Lord would reveal Himself to us! Let us disavow all temptations to pride because we know what was revealed to us. Let us resist the temptation to look down on those who do not understand spiritual truth. Just as we would not look down on a person with no legs for not running a marathon, let us look with compassion on the spiritually unenlightened. And let us pray, pray, pray!