1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
Easter Festival Sunday, April 5, 2026 “Take Your Stand on This: Christ Was Raised”
Paul, what took you so long? I can’t help but wonder about this when I focus on the words of our Second Reading this morning. Why are these words relegated to the 15 th chapter of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians? Now, I understand that Paul was not the one to number the chapters and verses in his letter, but even if this were to be numbered somewhat differently, there are still sentences and paragraphs before this, content that makes up 14 chapters before Paul gets to what was read earlier. It’s important also to acknowledge that this wasn’t simply a decision for Paul whether stylistically or content-wise. God’s Holy Spirit moved and inspired Paul to write exactly what God wanted to be written. But do you see where my question comes from? Paul, that is God through Paul, is speaking to his original hearers, and to generations since, and even to us today, and he is saying something that is absolutely foundational. So that is where he begins what has become famous as the Easter chapter of the Bible—not the Gospel account of which we have four separate perspectives—but the Great Resurrection Chapter of the Bible, 1 Corinthians 15. Paul writes to those Christians in the city of Corinth and he says, Brothers, I am going to call your attention to the gospel that I preached to you. By the way, Paul has done that already. He has many times over, from the very first greeting in this letter and at multiple points since emphasized the good news, the Gospel. He has pointed to the work of Jesus and the results that the Corinthians could see and knew in their lives. And then in chapter 15 he is going to do so once again. And he is going to remind them just how foundational these truths are. This is the Gospel that you believed. This is the Gospel on which you took your stand. This is the Gospel that saves you as you hold tightly to it. This is the thing that is of first importance for me to deliver to you. So what is this Gospel? How would Paul succinctly share this primary truth? He does so with four points. You can just glance at this section and see them. The editors have placed them with a little indentation so they stand out from the surrounding text. And that wouldn’t have shown up the same way for the Corinthians, but they would have heard the emphasis on each point with a short Greek word that is translated: that, that, that, that. That number one: Christ died. He died for our sins. This was according to the Scriptures. This is what God promised throughout his Word. So much is packed into just a few words as Paul writes this. That number two: he was buried. Maybe that doesn’t sound quite so meaningful. “He was buried” actually fits into one Greek word. But it is important. Jesus was really dead. This is not some scam or sham. There would have been people who could have taken the Corinthians on a tour in the area of Jerusalem and even pointed out the tomb in which Jesus was laid. That’s how Friday ended just before the sun went down. Jesus was in the tomb. And when the sun came up on Sunday morning, that’s exactly what everyone expected. But it’s not what they got. What they got was that number three. He was raised. It was the third day. Some Scriptures describe the time between Jesus’ death and burial as “three days and three nights.” That’s how the Jewish people counted their days. Don’t let anyone convince you that our days are wrong or that Jesus didn’t die on Friday. The Jewish reckoning of days meant that any part of a day could be counted as a day and night. The third day from his death on Friday was his resurrection on Sunday. Jesus was alive again. But there was one important step remaining. No one knew. So Jesus appeared. We heard how he appeared to the women who had come to his tomb, but Paul doesn’t focus on that. Those women had an important job. They were to tell the disciples. But Jesus wasn’t going to leave the disciples without proof. He was going to appear to them, too, and they would be responsible for sharing the message with many more. That’s where Paul starts his list. First Jesus appeared to Cephas. You might know him better as Peter. Then he appeared to the Twelve. The Twelve were the close associates of Jesus, the disciples or apostles. Actually, by this time their number was down to eleven because Judas had taken his own life after betraying Jesus. That group was still known as the Twelve.