1 Corinthians 15:3-11

Jesus is the express image of the Father. In Him dwells the fullness of the Gospel.  His perfect life, His birth, death and resurrection, is the only way to the Father.

1 Corinthians 15:3-11

3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy 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 toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 11 Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. The New King James Version

Paul emphasizes the continuity of his message with the early church’s teaching. Burial signifies the confirmation and finality of death. There was a physical sighting of Christ with his eyes—not merely a vision.

In the same way that a person sleeps and awakes, the Christian who dies will arise to life. 

The Greek word used by Paul here, ektrōma, sometimes translated as “abortion,” suggests that Paul considered himself different than the other apostles. For Paul, this “abnormality” serves as proof of his apostleship. Paul considers his apostleship to be a sign of God’s grace and mercy because he did not deserve it. Paul acknowledges that he become an apostle through God’s grace. He recognizes that he does not deserve such a gift.  Faithlife Study Bible

Paul did not originate the proclamation of Jesus that he delivered to the Corinthians; he simply gave the Corinthians what he himself had received. He viewed himself as a link in a long chain of witnesses to the truth of the death and resurrection of Christ. Christ’s death dealt decisively with our sins. He suffered in our place to endure the just wrath of God against us. Christ lived and died in accordance with the prophecies about Him in the Old Testament. The Resurrection verifies the fact that Christ’s death paid the full price for sin. The Greek term translated rose here is in the perfect tense, emphasizing the ongoing effects of this historical event. Christ is a risen Savior today. 

At the time of Paul’s writing, a person could have verified the truthfulness of the apostle’s statements. The majority of the five hundred people who saw the risen Christ, as well as all the apostles and James (the half brother of Jesus), were still living. Born out of due time is probably Paul’s comment on the unique way he became an apostle. Paul considered himself the least of the apostles because at one time he had persecuted the church. Even though Paul got a late start and did not have the discipleship training that the other apostles did, he traveled further, established more churches, and wrote more Scripture than all of them. But Paul attributed his success to the grace of God. 

Paul did not care who got credit for the Corinthians’ faith. He cared only that the Corinthians believed. The NKJV Study Bible

This apostle was highly favoured, but he always had a low opinion of himself, and expressed it. When sinners are, by Divine grace, turned into saints, God causes the remembrance of former sins to make them humble, diligent, and faithful. He ascribes to Divine grace all that was valuable in him. True believers, though not ignorant of what the Lord has done for, in, and by them, yet when they look at their whole conduct and their obligations, they are led to feel that none are so worthless as they are. All true Christians believe that Jesus Christ, and him crucified, and then risen from the dead, is the sun and substance of Christianity. All the apostles agreed in this testimony; by this faith they lived, and in this faith they died. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

Isaiah 53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.

Hosea 6:2 After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight.

Matthew 12:40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Luke 24:34 saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!”