1 Corinthians Chapter 15.
THE
RESURRECTION OF THE BODY.
Some Christians at Corinth,
presumably a small group, denied the resurrection of the bodies of
believers. They did not deny the
survival of the soul, nor, as yet, the resurrection of Christ. However, the apostle saw that the scepticism
that denied the resurrection of the body must eventually deny that Christ was
raised. Paul was also sure that the
faith which seriously accepts Christ's resurrection, will be prepared to accept
the resurrection of the body.
The source of their scepticism. It is unlikely that it was due to the
influence of the Sadducees. More likely
its source was their native Greek way of thinking. Greek thought was generally unfriendly to the
doctrine of the resurrection. The
Epicureans held that there was no survival beyond death and the Stoics taught
that at death the soul lost its individual existence and was absorbed into the
divine soul. The Christian doctrine of
the resurrection of the body emphasized that survival is individual and
personal. Paul's discussion falls into
two principle sections:
* He establishes the
fact of the resurrection of the body. 15:1-34.
* The mode or manner
of the resurrection. 15:35-58.
The chapter may be divided into six parts:-
1/ 15:1-11. The resurrection of Christ is fundamental to
the truth of the Gospel. He shows the threefold relationship of the
Corinthians to the gospel (v.1-2), and the basic facts of the apostolic
testimony and preaching. v.3-11.
2/ 15:12-19. The denial of the resurrection of the body
involves a denial of Christ's resurrection, and with dire consequences to the
gospel.
3/ 15:20-28. The resurrection of Christ is the pledge of
the ultimate victory and rule of God.
4/ 15:29-34. Two practical arguments and a warning.
5/ 15:35-50. The nature of the resurrection body.
* Analogies from
nature. v.35-41.
* The distinctive
character of the resurrection body. v.42-50.
6/ 15:50-58. The mystery of the great change.
* The transformation
of the body; instantaneous, complete and victorious.
* Be steadfast in
hope, active in serving the Lord.
15:1. Paul brings
again to their memory the Gospel which he had preached to them. They were thinking and talking like men who
did not know the gospel. He had preached
to them the gospel years before, but they were still ignorant of its
significance and implications. Their
denial of the resurrection of the body indicated their poor understanding of
the gospel. He had proclaimed the facts
of the gospel, now he must remind them of these facts, and make known to them
their true significance. The Gospel
was the agency that God was using to bring them final salvation. Paul is precise as to their relationship to
the gospel:
* Received it. It did not originate with them, but it was a gift
they received.
* Stand. It was their one and sure spiritual
foundation. Everything depended upon it.
* Being saved. Present continuous tense.
15:2. The Gospel is
received by faith and is held fast by faith.
Paul contemplates the possibility that some of them may have believed in
vain. In the A.V. "(in) vain"
translates three different Greek words in this chapter, `Eike' v.2; `Kenos' v.10,14,58; `Mataios' v.17.
In verse 2, Vine gives three possible meanings to `eike' (in
vain). They are:-
Without
consideration, to no purpose and without cause.
Vine prefers "without cause" R.V.m., but we choose,
"without consideration", i.e. "thoughtlessly at random, by
chance, in a hap-hazard or heedless manner." It is possible to profess faith in Christ
without proper consideration of its meaning and demand. The man who accepts the gospel
whole-heartedly and with seriousness, will want to think out its
implications. the Christian must be
prepared to do hard and serious thinking.
15:3. The facts of the
gospel that Paul had delivered to them, he had received. See Gal.1:11-24. "First of all." The N.E.B. has "first and foremost,"
that is, as fundamental. The emphasis is
not on the fact that it was what he had first told them, but it was that which
occupied the central place in his preaching.
Three basic events form the facts of the gospel. It is not a philosophy or a theory, but it is
the proclamation of certain historic events which are central for our
salvation. They are saving events
revealing God's intervention and His coming into the sphere of human history,
hence to have the character of historical events and of the Divine Act by which
God saves. God revealed himself in what
He does, but to the philosopher of this world, it constitutes the scandal of
particularity.
