Peter continues on the theme of submission to authority, and applies it to daily living with a special focus on slaves and masters. Slaves are commanded to submit to their masters, regardless of how they are treated, or whether their masters are good or evil. This concept is also discussed in Ephesians 6:5, Colossians 3:22, and Titus 2:9. The word "slave", is better understood as translated in the HCSB because it conveys the idea of a household slave or household servant.
While I would imagine none of us would consider ourselves to be in that position, more than likely we are employed by somebody and have someone in authority over us. Therefore, the principles in this section apply to us as well (as most commentators agree). Regardless of how we are treated, we are to be submissive and respectful. While in our culture we do have the freedom to change jobs, or to have our positions moved around, etc, we still need to be respectful and submissive to our employers and supervisors.
God honors our suffering in submission. If we suffer for doing right, we are blessed. However, if we sin and suffer for it, there is no blessing or credit to us - we are receiving our just punishment. In this case, suffering is what we justly deserve. There is no honor in that. However, if we are living as Christ desires in our workplaces, and we suffer for it, then we will have favor with God as Peter describes.
This passage also illuminates further the idea of submission. By way of specific example, Peter explains what submission to authorities looks like in a more practical sense, be it to government authorities or other rulers over us, such as masters or employers.
"For you were called to this,
because Christ also suffered for you,
leaving you an example,
so that you should follow in His steps.
22 He did not commit sin,
and no deceit was found in His mouth;
23 when He was reviled,
He did not revile in return;
when He was suffering,
He did not threaten
but entrusted Himself to the One who judges justly."
(1 Peter 2:21-23, HCSB)
This passage makes it clear: we are called to suffer. This goes counter to our commonly held, comfortable American way of thinking about Christianity. We think that Christianity is about us, and we pray to be comfortable and safe. If you suffer, you must be out of the will of God. Often, when we are at church, our prayer requests reflect this way of thinking: We pray for people to get better, to be comfortable, to come through surgery with no problems, etc. (Please note; I am not saying these things are bad in and of themselves. There is great value in praying for each other. The problem lies in our mentality that everything should be as comfortable and painless as possible here on earth, and so we focus our prayers on our well being.)
Peter is clear, though. Just as Christ suffered for us, so we are called to follow in his steps, and suffer for Him. Christ sets an example for us that we are to follow. In the next several verses, Peter explains in specific details how Christ suffered for us. While Christ is sinless, and we are not, the fact remains that we are expected to follow Him and walk as He walked. We do not do this in and of ourselves; that is impossible for us on our own. Instead, living by the Spirit and being empowered by His leading, we can follow in Christ's example
Christ did not sin, nor was He dominated by sin. Deceit was not in His mouth. While we can never attain to the fullest this characteristic of following Christ, this is an encouragement and exhortation to us to not allow our sufferings to be an excuse to sin. Falsehood and deception have no place in our lives.
When Christ was reviled, mocked, and tormented, He did not return like in kind. What people do to us does not give us license to do the same back. In this example, we see Jesus living what He preached. He taught us to "turn the other cheek" when being reviled, instead of retaliating back. When He was being mocked and reviled before His Crucifixion, He did not revile back, but turned the other cheek, enduring the suffering because He knew that this was the only way He could accomplish His purposes, and because He was acting in obedience to His Father.
Christ gives us an example of holding our tongue, especially when we suffer as He did. It is easy to abuse others with our tongue, especially when they are not present. But Christ did neither. He did not threaten or speak against His oppressors. Likewise, we should not and cannot. We simply do not have the right to do so.
In contrast, Christ entrusted Himself to God, the righteous Judge. The word "entrusted", translated from "paradidōmi", also carries the idea of "surrender". Thus, another way to translate this particular passage is that Christ surrendered, or yielded, Himself to the Father's will and into the Father's control. Ultimately, God will judge those who mistreated us and mistreated Christ because we were following Him. However, it is not our place to retaliate, or to condemn those who mistreat and persecute us. Instead we need to surrender ourselves to following God. He is the Just Judge who judges rightly. He will settle accounts. We need to obey and yield ourselves to His plan.
"He Himself bore our sins
in His body on the tree,
so that, having died to sins,
we might live for righteousness;
you have been healed by His wounds.
25 For you were like sheep going astray,
but you have now returned
to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls." (1 Peter 2:24-25, HCSB)
Christ bore our sins in His body. His sufferings had a purpose that transcends any earthly purpose. In these few short lines, Peter puts forth a beautiful exposition on Christ's atoning sacrifice. Christ's sufferings removed our sins from us, so that we can live for Him. Our wounds have been healed, our wandering over. The pain and agony that Christ endured had a glorious purpose.
Therefore, in the face of such trials, It is good to be reminded of how much Christ has suffered for us. When viewed in that light, our momentary sufferings and trials seem insignificant. When we suffer for Him as a Christian, we are in a small way imitating Him. He sacrificed for us. In light of this, a call to suffer for Him, for His name, only seems right.
Him bearing our sins in His body looks back to Isaiah 53 where He is prophesied as the suffering servant:
"Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses,
and He carried our pains;
but we in turn regarded Him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was pierced because of our transgressions,
crushed because of our iniquities;
punishment for our peace was on Him,
and we are healed by His wounds.
6 We all went astray like sheep;
we all have turned to our own way;
and the Lord has punished Him
for the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:4-6, HCSB).
