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First Corinthians 15:5-19

Paul has learned that some individuals in the Corinthian assembly were promoting the Greek philosophical
thinking that there is no resurrection of the dead - that once a person died, his body corrupted in the grave,
and that was the end of it.
Paul devotes this entire chapter to refuting this view, and gives many details concerning the resurrection of
believers - including the nature of the new bodies in which theyll live.
All of this depends entirely upon one particular resurrection - the resurrection of Jesus, from the dead. So
when Paul makes his argument to the Corinthians, thats where he begins - with establishing the
authenticity of the resurrection of Jesus.
We saw that Paul first showed that resurrection is an integral part of the gospel, which is the very
foundation of our faith. Paul emphasized that every aspect of the gospel - the death, the burial, and the
resurrection of Jesus - all came to pass, according to the Scriptures. We considered just three of the OT
passages last week concerning the Messiah, in His first coming as the Savior of the world - and how Jesus
precisely fulfilled each their prophecies.
So Paul has provided the evidence for Christs resurrection in terms of its fulfillment of the Scriptures. Now
he adds to that evidence, continuing to establish the reality of the raising of Jesus from the dead - based on
eyewitness accounts. Well begin with verse 3.
[First Corinthians 15:3-11]
The death and burial of Jesus make it absolutely certain that His rising refers to bodily resurrection; for
three days His dead body lay in the tomb, and then that body came back to life in glorified form, reunited
with His soul of spirit-life in His resurrection from the dead.
Verse 4 literally says, He has been raised again - the Greek means that He was raised to life and
continues to live. These are the historical facts of the gospel. Can they be changed? No.
Paul then cites several sightings of Jesus with which he is familiar, following His resurrection. Now, if
youve had a chance to review the passages in the gospels concerning the resurrection of Jesus, you
probably noticed that they do not precisely correspond to the list that Paul gives here.
Remember, the gospels were not yet written. Each writer listed the witnesses with whom he was familiar,
in his account - including Paul. We shouldnt expect them to be exactly the same. But there are no
contradictions to be found - and that is what we should expect.
It may be that Paul did know of additional witnesses, such as the women at the tomb, but was intentionally
selective in the ones whom he chose, for the Corinthians.
In ancient law, eyewitness accounts were highly valued. Paul lists what would be considered the most
valuable witnesses of the day - prominent men and groups, as well as a large mass sighting. Together, it
provides strong evidence that Jesus rose from the dead; for He was seen by many people, over a lengthy
period of time.

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It would seem that Paul is listing his witnesses in the order in which Jesus appeared to them. Its likely
Paul is working off the chronology of the gospel, that he has just recorded; this is the historical record, in
order.
Who is Cephas? Thats the Syriac form of the Greek Peter - Simon Peter. The writers of the gospels do
not record a specific sighting by only Peter, but they do refer to it. Luke records the return of two disciples
to Jerusalem, after the risen Jesus appeared to them on the road to Emmaus. At that time, the other
disciples told them that they too were aware that the Lord had risen, for He had also appeared to Simon (Lk
24:34).
Paul then mentions that Jesus was seen by the twelve. Who would that be? The twelve apostles; well,
technically, eleven; Judas Iscariot had taken his own life by this time. But the twelve came to be a
collective designation for the apostles whom Jesus Himself appointed as His witnesses (Mk 3:14).
It is certain that Paul had heard the account of when the risen Lord appeared to His disciples in the upper
room in Jerusalem - twice, in fact, because Thomas wasnt with them, the first time.
The account was later recorded by both Luke and John, where we find some interesting details, concerning
the risen Jesus - details which make it clear that Jesus was resurrected in bodily form - but also that His
body was somewhat different than before.
First of all, Jesus simply appeared in the room, standing in the midst of His disciples (Lk 24:36); yet the
door of the room had been locked (Jn 20:19). How did Jesus get in there? How did He simply appear, in
their midst? And Jesus had just as suddenly vanished, in another appearance He had made (Lk 24:31). Can
a natural body simply appear and vanish? No.
Well, the disciples thought that He was a spirit - a ghost (Lk 24:37) - you see, they had those superstitions
back then, just as we do today (Mt 14:26, Mk 6:49)! And apparently, some doubted that it was really Jesus
(Lk 24:38).
But Jesus spoke to them, and reassured them - it was really Him. And He showed them His hands and His
feet - which still bore the nail marks, from His crucifixion (Lk 24:39). Later, He would tell Thomas to
examine these marks, even to put his hand into His side - that is, the heart of Jesus, which had been pierced
by the centurions spear, to confirm that Jesus was dead.
He was dead - but now He was alive again, in a body that was still clearly His body - and yet it had
changed. It could conform to the laws of the natural universe - as could be seen when Jesus ate some food,
for the sake of His disciples, so that they would believe it was really Him and not some apparition (Lk
24:41-44).
But though this new body could conform to the laws of the natural universe, it was not bound by them. It
could appear and disappear - materialize, and dematerialize.
And as well see later, it was not even bound to the earth - for this body was not specifically designed for
life on this earth.
Jesus described it as a flesh and bone body (Lk 24:39). It had real, physical substance. Yet clearly this body
was enlifed with a new kind of life - a life which had never before been seen, in the physical world. This
was a body of spirit life (1 Cor 15:44).

