Paul’s striking chapter on divine love (agape) in 1 Corinthians 13 is one of the most publicly quoted texts from the Bible, if for no other reason than that it is a favored reading at weddings. But there is much more to this text than a wedding love poem. In fact, the context of Paul’s love poem is not marriage, though marriage is certainly to be guided by it. The immediate context is the divisive conflicts that plagued the Corinthian church (“there are quarrels among you,” 1:11). In this love text, Paul describes how love typically alters behavior:
5 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres (13:5-7, NIV).
Richard Hayes noted that Paul’s descriptions of love-like behavior have as their target the opposite behaviors rumored to have been evident among the Corinthians.[1] Most of Paul’s descriptions of love-in-action correspond to passages describing Corinthian failures. Love is not envious (note 3:3), boastful (note 1:29-31; 3:21; 4:7; 5:6), “puffed up” (note 4:6; 4:18-19; 5:2; 8:1), rude or shameful (note 7:36, 5:1-2; 11:20-22), or self-seeking (note 10:24, 33). The descriptions of divine love that Paul gives are undoubtedly rooted in the revelation of Jesus Christ on which Paul’s early preaching at Corinth centered (2:1-4) but they are also contextually sensitive; drawing their content from the failures of the Corinthians to emulate Jesus Christ. The chief rule that governs their fellowship is this: “Let all that you do, be done in love” (16:14).
What strikes me as I look at this chapter, however, is how Paul concludes his description of love-like behavior: “Love never fails” (13:8). This pithy statement hits the reader like a hammer. It brings all that is said above it to a dramatic conclusion and sets up what Paul says afterwards about the never ending and all surpassing value of divine love. The term he uses for “fails” in 13:8 refers to the fact that the divine love revealed in Christ and released in the Spirit never ceases; it cannot be overcome, nor can it be displaced by something higher or better. This love endures the cross and rises triumphantly at the resurrection. This love overflows at Pentecost through the Holy Spirit, overcoming barriers and crossing boundaries to reach for eschatological fulfillment. This fulfillment is sure to come, for those who hope in the victorious power of this love will not be put to shame (cf. Romans 5:5).
As at the cross, it may seem today like hate and injustice have the upper hand. But Easter is coming, can in fact already be felt as a source of comfort, empowerment, and endurance. In the power of the Spirit, this love is not passive but actively resists evil and celebrates truth (13:6). Those who live by love’s rule are prone to flourish no matter how hard their circumstances may be, for they were made for divine love. Those who resist it are in danger of destroying themselves from the inside out. The former are on the winning side of history. The legacy of the latter will turn to dust. No matter what, love gains the upper hand. Ultimately, love wins.
[1] Richard Hayes, First Corinthians; Interpretation (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1989), 286-87.