Epiphany Lectio Divina 6 Read 1 Corinthians 15 - 16: 24 New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
Christ rose from the Dead
15 Brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the good news I preached to you. You received it and have put your faith in it. 2 Because you believed the good news, you are saved. But you must hold firmly to the message I preached to you. If you don’t, you have believed it for nothing.
3 What I received I passed on to you. And it is the most important of all. Here is what it is. Christ died for our sins, just as Scripture said he would. 4 He was buried. He was raised from the dead on the third day, just as Scripture said he would be. 5 He appeared to Peter. Then he appeared to the 12 apostles. 6 After that, he appeared to more than 500 brothers and sisters at the same time. Most of them are still living. But some have died. 7 He appeared to James. Then he appeared to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, he also appeared to me. I was like someone who wasn’t born at the right time.
9 I am the least important of the apostles. I’m not even fit to be called an apostle. I tried to destroy God’s church. 10 But because of God’s grace I am what I am. And his grace was not wasted on me. No, I have worked harder than all the other apostles. But I didn’t do the work. God’s grace was with me. 11 So this is what we preach, whether I or the other apostles who preached to you. And that is what you believed.
Believers will rise from the dead
12 We have preached that Christ has been raised from the dead. So how can some of you say that no one rises from the dead? 13 If no one rises from the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, what we preach doesn’t mean anything. Your faith doesn’t mean anything either. 15 More than that, we would be lying about God. We are witnesses that God raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if the dead are not raised. 16 If the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith doesn’t mean anything. Your sins have not been forgiven. 18 Those who have died believing in Christ are also lost. 19 Do we have hope in Christ only for this life? Then people should pity us more than anyone else.
20 But Christ really has been raised from the dead. He is the first of all those who will rise from the dead. 21 Death came because of what a man did. Rising from the dead also comes because of what a man did. 22 Because of Adam, all people die. So because of Christ, all will be made alive. 23 But here is the order of events. Christ is the first of those who rise from the dead. When he comes back, those who belong to him will be raised. 24 Then the end will come after Christ destroys all rule, authority and power. Then he will hand over the kingdom to God the Father. 25 Christ must rule until he has put all his enemies under his control. 26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. 27 Scripture says that God “has put everything under his control.” (Psalm 8:6) It says that “everything” has been put under him. But it is clear that this does not include God himself. That’s because God put everything under Christ. 28 When he has done that, the Son also will be under God’s rule. God put everything under the Son. In that way, God will be all in all.
29 Suppose no one rises from the dead. Then what will people do who are baptized for the dead? Suppose the dead are not raised at all. Then why are people baptized for them? 30 And why would we put ourselves in danger every hour? 31 I face death every day. That’s the truth. And here is something you can be just as sure of. I take pride in what Christ Jesus our Lord has done for you through my work. 32 Did I fight wild animals in Ephesus with nothing more than human hopes? Then what have I gotten for it? If the dead are not raised,
“Let us eat and drink,
because tomorrow we will die.” (Isaiah 22:13)
33 Don’t let anyone fool you. “Bad companions make a good person bad.” 34 You should come back to your senses and stop sinning. Some of you don’t know anything about God. I say this to make you ashamed.
The body that rises from the dead
35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have?” 36 How foolish! What you plant doesn’t come to life unless it dies. 37 When you plant something, it isn’t a completely grown plant that you put in the ground. You only plant a seed. Maybe it’s wheat or something else. 38 But God gives the seed a body just as he has planned. And to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 Not all earthly creatures are the same. People have one kind of body. Animals have another. Birds have another kind. Fish have still another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies as well as earthly bodies. Heavenly bodies have one kind of glory. Earthly bodies have another. 41 The sun has one kind of glory. The moon has another kind. The stars have still another. And one star’s glory is different from that of another star.
42 It will be like that with bodies that are raised from the dead. The body that is planted does not last forever. The body that is raised from the dead lasts forever. 43 It is planted without honor. But it is raised in glory. It is planted in weakness. But it is raised in power. 44 It is planted as an earthly body. But it is raised as a spiritual body.