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Following the appearance of the risen Lord to the twelve, Paul says that He was seen by over 500 brethren
at once - meaning believers. Only believers were given to see the resurrected Jesus, during this time. Most
of these were still alive, in Pauls day - and could still give their testimony.
This sighting is not mentioned in the gospels, but as most of the disciples of Jesus came from the region of
Galilee, and Jesus had the word spread that His disciples were to meet Him there (Mt 28:10), it is possible
that this is where the resurrected Jesus made His appearance, to 500 of His disciples at once.
Paul continues with James, referring to the half-brother of Jesus, who had become the leader of the church
in Jerusalem. There is no other record of a private appearance that Jesus made to His brother James.
But Paul may have learned of this when he went up to Jerusalem, after he became a believer (Gal 1:18-19).
There he related to Peter and James how he had seen the risen Lord on the road to Damascus, and how the
Lord had spoken to him (Acts 9:27).
We could see that James and Peter may then have related their own personal encounters with the risen
Lord. Paul includes James here as a most prominent witness, to the Corinthians.
These encounters with Jesus were not momentary sightings, about which people might be mistaken. There
was often a conversation with the Lord; sometimes, a meal shared. In fact, Jesus spent a period of forty
days with His disciples, during which time He opened up their understanding to the OT Scriptures - as to
how He had fulfilled them.
Paul indicates a final appearance to the apostles - all of them - which in the chronology probably
corresponds to the end of this forty-day period and the disciples last moments with the risen Jesus. Turn to
Acts chapter 1. Luke begins this record where his gospel left off - a two-volume record he prepared for a
prominent man, a believer named Theophilus.
[Acts 1:1-9]
v. 1-5 The Promise of the Father was to send the Holy Spirit, in whom the Body of Christ would be
baptized with power, an anointing for their ministry of reconciling men to God.
v. 6-8 These Jewish disciples were thinking that because Jesus had risen from the dead, perhaps He would
now set up the kingdom - with Israel as the head nation. But Israel had at this time rejected Jesus as their
King. The time for the kingdom on earth was not at hand; the Kingdom Age was not yet to be.
Meanwhile, Jesus redirected His disciples to what is at hand right now - the church age, during which time
they will give their witness of Jesus to the world.
v. 9 So the disciples watched as the Lord was taken up from the mount of Olives, ascending bodily back
into heaven - to the right hand of the Father - a cloud receiving Him out of their sight.
He ascended bodily - but in a body the likes of which they had never seen; a body that was not subject to
gravity, which did not need the earthly atmosphere - which was fitted for the atmosphere of heaven. So
was the resurrected body of Jesus.
[Return to First Corinthians 15]

