People To Be Pitied

1 Corinthians 15 : 19 - 28

In the passage, Paul was examining a problem in the Corinthian congregation. There were people who believed that the resurrection was no longer necessary because life was already like a resurrection. In Reformed theology, when we talk about the kingdom of God, there is the ‘already’ aspect and the ‘not yet’ aspect. Here we see that the Corinthian congregation emphasized the ‘already’ aspect but neglected the ‘not yet’ aspect.

Jesus Christ has risen; He is the foundational basis for the resurrection of the dead. Yesterday, I was in a WhatsApp group of servants of God. One servant of God said ‘Christ has risen! Blessed Easter’ but when I checked the time—it was actually only Saturday, even in South East Asia. I replied that if we consider the event that happened 2000 years ago, that is true, but according to the church calendar, it is still Saturday. In Germany, if you wish someone a happy birthday two days in advance, they can be offended. When we talk about Easter and the resurrection, there is the ‘already’ aspect and the ‘not yet’ aspect. Both are important. Paul said Jesus is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. If you have a garden, you know that during spring or the fruiting season, there are firstfruits that come out, which are first to appear and guarantee that the harvest will follow later. It would not make sense if only one fruit appeared and that was the end of it; you would wonder if the plant was infertile. When it is said that Jesus’ resurrection is the firstfruits, it guarantees that there will be a great harvest afterward: the resurrection of the dead.

We know that after Adam fell into sin, he dragged all of humanity down with him. Physical death, including biological death, is inevitable. In parallel, the resurrection of the physical body is inevitable after Christ’ resurrection because He is the firstfruits. Sometimes people debate whether Jesus was resurrected or whether He rose by His own power. In social media, you might see debates like this. I am not against debate or discussion, as it can be fruitful, but sometimes those debates go nowhere and do not help us grow or love Christ more. They can become an expression of ego or pride to show off that one is more knowledgeable than others.

We can have a scholastic discussion whether Jesus was resurrected passively, or if He rose by Himself. Jesus said He is the resurrection itself in person. However, Paul and much of the New Testament often prefer to talk about Jesus’ resurrection passively. This does not make Jesus less divine. Jesus as a human being often becomes a stumbling block. Evangelicals often prefer to emphasize Jesus’ divinity, but the beauty of Paul’s writing, including Hebrews 2, is that Jesus was raised in solidarity with you and me. Jesus is the resurrection; He did not need to be resurrected. He raised Lazarus powerfully and could have risen on His own. Yet, He is often portrayed as being resurrected, as if He is weak. This understanding is given to those whose eyes God has not opened. To those whose eyes are opened, this is true power. Our world often mocks vulnerability and fragility, labeling people as the “strawberry generation” for being easily offended or depressed. I have seen funny clips of people getting hit by doors, contrasting the reactions from 1970 to 2026. In 1970, if you got bumped, it was over; in 2020, people would scream and call for an ambulance. While older generations might look down on this and believe people need to be tougher, our world generally cannot accept vulnerability or the fragile. Consider the death on the cross. From the perspective of outsiders to Christianity, a person stripped naked and dying on a cross being worshipped is incomprehensible. But we cannot talk about resurrection without death. Resurrection is glorious, but it is irrelevant without death. Figures like Nero, Julius Caesar, Constantine, or Augustus may be considered glorious, but they did not rise after death. There is a battle between the narrative of the worldly Roman Empire and that of the Kingdom of God. In the Gospel of John, Jesus told Nicodemus that if he was not born again, he would not see the Kingdom of God. New birth is God’s portion and no one can do it by themselves. It is a mystery under His sovereignty. However, you and I are invited to believe. It is not God who should believe. Do you believe? If you do not believe, you remain under the curse of Adam’s fall.

A commentary points out the difference here. Humans are in Adam by nature; you don’t have to do anything. However, we are in Christ by faith. We are all naturally corrupt and sinful. No one has to teach children to worship idols. I mentioned there were christian parents who worshiped their children. After the children were born, the new parents made them idols. However, the children themselves would also have idols. We are naturally idolaters. But it is only by faith that we can be in Christ. This is not natural. Today we have confirmation and attestation, but no adult baptism. Confirmation is not a sacrament, but it is important. We believe in infant baptism because God’s grace precedes human response. However, believing in Jesus Christ must be personally confirmed before God and His congregation. It is not by nature. It is not because of family tradition or religious culture; it is by faith. This faith isn’t about believing in faith itself or worrying about whether your faith is weak or strong. Corrie ten Boom once said that we don’t have to have great faith; what matters is that we have faith in the Almighty God. Faith should not look at itself. It looks upon the greatness of Christ’s glory. Whether faith is small, thin, or passionate does not matter. Instead, it is the object of faith: Christ, who rose from the dead.

