Three Proofs of the Resurrection
February 13, 2022
Commentary
“Moreover” tells us that Paul has finished his answers to the Corinthians’ questions, and he now goes on to a new subject. This is truly the greatest resurrection chapter of the entire Bible. The first eleven verses present the Gospel message and the evidence for its truthfulness. Paul gives three proofs to his readers that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead:
1. Their Salvation (vv. 1-2): Paul had preached the Gospel (which included Christ’s resurrection) that transformed their lives. A dead savior cannot save anybody.
2. The Old Testament Scriptures (vv. 3-4): The Old Testament declared Jesus’ resurrection on the third day in the experience of Jonah. Other proof texts include Acts 2:25-28 and Acts 13:32-33.
3. The fact that He was seen by many witnesses (vv. 5-11): Peter saw Him, and the disciples saw Him collectively (v. 5). Five hundred plus people saw Him at the same time (v. 6) and the greatest witness of the resurrection was Paul, one of the greatest persecutors.
The apostle Paul has not yet recovered from the “wonder of it all” that he should be elevated to the honor and office of apostleship. In humility he did not magnify his own personal credentials, but only the sovereign grace of God as he states, “But by the grace of God I am what I am” (v. 10). The intent of the apostle is not to boast but to magnify the grace of God.
Application
True humility is not convincing myself that I am worthless but recognizing God’s work in me. Paul shares how God wants to accomplish many things through my life, but only because of His mercy and not because I deserve anything.
1 Corinthians 15:1– 11 (NET)
1 Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel that I preached to you, that you received and on which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received—that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, 4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than 500 of the brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as though to one born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been in vain. In fact, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, this is the way we preach and this is the way you believed.
Illustration: McGee Called a Drunk a Preacher And He Was Ready to Fight
J. Vernon McGee told how the mother of a drunken man asked him to talk to her son. “Once when he went wobbling down the street, I detoured him into my study. I told him what a low-down, dirty rotten sinner he was, and how he had disgraced his mother, breaking her heart. He just sat there and took all of it. Then I said, ‘You preach by your life. You are a preacher.’ He stood up ready to fight me. I could call him anything in the world except a preacher. Well my friend, you are a preacher.” (Thru the Bible Commentary, Job by J. Vernon McGee, p. 172).