Just as there is an earthly body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 It is written, “The first man Adam became a living person.” (Genesis 2:7) The last Adam became a spirit that gives life. 46 What is spiritual did not come first. What is earthly came first. What is spiritual came after that. 47 The first man came from the dust of the earth. The second man came from heaven. 48 Those who belong to the earth are like the one who came from the earth. And those who are spiritual are like the heavenly man. 49 We are like the earthly man. And we will be like the heavenly man.
50 Brothers and sisters, here is what I’m telling you. Bodies made of flesh and blood can’t share in the kingdom of God. And what dies can’t share in what never dies. 51 Listen! I am telling you a mystery. We will not all die. But we will all be changed. 52 That will happen in a flash, as quickly as you can wink an eye. It will happen at the blast of the last trumpet. Then the dead will be raised to live forever. And we will be changed. 53 Our natural bodies don’t last forever. They must be dressed with what does last forever. What dies must be dressed with what does not die. 54 In fact, that is going to happen. What does not last will be dressed with what lasts forever. What dies will be dressed with what does not die. Then what is written will come true. It says, “Death has been swallowed up. It has lost the battle.” (Isaiah 25:8)
55 “Death, where is the victory you thought you had? Death, where is your sting?” (Hosea 13:14)
56 The sting of death is sin. And the power of sin is the law. 57 But let us give thanks to God! He gives us the victory because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done.
58 My dear brothers and sisters, remain strong in the faith. Don’t let anything move you. Always give yourselves completely to the work of the Lord. Because you belong to the Lord, you know that your work is not worthless.
The offering for the Lord’s people
16 Now I want to deal with the offering of money for the Lord’s people. Do what I told the churches in Galatia to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each of you should put some money away. The amount should be in keeping with how much money you make. Save the money so that you won’t have to take up an offering when I come. 3 When I arrive, I will send some people with your gift to Jerusalem. They will be people you consider to be good. And I will give them letters that explain who they are. 4 If it seems good for me to go also, they will go with me.
What Paul asks for himself
5 After I go through Macedonia, I will come to you. I will only be passing through Macedonia. 6 But I might stay with you for a while. I might even spend the winter. Then you can help me on my journey everywhere I go. 7 I don’t want to see you now while I am just passing through. Instead, I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord allows it. 8 But I will stay at Ephesus until the day of Pentecost. 9 A door has opened wide for me to do some good work here. There are many people who oppose me.
10 Timothy will visit you. Make sure he has nothing to worry about while he is with you. He is doing the work of the Lord, just as I am. 11 No one should treat him badly. Send him safely on his way so he can return to me. I’m expecting him to come back along with the others.
12 I want to say something about our brother Apollos. I tried my best to get him to go to you with the others. But he didn’t want to go right now. He will go when he can.
13 Be on your guard. Remain strong in the faith. Be brave. 14 Be loving in everything you do.
15 You know that the first believers in Achaia were from the family of Stephanas. They have spent all their time serving the Lord’s people. Brothers and sisters, I am asking you 16 to follow the lead of people like them. Follow everyone who joins in the task and works hard at it. 17 I was glad when Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus arrived. They have supplied me with what you couldn’t give me. 18 They renewed my spirit, and yours also. People like them are worthy of honor.
Final greetings
19 The churches in Asia Minor send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly because of the Lord’s love. So does the church that meets in their house.
20 All the brothers and sisters here send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss. 21 I, Paul, am writing this greeting with my own hand. 22 If anyone does not love the Lord, let a curse be on that person! Come, Lord! 23 May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 24 I give my love to all of you who belong to Christ Jesus. Amen.
