The First Born of All Creation

1 Corinthians 15:1–11 ESV

1 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. 3 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. 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.

1. The resurrection is foundational to the gospel. (vs. 1-4)

Romans 4:24–25 ESV

24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

First and Second Corinthians “Of First Importance” (1 Corinthians 15:3–4)

Earlier in the letter (2:2) Paul recalled the way that he focused on the cross of Christ, when he first preached in Corinth. Now he summarizes a little more fully the good news he brought. Two parts of the message were “of first importance” (15:3)—the crucifixion and the resurrection. For each of the two, Paul speaks about its source, its biblical roots, and its meaning.

• Source. These were not beliefs that Paul had devised or worked out for himself. They were the common property of the whole church. “I received them,” he says, “and handed them on” (15:3). Paul had good opportunities in the years after his conversion to meet key people in the Jerusalem church (Acts 9:26–30; Gal. 1:18–2:2) and to hear about Jesus from those who had been with him. The beliefs of which he writes here surely reflect these early contacts, just as the memory of the Lord’s Supper that Paul “received” and “handed on” (11:23) came through friends who had been there.

• Biblical roots. These two pillars of Christian belief were “in accordance with the scriptures” (15:3–4). But which Scriptures? Paul may have particular Old Testament passages in mind—possibly Isaiah 53 in relation to Christ’s death and Hosea 6:2 for resurrection “on the third day.” Later he will quote from the Psalms (8 and 110, in 15:25–26) and the prophets (Isa. 25:8 and Hos. 13:14, in 15:54–55), and some of these texts too may be in his thoughts as he starts this part of the letter. Yet he may also be making a more general point: that the cross and resurrection of Jesus fulfill abundantly the widest and deepest hopes of the Hebrew Scriptures. God is faithful and gracious; sin and sorrow shall not reign; the pardon and power of God will turn shame into joy and death into life.

• Meaning. For Paul the crucifixion of Jesus was more than a moment in history. It was the hub of his faith, and he draws out its meaning in a variety of ways when he writes to his churches. But here he says simply, “Christ died for our sins” (15:3) and then moves on quite rapidly. The cross matters to him deeply, but for his present purpose, the meaning of the resurrection matters more; the rest of the chapter will explore this.

1 Corinthians: A New Covenant Commentary Proclamation of Christ’s Resurrection (15:1–11)

Of primary importance is the gospel Paul received from earlier apostles, which he passes on to the Corinthians (15:3–5). The creed-like statement that Christ died … was buried … rose … and appeared to witnesses reflects apostolic oral tradition based on very early proclamations.7 Although Paul considers his view to be entirely consistent with these apostles, he brings together select resurrection traditions in a unique way.8 According to Gal 1:15–2:1 he met with the apostles Peter and James in Jerusalem three years after his transformation.9 He mentions both as witnesses of the resurrection (15:5, 7), and it is quite possible that he received his “creed” from them. This implies that rather than Paul shaping the traditions written later on in the canonical Gospels, the oral traditions behind the Gospels shaped Paul’s own understanding of Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, and appearances. Birger Gerhardsson rightly discerns the importance of prior traditions:

Elementary psychological considerations tell us that the early Christians could scarcely mention such intriguing events as those taken up in the statements about Jesus’ death and resurrection without being able to elaborate on them. Listeners must immediately have been moved to wonder and ask questions. Regarding our text there must have existed in support of the different points in the enumeration [of 15:3–8] … narratives about how they came about. Our text … cries out for elaboration.10

The first confessional statement that Christ died for our sins presupposes Jesus as the anointed savior who would deliver his people according to prophecy (e.g., Isa 61:1–3).11 His death on the cross has redemptive value and is reminiscent of the expiation of sins declared at the Lord’s Supper (11:24; cf. 2 Cor 5:21; Rom 3:25; 4:25; 5:9). His efficacious death is according to the Scriptures, and may assume a passage such as Isa 53:5 in which the suffering servant, whom believers identify as Jesus, is wounded and weakened “on account of our sins” (52:13–53:12).12 It seems best, however, not to reduce these confessions to only one scripture referent, especially since “scriptures” is plural. More broadly, Paul perhaps understood Jesus to be fulfilling the Law, prophets, and psalms (Luke 24:25–27, 44–46). If so, then the suffering servant discourse may presuppose an understanding of atonement from sin captivated in Israel’s ancient sacrificial system, which Paul sees as foreshadowing Christ’s sacrificial death (e.g., Lev 1–5; 16).

