1 Peter 2:21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 22 "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." 23 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. 24 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. 25 For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Introduction
We are in a section of 1 Peter where Peter is teaching us how the Church is to interact with the world. And basically it boils down mostly to two words: holiness and submission. We are to avoid worldliness and live holy lives. And we are to submit to authorities. Free people are to submit to the governing authorities, slaves are to submit to their masters, and wives to their husbands. But when he gets to the part about slaves, and he mentions that they are to continue to submit even when they are treated unfairly, Peter launches into some extended remarks on that whole subject of how to deal with unfair treatment in general. We have been talking about that now for the last three sermons, and today we get to the really practical part where Peter tells us exactly how to do this. The goal is to follow Jesus’ example.
1 Peter 2:21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
Our ultimate goal, whenever we are mistreated, is to imitate Jesus.
Exact Imitation
The goal is imitation, and not just imitation, but exact imitation. Look at the two word pictures Peter gives us.
21 …Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
The word example means to trace. That word was used to describe little children learning how to write by putting the letters under a paper and tracing out the lines. Peter says, when it comes to learning how to live, Jesus’ life and death are lines that we are to trace out.
The other word picture is at the end of the verse – follow in his steps. When I was a kid I used to go hunting with my dad and when we got into the deep snow, I would walk behind him and step in his footprints so I didn’t have to plow my own trail. But it was hard because my dad walks in kind of a strange way – he puts each foot directly in front of the other like he is walking on a tightrope.
Both those images give us a picture of very carefully following Jesus’ example. Not just in a broad, general way, but every individual footstep, every exact curve of a line. We should strive to follow Jesus’ example down to the smallest details of life where we can find an example in Scripture – especially in those times when His footprints are not placed in the spot where we would most naturally step.
Millions of people in the world think of Jesus as a good example and they follow His example in a general way. But they pick and choose. Certain things about Jesus they really like – they try to emulate that. But other things about Jesus they just ignore. Just like any other human example - pick out what seems good, leave the rest. But that is not what Jesus called us to. We are called to retrace every step, every detail – everything about Jesus that we can follow, we are to follow. When you are tracing a letter on paper, there is no room for creativity. You just follow the line. That is the kind of strict imitation Peter is describing.
We are all going to have to bring our notebook up to the Teacher’s desk one day and the Teacher will look at the letters marked out by Jesus’ life, and compare them with the letters of our lives, and we will be evaluated based on how well they match. Nothing else will matter. All the money you earned in your life will be long gone –your house, your clothes, all your stuff – your old, unredeemed body, your career – all of that will be long gone. None of it will matter. The only thing that will matter will be how closely your life traced out the pattern of Jesus’ life.
Isaiah 53
And so Peter is going to give us that pattern. And I think it is fascinating how he does it. Instead of just describing the historical account of the cross, he quotes Isaiah 53. Instead of giving his own eye-witness account, he goes to an Old Testament prophecy.
In the vice presidential debate, Joe Biden made repeated references to the fact that he was present during some of the historical events that were referenced. said, “I was there in the room when Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill worked out the social security deal in 1983.” That is an understandable strategy. If you have been in the Senate for forty years and your opponent is forty years old, it makes sense that you would use that to add to your credibility when you are trying to be persuasive. You are talking about something your opponent has read about in history books, and you actually witnessed it firsthand.
Peter is also trying to be persuasive. And if you want to talk about having the ultimate trump card – how about Peter? Someone wants to debate him about some aspect of the suffering of Christ, and Peter can just pull a Joe Biden and say, “I was there. When Jesus was sweating drops of blood in the garden some of it got on my sandal.” Peter knew Jesus personally, witnessed His suffering - even spoke personally with Jesus after the resurrection! And yet, with all that on his resume, what does Peter appeal to when he wants to be persuasive about the suffering of Jesus? Isaiah 53. Just in verses 22-25, Peter quotes or alludes directly to Isaiah 53 no less than eight times in four verses. Why would an eye-witness appeal to something written 700 years before Jesus was born?
