But if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then empty [too] is our preaching; empty, too, your faith. 15 Then we are also false witnesses to God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised, 17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all.
Paul, using an early credal formula (v. 4), had preached Christ crucified to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 15:3-8). He now discussed the question of the resurrection of the dead. His proposition in v. 12 is that if Christ has been raised from the dead how can some of the Corinthians say there is no resurrection. Paul then explained the spiritual consequences if Christ was not resurrected - his preaching of the Gospel was futile and there was no spiritual change in the Corinthians (v. 14); his witness that God raised Christ from the dead was false, blasphemous (v. 15); the Corinthian’s faith in Christ was in vain and their sins were not forgiven since God would not have accepted Christ’s death as expiation for their sins (v. 17); and those who died as followers of Christ perished (v. 18). If God did not raise Christ from the dead, faith in Christ pertained only to this life and God has no plan for humanity beyond this life. Both those who preach Christ being raised from the dead and those who believe in Christ would be the most pitiable of people (v. 19).
Almighty God, our journey through Lent is almost complete and the sacrifice of the Paschal Lamb is fast approaching. Grant us the grace to understand the significance of this holy time and the desire to conform our lives to the model shown us by your Son. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
__________________________________
References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Comments