1 Corinthians ~ Part 15

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As I mentioned in my last post, we continue to explore Sha’ul’s Letters to the Corinthians.

Regarding Mutual Submission ~ Part 3

In the previous chapter, Sha’ul pointed to Yeshua’s example and laid down the principle that we should do nothing that would offend another Messianic, especially weaker Messianics. In this chapter, he points to himself as an example of one who had privileges but, for the Gospel’s sake, did not use them. Keep in mind that he is still dealing with the problem of meat offered to idols. 

Freedom Is Not the Issue

9 ¹ Am I not a free man? Am I not an emissary of the Messiah? Haven’t I seen Yeshua, our Lord? And aren’t you yourselves the result of my work for the Lord?

 

 

² Even if to others I am not an emissary, at least I am to you; for you are living proof that I am the Lord’s emissary. ³ That is my defense when people put me under examination.

Sha’ul moves on from the Corinthians’ misuse of knowledge to their misuse of the freedom they have in union with the Messiah (see 8:1). By saying, “Everything is permitted” (6:12, 10:23), they justify eating food offered to idols without thinking about the harm it may cause others (chapter 8). But Am I not a free man, too? Yet I don’t behave thus inconsiderately.

Moreover, unlike yourselves, as an emissary of the Messiah, I am entitled to something much more substantial than merely eating pagan sacrifices – I’m entitled to stop working for a living and to be supported by you (vv. 4–14 below the particular example was chosen for his readership, who were sensitive about money matters, as is evident from 2 Corinthians 8–9).  For those of you who dispute my entitlement by challenging my credentials as an emissary (2 Corinthians 10–12), my defense when people put me under examination is, first, that I have seen Yeshua, our Lord (Acts 22:18, 21, where Yeshua specifically commissioned Sha’ul to evangelize the Gentiles), and, second and more to the point in your case (v. 2), that you yourselves are the result of my work for the Lord as an emissary (4:15, 2C 3:1–3).

This defense is placed precisely here to establish as incontestable his right to be supported. He sets forth his claim to relinquish it voluntarily (vv. 12–27) as an example to be imitated (11:1), which cannot be undermined by a counterclaim that he had no such right in the first place.

Rights Is Not the Issue

⁴ Don’t we have the right to be given food and drink? ⁵ Don’t we have the right to take along with us a believing wife, as do the other emissaries, also the Lord’s brothers and Kefa? ⁶ Or are Bar-Nabba and I the only ones required to go on working for our living? ⁷ Did you ever hear of a soldier paying his own expenses? or of a farmer planting a vineyard without eating its grapes? Who shepherds a flock without drinking some of the milk?

Sha’ul states his call to be an emissary in no uncertain terms. He had seen the Lord (Acts 1:21–22) and was called to be an emissary by the Risen, Glorified Yeshua. His work and ministry in Corinth proved his call to be an emissary. The other apostles, including Kefa, received support from the kehillahs and took their wives with them from place to place as they ministered. If other servants had these privileges, then so did Sha’ul! No soldier supports himself but receives supplies and wages from his government. The farmer who toils in the vineyard is privileged to eat the fruit. The shepherd expects to get milk and meat from the flock. Is it unreasonable to expect a local kehilah to support the pastor? Verse 11 lays down a basic principle: If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? (see Galatians 6:6–8). It is interesting to note that we have here three more pictures of a pastor: he is a soldier to protect the kehillah and battle HaSatan; he is a farmer who tends the spiritual field or vineyard and looks for fruit; and he is a shepherd who leads and feeds the sheep. Pray for your pastor; a pastor’s work is never easy.

Example of a Lawful Claim

⁸ What I am saying is not based merely on human authority because the Torah says the same thing – ⁹ for in the Torah of Moshe, it is written, “You are not to put a muzzle on an ox when it is treading out the grain.”  If God is concerned about cattle, ¹⁰ all the more does he say this for our sakes. Yes, it was written for us, meaning that he who plows and he who threshes should work expecting to get a share of the crop. ¹¹ If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? ^12a If others are sharing in this right to be supported by you, don’t we have a greater claim to it?

In verse 9, Sha’ul refers to Deut. 25:4. The Tanakh practice was to have the oxen walk on the sheaves and thus separate the grain from the chaff. Here, and in 1 Timothy 5:18, Sha’ul uses this law to illustrate the principle given in v. 11. If oxen benefit from their physical work, should not God’s servants benefit from their spiritual work? The plowman and the harvester both work in hope, expecting to share in the harvest.

Forgoing Right

^{12 b} But we don’t make use of this right. Rather, we put up with all kinds of things so as not to impede in any way the Good News about the Messiah. ¹³ Don’t you know that those who work in the Temple get their food from the Temple, and those who serve at the altar get a share of the sacrifices offered there? ¹⁴ In the same way, the Lord directed that those who proclaim the Good News should get their living from the Good News. ^[1]

The Law allowed the priests to share generously in the sacrifices from the altar. He took the hides from the burnt offerings, all the flesh (minus the fat) from the sin offering and the trespass offering, most of the meal offering, the breast and right shoulder of the peace offering, plus various first fruits, tithes, and unique offerings. If they served faithfully, the people shared generously. While Sha’ul did not use these privileges personally, he does not say they are wrong. “The laborer is worthy of his hire.” It is suitable for Messianics to support those who serve them in the Lord.

In our next post, we will continue to explore Sha’ul’s Letters to the Corinthians, beginning with 1 Corinthians 9:1 and exploring more Regarding Mutual Submission.

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^[1] 1 Corinthians 9:1–14.