The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (185 page)

Word Study

Suffer Loss
(
1 Cor 3:15
)

Zemioō
(Gk.): to "forfeit", "sustain loss", or "incur a penalty". The Greek OT uses this verb to denote personal suffering (Prov 22:3) as well as financial penalties (Ex 21:22; Deut 22:19; Prov 17:26). The Gospels use it for the frightful prospective of losing eternal life (Mt 16:26; Mk 8:36; Lk 9:25). In 1 Cor 3:15, it refers to spiritual damage suffered by Christian leaders who are careless and uncommitted in their task of building up the Church. The context suggests that Paul is alluding to labor relations familiar in the ancient world. Indeed this and related terms were used in building contracts to establish fines for damage or defective workmanship on projects that failed to pass inspection.

3:16 you are God's temple:
The Temple in Jerusalem was still standing when this verse was written (
A.D.
56). In Paul's mind the stone sanctuary of the Old Covenant had been replaced by the living body of Christ in the New. He viewed this mystery in three dimensions: the body of every individual Christian is a temple (6:19); the body of every local Church is a temple (3:17); and the body of the universal Church is a temple (Eph 2:19-22). 
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3:17 If any one destroys:
The final scenario outlined in Paul's building metaphor: careful builders will receive a heavenly reward (3:14); careless builders will pass through purging fires on their way to salvation (3:15); and destructive workers will themselves be destroyed (3:17). 
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3:19-20
Paul quotes Job 5:13 and Ps 94:11 to caution those who think they are wise. • The first passage is spoken by Job's friend Eliphaz, who says that while God lifts up the lowly, he also frustrates the proud and ensures that their arrogant schemes fall apart. The second is a plea for Yahweh to chasten the proud who think that their wickedness goes unnoticed by the Lord. 
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4:1 stewards:
House managers in charge of their master's estate. It refers in this context to spiritual ministers who manage the affairs of God's household, the Church (Lk 12:42-48; 1 Tim 3:15; CCC 859).
the mysteries of God:
The revealed truths of the New Covenant, which were hidden in ages past but are now manifest through the gospel. To an extent they remain mysteries because the human mind can understand the divine work of God only in a limited way. 
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4:4 I am not thereby acquitted:
Or, "I am not justified by this." Paul's conscience is clear in the face of criticisms, though not necessarily correct. The final verdict pronounced on his ministry must await the Judgment, when God lays bare the secrets of the "heart" (4:5; cf. Rom 2:16; CCC 678). Before then, pronouncing a definitive judgment on the work of others—and even ourselves—can be hazardous and quite inaccurate. 
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4:6 learn by us:
An appeal to listen to the shepherds of the Church and live according to their example (4:16; 11:1).
not to go beyond what is written:
Paul cautions believers to stay within the limits of personal humility defined by the Scriptures. He is referring specifically to the string of OT warnings about boasting quoted earlier in the letter (1:19, 31; 3:19-20). Paul's purpose here is to halt the damaging effects of arrogance in Corinth, as indicated by the clarification that follows. Interpretations of this verse that suggest Paul is restricting the basis for Christian doctrine and morals to what is explicitly set forth in the books of the Bible (
sola Scriptura
) are misleading and untenable. Nothing in the context points to such a broad concern, and in any case Paul insists elsewhere that even the inspired preaching of the apostles is on a par with the written word of God (1 Thess 2:13; 2 Thess 2:15; 3:6). 
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4:7 why do you boast:
Men are always looking for some good in their wills that is truly theirs rather than a gift received from God. It is unimaginable how any such thing could be discovered (St. Augustine,
On the Remission of Sins
1, 28). 
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4:8-13
Paul reprimands self-righteous Christians for their egotism and unfair criticisms. Although he describes them as wise and prosperous, his rhetorical irony implies the opposite, i.e., they are ignorant and impoverished. Their refusal to embrace the foolishness of Christ exposes their pride and reveals how petty their problems look compared to the humiliation of the apostles. 
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4:9 spectacle:
Paul compares the apostles to condemned criminals who are publicly disgraced and executed in a crowded outdoor theater. 
