Reading for October 13th

 Read 1 Corinthians 15.29-49. In verses 29-34: What we practice shows what we believe. In verse 29: This practice is mentioned only here in the New Testament. Paul assumes the practice in order to draw the implication. In verse 30: He now appeals to his own practice: Daily risking his life as an apostle. In verse 31: I die every day: In his apostolic life, Paul reenacts the Christ-event (2 Cor 4.7-12). In verse 32: Wild beasts at Ephesus refers to Paul's own opponents; the quotation is from Isa 22.13. In verse 33: Paul quotes a popular proverb traceable to the Greek comic poet Menander (4th century BCE). In verse 34: Sin is easier when God is absent from the future. In verses 35-41: Some examples from nature. In verse 35: An imaginary questioner as what happens to the body. In verses 36-38: A grain of seed must "die" (be buried in the ground) before it rises from the earth in a different form as wheat (Jn 12.24). In verses 39-41: Nature presents different forms of life. Glory is brightness or radiance. In verses 42-49: Nature helps explain resurrection. In verses 42-44: Sown and raised continue the image of the seed from vv. 36-38. The contrasting qualities underscore the differences in the forms of life before and after "burial." In verses 45-49: Gen 2.7. The first Adam received life; Christ the second Adam, gives (resurrection) life. Adam and Christ represent different forms of life. All humans share Adam's dust. Those in Christ are of heaven and will eventually breathe his life-giving spirit. Comments or Questions..