1 Peter 2:19-25 "Living Through Unjust Suffering"

1 Peter 2:19–25 ESV

19 For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering 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. 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. 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.

Who are the people held up as examples of the good and productive life today? Who is it that we are encouraged to emulate in our own lives? Who comes to mind? Political leaders? Military heroes? Sports figures? Achievers in the fields of science and technology? Accomplished artists? Entertainers? There are problems, though, with any figure who is made a template or model for our own lives. First, as we have so often discovered, those who look good in the public eye often are deeply flawed with their own moral failures. Do you really want to hold up as an example a successful business person who is convicted of embezzlement or a popular political figure whose life is marred by sexual infidelity? There are no perfect examples! Even with the best of examples, those men and women whose lives do appear to be wholesome and without public defect, there’s a problem: they seem to set the bar so high that we can never measure up to it.

In today’s text, Peter speaks of another example. One who is categorically different from any other role model or hero that you might think of within the world that we know. Peter commends to us the Good Shepherd, Christ Jesus. He is an example, but he is so much more. He is the Savior, who suffered for our sins and was raised from death to give life to unruly and straying sheep. So this morning, we focus our minds and hearts on this Good Shepherd:

Our Good Shepherd Is Our Example in Suffering

Suffering from Doing Good?

“But if you suffer for doing good. . . . this is commendable before God” (1 Peter 2:20).

Peter’s words to the Christian slaves must have upset them. Several times in his epistle he states that painful treatment is bound to happen not only at the hands of their masters, but by others as well.

In all fairness it just doesn’t seem right, even to us today. Being good and doing good should result in blessing and reward. The historian and athiest, H. G. Wells, complained that Christians were basically selfish, forever looking for God’s favor. They serve him, but not for nothing.

Living a decent life in word and deed has its consequences, and many are desirable. One cannot separate the wetness from water or the softness from feathers. Psalm chapter one specifically states, “Blessed is the man . . . [whose] delight is in the law of the Lord. . . . Whatever he does prospers.” But not always. Job, for example, “was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1). But Satan was permitted to unhitch the goodness of Job to the prosperity that resulted from it, only to show the Tempter to be wrong, even though Job lost family, property, and his own health.

So, when we do good and suffer for it, what is our response?

Sweet Revenge?

“For this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you might follow in his steps. . . . When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats…” (1 Peter 2:21, 23).

Certainly the abuse suffered by the Christian slaves must have not been taken lightly. The temptation to lie in wait and plot revenge could hardly be absent. Peter knew all about that. The scene in Gethsemane where Peter drew his sword and cut off a soldier’s ear was all too familiar to him.

Nor did the other disciples find it easy to turn the other cheek when abused (Lk 6:29). When they went to a Samaritan village to ready things for their Master, they were not welcomed. So James and John asked him, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” For this vengeful spirit Jesus found it necessary to rebuke them (Lk 9:51–55). Even Joseph’s brothers, who had sold him into slavery, were expecting the worst when they recognized him as the powerful prime minister of Egypt. His forgiveness and subsequent actions to take care of them and their families stand out as one of the most magnificent accounts of undeserved mercy in the OT.

So Peter introduces the mistreated slaves to the example of Jesus Christ, who was merciful and forgiving toward those who abused him—a most striking demonstration of love. Not only are they to stifle threats of retaliation, they are to take positive steps in dealing with their tormentors (read 1 Peter 3:9–12).

1 Peter 3:9–12 NET

9 Do not return evil for evil or insult for insult, but instead bless others because you were called to inherit a blessing. 10 For the one who wants to love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from uttering deceit. 11 And he must turn away from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer. But the Lord’s face is against those who do evil.

It is not how the world. During these days of our country and state economy being shut-down by this current pandemic, the citizenry are becoming understandably impatient — or, as I’ve said elsewhere, the natives are getting restless. Many cannot pay their bills and feed their families, and so there is a delicate balance we must walk as Christians. Perhaps joining in a protest with firearms on hand is not the best example.

There is a Better Way

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree.” 1 Peter 2:24

During World War I, German citizens living in England were directed by their Kaiser to join the German army in Paris. While one of the citizens was wondering what to do, he spoke about the situation with an acquaintance. One thing led to another until he came out with an offer of a large sum of money if the acquaintance would take his place. He accepted the offer, went to Paris, and joined the German troops. Only a few days after his arrival he was killed by a French shell. Back in England the man who paid him to take his place reasoned, “In the eyes of the law, I am dead. Germany has no further claim on me.”

So Jesus became our Substitute and, as we heard last Sunday, paid the full price for our sins, his precious blood, his very life. We, are no longer slaves to sin, no longer slaves by fear of death, no longer held captive by the devil (read Heb 2:14–15). They have no claim on us.

Hebrews 2:14–15 NET

14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil), 15 and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death.

Christ’s substitutionary work is so well typified in the account of Abraham and his son, Isaac, on Mount Moriah (Genesis 22). God tells Abraham to take his only son, whom he loves, and offer him as a burnt sacrifice. After the altar is built and the wood is placed, Isaac is bound and placed upon the altar. Abraham reaches out to take the knife. The procedure is suddenly halted by the word of the Lord. Isaac is set free, and a ram is sacrificed in place of the son. The similarities are striking. God the Father offered his only Son, whom he loved, in our place.

Having been released from the guilt and burden of sin and all its consequences, we are still living in a world hostile toward God’s people — a glaring example today is we are prevented from gathering for worship. Yet, because of the inheritance for which we wait, we will, having been raised with Christ, set our “minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Col 3:2). “Since Christ suffered in his body, [we] arm [ourselves] with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, [we do] not live the rest of [our] earthly [lives] for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God” (1 Peter 4:1–2).

Christ Jesus was put to death for your sins and raised again for your justification. Knowing that he loves us with such an everlasting love even to the point of being given over to suffer death on the cross, we can live as those who are conformed to his image, pressed (as painful as it may be at times) into that image. He is an example for the life of faith in the Father and love for the neighbor. But even better, he is the Shepherd who has rescued us, reconciling us to his Father, and even now by his Gospel enlivening us to live in him and for him. Amen.