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Who is the last one whom Paul lists, as a witness to the risen Lord? Himself; in verse 8, last of all. Paul
speaks of himself as born out of due time. This term is not used elsewhere in the NT. In general usage, it
refers to a premature birth; one not born at the right time. And so Paul considers himself - the least of the
apostles, not worthy to be called one.
While Jesus was calling His apostles to Himself, teaching them the truth during His earthly ministry, so that
they would be His witnesses before the world, Paul was making his advances in the false religion of
Judaism (Gal 1:14).
When Jesus was lifted up on the cross as the Sin-Bearer, the Substitute for sinful man, Paul despised Him
as accursed of God (Gal 3:13) - that God was judging Jesus, as the imposter He was.
And as Jesus came forth from the grave, and breathed the Holy Spirit into His Body of believers (Jn 20:22),
giving them collective life in the Spirit, Paul set his sights on destroying the church (Acts 8:1-3).
It wasnt until Jesus directly intervened in Pauls life, appearing to him personally in His resurrected body
of glory, that Paul finally saw the light (Acts 22:11). He was a persecutor of the church of God ;
persecuting the Way, to the death (Acts 22:4), in his imagined zeal for God.
It was by the grace of God that Paul was saved, and by His grace that Paul became what He was. The Holy
Spirit empowered Paul as an apostle, and revealed to him the gospel in all its fullness. Paul may have been
last and least, but God saw to it that in nothing did Paul come behind the most eminent apostles (2 Cor
12:11).
And how Paul responded to the grace that God had shown him, laboring more abundantly than all the rest!
In verse 10, this is not a matter of Paul boasting in himself, but of simply working with God - laboring with
the Lord, planting the good seed of the Word of God, in the hearts of men. And God gave the increase (1
Cor 3:6).
Why would you say that Paul labored all the more? Because of his thankfulness to God.
Turn to First Timothy chapter 1. Paul expressed this to his son in the faith, Timothy. He wrote this letter
shortly after he was released from his first two-year imprisonment, which culminated in his house arrest, in
Rome.
[First Timothy 1:12-16]
v. 12-13 an insolent man is one who mistreats others for the pleasure which the affliction of the wrong
brings him. We might say, a sadist. This is how Paul describes how he used to be.
v. 14-16 It is as if Paul is saying, if he could be forgiven, anyone could! God is that longsuffering with
men.
Jesus once made the point that he who is forgiven much, loves much (Lk 7:47) - and so was true for Paul.
The love of Christ is what compelled him (2 Cor 5:14).
[Return to First Corinthians]
Now, the witness of Paul to the risen Lord is actually the strongest of all the eyewitness testimonies. Do
you know why? Because Paul didnt believe Jesus to be the Messiah.

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Paul saw the risen Lord, and He spoke to Paul - and Paul to Him (Acts 9:3-6, 27). Paul was certain of what
he saw - he saw Jesus alive, forevermore (Rev 1:18) - and it changed him completely. There can be no
more powerful witness to the fact that Jesus rose from the dead.
Pauls last point about the apostles in verse 11 is that regardless of which one of them the Corinthians may
have heard, they were all eyewitnesses of the risen Jesus; they all preached the same gospel. And this is the
gospel into which the Corinthians had professed to believe.
What Paul has shown is that both God and man have provided evidence of the resurrection of Jesus: God,
by foretelling of it ahead of time - through His prophets in the Scriptures - and man, by his eyewitness
testimony of the risen Lord, as Jesus made appearances to His disciples - and even to one who adamantly
did NOT believe in Him.
As we continue in the passage, we find Paul beginning to balance this body of evidence against the thinking
in Corinth - that there is no resurrection. Then he embarks on a speculative course, supposing them to be
right - a journey into despair.
We continue with verse 12.
[Read First Corinthians 15:12-19]
In verse 12, notice that Paul indicates that only some among you are saying theres no resurrection of the
dead. These are the individuals who are trying to lead many believers in the assembly back into Greek
philosophy, including the thinking that the body is evil, or insignificant - and has no future destiny; it is for
this life only, on earth.
Greek reasoning said, God obviously has no future use for the body; that why we observe that it corrupts
in the grave. And we observe always does so; we have never observed anyone who has died come back to
life. They weigh their evidence, and by their reasoning, they conclude, theres no resurrection.
Pauls point is simple: What about Christ? He died; and He rose from the dead. Paul has already spelled
out the evidence for this. So how can anyone make the claim that there is no resurrection from the dead?
How can they possibly be saying that?
Now, it is conceivable that those in Corinth tried to make the resurrection of Christ an exception, in that
Christ is God. But Pauls point is that Christ is not an exception. Christ is God the Son, who was born in a
flesh and blood body; a mortal, human body; a body that was capable of dying.
That body died; it stopped breathing; the blood stopped circulating. It was buried and placed in a tomb,
which was sealed. And the Jews saw to it that the tomb was continually guarded, to make sure it stayed
sealed.
Three days passed. It took an act of God to raise Christs body, and the evidence shows it was indeed
raised. Therefore resurrection is achievable, and further, resurrection has been achieved - it has been
accomplished by God, in Christ.
Now some of us are satisfied with that alone. I am! But Paul wants the Corinthians to think their position
completely through; and so he presents the opposite case. He allows these Corinthians their premise, for a
moment - theres no resurrection. And Paul shows just what the dreadful ramifications of that would be,
starting back in verse 13.

