In the chapter discussing the resurrection, I see Paul at his very best. He has been kind, humble even, in some chapters and then very authoritarian in others. He has begged and borrowed to keep the new churches aware of their responsibilities. I can see him writing into the night, maybe as the first glimpse of a sunrise comes through his window. He is working so hard for God..and his church.

And now the resurrection…..the reason, the argument, the motive, for all the previous work….. This is the magnificent ‘closing’ of Paul….the real story…the real reason he has been preaching for days and weeks, about Christianity……IT IS THE RESURRECTION!
And he says it so straightforward, so simple…..If you don’t believe, after all this, that Christ is alive, risen from the dead….then there is nothing more to say. If there is no resurrection, there is, quite frankly, no nothing….It’s a hoax, a good idea, a dream, a lie, a wish even…. Seems it is still kind of simple….this teaching of life ever after…..If there is a Christ…if He did die for our sins and has been resurrected, then everything is cool!

As we move toward Palm Sunday and Easter, this chapter is just what the doctor ordered…good reading, good lessons, good common sense. We are getting prepared…ready to come to terms, once again, the wonderful accounting and belief of the resurrection….how delightful…what a great closing to a new beginning in our lives…

more later….