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4:15 I became your father:
Paul's relation to the Corinthians is paternal, having brought them new life through the gospel (2 Cor 12:14). His spiritual fatherhood extends to others as well, such as Titus (Tit 1:4), Onesimus (Philem 10), and Timothy (1 Cor 4:17; Phil 2:22; 1 Tim 1:2, 18). • There was a close connection between paternity and priesthood in the ancient Near East (Israel, Assyria, Babylon). In the patriarchal age, fathers and first-born sons exercised the cultic ministry of building altars and offering sacrifices for their families (Gen 12:8; 22:9-13; 31:54; 46:1; Job 1:5). In the Mosaic age, God elevated Aaron and his Levitical sons (Ex 40:12-15) to be the fathers and priests of the tribal family of Israel (Judg 17:10; 18:19). The same principle carries over on a spiritual level in the age of the New Covenant, where Christ, our great high priest, ordains men to the ministry of spiritual fatherhood for "the priestly service of the gospel" (Rom 15:16). • Vatican Council II reaffirmed this connection when it stated that priests are preeminently the fathers and teachers of God's people (
Presbyterorum ordinis
9). 
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4:21 with a rod:
A stern pastoral warning for the troublemakers in Corinth. Ideally, Paul hopes to avoid an unpleasant confrontation when he arrives (16:5-7). 
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5:1-6:20
Paul addresses specific problems in the Corinthian Church. These include a case of maternal incest (5:1-13), a surge in Christian lawsuits (6:1-11), and an indifference toward sexual promiscuity (6:12-20). He warns throughout these two chapters that the holiness of the Corinthian community is jeopardized by the sins and vices sprouting up among them. 
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5:1 immorality:
The Greek
porneia
refers to sexual misconduct, here specified as an incestuous relationship between a believer and his stepmother. This kind of behavior was censured by Roman society and condemned by the Mosaic Law (Lev 18:8; Deut 22:30). The early Church followed suit, prohibiting incestuous unchastity in the Apostolic Decree (Acts 15:29; CCC 2388).
See note on Acts 15:20
. 
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5:2 And you are arrogant!:
Paul is outraged that the Corinthians allowed the incestuous man to continue in their community. Their tolerance toward this crime was a sign of their own spiritual immaturity.
be removed:
I.e., the offender must be expelled from the local Church and barred from participation in their fellowship and liturgy (5:13). 
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5:3 pronounced judgment:
Paul exercises his apostolic authority from a distance by invoking a solemn curse upon the sinner in the name of Christ (16:22). 
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5:5 deliver this man to Satan:
A call to action for the Corinthians, who must execute Paul's ritual curse upon the offender by driving him out of the Church and into the province of Satan. The anticipated destruction of the sinner's body is an extreme form of remedial punishment that Paul expects will benefit his spirit (1 Tim 1:20). The hidden assumption is that earthly and physical life is a blessing from God cut short by the curse of biological death (Gen 3:19). Similar chastisements befell other Corinthians who failed to discern Christ's presence in the Eucharist (1 Cor 11:29-32). • The man is separated from the community of the faithful and from the sacraments of the Church, by which things a man is protected from the assaults of Satan (St. Thomas Aquinas,
Commentary on 1 Corinthians
5, 1). 
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5:6 leaven:
Yeast is a proverbial symbol of evil and corruptive influence (Mt 16:11; Lk 12:1; Gal 5:9). Here it symbolizes the incestuous man, who must be removed from the Church lest his sins have a damaging impact upon the whole batch of believers. 
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5:7-8
Paul draws a spiritual lesson from the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Just as every Jewish family cleansed its home of leaven before the feast (Ex 12:14-20), so Paul challenges the Corinthians to rid their Church of sin and even flagrant sinners before their celebration of the liturgy (1 Cor 5:13). He mentions the Paschal sacrifice of Christ because the day of Preparation for the Passover, when the lambs were slaughtered in the Temple, was also the day of Preparation for the festival of Unleavened Bread, when all leaven in Israel was to be discarded. The lesson has eucharistic overtones, inasmuch as Passover was celebrated by
eating
the Paschal Lamb and Unleavened Bread was celebrated by
eating
only unleavened bread for seven consecutive days (10:14-22; 11:17-34). 
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