Day 235

Job 8:1–11:20; 1 Corinthians 15:1-28; Psalm 38:1-22; Proverbs 21:28-29

IN OUR READING from 1 Corinthians today, we heard Paul discuss the resurrection of Jesus passionately. In fact, we watched Paul being quite the Pharisee —which was how he was religiously trained.

During the span of history that included Jesus and Paul, two different schools of thought prevailed in Judaism. On one hand, the Sadducees were the ruling elite among the Jews. They considered themselves to be true ancestors among the priests. Mostly centered in Jerusalem, they were very powerful and very conservative. On the other hand, the Pharisees were more plentiful and were spread throughout the land, making them more in touch with the people. Collectively, councils made up of Sadducees and Pharisees were called the Sanhedrin. These were the people who interpreted and enforced Mosaic law —they wrestled with the Torah and instructed people how to obey it.

One of the great distinctions between Sadducees and Pharisees was their differences in thought regarding resurrection from the dead. Sadducees did not believe that the dead would rise again. They thought that when a person died, they returned to God. Period. Pharisees, on the other hand, hoped in resurrection from the dead. We could certainly say that Jesus took the Pharisaical view in this regard. And it was, indeed, the Pharisaical view that won out in the end.

As a trained Pharisee, Paul hoped in resurrection. Paul would have continued persecuting believers in Jesus had he not experienced the resurrected Christ. He used this hope as his primary defense when he found himself in hot water with the Sanhedrin (Acts 23:6).

Jesus’ resurrection was proof for Paul that his religious convictions were true. In Paul’s view, Jesus’ resurrection was the centerpiece for hope and proof that God was doing a new thing in the world. The entire Good News that Paul preached hinged on Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. He put it like this:

Since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God —for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.

For Paul, Jesus’ resurrection signified the continuation of not only the Jewish story but also the human one. Through Jesus, God was inaugurating a new kind of human species —one that allowed humans to be reunited with God in Spirit. In other words, the human and the divine can be reunited (as we were always intended to be) through Jesus. In Paul’s words,

Just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.

Let’s consider the implications of the Resurrection today. As believers, resurrection from the dead is our hope. But what view would we take if we were members of the Sanhedrin? To believe in the Resurrection means that we will one day awaken from the dead and rise. That’s a pretty big deal. But without the Resurrection, our entire faith is useless, according to the apostle Paul. Thankfully, we believe —as Paul did —that Jesus indeed rose from the dead, showing us what is to come. This gives us a hope that is certain now and forevermore.

PRAYER:

Come quickly to help me, O Lord my savior.