Paul's preaching in a nutshell:
* Christ the Messiah
died voluntarily on the Cross to bring to us the forgiveness of sins. That He died constitutes an historical
event and, that He died for our sins, constitutes it a saving event.
"According to the Scripture." This is the full guarantee that it is a
saving event. The death of Christ was no
afterthought, but was the fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures. It was the accomplishment of God's plan for
man's salvation. It was his obedience to
the will of God that gave special significance to Messiah's death.
* "He was
buried." 15:4. In the evangelical
record of Jesus, the burial has a place.
It formed part of the testimony of apostolic preaching. The mention of the burial emphasizes the
reality of His death. It testifies to
the "body-character" of His resurrection, for the body of Jesus was
buried, and that same body was raised.
* "Hath been
raised." R.V. The perfect tense
means He continues to be the risen and living Christ. Glorious fact of our faith!
* "The third
day." The Lord foretold this
fact. Death could not hold Him for a
moment longer than He willed. It
suggests the completeness of His victory over death. It was the working out of the Divine plan. The third day was V.day. The third day is the
day after tomorrow. The tradition that
Jesus was crucified on Friday is likely to be correct.
* "According to
the Scriptures." This is affirmed
of Christ's death for our sins, and of
His resurrection, and emphasizes the great significance of these two
events. The final verses of Isaiah 53;
Psa.16; and 118 are important in respect to Christ's resurrection. The Old Testament bears witness to
Christ. This function is the distinctive
value of the Old Testament. The
important place that these Scriptures still hold in the Church is because of
their abiding and integral witness to Christ.
Paul seems
to say that the occurrence of the resurrection on the third day was a matter of
prophecy. He may have seen in Jonah a
type of Christ. Goudge points out that
the number 3 is connected with revival and deliverance, e.g. Gen.40:20;
42:17,18; Hosea 6:2.
THE
RESURRECTION AND CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE.
15:5-9.
The resurrection of Christ was certified by many witnesses. The Lord appeared (R.V.) to numerous
witnesses. It is based on adequate
testimony. The testimony of this chapter
is of great importance, for the epistle was written about 25 years after the
resurrection of Jesus and Paul, the author, was converted about 4 years after
the resurrection. The epistle is the
earliest written account we have of the appearances of the risen Lord to His
disciples.
The epistle testifies that Jesus appeared to many and the
resurrection was an accepted fact from the beginning. It was central to their preaching and
fundamental to their faith in Jesus as the Messiah. It is impossible to think that it had
anything else from the earliest preaching.
It had always been the fundamental conviction of the Church's faith.
Paul himself claimed to have seen Jesus, the risen Lord, and
this conviction was central to his conversion.
The vision of the risen Lord was the occasion of his becoming a
Christian but he was well aware that, before his conversion, the resurrection
was the fundamental conviction of the Church.
There was nothing that the Church was more sure about than that Jesus
had been raised and was now enthroned in Heaven. This tremendous conviction conditioned all
their thinking. It became to them the
central interpreting fact of the gospel.
15:5-7. The appearance to Cephas (Peter). See Luke 24:34. Note also Mark 16:17.
"The
Twelve." An official designation
for the apostles, though only ten were present on this occasion.
"Above 500 brethren." There is no certain reference to this in the
Gospels, but it may be the occasion of Matthew 28:16.
"James." This James is almost certainly the Lord's
brother. Gal.1:19. He was converted and
became a leader in the Palestinian Churches.
"All the Apostles."
This may represent a larger circle than the twelve.
"Paul." He is the last and final witness to the risen
Lord. Paul was born out of due time.
`Ektroma' is, "an untimely birth" or a miscarriage. It does not mean a late birth, though the
contrast with other apostles might suggest this, but the point of contrast is
not the time of conversion. It is rather
a term of contempt that his adversaries hurled at him, belittling his
apostleship. "By this so-called
abortion" as his enemies sneered.
