Day 37: I Corinthians 15
As the early church grew and spread throughout Europe and Asia, Paul wrote letters to many of the churches he had started or visited. One such letter, 1 Corinthians, was directed to the church at Corinth and was full of encouragement and exhortations to the believers there who were powerfully influenced by their pagan environment. Many of the problems addressed - immaturity, instability, infidelity, immorality, and others - continue to affect the lives of many churches today, and Paul wrote to remind them of the truth of the gospel and the reality of their call to be holy. Paul’s letters (which make up much of the New Testament) were written towards specific groups of people struggling with particular issues, and it is often helpful to understand the original problems in order to fully understand the purpose of the letter. Towards the very end of this letter, in today’s reading, Paul culminates his letter into a chapter on the significance and implications of the resurrection of Jesus. In a way, this letter provides the climax for many of the teachings he has set forth in this letter; in other words, the resurrection of Jesus - and someday, of ourselves - gives his previous teachings and directives ultimate meaning and purpose. He begins by summarizing what the gospel is (vv. 3-8) and why it is of “first importance” (v. 3). He then writes at length of the essential truth of the resurrection.
Some believers in Corinth were claiming that there was no resurrection of the body, and that Christianity was a religion for this life only. This matches well with a current philosophy that it doesn’t really matter whether Christianity is right or wrong - if it works for people, they should stick with it. But here, Paul explains that it matters deeply whether it is right or wrong and if there is a resurrection. He says that if no one is resurrected, then Jesus also was not resurrected; in that case, “faith is futile” (v. 17) and “all who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost” (v. 18). It was the resurrection that proved that Jesus was who he claimed to be and that truly showed his triumph over death and the grave. Furthermore, Paul argues, “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men” (v. 19). Our very hope and faith depends not only on Jesus’ resurrection, but on ours as well.
In the verses that follow, Paul agrees with his critics that we don’t know exactly what this resurrection will look like; we only know that it will be imperishable, glorious, powerful, and spiritual (vv. 42-44). But one thing we do know: “Death has been swallowed up in victory” (v. 54). In our time here on earth, we must face the inevitable reality of our own death and the eventual deaths of all those we love, provided Christ does not first return. This fact of death causes some to live without hope and consider everything meaningless, often leading either to excessive nihilism or hedonism. But we know that Jesus conquered death, and that he gives us power over death as well, which gives us meaning in our lives and hope in our deaths. In The Last Battle, C.S. Lewis wrote that death is only the beginning: “All life in this world and all adventures had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.”
Questions for reflection and discussion: Why does Christianity hang on the essential truth of the resurrection? What implications does Jesus’ resurrection and our eventual resurrection have for our lives today? How does today’s chapter offer hope and encouragement in a fallen world?