I titled today’s sermon “People To Be Pitied,” a phrase from 1 Corinthians 15. Paul said that if Christ has not risen, we are truly miserable and deserve pity. This resurrection cannot be absent, otherwise we are truly miserable. Blaise Pascal, an extraordinarily talented thinker and expert in several fields, wrote an apologetic review known as “Pascal’s Wager” regarding whether God exists. We can expand this later to whether Christ rose. He suggested that if God did not exist and a Christian lived a righteous life—fearing God and loving others—there would be no loss. At least they lived a good life. We often do not like it when there are external rules that seem to limit our freedom. Children do not like being told to go to bed. We do not like our parents telling us whom to have dates with. Pascal says if people like this lived as they please, believing there is no God and no need to be held responsible for your actions, but then found out God exists and judges them, their life would be truly over. Bertrand Russell, an agnostic atheist, was once asked what he would say if he was wrong and God existed. He said he would tell God the evidence was not enough for him to believe. Assume this was true - what would God do? Say sorry to Russell? Give him a chance to believe after the conversation? No, he will be judged right there, and his excuse would not help. Going back to Pascal, his wager is that it is more reasonable to live a good life believing in God than living out an irresponsible life that is actually judged every moment. Such people will be judged without mercy because those people never believe in God. However, now I want to say that Paul might not agree with Pascal, however attractive his wager is as an invitation to believe in God. Paul does not talk about whether God exists. He talks about whether Christ rose, which is more particular. Paul says that if Christ did not rise, we are of all people most to be pitied. Paul does not say that at least we have at least lived a good life despite that Jesus did not rise. How essential is the belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ! Without it, the entire Christianity would be in vain.

Paul wrote that the last enemy to be destroyed is death. Often we understand death reductively as physical, biological death. While that is significant, the bible mentions more about the power of death. After thousands of years, man gets used to the fact of death. It will eventually come and seem normal. We have ‘tamed’ death. However, in the bible, death is not only about the day of death, but also everything that destroys human life: the inability to love, the inability to forgive, anxiety over this life, envy and the inability to worship and enjoy God’s presence. The inability to obey and being ever-suspicious against our parents are also the destructive power of death. Developing a ‘hermeneutic of suspicion’ where you are never-endingly suspicious of others is the power of death. If you don’t believe that Christ rose, your life remains under these destructive powers and it is impossible to get out. Life is then all about hurting and being hurt. When you hurt others, you do not realize doing it. You only know it when being hurt, and have no power to get out of the bitterness and disappointment. Is that not so miserable for a christian? Are you even a christian? Why do you keep bitterness in your life? Did Christ rise for you? Why do you still let the destructive powers rule over you? Some people might say they just believe they will rise with Christ after their death, but that is not Christianity. That is a schizophrenic religion. There is then no use to celebrate Easter every year or even every week, if we cannot unleash the love of God which we confess to have received.

Christ’s resurrection again is not just a historical debate. We sang the song ‘He lives’, and the last sentence ‘He lives within my heart’ can be taken critically as we are supposed to articulate why we believe. If living within one’s heart is a sufficient answer, then Wolfhart Pannenberg or Michael Welker did not have to bother writing so much about God’s existence or Christ’ resurrection. This is basically Schleiermacherian where faith is about the feeling of absolute dependence. Reformed people might feel troubled with this. However, today I want to affirm the beauty of this sentence. If Christ’ resurrection is not a reality in your heart, what is the use of it? We might be able to give arguments to show that it is more reasonable that Christ was resurrected, but what matters is whether the power of Christ’ resurrection is at work in your heart. Or do you give yourself over to the destructive power of death? Luther said that indeed Christ is objectively risen whether you believe it or not, but he also asked, notably before Søren Kierkegaard, if Christ is risen but not risen for you, what is the point? He lives, but if He does not live in your heart, what is the point?

Hebrews 11:1 says faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Faith itself is the conviction. This might sound like a circular argument, but Christianity is impossible without subjective internalization. It is not interested in mere objective reality that does not transform the heart. If no true transformation takes place, talking about the resurrection is pointless. May we have more and more union and fellowship with Christ.

I will end with a famous quote from Irenaeus which was also used by Calvin. He said the business of the christian is nothing else than to be preparing for death. Believing in the resurrection gives you the courage to face death and die with Jesus because we know we will be resurrected with Him. We then dare to mortify our flesh. Good Friday cannot be the end that does not continue to Easter. However, the opposite is also true. The resurrection is nothing without the cross. If you believe in the resurrection but do not want to deny yourselves, where is the resurrection power? Martyrs had the courage to die because they believed in the resurrection. While not all of us might be worthy of becoming martyrs, Luke says that we should take up your cross daily. Mark says whoever wants to follow Jesus must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him. But Luke democratizes bearing the cross. It is not just for an elite group of martyrs; all who believe are called to take up their cross daily. If we believe in Christ’ resurrection, you and I are called to crucify our flesh every day. This means we are true believers in the resurrection. (S.W.)