Infants’ milk; jealousy and parties; planting and watering (1 Cor 3:2–8)

letter when he says, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk”; and in Hebrews also, “You have become ones who need milk and not solid food; for everyone who partakes of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, because they are infantsfants; but solid food is for the perfect, who because of habit have their senses exercised toward distinguishing good and evil.”

On 1 Corinthians 3:3–5: “For where there is jealousy and strife and divisions among you, are you not fleshly and walking according to a human? For whenever someone says, ‘I am of Paul,’ and another, ‘I am of Apollos,’ are you not humans?” Origen: among human sins the lesser ones are jealousy and strife. If someone is in fornication, such a person is no longer fleshly but worse than fleshly. What then would such a one be? Let us see. I think there is a difference between fleshly and earthy: “As we bore the image of the earthy,” he says, “let us also bear the image of the heavenly.” So if you sin unto death, you are not fleshly but earthy; but if you sin, yet not unto death, you are not wholly earthy nor fallen away from the grace of Christ, but then you are fleshly. And of our walks, one is according to a human, another according to God. If we walk as most humans do, we walk according to a human; but if according to “Let your light shine before humans,” we differ from the many and do not walk according to a human. So the life is clear to the one who can see what is according to a human and what according to God. For whenever someone says, “I am of Paul,” “I am of Apollos,” “I am of Cephas”—let us also attend to these. We shall see that sometimes we are not even humans but worse than humans. For the one who then said “I am of Apollos” was speaking of a learned and holy and blessed man; the one who said “I am of Paul,” of a sacred and blessed apostle. But sometimes leanings arise not like the leaning toward Paul or Apollos, but someone leans toward a sinner and sometimes toward a heterodox person. So if those are humans and walk according to flesh who say “I am of Apollos” and “I of Paul,” whenever you say you belong to someone lesser, clearly you are no longer even a human but worse than human; and perhaps it will be said to you, “Brood of vipers.”

On 1 Corinthians 3:6–8: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth; so neither the one who plants is anything nor the one who waters, but God who gives the growth… and each will receive his own wage according to his own labor.” Origen: if Paul planted, he planted together with God who plants first of all; if Apollos watered, he watered together with Christ who waters first of all; for God plants—therefore it is written, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted,” and again, “My Father is the farmer.” So let us bear fruit lest we be cut down like the barren fig tree. For every tree not producing good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Let us take care that it not be said of us, “I waited for it to produce grapes, and it produced thorns.” For if he says these things about us, he will also say what follows: “And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will remove its hedge and it shall be for plunder, and I will tear down its wall and it shall be for trampling.”

On 1 Corinthians 3:9–15: “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. According to the grace of God given me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another builds upon it. Let each watch how he builds; for no one can lay another foundation besides the one laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear, for the day will disclose it, because it is revealed in fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has. If anyone’s work remains which he built, he will receive a wage; if anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, yet he himself will be saved, but so as through fire.” Origen: since we are not only a field but also God’s building, I seek the master builder of the building and those who work with him. Understanding this the apostle says, “According to the grace given me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation”; for Paul established the church in Corinth that before the apostle was in no way present. And since there were divisions among them he says that, grace having been given him by God, as a wise master builder he laid the foundation, and another builds upon it; for if another comes and builds upon the foundation of the church