1 Corinthians 15:1-11 (the gospel I preached to you)

This is a chapter I’ve been wanting to exegete for a long time. I’ve covered much of 1 Corinthians in previous posts over the years, but only bits and pieces of 1 Cor 15 — and it’s a chapter I find myself turning to more and more often. I’m thrilled to finally get started (and I’m sure you’re glad we’re getting near the end of the book).

(1Co 15:1-2 ESV)  Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,  2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you– unless you believed in vain. 

It’s a dramatic change in subject. For some reason, near the end of the book, Paul wants to return to the subject of chapters 1 — the gospel. He also calls it “the word.”

Interestingly, most translations translate euaggelizo “preached” in v. 2 although the Greek is clearly “gospeled” or “good news-ed” or “preached good news” (just to confuse us barbarians, a double-g in Greek is pronounced “ng” — hence euangelizo).

In other words, Paul’s emphasis on the gospel as the subject of his preaching is so thorough that he uses “to gospel” to mean “to preach.” Oh, that our “gospel meetings” had as much gospel in them as Paul’s letters!

Paul declares that the Corinthian’s salvation is conditional: “if you hold fast to the word [logos] I preached [gospeled] to you.” This would seem to support the Arminian view of perseverance.

Then he adds “unless you believed in vain” — a very odd phrase because he assumes believing but believing without effect. Why would Paul even imagine such a possibility? The point Paul is going to get to is the importance of the bodily resurrection of Jesus — and hence of his followers — to the gospel. We believe in vain, Paul will say, when we reject the resurrection. But that’s several verses in the future. We’ll get there.

Well, let’s see what he says.

(1Co 15:3-7 ESV)  For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,  4 that he was buried, 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 at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.  7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

Paul now gives one the most direct definitions of “gospel” in the scriptures. This passage does not exhaust the word or the theology, but it’s obviously Paul’s understanding of the core of it all.

First, Paul declares the gospel to be “of first importance.” Those who teach a flat hermeneutic, that is, that all teachings in the Bible are equally important, are plainly disproved here. Paul tells us that the gospel is more important than anything else.

“Christ died for our sins.” This is likely an allusion to —

(Isa 53:5 ESV)  5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

— and we should understand the importance Paul places on the fact that Jesus’ crucifixion was “in accordance with the scriptures.” This is not a throwaway line. Paul considers it essential to the gospel that what Jesus did was in fulfillment of the Kingdom prophecies in the OT. It’s not just that our sins are forgiven. It’s also that Jesus brought the beginning of the Kingdom and the beginning of the end of the Exile. He started the world on its course toward the new heavens and new earth. He demonstrated the truth of the Kingdom prophecies in his crucifixion and resurrection. The Kingdom promises are being fulfilled in Jesus!

Paul continues, “that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” The death of the Messiah is clearly foretold in Isaiah. His resurrection is less clear. Paul is likely referring to —

(Hos 6:1-3 ESV) 1 “Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.  2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.  3 Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

This passage only refers to the resurrection when seen in retrospect. No First Century Jew saw the resurrection in this passage pre-Jesus. But this prophecy fits a pattern NT Wright often writes about: Jesus doing himself what Israel the nation was called to do.

The Servant of the last 1/3 of Isaiah is clearly initially Israel the nation (e.g., Isa 41:8; 44:2), but by the time Isaiah writes chapter 53, he seems to be speaking of an individual. The same duality occurs in Dan 7, where Daniel speaks the “son of man” and “the saints (holy ones) of the Most High” in parallel terms. Both are given reign over God’s creation (7:14 and :22). Just so, in Hosea, the prophet seems to be speaking of Israel, but the prophecy is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus.

The vocabulary of healing articulates a hope for the renewal of God’s covenant, a hope already seen in 2:18, 21–23. The reference to the third day can be understood in the light of Exod 19:11, 15, where it is the pivotal day on which God will establish the covenant with the people on Mt. Sinai. The notion of covenantal renewal is confirmed by 6:3a.

Gale A. Yee, “The Book of Hosea,” in Introduction to Apocalyptic Literature; Daniel-Malachi (vol. 7 of New Interpreters Bible, Accordance electronic ed. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996), 250.

The wounding is unto death (v. 2). The duration mentioned is the period of time after which decomposition of the body sets in (cf. Jon. 2:1; John 11:39). The verbs revive us (cf. 1 Sam. 2:6), and raise us up (cf. Isa. 26:19) are frequent expressions for resuscitation and resurrection.

David Allan Hubbard, Hosea: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale OTC 24; IVP/Accordance electronic ed. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1989), 135.

God’s covenant with Israel was renewed, as Jesus said at the Last Supper, with the offering of his blood: “This is the covenant in my blood.” It fits together rather nicely. But we have to get comfortable with the idea that Jesus came as “light of the world” (Joh 8:12; 95), taking on the role originally assigned to Israel as a nation (Isa 42:6; 49:6). Jesus became Israel. He accomplished personally what the nation was called to accomplish

Jesus lived, taught, and acted as though Israel were summed up in him.  He would be the Israel who would go into exile on behalf of the Israel in exile.  He would suffer the fate which summed up perfectly the present exilic condition of God’s people.  And he would do so in the belief that God would raise him from the dead, inaugurating the real “return from exile” which would be the sign that sins had indeed been forgiven, not only for Israel but also for the world.

“The Servant and Jesus: The Relevance of the Colloquy for the Current Quest for Jesus,” Jesus and the Suffering Servant: Isaiah 53 and Christian Origins, ed. William H. Bellinger, Jr. and William R. Farmer, 1998, 281–297.

Paul next begins to build up his evidence for the bodily resurrection of Jesus, rather like arguing a case in court: “that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.” Do you notice who is missing? Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9) — from whom Jesus had removed seven demons — and then Mary the mother of James and Salome (Mark 16:1). They saw the resurrected Jesus before the apostles, and yet Paul skips them? Why?

[The first part of Wright’s talk is great listening, but the part relevant to today’s text begins at 1:51.]

The women are skipped, many commentators think, because women were considered unreliable witnesses. They weren’t allowed to testify in court. They had no credibility as witnesses. Citing them as proof would actually undermine Paul’s case. Such was the state of women in the ancient world. And yet God, in his providence, arranged for the first witnesses to the most important event in the history of the world to be women.

Decades after 1 Cor was written, the Gospel writers included the women because, well, they really were the first witnesses. By the time of the Gospels were written, the church had matured and was ready to accept that fact.

“Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time.” Remarkably, we have no other certain record of this event. But it was a part of the church’s early institutional memory.

“Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.” Really? Paul just said that he’d appeared to “the twelve” — so who are “the apostles”?

It is not clear who would have been included in “all the apostles,” but presumably it included James and the remaining members of the Twelve. Among others who may have been included in the group we might mention Matthias, Barnabas (Acts 14:14; 15:2), Andronicus and Junia (Rom. 16:7).

Roy E. Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner, The First Letter to the Corinthians (Pillar NTC; Accordance electronic ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010), 750.

“Apostles” was used both in a narrow sense, to refer to the 12, and in a broader sense to include the wider circle of missionaries — but only to those missionaries who’d seen the resurrected Jesus and so could testify as witnesses to the bodily resurrection. Thus, the woman Junia was not only a missionary for Jesus, but among the few who had seen Jesus after his resurrection.

(1Co 15:8-11 ESV)  8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.  9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy 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 toward me was not 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 preach and so you believed.

Paul finally adds himself “as one untimely born.” He, of course, saw the resurrected Jesus in heaven.