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Epiphany Season · Third Sunday in Ordinary Time · Year C

1 Corinthians 12:12-30 or 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 27

One Body with Many Members

January 23, 2028

Communion of the Apostles (Cell 35), Fra Angelico
Communion of the Apostles (Cell 35), Fra Angelico, c. 1440–1442Museum of San Marco, Florence
A fresco in a friar's cell at San Marco. The apostles kneel in a line and receive one by one, with the room painted as plainly as the cell it is in.For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.Fra AngelicoA Dominican friar who painted, canonised in 1982, whose work was made for the cells and corridors his brothers lived in.Museum of San Marco, FlorenceThe Dominican friary where Fra Angelico painted a fresco in every cell, left in place, so the pictures are still in the rooms they were made for.Museum of San Marco, Florence
Roman Lectionary
GospelLuke 1:1-4; 4:14-21Lk 1:1-4; 4:14-21
Second Reading1 Cor. 12:12-301 Cor 12:12-30 or1 Cor. 12:12-14, 271 Cor 12:12-14, 27
First ReadingNeh. 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10Neh 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10
Responsorial PsalmPs. 19:8, 9, 10, 15 (cf. John 6:63c)Ps 19:8, 9, 10, 15 (cf. Jn 6:63c)

Overview & Insights

"Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." (1 Corinthians 12:27)

Paul compares the church to a human body made of many different parts, each necessary and none able to claim independence from the rest. God has arranged the members so that there is no division, and if one part suffers or is honored, every part shares in it.

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Take it further: 1 Corinthians 12:12-30 or 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 27

Commentary

Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:12-31aCommentary on 1 Cor 12:12-31a Working Preacher

Luther Seminary commentary on the body of Christ as a Christ-shaped way of living together, not just an organism metaphor.

1 Corinthians 12:12-31a Commentary1 Cor 12:12-31a Commentary Center for Excellence in Preaching

Reformed preaching commentary on Paul's image of interdependent body parts as instruction for congregational life.

1 Corinthians 12 Commentary1 Cor 12 Commentary Enduring Word · David Guzik

David Guzik's verse by verse reading of the body's many members and their mutual need for each other.

1 Corinthians 12:12 Commentaries1 Cor 12:12 Commentaries BibleHub

Aggregated classic commentary on the body being one though it has many members.

1 Corinthians 12 - Barnes' Notes1 Cor 12 - Barnes' Notes StudyLight

Barnes' Notes verse by verse on the body's parts and their care for one another.

1 Corinthians 12 - Gill's Exposition1 Cor 12 - Gill's Exposition StudyLight

Gill's Exposition verse by verse on the same image of one body and many members.

Background & Word Study

1 Corinthians 12:12 Interlinear1 Cor 12:12 Interlinear BibleHub

Greek word by word with parsing for body, members, and baptized.

The Church Fathers

1 Corinthians 121 Cor 12 Catena

Verse-by-verse catena of the Church Fathers on this chapter, from the early Christian commentators.

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