Possibly the most heart moving chapter for us in Scripture is today’s 15^th chapter in 1^st Corinthians – of course, that depends on how ‘alive’ our heart is!  Paul writes on the absolute certainty that the resurrection of Christ really happened.  It is the foundation of “the gospel in which you stand and by which you are being saved.”]v.1,2]  He reminds these former idol-worshippers that “I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins … that he was raised the third day …” [v.3,4]   

This gave real meaning to their lives, as it does to ours. We can say that if we have real conviction of this event, that conviction becomes the ‘engine’ of the ‘thought processes’ that transform the way we see the meaning of life.  How well that ‘engine’ is functioning is evidenced by the priorities we have in daily and weekly life. 

The people of Corinth had formerly been idol worshippers, they had believed they had a ‘soul’ that was immortal that it was a blessing when it escaped from their body at death to then lead some sort of immortal existence!   There are still some relatively primitive people today who believe this, but far more significant at the moment is the Islamic conviction, from the Qur’an, that the souls of martyrs go directly to paradise – a conviction that is surely a significant factor in the minds of those who commit the atrocities we are witnessing in the world at the moment.

Paul goes on to list the witnesses that Christ rose from the dead; on one occasion “he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive” [v.6].  We reflect the thinking of the Roman Centurions –  their thinking was effectively challenged through their contact with Jesus, at least some were convinced of his divine powers, see Matt 8 v.5-13; Luke 3 v.3-6. A Centurion and others with him saw “what took place (at the crucifixion) and they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” [Matt 27 v.54]

Then of course Acts 10 has the account of the conversion of the Roman Centurion Cornelius – and many with him.  Surely the impact of these experiences was the reason why there were so many followers of Christ in Rome in A.D. 63 whom the emperor Nero sought to put to death, according to Roman historians, e.g. Tacitus, circa AD 110.  They saw the events of Calvary as “of first importance” – it transformed their thinking, as it did all those who had witnessed him alive after his resurrection – creating the conviction of their own hope of resurrection!  

Those alive at his return, and surely that includes some (many?) alive today who truly believe these things are “of first importance” and are baptised, they, says Paul, “shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet … and put on immortality.” [v.51,53] All with this conviction of belief and expectation, will, as Paul expresses it at the end of this chapter, “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord …” 

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Our chapter (11) in Luke’s gospel today is full of challenging sayings by our Lord. There is great spiritual value in deeply meditating on them and seeing the extent to which they have application to the circumstances in which we live today.  The background to many of them is the self-righteous attitudes of the religious leaders who contended with Jesus. 

Praise of Jesus’ mother developed in early centuries and led to the cult of a sort of Mary worship. Luke records a little incident which those influenced by such attitudes must gloss over and ignore.  We read the response of Jesus to a woman in the crowd who calls out, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts at which you nursed”  Jesus responds, “Blessed rather are those who hear the words of God and keep it.” [v.27,28]  May we all be blessed for that reason, and recognise our additional blessing in being able to read all the words of God..

The way that we “keep it” will result in us being “full of light”!   As a result our “eye is healthy” [v.34] and so our eye (or ear) keep bringing ‘healthy food’ into our minds.  This is more and more essential today as our world is so full of junk food!

Underline the next 2 verses, “Therefore be careful lest the light (you think you have) be darkness”  [v. 35] Let’s fully absorb the point Jesus makes in the next verse, “If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.” Are you and I “full of light”?   How difficult it is to maintain such light in the increasing darkness of this world – evil words and deeds multiply all around us.  Now the words of David in Psalm 139 are a special inspiration to us with his perception of the light of God in the darkness. 

“If I say,’ writes David, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night, even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you.” [v12] Read the rest of that Psalm, especially the last 2 verses – and then you and I will be even more dedicated to “be careful lest” the light of God’s word be smothered by the darkness that increasingly surrounds us. 

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