Ancient Anglican

In this chapter, Paul confronts the division of leadership within the congregation. Paul instructs the his audience that the means to overcome these divisions is finding our unity in the power of Christ crucified.

In 1 Corinthians, Paul isn’t writing to us, but to a very specific church with very specific problems. Within this letter, we are listening to one side of a conversation between two intimate parties.

Both parables end with a pronouncement of judgment, but are silent as to whether the judgment is carried out. What does this open-endedness say about who God is.

The parable of the Pounds concerns the unrealized or future eschatology (the kingdom is not here yet) and how followers of Christ are to conduct themselves in the interim.

Out of this conflict, Paul writes this pastoral letter addressing dissension in the church, lawsuits between believers, sex, and idolatry. This letter also provides us with a basic outline of our liturgy.

In the parable of the Waiting Servant, Jesus has compressed the entirety of who he is into this one very short story. We see teachings on the Incarnation, the Atonement, all of Holy Week, and the Second Coming.

In the parable of the Rich Fool, the protagonist follows good standard financial advice in governing his affairs by building a great storehouse of wealth.  Why is he therefore called a “fool”?

In the parable, we see the two men exhibit the spiritual characteristics of their respective social classes, the economically poor Lazarus exhibits spiritual poverty, whereas the rich man does not. 

These parables are found next to each other, with the parable of the Unrighteous Steward setting up the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus.

In the parable of the Tax Collector and the Pharisee, Bailey brings out that the underlying difference between the two men may lie in their respective understanding of the nature of sin – is it about a broken law or a broken relationship.

In both of these parables, the antagonists believe that the reward of the kingdom is only for themselves and not the other. The overarching theme of the parables is that neither Envy nor Pride have a place in the Kingdom of God. 

notice within the reading how Jesus turns the lawyer’s question around at the end. The lawyer asks “Who is my neighbor?” – in other words, to whom must I show love?  Whereas, Jesus asks the lawyer “Who was the neighbor of the man?”