The reason is very simple. Peter refers to Scripture because while eye-witness testimony is persuasive, Scripture is beyond persuasive. God’s Word has power to transform hearts. The Holy Scriptures are so powerful that you can have a greater impact by quoting a prophecy of an event than by giving an actual first-hand account, because Scripture is a more accurate representation of reality even than our own senses. Your eyes and ears will lie to you at times, the Bible never will, and it has supernatural power to change hearts and produce faith.
What to Do: Innocent Suffering
So, using the language of Isaiah 53, Peter is going to give us the outline we are to trace with our lives. Here is Jesus’ example:
No pre-suffering sin (Jesus was innocent)
22 "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth."
That is talking about prior to Jesus’ suffering. Jesus went into the cross completely innocent. He had done nothing to deserve it. That phrase “nobody’s perfect” is close, but it is off by one. In John 8 Jesus said this to His opponents:
John 8:46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?
“Just point to one sin.”
Nobody could. So many people hated Jesus that His life ended with the masses screaming for His blood, and yet there is no historical record of a single sin. No one could point to anything – not even Jesus’ brothers. They did not believe in Him, and they accused Him of being insane, but not even His brothers could pinpoint a single sin. I don’t know if you have a brother, but I can tell you my brother would not have any trouble recalling one of my sins. Jesus was sinless.
The governor who presided over Jesus’ trial and crucifixion came to this conclusion: “I find no fault with this man.” And he was trying his hardest. The criminal crucified next to Jesus said:
Luke 23:41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.
And after Jesus died…
Luke 23:47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man."
None of His friends, family, or enemies could find a single sin in Him. Even the Holy Spirit, who can see inside the heart, agrees.
22 He committed no sin.
2 Corinthians 5:21 - Jesus had no sin.
Hebrews 4:15 We have a high priest who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin
Hebrews 7:26 He is holy, blameless, pure, and set apart from sinners
1 John 3:5 in him is no sin.
So the first part of the example He left for us is innocence: Jesus did nothing to deserve the harsh treatment He received. One of the reasons we strive for innocence is so that we can suffer like Christ. Have you ever thought of that as a motive for resisting temptation? There are countless reasons for holy living, but this is one you may have never thought of. When we are faced with a temptation we need to say no to that temptation so that when we suffer, it will be unjustly. That is our goal. We are going to suffer. We are going to be mistreated. That is for sure. The only question is, will it be deserved or undeserved? And our goal is to see to it that it is undeserved. Because the more undeserved it is, the more we can show God’s glory by responding in a humble, trusting way. So one of our motives for holy living is so that when we suffer, it will be unjust.
No post-suffering sin (no retaliation)
That is Jesus’ example for us prior to the suffering. Then verse 23 is His example during and after the suffering.
23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats.
The word retaliate means to retaliate with insults. In our flesh, our natural reaction to harsh speech is harsh speech. Your spouse is short or cold with you, you are short and cold in your response. Someone takes a dig at you in front of everyone, and you have a zinger comeback.
2 Timothy 2:24 And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone … not resentful. 25 Those who oppose him he must gently instruct
That is exactly the example Jesus gave us. In John 7 they accused Him of being demon-possessed.
John 7:19 Why are you trying to kill me?" 20 "You have a demon," the crowd answered. "Who is trying to kill you?"
That is a pretty extreme accusation. How did Jesus respond? Instruction.
23 if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment."
He does not argue with them, He does not take a jab back them – He just mercifully teaches them. But they don’t let up.
John 8:40 … We are not illegitimate children
Literally, “We are not born of fornication.” Now they are insulting not only Jesus, but His mother. They evidently knew that Joseph and Mary were not married when Jesus was conceived and so they bring out a very crude insult here. And even when they bring His mother into it and slander her, does He come unglued and let them have it? Look at Jesus’ response.
42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me.”
He is not diverted from His teaching even for a moment. Their insults do not even faze Him. He just continues to teach what He was teaching.
Matthew 26:59 The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. 60 But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward 61 and declared, "This fellow said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.'" 62 Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, "Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?" 63 But Jesus remained silent.
