Paul’S Final Encouragement
PAUL’S FINAL ENCOURAGEMENT
1 CORINTHIANS 16:13-24
As we conclude this letter, think, “Who will you encourage today?”
Verses 13-14 ought not to be ignored, because these commands are of timeless application, and the call, “let all you do be done in love” repeats some of the leading themes of Paul’s earlier discussion (8:1; 13; 14:1).
16:15-18 introduce us to some of the church members who had visited Paul and brought news of their church’s life and problems. Stephanas has already been referred to as the head of a believing household, baptized by Paul (1:16), and who had given a praiseworthy lead in laying themselves out to serve God’s people. He and his colleagues were evidently leaders in the church, and are commended as worthy of respect for the good order of the congregational life. Which other Christian communities needed to honor their leaders (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13; Hebrews 13:17)?
Greetings are sent from the Asian churches—Paul is writing from Ephesus (16:8)—with special mention made of two prominent workers, husband and wife, who played an important role in early Christianity (Acts 18:2-3,26). Their home was Rome, but they were driven out by the imperial edict of AD 49 and had settled at Corinth and Ephesus. Paul owed much to them (Romans 16:3-4; 2 Timothy 4:19).
The description of “the church in their house” (16:19) puts us back into the first century and into the worshiping life of small groups of men and women who made up God’s church in its earliest days (see Philemon 2). Unusual customs were practiced, eg the holy kiss (of peace) (16:20) as a sign of mutual affection among the worshipers (Romans 16:16; 2 Corinthians 13:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:26; 1 Peter 5:14). In its context, the practice is mentioned as a call to a breaking down of all barriers within the divided Corinthian church.
Recent study of the New Testament has made much of the final paragraph (16:22-24), and related it to the assembling of the church for public worship during which Paul’s letter would be read aloud (as in Colossians 4:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:27). The verses may be arranged in lines as a dialogue between the leader at the Lord’s table and the congregation. Characteristic notes of a Communion service are sounded: mutual love having been established (16:20), the table is “hedged” by the dismissal of any who are not committed believers (16:22). The cry Maranatha (“Our Lord, come”) is an invocation and prayer for the risen Lord’s presence with his people at the meal, and the concluding grace is declared, to which Paul adds his own affectionate greeting (16:24).