1 Corinthians 15

The Explanation

Paul is writing a letter to the church in Corinth. That is a city where a lot of people had become Christians, but they were confused about something important. Some of them said: dead people cannot really come back to life. Bodies rot in the ground, so how could that ever happen? Paul takes a whole chapter to answer them, and it is one of the most important chapters in the whole Bible.

He starts by reminding them of what he had taught earlier. Christ died for our sins. He was buried. And on the third day, He rose from the dead. Paul says this really happened, and there were witnesses. Peter saw Him. The twelve disciples saw Him. Once more than five hundred people saw Him at the same time. And later Paul himself saw the risen Jesus, on the road to Damascus. He calls himself the least of the apostles, because he had once persecuted Christians.

Then Paul does something clever. He asks: if you say dead people cannot rise, then Christ did not rise either. And if Christ did not rise, then our preaching is empty, your faith is useless, and everyone who has already died believing in Jesus is simply gone. Then, Paul writes, we would be the most pitiful people in the world. But, he says, Christ has risen. He is the firstfruits, the very first one of a huge harvest that is still coming.

Further on, Paul answers the question he knows people will ask: what does such a resurrected body actually look like? He uses the picture of a seed. You put a small brown seed in the ground. It looks dead. But out of that seed grows something much more beautiful, like wheat or a flower. That is how it will be with our bodies too. What is sown weak, will be raised strong. What is sown perishable, will be raised imperishable.

At the end of the chapter, Paul writes something almost like a song. When Jesus comes back, the trumpet will sound. The dead will rise. Death will be swallowed up. And then he cries out: "Death, where is your sting?" The chapter ends with the encouragement to keep standing firm, because our work for the Lord is not for nothing.

What Does This Mean?

Paul says the whole Christian faith stands or falls with one thing: did Jesus really rise, or not? If it did not really happen, then Christianity is a beautiful story but nothing more. But if it did happen, then everything changes. Death is no longer the end. God is stronger than the grave.

This is not a fairy tale for Paul. He names witnesses by name. People who were still alive when he wrote this letter. You could go and ask them.

The Common Thread

The whole Bible works toward this moment. From the very beginning, when death entered the world in the garden of Eden, God promised that He would fix it. Through Abraham, through David, through the prophets, He kept saying: I am coming to make everything new. Jesus is the answer to that promise. And His resurrection is the sign that God really does what He says. Paul calls Jesus the firstfruits. That means: what happened to Him will also happen to everyone who belongs to Him. He went first. We follow.

For You

Maybe you have already thought about death sometimes. Perhaps a grandma or grandpa died, or a pet. It can feel scary, or unfair, or just very sad. This chapter does not say your sadness is silly. Even Jesus cried at a grave. But it does say that death does not have the last word.

You can live differently because of this. You do not have to be afraid that your life ends in nothing. And the small things you do for God, being kind when no one sees, praying, telling someone about Jesus, none of it disappears. Paul says your work in the Lord is never in vain. Never wasted.

Talk About It

If someone at school said to you: "Nobody rises from the dead, that is impossible," what would you answer?

Paul says our work for God is never for nothing. What is something small you could do this week that counts with God?

Praying Together

Lord Jesus, thank You that You really rose. Thank You that death is not the end for those who belong to You. Help me to trust that, also when I am sad or scared. And help me to live for You, even in small things. Amen.