1 Peter 2:¹⁸ Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are harsh. ¹⁹ For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person endures grief when suffering unjustly. ²⁰ For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.

Christ Is Our Example

²¹ For you have been called for this purpose, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you would follow in His steps, ²² He who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; ²³ and while being abusively insulted, He did not insult in return; while suffering, He did not threaten, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; ²⁴ and He Himself brought our sins in His body up on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His wounds you were healed. ²⁵ For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

This is the 2nd article on the suffering of the diaspora Christians in 1 Peter. Please read the first article for background. This article looks at the 2nd main section in the letter on suffering. Several key points;

1) It starts with servants (slaves) who suffer from harsh masters. (AI) “Estimates suggest that slavery was widespread in the Roman world, with anywhere from 25% to 40% of the population being enslaved. This means a substantial number of early Christians would have been slaves or former slaves, as the early church drew members from all walks of life within the Roman Empire.” Peter tells them be subject to (obey) and respect those harsh masters. God is pleased if such a suffering slave can endure it faithfully. He makes the point that there is no credit (kleos: Glory, Renown, Fame) if you suffer for doing something wrong. I have beloved brother and friend who suffered 25 years in prison for something he did wrong. He used that time to grow into a strong believer, so it all worked out well. But in the early church, believers were tortured, imprisoned, and killed for their faith, not for something wrong they did. If they can suffer with patience, that “finds favor with God’.

2) Christ is our example of “unjust, undeserved suffering”. Why did Jesus have to suffer so much in the scourging and crucifixion? He did have to die for our sins, but couldn’t God have allowed him to die without so much suffering and still accomplish God’s mission of saving sinners from sin? Of course he could have. He could have. just allowed Jesus to be poisoned or smothered by some enemy and die a quick, relatively painless death. He could have allowed a soldier to pierce Jesus through with a sword causing quick death. But God allowed him to undergo terrible suffering before he died. Jesus had seen many crucifixion victims hanging on crosses on the Roman roads, a warning to all about rebellion to the empire. That’s why he was in such agony in the Garden of Gethsemene, sweat as blood (that sounds like a “panic attack” to me). Such suffering from the nails on the cross that he cried out “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me”? He hang for 6 long hours suffering on the cross. Was this really a necessary of God’s plan? It was. Not essential to save us, but to give suffering Christians an example to follow when they suffer unjustly. God knew that Christians would suffer for their faith through much of the 2,000 years of church history and He wanted to give them an example of how to suffer faithfully, not returning insult for insult, etc. Don’t retaliate or seek vengance: just trust God who will repay those who persecute His children. The Roman arenas where Christians were killed, Foxes Book of Martyrs, even torturing and killing Christians by the Catholic church, suffering in Muslim controlled countries or atheistic countries like China. We don’t experience persecution in the U.S. but Jesus’ example of suffering even helps us as we go through various trials that test our faith. How should you respond when insulted or mocked b/c of your faith? When you suffer from a harsh boss? When you suffer from an abusive husband (Peter deals with that later)? Is Jesus giving an example for passive resistence: “a way of opposing the government without using violence especially by refusing to obey laws.” This was what Ghandi did in India as he opposed the oppressive British colonialism rule over India. He was committed to non-violence, but he did led protest Marches like his 240 mile Salt March to protest British policies that took advantage of the Indians. Martin Luther King might be the perfect example of one following Jesus’ example. King was inspired by Ghandi, but more so by Jesus. He was totally committed to non-violence although he did lead non-violent peace marches and boycotts. He never encouraged breaking any civil laws. Jesus stood up to the corrupt leaders of the Jews. He didn’t just ignore the corruption. He never encouraged any opposition to the cruel Roman authorities. He told Peter to pay the temple tax. He did resort to some turning over of the tables in the temple but he never retaliated when he suffered personally. So, Jesus’ suffering was necessary in God’s plan, not to save us but to give suffering Christians an example of how to suffer. As Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:¹² Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

3) After his suffering on the cross, He completed God’s plan of salvation by dying on the cross for our sins. “By his wounds” (the scourging, the crown of thorns) we are healed. This has to mean “spiritual healing”. Jesus can still heal physical sickness but this is not a promise of physical healing to those who become Christian. I know a saved lady who is still in a wheelchair due to spinal bifida even after becoming a Christian. Isaiah predicted Jesus’s non-retaliatory suffering: Peter probably alludes to Isaiah 53:

Isaiah 53:However, it was our sicknesses that He Himself bore,
And our pains that He carried;
Yet we ourselves assumed that He had been afflicted,
Struck down by God, and humiliated.
⁵ But He was pierced for our offenses,
He was crushed for our wrongdoings;
The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him,
And by His wounds we are healed.
⁶ All of us, like sheep, have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the wrongdoing of us all
To fall on Him.

⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.

Thus Hebrews 2:10 10 In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect (teleioó: To complete, to perfect, to accomplish, to bring to an end.)through what he suffered.” His sufferings made God’s plan of salvation “complete” b/c it was an important part of the plan.