Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. —1 Corinthians 15:8-9
The phrase “untimely born“ in this Bible reading is translated “abnormally born” or “unusually born” in other Bible versions, so I did a little study of Bible commentaries and discovered what St. Paul intended here. He was not simply saying that he was one of the last apostles, “born late,” if you will. He was saying, because of his background as an enemy of Jesus, he really should have never been born, that is, “born again,” as a follower of Christ. Paul was pointing out how unusual it was that he was even writing to the Corinthians in this way as an apostle of Christ at all.
In many ways, we can relate to what Paul is saying here. We were not eyewitnesses to the resurrection of Christ as the first apostles were. We cannot relate exactly to what the twelve disciples went through. We were born sinful and, therefore, enemies of God and Jesus. Yet we have been reborn through faith in Jesus, as St. Paul was. The risen Jesus has appeared to us through the eyes of faith. We have been knocked off our high horse, as St. Paul was on the road to Damascus, and made to pay attention to the Messiah who saw us dead in our sins and who desired to make us alive with him. We are born anew into a living hope that we never should have even been offered because of our sins.
Celebrate today your untimely birth into the forever family of God in Jesus.