Matthew 7 & 1 Corinthians 12: Part 2

In the last Devotional, I ended with Matthew 7:7-11 saying Paul would have been familiar with the teaching of Jesus and as such was giving the Corinthians what they were earnestly seeking after.

To be honest, when I had seen the results of my poll on twitter and how it was once again tied between Matthew 7 and 1 Corinthians 12, I didn't know if I should just pick one or try and find something to link the two again. But I figured, "The people have spoken" so I decided to try and see if I could piece something together knowing there wasn't any other direct link between the two from the commentaries I had. But again, through the grace of God, I think I can make this work.

Something I want to take note of is in 1 Corinthians 11:29

1 Corinthians 11:29 "For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself."

Notable here is that the word judgement that is used here has a very similar connotation as it does in Matthew 7:2. Both get the idea across that you will be judged by God. Further, there might also be an argument here on who the judging it pertains "at," notably, the subject who is being judged.

In Matthew 7:2 the idea is that you are being judged by the judgement you pronounce on someone else. In 1 Corinthians 11:29 it is as if Paul is taking the inverse of that same sort of judgement that you would pronounce on someone else (in Matthew 7:2) and applying that to how you are judging God. More to the point, no one can judge God. In fact, it's a far more severe thing to judge God than it is to judge someone else. Naturally, because the judgement towards God is in some way inflated to greater degrees, merely being irreverent towards God could be like judging him, in a manner of speaking.

The reason I bring this up is because the very next thing Paul starts talking about are the Spiritual Gifts in 1 Corinthians 12. To me, it would make sense, given Paul's literary style, to continue certain themes even though he may be talking about a different subject. In my humble opinion, I can help but think the reason Paul writes about this topic of being irreverent towards God follows through to him talking about how we ought to approach the Spiritual Gifts listed just a few verses later in chapter 12.

It seems natural that Paul would not be hasty or, in a manner of speaking, waste a good principle like reverence toward God to be placed directly behind him talking about the Spiritual Gifts. The natural conclusion for this is that Paul expects the Corinthians to be very mindful of what he was just talking about and as that would be fresh in their memory, they would take what Paul was saying in 1 Corinthians 11:29 as an indicator to be just as careful how they ought to take what He was saying about the Spiritual Gifts.

It also follows common sense that one would not want to be reckless with something so sacred as Paul starts off with a sort of declarative harkening to his words in 1 Corinthians 12:1-3.

1 Corinthians 12:1 "Now mconcerning1 spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says 'Jesus is accursed!' and no one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except in the Holy Spirit."

In my opinion, this is Paul's way of saying, "What I am about to tell you is to be dealt with the utmost care." Given Paul just got done covering a different topic that had some serious consequences to how one is to partake of the Lords supper, this caution that Paul gives seem to be in effect a continuation of something that requires a great deal of caution in handling. Further, the same principle probably holds in that what Paul is telling them is something that must not be abused.

In closing, this idea of judgment seems to pop up on several occasions of Paul in the Corinthians. Rather than thinking Paul had "moved on" from this idea of reverence towards things that are holy, I think Paul is just moving from one degree of things one can be judge for to other things which may require even more discernment in recognizing how severely one may be judge for not revering the things he is speaking about.

I will close with this verse which I opened with in my last Devotional on Matthew 7 & 1 Corinthians 12:

Matthew 7:6 “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you."

I believe this only further concludes my speculation that the Gospel of Matthew may have been written before the first letter to the Corinthians that Paul wrote.

Blessings. Until next time.