10/06/2024 – Day 105 – 1 Corinthians – Chapters 13 & 14 / “The Supremacy of Love” – 1 Corinthians 13: 8-13. / “… Love is the fire which kindles faith and it is the light which turns hope into certainly.”
Last cycle’s post is dated 06/12/2022, drawing upon a commentary by William Barclay. I am sticking with Barlay again, pgs 125 & 126 in his 1 Corinthians commentary book.
“In verses 8 – 13 Paul has three final things to say of this Christian love.
(i). He stresses its absolute permanency. When all the things in which men glory have passed away love will still stand. In one of the most wonderfully lyrical verses of scripture The Song of Solomon (8:7) sings, ‘Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it.’ The one unconquerable thing is love. That is one of the greatest reasons for believing in immortality. When love is entered into, there comes into life a relationship against which the assaults of time are helpless and which transcends death.
(ii). He stresses its absolute completeness. As things are, what we see are reflections in a mirror. That would be even more suggestive to the Corinthians than it is to us. Corinth was famous for its manufacture of mirrors. But the modern mirror as we know it, with its perfect reflection, did not emerge until the thirteenth century. The Corinthians mirror was made of highly polished metal and, even at its best, gave but an imperfect reflection. it has been suggested that what this phrase means is that we see as through a window made with horn. In those days Windows were so made and all that could be seen through them was a dim and shadowy outline. In fact the Rabbis had a saying that was through such a window that Moses saw God.
In this life Paul feels that we see only the reflections of God and are left with much that is mystery and riddle. We see that reflection in God’s world, for the work of anyone’s hands tells us something about the workman, we see it in the Gospel and we see it in Jesus Christ. Even if in Christ we have the perfect revelation, our seeking minds can grasp it only in part, for the finite can never grasp the infinite. Our knowledge is still like the knowledge of a child. But the way of love will lead us in the end to a day when the veil is drawn aside and we see face to face and know even as we are know. We cannot ever reach that day without love, because God is love and only he who loves can see Him.
(iii). He stresses its absolute supremacy. Great as faith and hope are, love is still greater. Faith without love is cold, and hope without love is grim. Love is the fire which kindles faith and it is the light which turns hope into certainly.”
Soli Deo Gloria!