Friday, 24^th week in ordinary time – 18^th September 2026 – 1 Corinthians 15:12-20 and Luke 8:1-3

A theological crisis has broken out in the Corinthian Church. Certain members accepted Jesus’ resurrection but denied the future, bodily resurrection of believers. In verse 12, Paul asks a sharp rhetorical question: “How can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?”.

To understand the genesis of this question we need a bit of cultural context. The church at Corinth was heavily influenced by Greek philosophy (such as Platonism and early Gnostic ideas). Greek culture viewed the physical body as a temporary prison for the soul. They found the idea of a physical, flesh-and-blood resurrection of corpses absurd and undesirable.

In yesterday’s text, taken from 1 Corinthians 15:1–4, Paul reminds the Christians in Corinth of the Gospel he originally preached, which they already accepted: that Christ died for sins, was buried, and was raised on the third day. Paul lists the reliable eyewitnesses who saw the physically resurrected Jesus, including Peter, the Twelve disciples, more than 500 believers at once, James, and finally Paul himself.

Once Paul establishes that the Corinthians already believe in Jesus’ resurrection, he uses verses 12–20 to show them the devastating, domino-effect consequences of their false teaching. He uses a strict “if/then” logical structure. If regular people cannot be raised from the dead, then by default, Jesus (who became a man) could not have been raised either. If Jesus wasn’t raised, then Christian preaching is a lie, their faith is useless, they are still trapped in their sins, and dead Christians are gone forever.

The core issue in ancient Corinth was not a total rejection of spirituality, but rather cafeteria theology—picking and choosing which parts of God’s truth to believe based on the cultural trends of their day. The Corinthians did not reject Jesus entirely; they just wanted a version of Christianity that wouldn’t make them look foolish to their elite, intellectually sophisticated Greek neighbours who mocked the bodily resurrection.

Like the Corinthians, the modern world often tries to keep the comfortable parts of faith (like love, community, or spirituality) while editing out the supernatural, sacrificial, or morally absolute parts. Paul’s response is unyielding: God’s truth does not bend to accommodate the fashionable philosophies of the era.

The Christians in Corinth wanted a customized, spiritualized faith that didn’t involve the messy, physical reality of a future judgment and bodily resurrection. Truth is an all-or-nothing package. You cannot claim to follow the Christ of the Gospel while simultaneously rejecting the foundational realities that the Gospel stands upon. When Christianity is reduced to a trendy self-improvement program, it loses its eternal weight.

1 Corinthians 15 calls the modern believer out of the exhausting cycle of chasing cultural relevance. Christ’s resurrection is the anchor. It happened in real history, and it remains true regardless of whether 21st-century scepticism finds it fashionable or not.

Our Gospel of today is taken from Luke 8. Directly before chapter 8, Jesus dines at the home of Simon, a wealthy Pharisee. While there, an unnamed, “sinful woman” enters, weeps at Jesus’ feet, wipes them with her hair, and anoints them with expensive perfume. Simon looks down on both the woman (for her sin) and Jesus (for allowing a sinful woman to touch him).

Jesus uses a parable of two debtors to show that the person who is forgiven much, loves much. He commends the woman’s deep faith and emotional hospitality while rebuking Simon’s cold, self-righteous lack of hospitality.

The immediate transition in Luke 8:1–3 proves that the sinful woman’s gratitude was not an isolated event. It introduces a whole community of prominent, formerly broken women who act on the exact same gratitude by financing Jesus’ mission.  

What can we learn from this Gospel

1. Grace is Not a Pit Stop, It’s a Pipeline!

Everybody wants to talk about the woman weeping at Jesus’ feet in Luke 7. It’s emotional. It’s dramatic. But if you stop reading at the end of the chapter, you miss the entire point of the miracle because the scene shifts from a private room to the public square.

God did not deliver you from your sin just to give you a private crying session! The gratitude that started as tears at His feet instantly expanded into a movement on the streets. Your praise cannot stay cooped up in your past. When grace hits your life, it doesn’t just change your private condition; it changes your public direction!

2. From the Pit to the Platform

Look at who is funding the ministry of Jesus. It’s not the religious elite. It’s not the people who have always had it all together. It is a community of formerly broken women! Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, women who used to be tormented, women who used to be isolated, women who society had already written off.

These women went from being rescued to being resourceful. They didn’t just receive the miracle; they managed the mission. They started opening up their own pockets to finance the move of God

3. Funding the Forward Movement

Jesus and the disciples are traveling from town to town, village to village, preaching the Kingdom. How? Because these women refused to let their gratitude be a monument. They decided to make it a movement. They sustained the ministry out of their own means.

Some of you are waiting until everything is perfect to start serving, start giving, or start moving. No! These women looked at what they were saved from, and immediately invested in where Jesus was going to. The ultimate proof that you have been healed is that you are no longer consuming the miracle, you are casting the vision. Don’t just look back at the pit; start financing the future!

Continue Reading