Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Corinthians 15

Moreover, brethren.—This chapter deals entirely with the DOCTRINE OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. The reason the Apostle dwelt at such length and with such emphasis on this subject was the denial of the resurrection by some members of the Corinthian Church.

It has been suggested by some writers that what the Apostle had to combat was a false conception of the resurrection—that at Corinth there were probably those who refined away the doctrine of the resurrection into merely a rising from the death of sin into a life of righteousness, in a way similar to Hymenæus and Philetus (2 Timothy 2:17–18), who taught that the resurrection was past already.

It seems clear, however, from the emphatic statement in 1 Corinthians 15:12, and from the overall scope and direction of the entire argument, that what the Apostle is addressing here is not a perversion, but a denial of the doctrine.

There were many elements in such a mixed body as the Corinthian Church that would have contributed to the growth of this error. Among the Jewish converts would be some traces of the Sadducean (Matthew 22:23) denial of the resurrection, and in the Gentile section of the Church there would linger the spirit of the Athenians who mocked when they heard of the resurrection of the dead (Acts 17:32), and of the Epicurean philosophers who said, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. From these and from other similar sources, a denial of the doctrine of the resurrection had subtly entered the Church itself.

In reading this chapter, it is good to remember that the Apostle probably intended it not only as a reply to these corruptors of the faith, but also as providing those who remained faithful with confirmation of their own faith and arguments with which they could counter their opponents. It is always difficult to give a clear, exhaustive analysis of an argument by a writer such as St. Paul. The enthusiasm of his nature leads him to mingle the syllogism of passion with the syllogism of logic; and, since he was not writing himself but dictating the composition, a word often leads him away from his argument into some splendid outburst of pathetic exhortation or prophetic utterance. Nevertheless, including such digressions, the general argument of this chapter may be tabulated as follows:—

I.—THE DOCTRINE OF THE RESURRECTION (1 Corinthians 15:1–34).

Subdivided as follows:

1. The resurrection proved by the historical fact of Christ’s resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1–15).
2. The resurrection proved by an appeal to the moral consequences involved in a denial of it (1 Corinthians 15:16–28).
3. The truth of the resurrection involved in certain existing practices (1 Corinthians 15:29–34).

II.—THE METHOD AND PRINCIPLE OF THE RESURRECTION (1 Corinthians 15:35–58).

1. Illustration from analogy (1 Corinthians 15:35–44).
2. Illustration from our dual descent from Adam and from Christ (1 Corinthians 15:44–49).
3. The great change (1 Corinthians 15:50–53).
4. A song of triumph (1 Corinthians 15:54–57).
5. Concluding exhortation (1 Corinthians 15:58).

I declare unto you.—The Apostle opens his historical argument by reminding the Corinthians that this is neither a new nor an unimportant matter. It is the original gospel which he had preached to them, which they received, and in which they stand, and by which they are being saved (not “are saved,” as in the English version).

If ye keep in memory what I preached unto you.—Better, if ye hold fast with what word I preached the gospel to you, unless you believed in vain. The idea here is not, as implied in the English version, that they were converted, and yet that heretofore no results have followed from their belief; it is the same thought which comes out more fully in 1 Corinthians 15:17. They are saved by their faith in the gospel as preached by St. Paul, unless (which is impossible) the whole gospel be false, and so their faith in it be vain and useless.

For I delivered . . .—Here follows the explanation and illustration of what he meant, in 1 Corinthians 15:2, by “with what word I preached the gospel.” We see here what the subject of apostolic teaching was—not indeed all the gospel that the Apostle taught, but what he considered of the first importance, and therefore put in the forefront of his teaching—namely, the historical fact of Christ’s death for our sins, His burial, His resurrection. This was the first Creed of Christendom.

For our sins.—Not only because of, but on behalf of our sins, in order to take them away (Galatians 1:4; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 3:5). The fact of the Atonement was not something evolved by the Apostle’s own consciousness, but a fact revealed to him by Christ. (See 1 Corinthians 11:23).

And that He rose again.—Better, and that He has been raised again. The burial of our Lord is dwelt upon and emphasised as the proof of the reality of His death. Similarly in the case of Lazarus, his entombment is brought out strongly as showing that it was from no trance, but from death that he arose (See John 11).

According to the scriptures.—The reiteration with each statement that it was according to the scriptures, i.e., according to the Old Testament scriptures, the Gospel narratives not yet being in existence—shows how strongly the Apostle dwelt on the unity of the facts of Christ’s life and the predictive utterances of the prophets. The death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord were all parts of that providential plan which the deep spiritual insight of God’s servants of old illumined by the Holy Spirit had enabled them to foresee. The resurrection was no subsequent invention to try and explain away or mitigate the terrible shock which Christ’s death had given to his followers (Psalms 16:10; Isaiah 53:9–10; Isaiah 55:3; Hosea 6:2).

That he was seen of Cephas.—From the indications of sequence given here, we may conclude that the appearances grouped together here are arranged in chronological order. We have these appearances:

1. To Cephas .
2. To the Twelve—the phrase “the Twelve” is used to indicate not the number of those present, but the group to which they belonged (as “Decemviri” or “Hebdomadal Council” might be used, not to express the exact number but the corporate body)—(John 20:19). This was probably the appearance to the ten Apostles and is distinguished from a subsequent appearance to “all the Apostles.”
3. To over five hundred brethren at once. This must have been in Galilee, for at a later date the Church at Jerusalem consisted of only one hundred and twenty disciples (see Matthew 28:16-17, and Acts 1:15).
4. To James. This appearance is recorded only here and in the Gospel of the Hebrews, which is quoted by St. Jerome: “But the Lord, when He had given the sindôn” (the same word as that for the “linen garment,” in Mark 14:51) “to the servant of the priest, had a table brought out, and bread on it, which He blessed and gave to James, saying, ‘Eat your bread now, brother, since the Son of Man has risen from the dead;’ for James had sworn that he would not eat bread from the hour in which he had drunk the cup of the Lord until he should see Him rising from the dead.”
5. To all the Apostles, Thomas being present (John 20:26).
6. To St. Paul himself (Acts 9:5).

St. Paul appeals to these facts. Most of those who saw Him were still alive when Paul wrote, and their enemies were also alive to dispute the testimony if they could.

The witnesses had nothing to gain and everything to lose by telling the truth. The evidence was set forth some twenty-five or thirty years after the alleged facts occurred.

The Apostle here maintains the truth of an historical fact. He appeals solely to historical proof, accumulating a mass of historical testimony which, in any other matter of history, if produced so shortly after the occurrence, would be deemed overwhelming.