Meditate
13 If no one rises from the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, what we preach doesn’t mean anything. Your faith doesn’t mean anything either. 15 More than that, we would be lying about God. We are witnesses that God raised Christ from the dead. 1 Corinthians 15:13-15
Contemplate
Waiting for Christ’s second coming and waiting for the resurrection are one and the same. The second coming is the coming of the risen Christ, raising our mortal bodies with him in the glory of God. Jesus’ resurrection and ours are central to our faith. Our resurrection is as intimately related to the resurrection of Jesus as our belovedness is related to the belovedness of Jesus. Paul is very adamant on this point. He says, “If there is not resurrection of the dead, then Christ cannot have been raised either, and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is without substance, and so is your faith” (1 Cor. 15:13-14).
Indeed, our waiting is for the risen Christ to lift us up with him in his eternal life with God. It is from the perspective of Jesus’ resurrection and our own that his life and ours derive their full significance. “If our hope in Christ has been for this life only,” Paul says, “we are of all people the most pitiable” (1 Cor. 15:18). We don’t need to be pitied, because as followers of Jesus we can look far beyond the limits of our short lives on earth and trust that nothing we are living now in the body will go to waste.
Our lives on earth are sowing times. If there were no resurrection of the dead, everything we live on earth would come to nothing. How can we believe in a God who love us unconditionally if all the joys and pains of our lives are in vain, vanishing in the earth with our mortal bodies? Because God loves us unconditionally from eternity to eternity, God cannot allow our bodies - the same as that in which Jesus, his Son and our savior, appeared to us - to be lost in final destruction.
No, life on earth is the time when the seeds of the risen body are planted. Paul says, “What is sown is perishable, but what is raised is imperishable; what is sown is contemptible, but what is raised is glorious; what is sown is weak, but what is raised is powerful; what is sown is a natural body, and what is raised is a spiritual body” (1 Cor. 15:42-44). This wonderful knowledge that nothing we live in our bodies is lived in vain holds a call for us to live every moment as a seed of eternity. Henri J.M. Nouwen, Bread for the Journey
How does Jesus’ resurrection frame give me confidence and hope for the future? What are the seeds I am sowing in my life? Do they lead me more deeply into God’s presence?
Pray
O Loving God, you create in us the hope of resurrected life by the example of your son, Jesus Christ. Help us to plant your seeds of love in our lives now, that they may grow in our eternal life with you. Amen.
15 Brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the good news I preached to you. You received it and have put your faith in it. 2 Because you believed the good news, you are saved. But you must hold firmly to the message I preached to you. If you don’t, you have believed it for nothing.
3 What I received I passed on to you. And it is the most important of all. Here is what it is. Christ died for our sins, just as Scripture said he would. 4 He was buried. He was raised from the dead on the third day, just as Scripture said he would be. 5 He appeared to Peter. Then he appeared to the 12 apostles. 6 After that, he appeared to more than 500 brothers and sisters at the same time. Most of them are still living. But some have died. 7 He appeared to James. Then he appeared to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, he also appeared to me. I was like someone who wasn’t born at the right time.
9 I am the least important of the apostles. I’m not even fit to be called an apostle. I tried to destroy God’s church. 10 But because of God’s grace I am what I am. And his grace was not wasted on me. No, I have worked harder than all the other apostles. But I didn’t do the work. God’s grace was with me. 11 So this is what we preach, whether I or the other apostles who preached to you. And that is what you believed.
Believers will rise from the dead
12 We have preached that Christ has been raised from the dead. So how can some of you say that no one rises from the dead? 13 If no one rises from the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, what we preach doesn’t mean anything. Your faith doesn’t mean anything either. 15 More than that, we would be lying about God. We are witnesses that God raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if the dead are not raised. 16 If the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith doesn’t mean anything. Your sins have not been forgiven. 18 Those who have died believing in Christ are also lost. 19 Do we have hope in Christ only for this life? Then people should pity us more than anyone else.