They called him a malformed apostle lacking the vitality of the real
apostles. - Moffatt.
Paul gladly owned himself the least of the apostles, not
because his conversion was irregular as his enemies said, but because he had
persecuted the Church
of God. The remembrance of that evil course always
awakened in him a feeling of penitence.
He thought of his apostolic calling with such humility, but for a
different reason to those advanced by his opponent. To such who were ready to
disparage his apostleship he replies that it was the grace of God that had
called him to be an apostle and all that had been wrought in him was by God's
free favour.
What if his conversion was irregular, an abortion? It is what God's grace makes of a man that
really counts. Paul's labours were
greater than all other apostles and this had not been done in his own
strength, malformed as he was, but by the grace of God. The abundance of his labours and the fruit
attending them, was the best proof of God's grace working with him. None could deny the success of his preaching.
15:11. However,
comparisons are odious, and Paul did not care for them. The important thing was that Paul and the
other apostles proclaimed the same message, and it was this same message that
the Corinthians believed. There was no indecision in the Church as to the
Gospel.
15:12-19. He who
denies the resurrection of the body is in peril of denying the resurrection of
Christ. This is the logical end of such
unbelief, but the fact of Christ's resurrection is proof that there is such a
thing as the resurrection of the body.
If there can be no such thing as the resurrection of the body, then
Christ cannot have been raised. Paul
argues this kind of argument and insists that if Christ has not been raised,
then our preaching is in vain, and your faith also vain. Furthermore, the apostles would be found
(detected, exposed, found out), to be false witnesses for God. The special testimony of the apostles was that
God had raised up Christ. Paul was
confident of the truth of their testimony.
They were not lying witnesses for God.
15:16. Paul
reiterates his argument that if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ
been raised.
15:17. Paul continues
to press his argument as to the centrality of the resurrection of Christ and
its significance for the faith and hope of the Christian. See also verses 18 and 19.
15:20-28. The
certainty of Christ's resurrection assures us concerning the resurrection of
all who are Christ's. The resurrection
of Christ is the fundamental event in God's saving purpose. It is of first importance for the working out
of the Divine plan.
15:20. A note of
triumph, hope and gladness. The figure
of the firstfruits goes back to Lev.23:10-12.
A sheaf of barley was brought, waved before and dedicated to the
Lord. A peculiar feature of this
ceremony was that it was performed on the day following the Sabbath. The waving of the barley sheaf was a
dedication of the entire harvest to God.
Likewise, there is an inseparable tie between Christ the firstfruit, and
all his people. His resurrection is the
pledge and guarantee that all who sleep in Christ will rise. It is not merely a proof that the dead can
be raised, but the first stage in the Divine purpose of final victory over
death. Paul thinks of the totality of
God's saving purpose in which the resurrection of Christ has a central place.
15:21-22. A new
argument, further illustrating the bond between Christ and all His people, so
that His resurrection involves and necessitates theirs also. The Lord's resurrection was necessary because
of the Fall of Adam. It was through Adam
that death came into the world.
Therefore, it was necessary that Christ should die and rise again, for
only by His resurrection could deliverance come to us. The argument of this verse implies that
Christ retained manhood in resurrection.
He did not lay manhood aside when taking His place in Heaven. This point is vital to Paul's argument that
through this man is the resurrection from the dead. The Mediator is a man, the man Christ Jesus.
See 1.Tim.2:5.
15:22. Compare Romans
5:12. Paul considers two heads and two
humanities. The one race derived from
Adam and the other founded by Christ.
"So in Christ shall all be brought to life." The context points exclusively to the Christian
dead, such as have fallen asleep in Christ (v.18), they that are Christ's at
His coming (v.23). In Adam men are
continually dying, but in Christ all who are united to Him as members of His
body shall be made alive in the fullness of resurrection life at His coming.
