I Cor 15 and the Resurrection of the Body I

"Now I should remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, 2 through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain.

3 For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, 4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to someone untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace towards me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe."

Talking About Basic Faith

This long chapter on the resurrection of the body appears at the end of Paul's five-chapter (11-15) handling of problems within the Corinthian church. The New Testament epistles are remarkable for the combination of their "occasional" and "eternal" qualities. On the one hand, they were written to deal with issues in the lives of first-century Christians far away and in quite different cultures--issues that often have little resonance in the 21st century (such as food offered to idols). On the other hand, they are, as Scripture, messages to the Church and individuals today, who wrestle with our own version of principalities and powers and spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places (cf. Eph. 6:12).

The epistle reading for today and the next several weeks is from I Cor 15. This passage has both a "strange" and "eternal" quality to it. The topic is the nature of the resurrection body believers will possess at the end time. It is not really a burning topic today, but seemed to be one in Corinth. Why? Probably because of the "spiritual" people who had come into the community and were claiming that because they were "in the Spirit" that somehow they had already experienced the fulness of the Kingdom. This would help explain Paul's focus on spiritual things in I Cor 2-3, as well as the interesting reference in I Cor 12:1--"with regard to spiritual (people or things), I would not have you be ignorant." Paul had probably "unleased" in his appearance in Corinth a strong understanding of Spirit. Some who heard him took it to a "natural" conclusion by emphasizing our current spiritual state and that the "lowly" experiences of human life were now passe.

Paul wanted to counterract the excessive emphasis on "spiritual things" taught by the "spiritual men" in two ways. First, he stressed the primacy of the "higher" gifts of the Spirit, especially that of love, and second, he emphasized the very "bodily-ness" of Christ--he died and was buried (1 Cor 15:3). Paul spent so much time in I Cor. 15 on the resurrection of the dead and our resurrected body because he was trying to correct a misunderstanding--one that he may unwittingly have caused.

But there is also an "eternal" reading of I Cor. 15, some of which I will bring out in the three-points I derive from vv. 1-11 below. Suffice it to say at this point that one of the things that makes this long chapter an ever-present inspiration to me is the way that GWF Handel used it in Messiah. Several Airs and Choruses in the Third Part of that masterpiece were derived from the verses of this chapter. Especially memoriable for me is "The Trumpet Shall Sound...and We Shall be Changed." Sung by the bass, this almost nine-minute Air (the second-longest in the whole Messiah) bursts forth which such confidence and determination that anyone listening to this must surely say that something amazing is afoot here. Resurrection, in Paul's theology leads to confidence and perserverance: "Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain" (I Cor. 15:58).

Three Points from I Cor. 15:1-11

Paul sets the stage for his chapter-long discussion of the certainty of resurrection of the dead by laying out the nature of the common faith which we share as Christians. We can divide this text as follows: (1) The Fact of our Common Faith--vv. 1-2, 11; (2) The Nature of our Common Faith--vv. 3-7; (3) Paul's Own Experience of The Resurrected Christ--vv. 8-10. The last point allows us some lazer-sharp insights into Paul's self-conception and personality. The next essay explores each of these three themes.

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