The second statement, and that he was buried, confirms that Christ died, which stands as the prerequisite for resurrection. The burial assumes that the dead body of Jesus was laid in a tomb and then vacated it after he rose again. There is no reason to deny that this is what our apostle meant by burial even if he does not technically use the phrase “empty tomb” as conceptualized from the Gospels.13 Like Paul, later proclamations and creeds normally did not include any explicit mention of the empty tomb either; and yet these same sources make explicit mention of the resurrection of flesh.14 This suggests that the empty tomb was mostly confined to full narratives, such as found in the Gospels, rather than brief confessional formulae that we find here. For the Corinthians, Paul’s mention of Christ’s burial would be sufficient to assume an empty tomb or grave site, since they were almost certainly familiar with longer narratives about his resurrection that included his body evacuating the burial site. If Christ’s burial is to be understood “according to the scriptures,” then perhaps texts such as Isa 53:9–11 and Ps 16:8–11 are assumed.15 Psalm 16 is especially relevant since the psalmist speaks of the body not seeing corruption in the grave, and this reference characterizes early apostolic proclamations about the resurrection, inclusive of Paul’s proclamation (Acts 2:24–32; 13:34–37).

The third confession is that after Jesus’s death and burial, he was raised … according to the scriptures. This belief resonates with Jewish traditions anticipating the human body raised to life after death (Dan 12:1–3; Ezek 37:1–14; Isa 26:19; 2 Macc 7:10–11, 14; 1 En. 22:13; T. Benj. 10.6–9). The resurrection of Christ is the pivotal moment in Paul’s history that confirms the arrival of the new era and assures the future resurrection of believers.16 Christ rising on the third day is adopted from apostolic tradition as well as being in accordance with scriptures. Hosea 6:2 speaks of an anticipated restoration that includes God raising up his people on the third day. Perhaps Paul read this verse in a way similar to the Targum of Pseudo-Jonathan that associates this verse with resurrection from dead. Another referent may include Jonah being three days in the fish, which is said to be a sign related to Christ’s death and resurrection (Jon 1:17[2:1]; cf. Matt 12:38–40; 16:4). Perhaps more relevant for Paul is Lev 23:1–16 in which the firstfruits of the harvest is offered on the “day after the Sabbath” during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, two days after the Paschal lamb is slaughtered. He may have connected this offering and the sixteenth of Nisan with the same day Christ, the Paschal lamb (1 Cor 5:7), was risen. This would be the third day.17

2. The resurrection is not a theory; it is an event. (vs. 5-7)

Luke 24:33–35 ESV

33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

First and Second Corinthians “He Appeared” (1 Corinthians 15:5–7)

As they shared the gospel around the Greco-Roman world, Christians spoke of the witnesses who had met the risen Lord. The church was keen to show that its faith was based on memory, experience, and record. Easter was not theory; it was event. So here Paul mentions five resurrection appearances. Two of these (15:5) can be matched to the Gospels (Luke 24:33–36). The others cannot (15:6–7). The most remarkable and intriguing appearance is the one with five hundred people, but we do not know any detail about this occasion. “James” probably refers to the Lord’s brother, who went on to lead the Jerusalem church. And “all the apostles” is a group in which Paul places himself.

It is striking that no women are named, although faithful women appear in the Easter accounts of all four Gospels. Women saw the empty tomb and the risen Lord. But the formal witness of women was not rated in the ancient world. So when the Easter story was condensed for use in preaching and teaching, the summary majored on men. In the Gospels, by contrast, which preserved the church’s memory and founding story, the role of the women is large and clear.

1 Corinthians: A New Covenant Commentary Proclamation of Christ’s Resurrection (15:1–11)

The final statement claims that the risen Christ appeared to many (15:5–7). Bodily resurrection seems to preclude that these witnesses merely dreamed or saw spiritual visions of Jesus.18 Unless prophetic and apocalyptic texts were never read in synagogues, first-century Jewish disciples would seem to know the difference between actually seeing a person and merely having a vision or dream of that person. By these appearances Paul means that Christ appeared to witnesses in a body that was recognizable as their rabbi who had been crucified a few days earlier. First, he appeared to Cephas (Peter), then the twelve disciples, though technically eleven if Judas abandoned them, though it is not impossible that Paul also knew of a tradition about Judas’s replacement (Acts 1:13–26).19 Paul seems to have a tradition similar to Luke that declares the risen Lord had appeared in a unique way to Peter (Luke 24:34; cf. Mark 16:7). John’s Gospel has Peter visiting the empty tomb first among the eleven (John 20:2–10; 21:1–19).20 Christ then appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters. No early source matches this number, though the witnesses in Matt 28:10 is sometimes suggested.21 It seems that certain post-resurrection appearances, though communicated orally, were never recorded in the Gospels. This appearance, in any case, happens at one time and thus seems to rule out visions, dreams, or hallucinations, which are subjective and happen to individuals rather than multitudes. Should any Corinthian wish to contest these witnesses, the majority of them are still alive when Paul writes this letter over two decades later; they could confirm these claims. Paul does not need to specify which James he means, presumably because the Corinthians already know this is the “brother of the Lord” who as an apostle has seen the risen Christ (9:1, 5). His witness is another oral testimony not found in the Gospels.22 Paul considers him to be one of the “pillars” of the Jerusalem church (Gal 1:17–20; 2:9). Then Christ appeared to all the apostles, which seems to go beyond the Twelve, and perhaps suggests all other believers who encountered the risen Christ after James. With this extension Paul implicates himself among their number.23

