Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The transformed resurrection body

³⁵ But someone is now going to say: “How are the dead raised? What sort of body will they come back with?” ³⁶ Stupid! What you sow doesn’t come to life unless it dies. ³⁷ The thing you sow isn’t the body that is going to come later; it’s just a naked seed of, let’s say, wheat, or some other plant. ³⁸ God then gives it a body of the sort he wants, with each of the seeds having its own particular body.

⁴² That’s what it’s like with the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown decaying, and raised undecaying. ⁴³ It is sown in shame, and raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, and raised in power. ⁴⁴ It is sown as the embodiment of ordinary nature, and raised as the embodiment of the spirit. If ordinary nature has its embodiment, then the spirit too has its embodiment. ⁴⁵ That’s what it means when the Bible says, “The first man, Adam, became a living natural being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

⁴⁶ But you don’t get the spirit-animated body first; you get the nature-animated one, and you get the spirit-animated one later. ⁴⁷ The first man is from the ground, and is made of earth; the second man is from heaven. ⁴⁸ Earthly people are like the man of earth; heavenly people are like the man from heaven. ⁴⁹ We have borne the image of the man made of earth; we shall also bear the image of the man from heaven.

The mystery and the victory

⁵⁰ This is what I’m saying, my dear family. Flesh and blood can’t inherit God’s kingdom; decay can’t inherit undecaying life.

Loving your enemies

²⁷ “But this is my word,” Jesus continued, “for those of you who are listening: love your enemies! Do good to people who hate you! ²⁸ Bless people who curse you! Pray for people who treat you badly!

²⁹ “If someone hits you on the cheek—offer him the other one! If someone takes away your coat—don’t stop him taking your shirt! ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks you, and don’t ask for things back when people have taken them.

³¹ “Whatever you want people to do to you, do that to them. ³² If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Think about it: even sinners love people who love them. ³³ Or again, if you do good only to people who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Sinners do that too. ³⁴ If you lend only to people you expect to get things back from, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to get paid back. ³⁵ No: love your enemies, do good and lend without expecting any return. Your reward will be great! You will be children of the Highest! He is generous, you see, to the stingy and wicked. ³⁶ You must be merciful, just as your father is merciful.

³⁷ “Don’t judge, and you won’t be judged. Don’t condemn, and you won’t be condemned. Forgive, and you’ll be forgiven. ³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you: a good helping, squashed down, shaken in, and overflowing—that’s what will land in your lap. Yes: the ration you give to others is the ration you’ll get back for yourself.”