Christ Our Example
The Ambassador's Handbook • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Add some introduction here.
c. Christ is the ultimate motivation for and example of suffering unjustly. (2:21–25, Matthew 10:38, John 16:33, Acts 14:21–22, 1 Thessalonians 3:1–3, 2 Timothy 3:12; 1 Peter 4:12–14)
It’s important to keep in mind the context of this passage. Last week, we saw how servants are commanded to be submissive to their masters and endure punishment—especially unjust punishment. We saw that it is acceptable and pleasing to God to remain faithful in the face of this suffering.
Now, Peter dives deeper into that topic. It may be because servants submitting to their masters was something very hard to do. Imagine if you faced the threat of being beaten for refusing to work on Sundays. It would be very easy to either fold, forgetting your commitment to Christ, or to try to fight back, depending on what kind of person you are. So Peter appeals to the ultimate example: Christ.
He is, the point says, both the example and motivation. Not all things He did are we called or able to do. But everything about his life calls us to life faithfully and endure hardship as we endure hardship for Christ.
This is how the verse begins. “Even hereunto were ye called.” “Hereunto” means “to this.” This suffering for Christ is what we are called to.
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone; And sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith: That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.
There are more verses that make this abundantly clear. It is our lot to suffer for Christ. This may be, as in the time of Peter’s audience and our day, social persecution. Mockery, losing friends, losing jobs, etc. Or it might be what the Christian in Rome were facing—torture, imprisonment, death. The Bible isn’t clear about what kind of persecution there will be. But in some way, everyone living like Christ and making a difference in this world will face resistance.
Why were we called to this? Because Christ suffered for us. If he suffered for us, we should really feel ashamed of not suffering for him. If someone gives you a really expensive gift, do you not then feel obligated to return that favor? If we really understand Christ’s suffering for us, it should spur us to action. Not out of guilt, not because we feel like we ought to, but because we want to. This kind of desire only comes from meditating on the suffering of Christ, which is what Peter does here.
The simple phrase “Christ suffered for us” doesn’t even begin to do justice to all the pain He endured. There’s a lot you can research about the physical effect the crucifixion had on His body. [talk about some stuff]
This suffering was left to us as an example. Evidently, the Greek word for example refers to a copybook teachers would use with students. They might draw something or write letters that the student would copy or trace over. Christ’s suffering is our standard. It is what we should conform our lives to.
This is a counterintuitive concept. Most everyone has role models, whether alive, dead, or fictional. They are people we want to be like, people whose virtues we want to have. We see many aspects of Jesus’ personality as admirable, something we would like to strive to.
But who has a role model that they think, “I want to suffer like that person?” You might look up to Jim Elliot, but do you hope that you will one day be killed by someone you are witnessing to?
We aren’t commanded to want suffering, of course. But with Jesus as our example, our role model, we are striving to be like someone who suffered greatly. We are called to be like Christ, and because Christ suffered, suffering is part of that call.
What is the end result of this suffering? We don’t see until later in the book, but let’s peek ahead and get a glimpse of the hope we have if we endure through suffering.
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
Next, we’re going to examine six aspects of Christ’s suffering that are listed in this passage. Some of these, we are meant to emulate. Some, we are meant to appreciate.
i. He did not suffer for His sin. (2:21)
Christ suffered “for us,” which means he did not suffer for himself. He lived verse 20. He was not buffeted for his faults, but for mine and yours.
ii. He was sinless. (2:22, Isaiah 53:9, Hebrews 4:15, 1 John 3:5–6, James 3:2)
From verse 22 onward, Peter quotes heavily from Isaiah 53. He points to how Jesus fulfills all the predictions of the suffering Servant, creating a beautiful passage about Jesus’ humility. Both the truths written of and writing style make this a true work of art.
This continues the thought of verse 21. Jesus did not suffer for his own sins because he was sinless.
And he made his grave with the wicked, And with the rich in his death; Because he had done no violence, Neither was any deceit in his mouth.
