EPIPHANY VII
February 23, 2025
“Persistent Paul”
“For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle…. But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace towards me has not been in vain.” – 1 Corinthians 15:9a, 10a
I’ll admit that I occasionally wonder if the Apostle Paul was a great con artist. Raised to be a staunch Jewish zealot, he suddenly realizes he could rise to prominence in this surging, upstart wave of Christianity. But then I realize his fame and power only brought him earthly pain and suffering (and martyrdom). And yet, he persisted.
For three weeks now, our Epistle readings (New Testament) have been from Chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians, and they all deal with resurrection. Why is that? Our church year is still in the season referred to as “After Epiphany,” which follows Christmas. Easter and its message of resurrection is a long way off!
Perhaps the church is asking us to focus on the significance this event plays in understanding what Jesus showed us while here on earth.
Every week we reiterate our belief in “the resurrection of the body” in the Apostles’ Creed. However, I often struggle with this phrase because I never fully comprehend it. It certainly can’t be literal because if Jesus physically ascends (up) into heaven, he’ll run out of oxygen and then be torn apart by the vacuum of space! So, what does this mean?
Clearly, if Christ destroyed death, then it would be understandable that the tomb would need to be empty. A spiritual resurrection requires a huge amount of faith in the unseen and we see how this struggle plays out even in today’s enlightened world!
And wasn’t there a physical nature to his resurrection? Didn’t he ask Mary not to cling to him because he had not yet ascended to the Father? Didn’t Thomas touch his hands and side? Didn’t he break bread in Emmaus?
Yet, he suddenly appears inside a closed room and suddenly disappears after breaking the bread. Clearly there is something inorganic (dare I say mysterious) going on here!
So, here we are in 1 Corinthians, and poor Paul is trying his best to explain the supernatural to people who are still bound in a physical world. It is hard not to feel empathy for the man, though, at times, I just shake my head at what seems like a complete “word salad” of circular logic.
I guess I’m asking for two things. First, let’s give the Apostle Paul some grace here. After all, although divinely inspired, he is only human. And, second, take some time to examine your faith in this area. What do resurrection and destroying death mean to you? How would you share this Good News?
Asking, pondering, wondering,
In Christ,
David Krueger