This passage parallels what Peter describes here in 1 Peter, with direct quotations from Isaiah 53:5 (1 Peter 2:24) and Isaiah 53:6 (1 Peter 2:25). (I have underlined the portions of the passage above that are referenced in 1 Peter 2:14-25)
This passage in 1 Peter and here in Isaiah 53 also parallels with Galatians 3:13: "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written: Everyone who is hung on a tree is cursed." (Galatians 3:13, HCSB). Christ became cursed in our place, redeeming us from the curse of the law. Now, we are free to live for Him!
The phrase in verse 24, "Having died to sins... live for righteousness", parallels what Paul writes in Romans 6:1-3. "What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply? 2 Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? " (Romans 6:1-3, HCSB) Because of His sacrifice, we too have died- to our sin nature. Paul makes it clear that we can no longer live in it. This is the natural our flow of choosing to identify with Christ's death. By choosing to follow Christ, we are baptized into His death, making us dead to the world and dead to sin. Romans 6:8-12 makes this clear as well. Since Christ died to sin and we have now also died by being baptized into Him, we are to live with Him, walking as He walked. This is the key to walking in His steps- dying to sin.
Therefore, being dead to sin, we can not let it live and work in us. Instead we are to live in righteousness, not returning to our dead way of life. While this is not the best illustration, it would be like trying to return to fitting in your baby clothes and cradle after you have grown up. You can try to live in that way, but it is obvious you do not belong, and it is infinitely foolish to do so!
We have been "healed by His wounds" (From Isaiah 53:5). This refers to His death, not necessarily the sufferings prior to this event. What a fascinating paradox! We are healed by Christ's painful, agonizing death. But, it is the only way we can have life, and it is the only way that He can have a chosen priesthood ready to serve and follow Him.
"Healed by His wounds" also contrasts with Isaiah 6:10 as Jesus refers to it in John 12:40.
"This is why they were unable to believe, because Isaiah also said:
The phrase in verse 24, "Having died to sins... live for righteousness", parallels what Paul writes in Romans 6:1-3. "What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply? 2 Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? " (Romans 6:1-3, HCSB) Because of His sacrifice, we too have died- to our sin nature. Paul makes it clear that we can no longer live in it. This is the natural our flow of choosing to identify with Christ's death. By choosing to follow Christ, we are baptized into His death, making us dead to the world and dead to sin. Romans 6:8-12 makes this clear as well. Since Christ died to sin and we have now also died by being baptized into Him, we are to live with Him, walking as He walked. This is the key to walking in His steps- dying to sin.
Therefore, being dead to sin, we can not let it live and work in us. Instead we are to live in righteousness, not returning to our dead way of life. While this is not the best illustration, it would be like trying to return to fitting in your baby clothes and cradle after you have grown up. You can try to live in that way, but it is obvious you do not belong, and it is infinitely foolish to do so!
We have been "healed by His wounds" (From Isaiah 53:5). This refers to His death, not necessarily the sufferings prior to this event. What a fascinating paradox! We are healed by Christ's painful, agonizing death. But, it is the only way we can have life, and it is the only way that He can have a chosen priesthood ready to serve and follow Him.
"Healed by His wounds" also contrasts with Isaiah 6:10 as Jesus refers to it in John 12:40.
"This is why they were unable to believe, because Isaiah also said:
40 He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their hearts,
so that they would not see with their eyes
or understand with their hearts,
and be converted,
and I would heal them.
and hardened their hearts,
so that they would not see with their eyes
or understand with their hearts,
and be converted,
and I would heal them.
41 Isaiah said these things because he saw His glory and spoke about Him." (John 12:39-41, HCSB)
The world has been unable to believe and thus be healed by His wounds, because their eyes were blind and hearts hard. But we, by the grace of God, have had our eyes opened and our hearts softened by God so we can therefore be converted and healed. His wounds heal us and God enables us to be able to be healed. Without God's intervention, we would be like the rest of the world, blind and ignorant of God's love and the healing available through Christ. But God by His mercy sees fit to open our eyes and soften our hearts through various circumstances and events until we can see the healing available through Christ's death and turn and be converted.
Peter than refers to imagery that is commonly used of God's people in scripture: sheep. Quoting from Isaiah 53:6, he describes how we all have gone astray, like sheep. Each of us has turned to follow his own path, and his own ideas and dreams. But, while we were ensnared by our sin and flesh, the Good Shepherd has brought us to Himself. We have been returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls.
In the face of suffering, especially as Peter has described here, it is vitally important to remember that Christ has walked ahead of us and has suffered for us to an extent that we will never fully grasp. By His deaths, we are healed: our sins have been removed. Therefore, He has healed us from our sinful condition by making us dead to sin and now we are commanded to live for righteousness. We are to live in obedience to Him by walking in His steps, living as He did. We have been called to suffer for Him and we do so gladly because He is our Shepherd and Guardian and He judges rightly. Obedience is the only natural response to the Good Shepherd, who has healed us so that we may see and believe.
Peter than refers to imagery that is commonly used of God's people in scripture: sheep. Quoting from Isaiah 53:6, he describes how we all have gone astray, like sheep. Each of us has turned to follow his own path, and his own ideas and dreams. But, while we were ensnared by our sin and flesh, the Good Shepherd has brought us to Himself. We have been returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls.
In the face of suffering, especially as Peter has described here, it is vitally important to remember that Christ has walked ahead of us and has suffered for us to an extent that we will never fully grasp. By His deaths, we are healed: our sins have been removed. Therefore, He has healed us from our sinful condition by making us dead to sin and now we are commanded to live for righteousness. We are to live in obedience to Him by walking in His steps, living as He did. We have been called to suffer for Him and we do so gladly because He is our Shepherd and Guardian and He judges rightly. Obedience is the only natural response to the Good Shepherd, who has healed us so that we may see and believe.
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