I do not know if you can remember the last time someone made public, false accusations against you, or twisted your words like this, but I can tell you it is very hard to keep your mouth shut when that happens. He does not say, “No, wait – that’s not what I meant. I wasn’t talking about the building. Obviously – I haven’t done anything to the Temple…” His life is on the line. He is being tried on a death penalty charge, and He just remains silent. No big defense, no cross-examination of the false witnesses. Jesus could have exposed all their most embarrassing secrets in front of everyone. But instead, He either remains silent or takes the opportunity to teach.
67 Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him 68 and said, "Prophesy to us, Christ. Who hit you?"
Have you ever had someone spit in your face? Or punch you in the face with their fist while you are tied up? Can you imagine government officials, who are supposed to protect you from this sort of thing, putting you in handcuffs and then allowing people to slap and punch you in the face at will? Receiving an insult is one thing, but when they punch you in the face and spit on you first, and then insult you – that is really hard to deal with. And at the same time all Jesus’ closest friends abandon Him and His chief follower is over there swearing up and down that he has never even met Jesus.
When they made these insults, do you think Jesus could have thought of some pretty good comebacks? In His infinite mind do you think He could have come up with a response that would have totally humiliated these people? They are mocking Him by saying, “Prophesy – who hit you? If you were really a prophet you would know, even blindfolded, who just punched you in the face.” Jesus could have said their names – and their addresses, and their last ten sinful thoughts. He could have revealed things about them that would cost them their jobs, their friends. He could have ruined their lives. He said nothing.
Then He gets sent to Herod.
Luke 23:9 He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. 11 Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him.
Then He goes before Pilate.
Matthew 27:12 When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate asked him, "Don't you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?" 14 But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge--to the great amazement of the governor.
You know the rest. Pilate condemns Jesus to death, they strip off His clothes, put a crown of thorns on His head and kneel before Him in mockery, spitting on Him again and striking Him in the head with a staff again and again, and mocking Him. They scourge Him, then nail Him to the cross, and…
39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, "You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!" 41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.'" 44 In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
On and on and on with the mockery. They see the unbelievable suffering He is going through and there is zero compassion. They just want to hurt Him even more. So they mock. And all Jesus has to do is slip in His thoughts for one second and He is off the cross, and they are all in hell. But He does not so much as make a threat.
23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats.
A threat is a verbal expression of revenge in the heart. The purpose of a threat is when you cannot hurt them at that moment for whatever reason, so you simply announce to them your intention of hurting them in the future so they can suffer some of the hostility of it even now.
Jesus made no threats – and boy, could He have made threats. Of all the blows He took, whichever one was the most painful, and the most humiliating – the one struck by the most arrogant, mocking fool – the one that felt the most unjust to Jesus – you know how when you get hit with something like that the flesh just wells up and you have a Paul moment (“God smite you, you whitewashed wall!”)? When that blow struck Jesus with one thought in His divine mind He could have said, “OK Jack – your punishment in hell just tripled.” Jesus talked a lot about Judgment Day, but not while He was on the cross.
Father, Forgive Them
How did Jesus respond while suffering all this horrible abuse? With anger? No. With self-pity? No. He did not even shut down and retreat into Himself. He stayed focused on loving others. He is making arrangements for his mother to be taken care of, He is saving the soul of the thief hanging next to him, and He is praying for the people who are murdering Him.
Luke 23:34 Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.
And we found last time that the way this happens is through consciousness of God.
1 Peter 2:19 For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God.
The more focused you are on God and what He is doing instead of the people who are abusing you and what they are doing, the more you will feel sorry for the person hurting you instead of for yourself. Self-pity goes away because great is your reward in heaven – there is nothing to pity. The only thing to pity is the person who is hurting you. You are in great shape, but that person isn’t. That person is in deep trouble with God. And the more conscious you are of God, the more you will see that and your heart will go out to that person. Jesus is so focused on God that it is like He can just feel the anger of God at them. Each time they struck Him or mocked Him, Jesus could see the horror of God’s wrath that they were in for, and it broke His heart. And He gets so caught up in feeling sorry for the trouble those people are in with God, He breaks His silence and cries out to the Father, “Oh, please – forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing!”