20 But Christ really has been raised from the dead. He is the first of all those who will rise from the dead. 21 Death came because of what a man did. Rising from the dead also comes because of what a man did. 22 Because of Adam, all people die. So because of Christ, all will be made alive. 23 But here is the order of events. Christ is the first of those who rise from the dead. When he comes back, those who belong to him will be raised. 24 Then the end will come after Christ destroys all rule, authority and power. Then he will hand over the kingdom to God the Father. 25 Christ must rule until he has put all his enemies under his control. 26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. 27 Scripture says that God “has put everything under his control.” (Psalm 8:6) It says that “everything” has been put under him. But it is clear that this does not include God himself. That’s because God put everything under Christ. 28 When he has done that, the Son also will be under God’s rule. God put everything under the Son. In that way, God will be all in all.
29 Suppose no one rises from the dead. Then what will people do who are baptized for the dead? Suppose the dead are not raised at all. Then why are people baptized for them? 30 And why would we put ourselves in danger every hour? 31 I face death every day. That’s the truth. And here is something you can be just as sure of. I take pride in what Christ Jesus our Lord has done for you through my work. 32 Did I fight wild animals in Ephesus with nothing more than human hopes? Then what have I gotten for it? If the dead are not raised,
“Let us eat and drink,
because tomorrow we will die.” (Isaiah 22:13)
33 Don’t let anyone fool you. “Bad companions make a good person bad.” 34 You should come back to your senses and stop sinning. Some of you don’t know anything about God. I say this to make you ashamed.
The body that rises from the dead
35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have?” 36 How foolish! What you plant doesn’t come to life unless it dies. 37 When you plant something, it isn’t a completely grown plant that you put in the ground. You only plant a seed. Maybe it’s wheat or something else. 38 But God gives the seed a body just as he has planned. And to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 Not all earthly creatures are the same. People have one kind of body. Animals have another. Birds have another kind. Fish have still another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies as well as earthly bodies. Heavenly bodies have one kind of glory. Earthly bodies have another. 41 The sun has one kind of glory. The moon has another kind. The stars have still another. And one star’s glory is different from that of another star.
42 It will be like that with bodies that are raised from the dead. The body that is planted does not last forever. The body that is raised from the dead lasts forever. 43 It is planted without honor. But it is raised in glory. It is planted in weakness. But it is raised in power. 44 It is planted as an earthly body. But it is raised as a spiritual body.
Just as there is an earthly body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 It is written, “The first man Adam became a living person.” (Genesis 2:7) The last Adam became a spirit that gives life. 46 What is spiritual did not come first. What is earthly came first. What is spiritual came after that. 47 The first man came from the dust of the earth. The second man came from heaven. 48 Those who belong to the earth are like the one who came from the earth. And those who are spiritual are like the heavenly man. 49 We are like the earthly man. And we will be like the heavenly man.
50 Brothers and sisters, here is what I’m telling you. Bodies made of flesh and blood can’t share in the kingdom of God. And what dies can’t share in what never dies. 51 Listen! I am telling you a mystery. We will not all die. But we will all be changed. 52 That will happen in a flash, as quickly as you can wink an eye. It will happen at the blast of the last trumpet. Then the dead will be raised to live forever. And we will be changed. 53 Our natural bodies don’t last forever. They must be dressed with what does last forever. What dies must be dressed with what does not die. 54 In fact, that is going to happen. What does not last will be dressed with what lasts forever. What dies will be dressed with what does not die. Then what is written will come true. It says, “Death has been swallowed up. It has lost the battle.” (Isaiah 25:8)
55 “Death, where is the victory you thought you had? Death, where is your sting?” (Hosea 13:14)
56 The sting of death is sin. And the power of sin is the law. 57 But let us give thanks to God! He gives us the victory because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done.
58 My dear brothers and sisters, remain strong in the faith. Don’t let anything move you. Always give yourselves completely to the work of the Lord. Because you belong to the Lord, you know that your work is not worthless.
The offering for the Lord’s people
16 Now I want to deal with the offering of money for the Lord’s people. Do what I told the churches in Galatia to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each of you should put some money away. The amount should be in keeping with how much money you make. Save the money so that you won’t have to take up an offering when I come. 3 When I arrive, I will send some people with your gift to Jerusalem. They will be people you consider to be good. And I will give them letters that explain who they are. 4 If it seems good for me to go also, they will go with me.