15:23. Though believers are to be made alive in Christ they
are not immediately raised up when they die, for there is a Divine order. The ancient ceremony of the firstfruits
illustrate this order. Christ is the
firstfruits in His resurrection, and His resurrection is the basic fact for all
Paul has to say about the resurrection of the dead. The next group consists of "those who
belong to Christ." N.E.B. This is the harvest at the Coming (Parousia)
of Christ.
15:24. The End. At the end, Christ shall hand over the
Kingdom to His God and Father, after abolishing every foe. The end arrives when He delivers up the
Kingdom, for His work shall be fully accomplished. Until that moment, Christ must Himself rule
and wage ceaseless war with all that is opposed to the rule of God. When He hands over the Kingdom to God it
does not mean He shall cease to be King, but the great purpose of His
mediatorial reign shall have achieved its goal.
Paul emphasizes the significance of the resurrection of the
body in declaring the final enemy to be destroyed is death. For death shall be completely deprived of its
power. It's sting shall be taken away
forever, and the disastrous effects of the Fall shall be fully overcome. The Creation itself shall rejoice in the
manifestation of the sons of God.
15:28. The purpose of
the mediatorial work of Christ is to restore harmony in the Universe. To
this end He must reign until He shall have brought all things into subjection
to God and He shall lead the restored harmony by Himself becoming subordinate
to God, that God may reign supreme over all.
15:29. There is much
diversity of interpretation of this verse.
It is folly to build a doctrine on a verse when the interpretation is
uncertain. This verse is not parallel
with Rom.6. Neither is the
interpretation of St Parry satisfactory.
We think that of Joachim Jeremiahs the most likely. That it refers to pagans who became baptized,
that is, became Christians, with the purpose of becoming united with their
deceased Christian relatives (or friends) at the resurrection. For example, the Christian wife of a pagan
husband dies and her death moves him to become a Christian and he is baptized. Paul is asking the question here, and not
making any new doctrine. Otherwise, what
do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead, if the dead are not
raised up at all? R.S.V.
15:30-32. Paul is
asking a question here, not using it figuratively. He writes of the dangers that the apostles
and missionaries had continually to face.
Their lives were constantly in peril.
Why were they prepared to face such dangers? How useless would be their life of peril if
there is no resurrection of the body. As
the servant of Christ, Paul's life was in hourly peril. He could not carry out his task
otherwise. Therefore, he daily prepared
himself for death. How worthless all
this was, if the Christian hope is unreal.
Paul was probably three years at Ephesus, but as Luke was not with him, then
we have not a full account in Acts of his sojourn there. But there are grounds for thinking that they
were the most dangerous and difficult years of his career. See 2.Cor.1:8-10.
15:32. Paul was a
Roman citizen, it was unlikely he fought with wild beasts in the arena; he is
speaking figuratively. He came into the
hands of men as ferocious as savage beasts, and to have dealings with them was
as perilous as to contend with lions in the arena. "If as a mere man like other men,
without these motives which fellowship with Christ inspires and having a hope
better than other men, then it is no profit to me to be nearly torn to pieces
by infuriated men. The task of
evangelism would not be worth the risk."
Men without hope lose moral incentive. Life loses its meaning and the spirit of
sacrifice fades. The moral outlook
becomes, "Let us eat and drink, for we shall be dead tomorrow." Isa.22:13.
The thing that nerved Paul to such labours and perils was his unshakable
conviction that Christ was risen and the Christian hope was no delusion. It is obvious that, for Paul, there is no
realisation of the Christian hope apart from the resurrection of the body.
15:33. A citation
from the Comedies of Menander.
"Evil communications corrupt good morals." Teachers of morals in every age and realm
have recognize the deteriorating influence of bad company on mens'
characters. Paul discerns that loose
living and evil associations breed scepticism.
There was a moral link between their loose living and their denial of
the resurrection of the body. Paul may
have had in view a group of loose-living libertines in the Church. They must beware of such men.
15:34. A practical
exhortation. "Rouse yourselves to
what is fitting." Moral sleep is
perilous. They must awake to soberness
once and for all; live uprightly and not begin to sin by dallying with evil
company. They prided themselves in their
knowledge and were self-styled Gnostics, but some were pitifully ignorant of
God. This lay at the root of their low
standards, and their denial of the resurrection of the body. Matt.22:29. The knowledge of God is always accompanied by
moral discernment and power.