Why is lack of deceit the thing that Peter mentions in this passage as the special marker of sinlessness? Perhaps because of the words of James:
For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
I think we know this truth intuitively, so showing how Jesus never spoke an untrue word also shows his complete mastery of himself and his bodily desires.
Exploring the Epistles of Peter: An Expository Commentary (1) The Great Example (2:21–23)
The word that Peter uses here in his epistle means “pure” or “unadulterated.” In everyday commerce, that word was used to describe seed, wine, and oil that had not been tampered with. People could take the Lord’s words at face value. He was completely honest and straightforward in His dealings with people.
He employed none of life’s little disguises that are so common in our casual conversation. He did not play the little psychological games with people that we do. Indeed, His absolute transparency and complete honesty was one of the things that people found disconcerting about Him.
We’ll come back to this point in a couple of verses.
iii. He did not retaliate. (2:23a, Isaiah 53:7; Matthew 26:53)
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, Yet he opened not his mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, So he openeth not his mouth.
To revile someone is to speak in a way that degrades them. That treats them as lower than the speaker and acts as if they have little or no value. And Jesus was treated in this way. They put a crown of thorns on Jesus, put a scarlet robe on him, and gave him a reed for a scepter. Then they mocked him as delusional, like you might make fun of someone for thinking they saw a fairy. He treated him as a criminal, as less than human, when he was truly so much more than human.
Yet, for all that abuse, Jesus said nothing. He did not return their cruelty for cruelty. Contrarily, he asked for them to receive forgiveness.
The next phrase takes this even further. They didn’t just revile him—they tortured him. Jesus suffered greatly. And how natural is it for someone to turn to threats when they are in danger? If one sibling is annoying another, they’ll quickly threaten to (or actually do) tell their parents. If someone is a danger to someone else, they will probably threaten to call the police. The servants of Peter’s day, when they were punished for righteousness, would turn to calling divine judgment on their masters. As soon as we are at a perceived disadvantage we quickly appeal to whatever authority backs us.
However, Jesus had all authority, but he gave no threats. He could have called the 72,000 angels he hold Peter about, or threatened to send all his tormentors to hell that very moment. But he didn’t. He threatened not. He “took it patiently.”
iv. He trusted God. (2:23b, Isaiah 53:10, Luke 22:42, Ephesians 4:1)
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
“Committed himself” means he gave himself over, or surrendered himself. He did not try to escape when his time came. But who did he surrender to? It sounds like the verse is about to say that he committed himself to those who had him crucified, but that’s not what it says.
Who is “him that judgeth righteously?” It’s definitely not anyone involved in his death, because that was the most egregious perversion of justice the world has ever seen. There were no righteous judges in that trial. The only one who truly judges righteously is the Father. Jesus delivered himself over to the Father.
Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
It’s interesting how we see the higher purpose going on here. Jesus didn’t just submit himself to his enemies. He submitted to the Father, which in this case meant submitting to his enemies. It’s like what Paul says:
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
Paul did not see himself as a prisoner of the Roman Empire, but as a prisoner of God, because it was he who truly had the power in this situation. God could have released Paul from the Romans anytime he pleased. Those soldiers were nothing to him, and Paul knew that. So he did not resent his captors but realized that they were fulfilling God’s plan.
In the same way, we today should not resent those who give us trouble. We are, of course, commanded to love our enemies. But we also have the example of Jesus who did not revile or threaten, but endured suffering patiently.
v. He suffered for others’ sins. (2:24, Isaiah 53:4–6)
Perhaps the one thing that feels more unfair than suffering for righteousness is suffering for someone else’s sins. If you are punished for taking a stand, you at least can feel noble about that. But if you are punished for someone else messing up, it can be really frustrating. But that’s the picture of Jesus seen here.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, And carried our sorrows: Yet we did esteem him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.
All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned every one to his own way; And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Has the idea of carrying something heavy. The main character in Pilgrim’s Progress carried a great burden of sin until it fell off at the cross. But at the cross, Jesus took that burden and wore it. He who had never known sin bore all our sin, and the sin of the world. He wore the guilt of every sin every commited. To the perfect Man, that would have been almost a greater pain than the pain in his body.
