Proper 1 Year B

Proper 1
Isaiah 40.21–31
1 Corinthians 9.16–23
Mark 1.29–39

Nobody in Corinth had seen it before. Nobody had thought of it. It wasn’t on their mental map, anymore than it is in our world. So when Paul wanted to tell them that as Christians, working out how to live in a pagan environment, they might face times when they should voluntarily forgo something to which they had a complete right – an intricate but vital principle – the only example he could give of what this might look like was his own.

Hence this bit of autobiography, providing a fascinating glimpse of both Paul’s practice and his theory. The underlying point (chapters 8, 10) concerns food offered to idols. Christians, believing in the creator God, are free to eat whatever is sold in the market. But because they believe in this God through the crucified Jesus, their freedom is further defined by the gospel’s confrontation with evil, and by the conscience of fellow-believers. They must not give offence...

Taken from Twelve Months of Sundays Year B by N T Wright