3. The resurrection is the work of God’s grace for salvation. (vs. 8-11)

Galatians 1:15 ESV

15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace,

First and Second Corinthians “Also to Me” (1 Corinthians 15:8–11)

Paul thinks of himself as “one untimely born” (15:8). His conversion was like the birth of a premature baby arriving in the world abruptly and far too soon. He lacked the preparation that others had, of acquaintance with Jesus and contact with the disciples. After this rushed entry into Christian faith, he needed a special measure of grace to sustain and strengthen him through the years (15:9–10). Yet God’s grace had been sufficient. Paul worked hard. The Corinthians’ faith came out of his ministry. His message of the risen Lord was the same gospel that was held and preached in the wider church (15:11). The Easter faith is common property, for all of Christ’s followers. We are all resurrection people.

Yet Paul’s description of himself as a child without a viable life of its own underlines his dependence on God. For the gospel takes seriously our human frailty. It is realistic about death. Christ “was buried” (15:4); he was truly dead. Of the five hundred witnesses “some have died” (15:6). Easter is about victory over death, not about ignoring it or side-stepping around it.

1 Corinthians: A New Covenant Commentary Proclamation of Christ’s Resurrection (15:1–11)

Last of all, Paul claims that he appeared to me also (15:8). This probably refers to his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus. The risen Lord appears to Paul in a bright light from heaven and speaks to him (Acts 9:1–19; 22:6–11; 26:12–18; cf. Gal 1:12–16). Paul fell down and heard the Lord’s words and was stricken with temporary blindness, and those who were with him witnessed the phenomenon, though differently than Paul.24 Jesus appeared to him in a glorified state similar to his transfiguration in Luke 9:29. This event, though similar to a theophany, was more than merely a vision. Paul could speak of it as an objective encounter distinct from the more subjective vision he had in 2 Cor 12:1–9.25 Christ’s appearance to Paul is also confirmed in Acts by Ananias (Acts 9:17), Barnabas (9:27), and Jesus as described by the Lukan Paul (26:16).26 More importantly, Paul’s own testimony reflects an objective encounter comparable with the other apostles (cf. 1 Cor 9:1). Hence, Paul’s view of the resurrected Messiah does not seem to be very different than the Gospels which more specifically have Christ identified, touched, handled, and eating with his disciples after his resurrection (Luke 24:39–42; John 20:17, 27). Christ’s glorified risen state maintains some sense of continuity with the body buried—the vacated burial site of Jesus suggests that Jesus rose in his own body with the same surviving “I.” And as the firstfruits of the resurrection, there is continuity between his resurrected state and those who will rise again in the future (15:20–22).

He describes himself in relation to this encounter as though to one untimely born. This language reflects a metaphorical miscarriage pointing to his dead spiritual state given new life in Christ after he believed (cf. Eph 2:1–5).27 Paul seems to adopt ἔκτρωμα from the story of Miriam’s leprosy (Num 12:12; see 1 Cor 13:12; 14:34). In the story, Aaron asks Moses to heal Miriam, as he pleads, “let her not be the same as though dead, as though an untimely born (ἔκτρωμα).” Likewise, the image of a small and unfit but living miscarriage seems proper to his claim as the least of the apostles who is not fit to be called an apostle. Paul, a persecutor of the church, spiritually dead and unfit to become a follower of Christ, astonishingly becomes an apostle for Christ! Such transformation he could only attribute to divine fa-vor—by the grace of God I am what I am. And grace still works abundantly through his missionary efforts and lowly tent-making trade: I labored more than all of the other apostles. This is not self-boasting but recognition that divine grace takes effect in his meager human efforts.28 His many toils and hardships is a boast in weakness that exercises God’s power (2:1–5; 2 Cor 11:22–33; 12:9–10). The grace of God, through his proclamations, results in the Corinthians believing his gospel, though his words, whether I or they, recognize that some were converted by other apostles and missionaries.