1 Corinthians 15:15 Commentary and Bible Study

One key responsibility of the apostles was to be witnesses to the resurrection. They witnessed to what they had seen with their own eye, and heard with their own hands, and touched with their own hands. The Lord Jesus Christ appeared specifically to all of them, and also to Paul. Those appearances transformed their lives, because they were now living in a world in which Christ had defeated death. Death is a reality which those who do not know God must live with and come to terms with, but it is not really possible to come to terms with it, for death is too antagonistic to human nature for any to be reconciled with it. But the apostles had the good news living within them that death has been defeated, that Christ is stronger than death, and of course the resurrection became a central part of their witness, for they longed for others to be transformed by the same truth. This was what was preached to the Corinthians by the apostle Paul. How irresponsible it would have been to tell the Corinthians that death had been defeated, if in fact it still reigned! The apostles had asked them to believe their testimony about something so world-shattering, that no one who heard and believed this message could remain the same person. The Corinthians had not seen the risen Christ, but Paul had. He asked them to believe his testimony about something that was so significant that it changed the world for the whole of mankind. This change rested on the apostles’ testimony. What a terrible lie it would have been if he had raised their hopes for nothing! What a cruel deception if he had assured them of the possibility of life beyond the grave, when in fact the dead do not rise. He and the other apostles would be branded forever as shameful liars. A false witness always has cause to be ashamed, but a false witness to the resurrection is so much the worse. But the apostles were not liars; they were men of truth, ready to die for their testimony. They owed it to the whole world to publish the good tidings of the resurrection. If Christ is indeed risen, then how could they keep quiet about such a universe altering truth?