{"id":942219,"date":"2026-01-05T11:37:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T16:37:13","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-06-23T17:04:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T21:04:08","slug":"bible-study-epiphany-3-a-january-25-2026","status":"publish","type":"bible_study","link":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/bible_study\/bible-study-epiphany-3-a-january-25-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Bible Study: Epiphany 3 (A) \u2013 January 25, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

RCL:\u00a0<\/strong>Isaiah 9:1-4; Psalm 27:1, 5-13;\u00a0I Corinthians 1:10-18<\/strong>; Matthew 4:12-23<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"How<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Opening Prayer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Context<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul loved this group of people in Corinth. As the church\u2019s founder, Paul had a soft spot for its members and maintained a loving commitment to the goings-on of the community. When the disciple Chloe reported to Paul that there was division, Paul sent an immediate reply in the form of the correspondence we call \u201cthe First Book of Corinthians.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The city of Corinth had a standard commitment to the Imperial Cult and the unique social dynamics of first-century Rome. One of the important components of public life was the relationship between a patron and client. This patronage model featured a wealthy and powerful \u201cpatron\u201d essentially buying loyalty, favors, and political support from those who were not as high up on the social ladder, making them their \u201cclient.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Paul confronted the division caused by the Corinthian church\u2019s members having differing views on leadership, he confronted more than just opinions about spirituality and theology. He was warning against the imperial cult\u2019s structures infiltrating the church, the place where all are one in Christ. Paul\u2019s apparent hazy memory of who he baptized drives the point home. We follow the footsteps of Jesus, alone, no matter how holy or well-renowned another teacher or saint may be. There is one God who revealed their Divine self in one man: Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This elitist model that Paul challenged within the Corinthian church should have felt out of place to its members. Paul clues us in just a few verses later in 1:26, \u201cConsider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.\u201d The hierarchy that existed outside the wood and stone of this house-church, the one that excluded the majority of its members, was not to be repeated under that roof.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His argument in this passage is twofold. Using the rhetorical tool known as \u201ccovert allusion,\u201d Paul sarcastically poked fun at the idea that his teaching did not compare to the teaching of the philosophers and other traveling preachers whom the Corinthians would have known. The Apostle to the Gentiles tended to be a bit blunt, especially with the people he felt closest to. This bluntness and lack of eloquent language may have troubled some members who were more focused on \u201cthe way the world did things.\u201d By pointing out their own lack of wealth and nobility, Paul leveled the field and reminded them of the truth they were called to\u2014a truth incredibly simple, but impossibly hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theological Reflection<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The season of Epiphany reminds us that God sent out God\u2019s light into the entire world \u2013 not just to a specific location or people, but to everyone. Paul\u2019s urgent call for unity does not erase the need for differing opinions or varieties of beliefs. Paul was a Jew, and Jews had the practice of taking a piece of Scripture and turning it over and over, looking at it in different ways, chewing on it, arguing about its meaning and implications, and still<\/em>being committed to one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking at the relationships across (and even within) denominations around the world, or even in the United States today, it doesn\u2019t take long to see the challenges we face as we attempt to move into the future as one body. We may not be judging by the same measures the Corinthians were judging, but our divisions remain heartbreaking to the Jesus who prayed for our unity. We are as beset by disagreements and difficulties as the people of Corinth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we try to determine who is in and who is out\u2014who is conservative enough or liberal enough, who balances piety correctly, who counts<\/em> as a follower of Jesus\u2014we lose our footing. We are not called to judge one another, but to stand together and help one another down the path. We\u2019re all bound to stumble, to get things wrong, but it\u2019s the unity, the knowing we are still of one family, that compels us to continue on together, even in the midst of our mistakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Episcopal Church relies on the ancient Creeds to lay out the orthodox faith. Once we move beyond that and start side-eyeing one another based on things that, frankly, don\u2019t matter much in the end, we lose sight of the One who called us. Christ stands at the center of a very<\/em> wide tent. Our goal is to not to push people out who are near the edge, but to do our part in gathering all<\/em> closer to that center beam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A quote relied on by Anglicans for centuries is helpful here: \u00abIn essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.\u201d Not one of us possesses all the answers. Give one another freedom of Christian expression and continue walking with love until we all make it home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflection Questions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n