Psalm 16; Song of Solomon 5:9-6:3; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Friday 17 April by Rev. Jerry Eve
I want to go straight to our New Testament passage today. I used to have a copy of the New Testament that listed all the books in what was thought by the theologian who published it to have been their chronological order.
Rather than the gospels first, therefore, came the Pauline epistles, and even these weren’t in their traditional order of:
Roman – Romans
Catholic – 1 Corinthians
Cardinal – 2 Corinthians
Greets – Galatians
Each – Ephesians
Person – Philippians
Coming – Colossians
To – 1 Thessalonians
Talk – 2 Thessalonians
To – 1 Timothy
The – 2 Timothy
Tired – Titus
Pope – Philemon
We tend at Easter to go to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John for evidence of the Resurrection, and sometimes we forget that by far and away the earliest written account of Jesus’ rising from death is actually here in 1 Corinthians 15 instead.
The way Paul begins to speak of it is very familiar to any of those of us who attend Communion regularly, for Paul uses the same introduction here as he does for the institution of the Lord’s Supper:
“For I received from the Lord the teaching that I passed on to you.” (1 Cor 11:23), and
“I passed on to you what I received.” (1 Cor 15:3)
Towards the end of our passage, Paul is speaking from first-hand knowledge as he alludes to his Damascene conversion. Before that, though, he mentions both Peter and Jesus’ brother, James, and it’s very likely that what he is reporting here about more than 500 witnesses of the risen Christ was information that had been given to him by them earlier on in Jerusalem (see Galatians 1:18-20). Whereas the tradition regarding Communion, therefore, at 1 Cor 11 was handed on to Paul by the Lord himself, it’s likely that 1 Cor 15:3-4 came from what has come to be known as the Jerusalem Council instead.
It is the earliest Christian creed we have, and is thought to have been formulated at least within 5, if not as little as 2, years following Jesus’ death. It has just three articles:
- Christ died for our sins
- Christ was buried
- Three days later, Christ was raised to life
Since then, of course, this has been expanded on by Church leaders at successive ‘Council’s, and even now into the 21st century new creeds are still being written. The one we Presbyterians tend to use is the Apostles’ Creed which has 12 articles, one traditionally for each of the twelve apostles. If you have time, you might like to ponder which article might have been written by which disciple. They are, as follows:
- I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
- I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
- He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
- Under Pontius Pilate, He was crucified, died, and was buried.
- He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again.
- He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
- He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
- I believe in the Holy Spirit,
- the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints,
- the forgiveness of sins,
- the resurrection of the body,
- and the life everlasting.
Let us pray:
It’s Friday
Jesus is praying
Peter’s a sleeping
Judas is betraying
But Sunday’s comin’
It’s Friday
Pilate’s struggling
The council is conspiring
The crowd is vilifying
They don’t even know
That Sunday’s comin’
It’s Friday
The disciples are running
Like sheep without a shepherd
Mary’s crying
Peter is denying
But they don’t know
That Sunday’s a comin’
It’s Friday
The world’s winning
People are sinning
And evil’s grinning
It’s Friday
He’s hanging on the cross
Feeling forsaken by his Father
Left alone and dying
Can nobody save him?
Ooooh
It’s Friday
The earth trembles
The sky grows dark
My King yields his spirit
It’s Friday
Hope is lost
Death has won
Sin has conquered
and Satan’s just a laughin’
But it’s Friday
It is only Friday
Sunday is a comin’!
Amen (S. M. Lockridge)