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v. 13 So then Christ could not have risen from the dead; He died, and Hes still dead; His body remained in
the tomb.
v. 14 Now what does Paul mean by saying that their preaching is empty? He means that their preaching is
without basis; it has no power to save. And that would mean those who believed the preaching have also
believed in vain; their belief has no basis, because the object of their faith is not true.
Jesus claimed to be the way the truth and the life - that no man comes to the Father, except through Him (Jn
14:6). But Jesus also claimed many times that after He suffered on the cross, He would rise again the third
day (Mt 16:21, 17:23, 20:19, 27:63; Mk 8:31, 9:31, 10:34; Lk 9:22, 18:33, 24:7, 24:46).
If Jesus did not rise, then He was an imposter; He was not the way to the Father; He was not the truth, but a
liar, a deceiver, devoid of the ability to offer eternal life to anyone - for He Himself did not have it.
Believing in Him would prove to be nothing but an empty faith; a sham.
And Paul takes the premise further.
v. 15 If Christ did not rise from the dead, then all of the so-called witnesses that Paul had cited are false
witnesses - over 500 of them! And the apostles, preaching the gospel, are actually false witnesses against
God - because it means God never raised Jesus from the dead. That would be a precarious position to put
oneself in - to attribute things to God, that He didnt do. In fact, that invites His judgment.
But it gets worse.
v. 16-17 Paul is actually just bringing out one new point here, but its jolting. Paul is saying that without
the resurrection of Christ, then everyone who believed in Him would still be in their sins.
Now, to understand what Paul means by that, we had to follow his line of thought in Romans. Turn to
Romans chapter 4.
Paul has been writing of how righteousness was imputed to Abraham, through his faith - that is,
righteousness was put to Abrahams account - and so he was justified - when he believed into God for His
Christ. Paul now carries this thought through to all who believe, like Abraham did - through simple faith in
Christ.
[Romans 4:23-25] Paul is saying that righteousness is accounted to everyone who believes into God, for
His Christ. Jesus was delivered up to death for our offenses. He took the death penalty that was due us, for
our sins.
But notice Paul also says that Jesus was raised up by God - resurrected - for our justification. What does
Paul mean?
The resurrection of Jesus by God demonstrated that God received the offering of Jesus, on our behalf. If
Jesus was not raised, it would indicate that the offering of Jesus for sin was unacceptable; and therefore, we
would all still be unjustified; we would all still be in our sins, subject to Gods wrath, and destined for
destruction.
The preaching to the Jews after Pentecost particularly shows that Gods raising of Jesus from the dead was
a vindication of Him; of His claims, as the Messiah, and the Savior of the world (Acts 2:22-24, 3:13-15, 26,
4:10-12). Well just look at one of these.

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Turn to Acts chapter 3. Peter and John had just healed a man who was lame from birth. Then Peter
preached to a crowd of Jews that had gathered.
[Acts 3:12-15] So God overturned the ruling of the Jews and the Gentiles concerning Jesus - they put Him
to death, but God raised Him up alive forevermore. This vindicated Jesus as the Holy One of Israel - the
Messiah - and the Prince of Life - the Savior.
[Return to First Corinthians 15]
Without the resurrection, the good news becomes bad news - we cant be freed from our sins. Our past
stays with us. But the news gets worse.
v. 18 Paul speaks of those who have fallen asleep in Christ. This is a euphemism for the death of the
believer, because for them, they will wake up again - in the resurrection of Life.
But if Christ is not risen, that is not the case; these believers had a empty faith, and they are still in their
sins, too.
This means that they have already essentially perished - all that is ahead of them is the judgment of the
unrighteous, along with the rest of sinful humanity, at the Great White Throne - and their final
condemnation, in the Lake of Fire. Their loved ones, from whom theyve been separated in death, with be
separated from them forever. Theyre lost forever.
Paul writes of one last dismal prospect, if it were true that there was no resurrection.
v. 19 Pauls point has been that the resurrection of Jesus has bearing on our sinful past, as well as on our
certain future hope of glory.
But if there really isnt any resurrection at all, our past is not dealt with, and we have no future hope. This
means that believers are living this present life in the hope of a future that doesnt exist.
All that we do here, in this life, is done with our future prospect in mind; we mind the things above. If we
live that way, and that prospect has no reality, we are wasting our time - wasting our lives. Paul is saying, if
thats so, then of all human beings, were the most to be pitied.
When were going through trials, that means they dont work for us; they can have no positive benefit,
whatsoever. If we are persecuted for our faith, if we bear the reproach of Christ, we do so for no reason at
all. If we strive to live a sanctified life, it doesnt matter. If we seek to grow in the grace and knowledge of
our Lord, its pointless. And endeavoring to serve one another in love has no merit - not if death is the end.
But it isnt the end. God revealed it isnt the end when He raised Christ from the dead. And because God
did this, we have a hope - a hope that will never, ever disappoint.

Reading: next week: 1 Corinthians 15:20-28, Romans 5:12-21, John 5:19-30.

in two weeks: Revelation 6:12-17, 11:15-18,
19:1-6, Matthew 25:31-46, Revelation 20:1-7,
Daniel 12:1-3, Job 19:25-27.