15:35. Paul now
begins the second half of his argument in which he discusses the distinctive
character of the resurrection of the body.
The Greek ridiculed the resurrection, and thought it impossible that a
body completely decayed should be raised.
They emphasized the impossibility of the thing. Again to the Greek, it suggested a new prison
for a human spirit.
15:36-38. Paul illustrates from agriculture the relationship
of the resurrection body to our present mortal bodies. The seed that is sown dies before it brings
forth a new and greater organism. The
illustration would be apt to the ancient readers who conceived the burying or
planting of the seed as death. The main
point is that there is a big difference between the seed sown and the plant
that springs from the seed and yet there is a real identity.
To their question, "In what kind of body?" Paul insists on continuity and identity. The seed and the plant are not merely in some
way related, but there is an organic identity.
This cannot be insisted upon too strongly. However, the resurrection body is distinctly
different. The seed that is put in the
earth is altogether different in appearance to the plant that grows from
it. The analogy of the grain points to
the vast difference between the present body of flesh and the resurrection body
which springs from it.
15:39-44. The
celestial bodies may refer to the sun, moon and stars (v.39-41). Paul applies the analogy of the sowing to
show in a fourfold way the nature and the superiority of the resurrection
body. The body that is sown in burial is
set in contrast to the body that is raised.
We cannot think of the resurrection body in earthly categories, for its
distinctive characteristics are incorruptible glory (as opposed to dishonour),
full of power, a spiritual body.
The word "natural" is `psychikos' from `psuche',
soul, the life-principle which animates our earthly bodies. Gen.2:7. The natural body is suited for life on earth,
but it is unfitted for life in heaven.
The spiritual body is the body fitted for life in the spirit. Our present bodies are an impediment to
spiritual life, but the spiritual body is the perfect organ for the fullness of
the spiritual life. There is an identity
between our present bodies and the spiritual bodies of the resurrection, a
oneness of entity, between our present bodies and the spiritual bodies of the
resurrection. A oneness of entity, yet
gloriously distinct.
The spiritual body is not composed of bone, flesh and
blood. Hering suggests that the
"inner man" is linked between the earthly and heavenly body. See 2.Cor.4:16; Eph.3:16. But the spiritual
body is not ghostly nor immaterial. It
is a real body, more real than the physical, for it is powerful and
glorious. It is not necessarily made of
spirit, just as the natural (soulish) body is not composed of soul.
15:45. Paul argues
from the two Adams that there is a natural body
and a spiritual body. The Last Adam is a
life-giving spirit, for He possesses, imparts life, and that life is of a
spiritual order. Adam is the first man,
the founder and head of the human race.
Christ is the Last Adam. The
relationship of Christians to Christ is final and can never be superseded by
any other. There is no third race or
humanity.
The Risen Lord has not laid aside His humanity, but is the
Head of a new humanity that shares in the life He gives. The resurrection manhood that is Christ's, is
defined by the word spirit rather than flesh.
See Rom.1:4; 1.Tim.3:10; 1.Pet.3:18.
Observe how these two aspects are distinguished in Rom.1:3-4. All those who receive His Spirit share in
this new spiritual humanity, Rom.8:9.
The contrasts between the two Adams,
more clearly shows the nature of the resurrection body than could be done by
the analogy of the seed sown and springing up.
15:46-47. The natural,
though coming first, is inferior. The Divine order is manifested in the order
in which the two Adams appeared. The first was
earthy in origin and confined to earth, having the limitations belonging to his
lowly origin. The Second Man is from
heaven, the Founder of a spiritual race, destined to live in heaven. In this new and heavenly order, the earthly
can have no part, for it is not constituted to share that which is spiritual
and heavenly. The spiritual body has an
altogether different character from the natural and earthy.
