1 Corinthians 15: What Is Most Important?

1 Corinthians 15:3-8
I PASSED ON TO YOU AS MOST IMPORTANT WHAT I ALSO RECEIVED: CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS IN LINE WITH THE SCRIPTURES, 4 HE WAS BURIED, AND HE ROSE ON THE THIRD DAY IN LINE WITH THE SCRIPTURES. 5 HE APPEARED TO CEPHAS, THEN TO THE TWELVE, 6 AND THEN HE APPEARED TO MORE THAN FIVE HUNDRED BROTHERS AND SISTERS AT ONCE—MOST OF THEM ARE STILL ALIVE TO THIS DAY, THOUGH SOME HAVE DIED. 7 THEN HE APPEARED TO JAMES, THEN TO ALL THE APOSTLES, 8 AND LAST OF ALL HE APPEARED TO ME, AS IF I WERE BORN AT THE WRONG TIME.

Hidden Gem

This passage is formational for the church, but you may not be familiar with it because it’s hiding deep in the book of first Corinthians. First Corinthians is a long letter from Paul to the church in Corinth that covers everything from proper communion to when to speak in tongues to how bad they are and the all-importance of love. In fact, the enormous popularity of chapter 13 (the love chapter) I believe obscures today’s passage. After covering a myriad of topics, Paul is now letting us know what is most important (besides love, which is also most important. They’re both most important. Live in the paradox.).

What You Need to Know

What is the foundation of the Christian faith? It’s that Jesus died for our sins. It’s that he rose from the dead. It’s that both of those things were according to the Scriptures, AND it’s that he appeared to a bunch of people after he rose from the dead. This is it. This is Christianity distilled. Let’s talk about why it matters.

The Cross and Resurrection

It’s probably no surprise that these two make it into the discussion on importance. The cross is important because Jesus died for our sins. However, this means more than we usually give it credit for. Yes, we are guilty of sin, and Christ is the sacrifice for us that forgives us in the eyes of God and lets us have a relationship with God. Also, since it’s according to the Scripture, we need to point out that the Israelites were waiting for a forgiveness of sin because sin put them exile.

They lost the presence of God, their land, their autonomy, and their community. Therefore, forgiveness of sin means not only that we are forgiven, but also that we have a restored experience of the presence of God and sense of community. It’s not just about eternal life or personal experience (though it is that), it’s also about a people connected to each other by the presence of God, just like the Israelites in the Exodus.

The Resurrection is also vastly important. In fact, Paul wrote this whole chapter in order to discuss its importance. It means that Jesus defeated the powers that hold us captive. It means that he defeated death. It means that he is reigning and bringing everything under his power. In short, it is the power of God to put this world back together, and it is our hope of a glorious future that we share in some part now. Amen.

Modern Implications

However, there are two other implications in this passage that need to be addressed so that we can fully understand the faith. I think have been obscured sometimes in our current dialogue.

First, all of this happens “according to the Scriptures.” By Scriptures, Paul means what we call the Old Testament. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament. He is the fulfillment of all the sought after promises of the law and the prophets. We cannot understand Jesus if we pull him out of his Jewish context. We cannot unhitch from the Old Testament. Doing so will often leave us with an un-Jewish, individualistic gospel that focuses mostly on the afterlife and our individual spheres of influence, rather the bigger vision of the kingdom putting the whole world back together and calling us into community.

Second, Paul makes a point of telling us about the eyewitnesses to Jesus’ resurrection. This is important because we usually think of religions and other ideologies competing on the merits of their philosophy and morality. However, Christianity is first and foremost a religion around a historical event. We are reckoning with an actual event in history not just a competing set of good ideas. In a world where competing ideologies are creating their own truth, Christianity hangs on the idea that the resurrection either happened or it didn’t…..and if it did, it changed everything.