CONCLUDING INSTRUCTIONS AND WARNINGS (1 CORINTHIANS 16:1-24)
Have you ever been on a hike deep in the wilderness? I don’t mean a walk through the park or a jaunt through the local arboretum. I mean deep —when what you were calling the “woods” is now called a “forest,” and the sun you had relied on to tell directions can be seen only occasionally peeking through a rare break in the canopy of trees above. The path you’re on winds back and forth, and if you weren’t following a map that insists you’re getting closer to the trailhead, you’d swear you were going in circles. Birds, crickets, frogs, and owls improvise a soundtrack for your journey. You’re no longer on a hike. You’re on an adventure. But as you begin to approach the trailhead where rugged paths meet paved roads, and fellow explorers park their cars and don their hiking gear, the forest slowly transitions to woods. Underbrush gives way to mowed grass. Soon you can see the sky again. The birds’ intense symphony turns into a charming lullaby.
Paul’s letter to the Corinthians can sometimes feel like that. His original readers may have anticipated a straight journey through a pleasant valley of spiritual truths and practical principles, but instead they found themselves surrounded by controversy and strong reproof. Thankfully, the apostle Paul was a faithful guide. He wasn’t trying to lead his readers deep into a jungle of issues in order to abandon them to confusion but to rescue them from their delusions and restore them to a place of peace and light.
As we emerge from the tangled forest of controversy that characterized the first fifteen chapters of 1 Corinthians, we enter a peaceful clearing. Paul’s tone lightens from harsh rebuke to practical exhortations and straightforward warnings as he concludes with a few minor matters, chief of which is the proper collection for the saints (16:1-4). With some personal remarks, Paul speaks of Timothy’s coming to the church in Corinth, emphasizing the value Paul placed on personal presence and face-to-face interaction in addition to his authoritative letter (16:5-12). He concludes this great epistle of strong reproofs with an exhortation to stand firm in the faith with love for the Lord and hope for His coming (16:13-24).
KEY TERMS IN 1 CORINTHIANS 16:1-24
logeia (λογεία) [3048] “collection,” “voluntary contribution”
In Greek literature logeia is used to designate occasional contributions to a particular cause rather than regular, systematic taxes. Such contributions may sometimes be related to needs arising from crises or the support of religious orders. In Paul’s two uses of the term in 1 Corinthians 16:1-2, he draws on this cultural understanding that the “collection” was a voluntary offering for the sake of the desperately needy believers in the Jerusalem church. It would be regarded as giving that is distinct from the regular giving to the needs of their own local church.
marana tha (μαράνα θά) [3134] “Lord, come!”
After calling down a curse of judgment upon those who fail to love the Lord (anathema [331]), Paul calls down the Savior Himself with the exclamation marana tha (1 Cor. 16:22), “Our Lord, come!” This Aramaic phrase probably had its roots in the original Jewish church in Jerusalem. At the close of his letter, Paul called on the Lord Jesus, praying that He would come soon to act as Judge and King.