What Paul asks for himself
5 After I go through Macedonia, I will come to you. I will only be passing through Macedonia. 6 But I might stay with you for a while. I might even spend the winter. Then you can help me on my journey everywhere I go. 7 I don’t want to see you now while I am just passing through. Instead, I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord allows it. 8 But I will stay at Ephesus until the day of Pentecost. 9 A door has opened wide for me to do some good work here. There are many people who oppose me.
10 Timothy will visit you. Make sure he has nothing to worry about while he is with you. He is doing the work of the Lord, just as I am. 11 No one should treat him badly. Send him safely on his way so he can return to me. I’m expecting him to come back along with the others.
12 I want to say something about our brother Apollos. I tried my best to get him to go to you with the others. But he didn’t want to go right now. He will go when he can.
13 Be on your guard. Remain strong in the faith. Be brave. 14 Be loving in everything you do.
15 You know that the first believers in Achaia were from the family of Stephanas. They have spent all their time serving the Lord’s people. Brothers and sisters, I am asking you 16 to follow the lead of people like them. Follow everyone who joins in the task and works hard at it. 17 I was glad when Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus arrived. They have supplied me with what you couldn’t give me. 18 They renewed my spirit, and yours also. People like them are worthy of honor.
Final greetings
19 The churches in Asia Minor send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly because of the Lord’s love. So does the church that meets in their house.
20 All the brothers and sisters here send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss. 21 I, Paul, am writing this greeting with my own hand. 22 If anyone does not love the Lord, let a curse be on that person! Come, Lord! 23 May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 24 I give my love to all of you who belong to Christ Jesus. Amen.
Meditate
13 If no one rises from the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, what we preach doesn’t mean anything. Your faith doesn’t mean anything either. 15 More than that, we would be lying about God. We are witnesses that God raised Christ from the dead. 1 Corinthians 15:13-15
Contemplate
Waiting for Christ’s second coming and waiting for the resurrection are one and the same. The second coming is the coming of the risen Christ, raising our mortal bodies with him in the glory of God. Jesus’ resurrection and ours are central to our faith. Our resurrection is as intimately related to the resurrection of Jesus as our belovedness is related to the belovedness of Jesus. Paul is very adamant on this point. He says, “If there is not resurrection of the dead, then Christ cannot have been raised either, and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is without substance, and so is your faith” (1 Cor. 15:13-14).
Indeed, our waiting is for the risen Christ to lift us up with him in his eternal life with God. It is from the perspective of Jesus’ resurrection and our own that his life and ours derive their full significance. “If our hope in Christ has been for this life only,” Paul says, “we are of all people the most pitiable” (1 Cor. 15:18). We don’t need to be pitied, because as followers of Jesus we can look far beyond the limits of our short lives on earth and trust that nothing we are living now in the body will go to waste.
Our lives on earth are sowing times. If there were no resurrection of the dead, everything we live on earth would come to nothing. How can we believe in a God who love us unconditionally if all the joys and pains of our lives are in vain, vanishing in the earth with our mortal bodies? Because God loves us unconditionally from eternity to eternity, God cannot allow our bodies - the same as that in which Jesus, his Son and our savior, appeared to us - to be lost in final destruction.
No, life on earth is the time when the seeds of the risen body are planted. Paul says, “What is sown is perishable, but what is raised is imperishable; what is sown is contemptible, but what is raised is glorious; what is sown is weak, but what is raised is powerful; what is sown is a natural body, and what is raised is a spiritual body” (1 Cor. 15:42-44). This wonderful knowledge that nothing we live in our bodies is lived in vain holds a call for us to live every moment as a seed of eternity. Henri J.M. Nouwen, Bread for the Journey
How does Jesus’ resurrection frame give me confidence and hope for the future? What are the seeds I am sowing in my life? Do they lead me more deeply into God’s presence?
Pray
O Loving God, you create in us the hope of resurrected life by the example of your son, Jesus Christ. Help us to plant your seeds of love in our lives now, that they may grow in our eternal life with you. Amen.