2022_05_04 Insight Post- Rusty Coram
This week’s reading- 1 Corinthians 1-2
The letter we are reading to the church in Corinth is eye-opening. While they had some positive things going for them, the church was pretty much a mess of disunity and division. Over the next few weeks, we will be covering this in our Bible Reading Plan posts and Bible Study/Prayer Night. What I want to focus on now is who Paul mentions as a co-sender of the letter: “This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Sosthenes.” 1 Corinthians 1:1 (NLT) It would be easy (and understandable) if we just passed over this name and went to the main content of the letter, but there is a lot in this name. The only other time Sosthenes is mentioned in the Bible was in our reading from a couple of weeks ago in Acts 18. Here is what we saw happening in Corinth under Paul’s influence, “Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, and everyone in his household believed in the Lord. Many others in Corinth also heard Paul, became believers, and were baptized.” (Acts 18:8) This was a big deal and angered many of the Jews, and they began a campaign to get the government officials to get rid of Paul and stop his influence. In their rage they go after Crispus’ successor,” The crowd then grabbed Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and beat him right there in the courtroom.” Acts 18:17 (NLT)
It appears that Sosthenes replaced Crispus as the synagogue leader (they wouldn’t have had a Christian continue in that role) and for some reason the Jewish instigators take their anger out on Sosthenes. Maybe he didn’t denunciate Crispus like they thought he should. It’s also possible that Sosthenes was also examining the Scriptures to see if what Paul said was true, that Jesus in fact met the requirements of the Messiah. We see situations like this today where having an open mind is seen as being an enemy to your social circle. Whatever the case, Sosthenes paid a high price.
Some time had passed since Paul founded the church, and he was living and ministering in Ephesus (1 Corinthians 16:8). In this first chapter of the letter, Sosthenes is mentioned as being with Paul, and then later in verse 14, Crispus is listed as someone Paul baptized. I love that these names have powerful stories behind them – two men whose lives were forever changed by the Good News of Jesus. Paul boldly shared this Good News and, through significant opposition, it was having an impact. My prayer is that we will be like Paul, Sosthenes and Crispus. Going where God leads to help people discover what only Jesus offers and being willing to pay whatever price it takes to do so.
Rusty Coram
Senior Pastor