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Chapter 13
- 1 Paul’s great hymn of love was introduced by the last verse, which might be split between the chapters. Whatever
charisms or powers are exercised, without love they are to no effect. All of these charisms must be applied with love
within the community, else they will have no effect. Any congregation, especially one apparently successful, would
do well to examine itself against this chapter, which tells what really matters to God. The love Paul is talking about
is “agape” love, whose meaning needs to be teased out, since the Greek word was not previously used frequently. It
is to be distinguished from affiliative love, and erotic love, both of which were made by God for humans to use.
Paul’s concept is love as a noun, which appears to differ from love as the somewhat legalistic verb as used in the
synoptic Gospels (eg Mk 12:29-31) and by the Jews (Lev 19:18). For Paul, as for John, love is not so much the way
we should behave, loving our neighbour as ourselves, but a gift in which we accept God’s gift of totally undeserved
love and share it with others. Therefore we should feel it and offer it freely to all, deserving and “undeserving” alike.
Charisms without love are likely to offend, eg tongues imposed self-indulgently on a congregation unasked. Only
with love will charisms build up the community.
- 2 However much knowledge or wise prophecy, without love these do not build up the community, and I am nothing.
Paul is not saying that the word is less effective - he is saying he is nothing without love.
- 3 A better translation might be “hand over my body so that I may burn”. In each verse the “nothing” comes as in
emphatic opposition to the very praiseworthy charisms before it.
- 4 Paul then describes what love is, and what it is not, with 16 verbs in the Greek. Love is defined in terms of
behaviour and activity. These are ongoing, habitual.
- 5 The negatives are to be renounced absolutely - love simple does not do these things. And several must have struck
home to the Corinthians - dissensions, jealousies, self first. Love does not assert rights or despise our gifts, or keep an
account of rights and wrongs. Forgets as well as forgives.
- 6 The words “rejoice” link the negative statements to the final 4 staccato positives in v.7. Love does not envy others’
success, nor gloat at others’ failings, but rejoices in their success, and puts up with evil without allowing wrongs to
fester.
- 7 The repeated “all things” shows that this is no human quality, it is a gift from God. Only God’s love can enable us
to bear, to believe, to hope, to endure.
- 8 Moreover, all the other charisms will come to an end. No need for prophecy, knowledge or tongues in the next life.
But love will continue eternally, never collapsing, again emphasising that it is God’s gift..
- 9 Because our knowledge is incomplete, we need prophecy.
- 10 But when the end comes, partial prophesying ceases.
- 11 Two forceful images of the next life. The Greek word translated as “child” implies a child not yet learned to
speak. So our understanding now is like that of a baby. But an adult behaves as an adult, using all his faculties as
effectively as possible. (So we should continue to learn about our faith and about God and the spiritual life after we
leave school!)
- 12 Mirrors then were not very good, so reflections were imperfect. God knows us now, but we do not know God -
only in the next life will we know God.
- 13 Paul ends with the 3 cardinal virtues, faith, hope and love, ending with a flourish on the word love, with which he
started the chapter. Paul does not necessarily place them in order: here he wishes to emphasise to the Corinthians the
overriding importance of love. Writing to the Thessalonians he needed to emphasise hope, and so he placed hope last
(1 Thess 5:8).