Follow in His Steps

Follow in His Steps In this world, you will suffer injustice. At times, someone in authority over you will mistreat you. Our fleshly response is to resist and fight back. But how are Christians to respond? In the latter verses of the second chapter of his first letter, Peter gives guidance using two examples, first the slaves in his audience and then Christ. Let us begin with verse 18: Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. The economy and society of the Roman Empire were built on slavery. Most slaves had been captured in war or had fallen into debt. On the Italian peninsula, 35-40% of the population were slaves. They served as field hands, domestic servants, doctors, lawyers, or teachers. Often, they were better off than free day laborers who lacked the security of steady room and board. Many of Peter's readers were slaves. Why didn't the early church work to end slavery? First, that would have distracted from the primary mission of the church, making disciples of Jesus. But practically, working to end slavery would have been seen as rebellion provoking violence, economic turmoil, and persecution of the church. As Christianity grew, it would ultimately bring the end of slavery, but not in Peter's day. Peter had one simple principle for slaves to follow: Submit. Submit to good and considerate masters. Submit to harsh, evil masters. Submit out respect for God. Our twenty-first century application is to recognize that on the job, our boss has authority. We are to submit to the boss. Submit to all authority except when it contradicts God's word, even when you disagree with authority. But we are not slaves, so we are free to quit a job, but the need to support our families discourages quitting. But to follow your conscience or to escape abuse, you can quit. Consider whether God wants you to stay on as His witness. But abuse by authority is not limited to bosses. How in general should we handle such abuse? Listen to verses 19 & 20: For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. We do not condone beatings for any reason, but let us look at the principle Peter is teaching. We must recognize two categories of suffering under authority. When one suffers because they were doing good not appreciated by the authority, faithfulness to God's way even under injustice is commendable. But when one suffers punishment for doing wrong, enduring this just punishment deserves no commendation. We simply should not have done wrong. Therefore, we must honestly evaluate whether we were doing good or not so good. Do not seek praise for patient suffering if you deserved what you got. But if by faith you patiently endure injustice, God will commend you. Peter is not advocating masochism. He merely commends those who stay faithful to God when they suffer for doing good. And he is speaking to slaves with few legal options. We do have legal and social options. We can use them when necessary. Women do not have to tolerate abuse from husbands or boyfriends. No one should tolerate any abuse of children or the elderly. But the general principle from verse 13 remains: Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men. That is easy to say but often hard to do! So, Peter now gives us the example of Jesus. Let us read verses 21 to 25: To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. Jesus submitted to abuse by authorities. He suffered an unjust trial and crucifixion. Jesus was sinless. This abuse was totally unjust and undeserved. He did not respond by retaliating or by making threats. Instead, He trusted His case to the Great Judge. Jesus suffered for a great purpose, to be our sinless substitute. Verse 21 says: Christ suffered for you. Though He was sinless, He bore our sins in his body on the tree. It is by His wounds, His welts and bruises, that we have been spiritually healed. When God allows suffering, we can be sure that He has a purpose, even when we cannot see a purpose. The suffering of Jesus is set forth here as our example, that you should follow in his steps. The word example means pattern, a word used of dim letters given to children to trace, a practice still used in kindergarten today. Jesus has left us a trail of His footsteps which we are to follow. We are called to a life that includes unjust suffering. And how are we to suffer like Jesus? Suffer for doing good, not for doing wrong. Do not retaliate but trust your case to God as Judge. And trust that God has a purpose for your suffering. One last point: Jesus suffered to change us. We were like sheep going astray. But now in Christ we have died to our sins if we have trusted in Him. We have returned to God if we have repented. We now live for righteousness. We have turned to Jesus as the Shepherd. He feeds us what we need for spiritual life. He leads us in the way we should go to serve Him. He protects us from our enemies who seek to destroy us. We have turned to Jesus as Overseer of our souls. He inspects our lives and gives us correction as needed. He superintends our work, giving us direction for service. He is coming on His day of visitation when we will glorify Him. I have several conclusions from our text in 1 Peter: We should avoid unnecessary suffering By making wise decisions in our actions and relationships By living good lives and submitting to authority By insisting on legal behavior by others We should submit to authority even when we do not like it or think it is misguided When an authority treats us unjustly, we must continue to trust God and His wisdom and continue to submit Most importantly, we must never allow the suffering of Jesus to be in vain Let us die to sin and live for righteousness through faith in Jesus and by the Holy Spirit in us Let us turn to Jesus as the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls