When What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger
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Suffering Unjustly
Suffering Unjustly
18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.
Christianity did not preach against slavery in Rome, but it overturned slavery in Rome. This truth would take years to do, and in the meanwhile, Christian slaves proved troublesome to the government in misunderstanding their new found freedom in Christ.
The application today does apply to Christian employees and employers…and many relationships.
19 For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.
It is a grace… a gracious thing… when a slave puts up with pain as he suffers unjustly.
20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.
To endure a well-deserved beating is nothing extraordinary. However, when one endures suffering when doing good- that is a grace, a commendable thing.
21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.
submissiveness with a christological foundation.
The “calling” is God’s grace that brings them to salvation and includes the divine ordination in all aspects of their lives.... ssee Romans 8.28-30
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
leaving you an example- a model, a pattern to be copied.... Christ is the pattern for believers to copy in their lives.
SErvants are to follow their Master’s tracks. see Matt 10.38
38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
or Mark 8.34
34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
or John 13.15
15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.
22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
The best passage on the suffering of the messiah is the fourth servant song of Isaiah and it is qhoted here. Perticularly Isa 53.9
9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Repeatedly, when Christ was in his earthly ministry, he was reviled.... YET HE OPENED NOT HIS MOUTH.
see Matt 11.19
19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”
See Matt 26.67
67 Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him,
See Matt 27.30
30 And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head.
See Mark 3.22
22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.”
See Matt 27.39-44
39 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads 40 and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” 41 So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 42 “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” 44 And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.
In every situation where Jesus was suffering as others hurled insults at him, he controlled his tongue- choosing to commit his case to the heavenly Judge whom he trusted to give a just judgment.
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Peter discusses the sufferings of Christ in depth. Christ was patient, innocent.
His sufferings for us are substitutionary. He did no sin (vs. 22_)
He becomes the scapegoat and the sacrifice.
The purpose of the death of Christ is to produce new life in the Christian .
When one comes to Christ by faith, the death of Christ on the cross ends his old life and begins a new one devoted to righteousness.
See Romans 6.18-19
18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
SEe 2 Cor 5.14-15
14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
See Galatians 2.20
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
By his wounds you have been healed.... this truth came to Christian slaves who had received lashes unjustly.... but now they have returned.... See Luke 15.3-7
3 So he told them this parable: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
Suffering Submission is
Anyone can take being wronged when he is in the wrong- it can be expected. But it takes a special type of person- a Christian- to take it when he is not in the wrong. Why?
A Christian’s relationship to God is far more important than his relationship with men.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
The point of Peter’s message is that we can take it in order for God to get the glory.
Our human tendency is to fight back. But the Christian must do far better… listen to Luke 6.32-34
32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount.
Listen to this very important verse: Romans 12.16-21
16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
Christ is our example (vs. 21-23)
Jesus responded to suffering in a very specific way.
Jesus proved that a person could be in the center of God’s will, loved by God, and still suffer incredible things. You need only look at the cross.
Jesus humility and submission were not weakness- they were power. Jesus knew who controlled every situation- look at John 18.33-38
33 So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” 37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him.
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
he is our substitute in how he died.
Jesus did not die as a martyr- he died as a saviour, a sinless substitute. Jewish people did not crucify criminals. they stoned them to death. Their dead body would be hung on a tree until evening, as a mark of shame. Jesus died on a tree and bore the curse of the law- see Galatians 3.13
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—
Christ was wounded so we can live, he died that we might live. We are called to die to sin and live unto righteousness.
Peter mentions healing in 1 Peter 2.24, and that is not a physical healing but a spiritual healing of the soul. See Psalm 103.3
3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,
Jesus is not our example or our teacher in saving us, he is the spotless lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
as we live lives of submission in suffering, we are following Christ’s example and becoming more like him.
Suffering and obedience in suffering is a witness to the lost.
Suffering and obedience in suffering is a commitment to Him.
Suffering and obedience in suffering is a tool in our own spiritually growth, chiseling directly into His image.
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Suffering Submission is a Tool of God’s Molding of Us
Suffering in Submission Builds Spiritual Stamina
Suffering in Submission Builds Spiritual Stamina
The Way we respond sometimes says more about us than it does about Him. And that matters.
The way we respond sometimes says more about Him than it does about Us. And that matters.