15:50. Paul now
begins to discuss where and how living Christians shall fit into the order of
things at Christ's coming. Two groups
are in view:
* Flesh and blood,
that in which Christians live when He, Christ comes.
* Corruption, that
is, the bodies of the deceased Christians.
"Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God." It is frequently argued that whilst this is
true, yet flesh and bone can enter the Kingdom.
This distinction seems based on Luke 24:39. But the discussion that is concluded by verse
50, suggests that the resurrection and the great change affected in the living,
completely transforms the body. See
Phil.3:21. The heavenly will be quite
different to the earthly. We can hardly
describe the heavenly in earthly categories, whether flesh and blood or flesh
and bone. However, for a different
emphasis see Dahl's exposition. In verse
50 the words "Kingdom
of God" is almost a
synonym for heaven. Our present bodies
in their material natural state, could not inherit heaven nor the future
Kingdom. There must be a change.
15:51. This passage
discusses the great event, when the living shall be changed and the dead raised. This is the mystery of the great
transformation. New Testament mysteries
are not riddles, they are revelations.
Not all Christians shall sleep, but they must be changed. It is as imperative that the living
Christians be changed, as it is for the dead to be raised. It is not only the dead who shall be changed,
but surviving Christians as well, for flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.
Paul contemplates an inheritance that is in heaven.
The occasion of this great event is the Lord's Coming, as
1.Thess.4:13-18 makes clear. It is at
the sounding of the Last Trumpet, the proclamation of the coming and victory of
Christ. It is the final trump of
victory, for the last trumpet shall gather all the redeemed. It is the last trumpet, for they shall no
more be scattered abroad. The change
shall take a moment.
The word is `atmos', uncuttable. An atom of time is a unit of time that cannot
be cut or divided any more. The dead
shall be raised first, then the living shall be changed, that both groups may
be caught up together as one group, to meet the Lord in the air.
15:53. This
corruptible (body in the grave); this mortal (body) subject to death and destined
to die, shall be clothed upon with incorruptibility and immortality.
15:54. At that great
moment of triumph, the final victory over death is accomplished, for
"death is swallowed up in victory."
It shall be for the believer the total extinction of death. Isaiah 25:68.
15:55-56. See Hosea
13:14. Paul makes some alterations from
the LXX. `Kentron' or "sting "
may figuratively express the sting of some creature or goad (spur) used to poke
the donkey or ox to make them go. See
Acts 26:14.
The statement that "the strength of sin is the
law" might suggest that the law is the strong arm that drives home the
goad. On the other hand, the background
of Hosea 13:14, as well as the present context which thinks of victory over
death's tyranny, suggests the figure of an animal with a sting. A monstrous scorpion which stings its victim
to death; that sting has been removed.
15:56. See
Rom.6:23. Sin gives death its
sting. The Law is the power of sin,
rather, than holiness. Rom.7:7-9.
15:57. Thanksgiving
to God. The prospect of victory provokes thanksgiving. "Which giveth" - present tense. God
is already giving us the victory over sin, law, and death. The context points especially to victory over
death, but sin, law and death have a close relationship as Rom.5-7
confirms. Therefore, victory is to be
understood in a comprehensive sense. It
is the fact of victory that is emphasized.
15:58. The practical
conclusion. "Wherefore" -
since we are confident of final victory.
"My beloved
brethren" - a word of affection and tenderness, which often moves people
where elaborate arguments fail.
"Be ye" - become ye, show yourselves to be.
"Steadfast" - firm in the faith.
"Unmovable" - from your hope of glory; Col.1:23.
"Always abounding" - in the labour that springs
from love. Christian steadfastness is not that kind which bogs down. There must be sail as well as ballast. Christianity is a thing to work at.
"Always" - not spasmodically, but
continually.
"For as much as ye know" - if Christ had not been
raised there would be no incentive for Christian service. The Christian hope inspires service.
"Labour" - the toil, difficult work, that love
provokes.
"In
vain" - without result or profit.
The service of Christ is rich in reward.
