Saturday 21 March 2026

Psalm 149

Background
Paul often finishes his letters with greetings to and from various people. Not here! These final verses of his letter to the Corinthians are terse and to the point. He's saying words to the effect of: "Put your house in order. I’m coming, there will be blood on the carpet and you’ll see who has Christ’s authority!"

Perhaps the fake ‘super-apostles’ who were visiting the Corinthians wanted only a strong Christ? But Paul knows that "he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God" (verse 4). In other words, you cannot have resurrection without death. The death and resurrection of Jesus show us the depth of the nature of God’s love.

Paul seems to give the Corinthians a word of encouragement, "Do you not realise that Jesus Christ is in you?" (verse 5). If our worship prayers have any sincerity, surely we should be being changed to become more Christ-like. Let’s be confident that this is the case.

Paul's final advice to the Corinthian Christians is good advice for us all. We should agree with one another. There will always be things that Christians disagree about, but we need to be of one mind in the essentials of faith – that Jesus is Lord. Then Paul adds, ‘"live in peace". Don’t allow yourselves to split into cliques, and build each other up. If we can all live like that, it will enable the God of love and peace to be with us.

Many churches finish their services with the prayer we call ‘The Grace’. If you’ve ever wondered, you’ve just found out that it comes from verse 13! "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Grace is a characteristic quality of Jesus. Love is essentially who God is. And the Holy Spirit is the spirit that enables fellowship.

To Ponder:

• How do we discipline ourselves in our churches? How do we hold ourselves accountable?
• Do we believe that Jesus Christ is in us – even us?

Prayer
Gracious God, we know that we are far from perfect. In this challenging world, may we not judge success by the world’s standards. Instead, may we trust that Christ is in us, and be prepared to die with Christ so that we may rise with him. Amen.

Bible notes author: The Revd Richard Parkes
Richard Parkes is a retired presbyter, currently living in Newcastle-under-Lyme.