Peter was using some ideas from Ephesians before, but now he shows heavy influences from Romans. And it is quite possible he had read Romans, especially if he was in fact writing from Rome and not Babylon.
Through the suffering of Jesus, we are now dead to sin. Sin has no authority over us. It should not, as Paul says, reign in our mortal bodies any longer. This has been his point for so much of the letter thus far, but now he phrases it in another way.
But more than dead to sin, we are alive to righteousness. The body that once was an agent of wickedness under the dominion of sin must now become an agent of righteousness under the dominion of God. Without Christ, sin consumes the life of every man. He seeks and enjoys it, fighting anything that would stop his pleasure. It forms his identity. He is the servant of sin and the enemy of God.
In Christ, we are to be the exact opposite. Freedom in Christ means God must be our new master in the same way that sin was. Righteousness should consume our thoughts and actions. Holiness is our identity. It is easy to become a Christian and only sometimes strive for righteousness, other times living only for self; Paul in this passage commands total surrender likened to how the carnal man surrenders himself to sin.
Exploring the Epistles of Peter: An Expository Commentary (2) The Great Expiation (2:24)
Christ died not only for us but also as us. He not only gave His life for us but also gives His life to us. We who are saved are no longer free to sin; we are free from sin. In the eternal council of God, we were “in Christ” when He died. Moreover, when He died, we died; when He was buried, we were buried; when He arose, we arose.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: The chastisement of our peace was upon him; And with his stripes we are healed.
This is a contradiction, but a beautiful one. By his wounding, we are healed. By his death, we are revived. By his punishment, we are rewarded. His death wearing our sin gave us life wearing his righteousness.
These parts of the suffering of Christ are not things we can do. We cannot carry someone else’s sin or justify anyone. But they give us great motivation to suffer patiently, knowing that, like Jesus received great reward from his suffering, we also will be rewarded if we remain faithful. His death for us should make any sacrifice for him seem only a light thing.
vi. He reconciled people to God. (2:25, Isaiah 53:6, Psalm 23, Matthew 18:12-13; Matthew 10:29–31, John 10:27–28)
All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned every one to his own way; And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Every one of us was wandering from God before Jesus came to bring us back to the fold. We were wandering through the barren land of sin and shame, looking for anything satisfying.
This picture of humanity as straying sheep is common throughout the Bible. We see the pictures of Psalm 23, and the parable of the lost sheep in Matthew 18. The latter of these shows a clear picture of how each one of us was straying from God before he lifted us out of our sin. The idea is well put in the hymn, “The Ninety and Nine.”
"Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine;
Are they not enough for Thee?"
But the Shepherd made answer: "This of mine
Has wandered away from me;
And although the road be rough and steep,
I go to the desert to find my sheep.
But none of the ransomed ever knew
How deep were the waters crossed;
Nor how dark was the night the Lord passed thro'
Ere He found His sheep that was lost.
Out in the desert He heard its cry–
So sick and helpless and ready to die.
But, praise God, He didn’t leave us sick and helpless and ready to die. Through His sacrifice, we were brought back. Return literally means re-turn, or turn again. It gives the image of the prodigal son who left his father’s presence, but in the depths of despair, turned again to his father. Now, instead of being astray from God, instead of being the enemies of God, we are His people.
There are two relationships pictured here: the Shepherd and the Bishop. His roles as a Shepherd are seen in Psalm 23 as he guides and takes care of us.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
“Bishop” means overseer, guardian, or keeper. God watches over us and guards us. In a sense, He is our ultimate pastor.
The Bible Exposition Commentary (Chapter Five: Somebody’s Watching You! (1 Peter 2:11–25))
Just as the elder-bishop oversees the flock of God, the local church, so the Saviour in glory watches over His sheep to protect them and perfect them.
In such a rich passage, there are many individual places we could dig in more, but let’s keep in mind the big picture here. All of this was said to show why and how servants should submit to cruel masters. But I would confidently say this applies to every Christian. We are all called to be servants and to be submissive. As we encounter opposition to our faith, we should stay strong because of the example of Christ. Like the song says— “I gave my life for thee. What hast thou given for me?”