They Know Not What They Do
Is that an excuse? Is their ignorance an excuse for all their spitting and mocking and punching and lynching of the most innocent man who ever lived? No. Their ignorance does not excuse them because it was a willful ignorance. They did not know what they were doing, but they could have known. They should have known. Jesus made it clear – the only reason they did not know what they were doing was because of a hard-hearted refusal to know. But still, it mattered to Jesus that they didn’t know. Even though their self-deception was their own fault, it mattered to Jesus and Jesus presented it as something that would matter to the Father. Such mercy!
And as the beneficiaries of that mercy, our Lord and Master and Savior says to us, “I want you to act that way with each other.” Think for a second - is there someone about whom you should be saying, “Father, forgive him – he doesn’t know what he’s doing”? If you were conscious of God like Jesus was, who would you be saying that about right now?
“Father, please – have mercy on that person. Please, hold back. I know You’re angry at him for the way he is hurting me – please, just be patient with him a little longer.”
And I am not talking about just praying that because it sounds spiritual, but praying it because it is the desire of your heart. You see what the Bible says about God’s wrath and it makes you feel for the person. Oh, how sweet it must be to the Father’s ears when He hears those kinds of Jesus-like prayers!
When we want to defend ourselves for our own sin, we always point to mitigating circumstances. “Yes, I committed that sin – but you have to understand…” and then we are off to the races with excuses. We should be slow to do that for ourselves, but we should be quick to do it for those who sin against us. We should say, “Yes, he is sinning against me, but you have to understand…” and then acknowledge the mitigating circumstances. Do those justify the sin he is committing against you? No. But they do help you have the same kind of mercy and grace that Jesus had on the cross.
How to do it: Trust God
“This is sounding more and more impossible. How do you get abused and mistreated and insulted and have this kind of response?”
We saw in verse 19 it is through being conscious of God. But in verse 23 Peter gets more specific. He tells us exactly how Jesus did it.
You might hear that and think, “What do you mean how Jesus did it? Wasn’t it automatic for Him? He is God. He cannot sin. So wasn’t this godly response automatic for Him?” Absolutely not! Godliness was just has hard for Jesus as it is for us. It required effort for Him. Jesus did not draw upon His divine nature to give Him an advantage in fighting against sin. Hebrews said He was tempted in every way just like we are (Heb.4:15). His fight against sin involved crying out to the Father with loud shouts and tears (Heb.5:7). The techniques He used are the same techniques that will work for us – memorization and skilled use of Scripture, subjecting Himself to the power of the Holy Spirit, etc. So whenever you see a passage of Scripture that explains how Jesus fought against sin, mark it down because that is an example for how we can do it. And verse 23 is one of those passages.
23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead (OK, here’s His secret) he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.
Entrust It All to God
What Does That Mean?
When you are worrying or fretting about something, people say all the time, “Just give it over to God.” What does that mean? How do you give something over to God? If you are being mistreated at work or at home, exactly what does it mean to hand that over to God? You pray, “God, I give this over to You” – but the next day you still have to go to work and endure all that suffering. You are still in the same situation, so what actually happens if you give it over to God? Is that just one of those empty religious cliché’s that does not actually mean anything?
No, it is not an empty idea at all. It is a biblical idea.
1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your cares on him because he cares for you.
Casting your cares on God is a very real thing, and it is what Jesus taught us by example. In verse 23 Peter says instead of having an angry, sinful, retaliatory response to unjust suffering, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. The word himself is not in the Greek. It just says He entrusted… Entrusted what? His cause - His well-being, justice, fairness, His future, His reputation, His enemies – everything. But what does it mean, exactly, to entrust all that to God?
Trust God with Each Issue
It means persuading your soul that God can be trusted with whatever part of the situation is causing your anxiety or anger. Someone hurts you, and you are tempted to hurt them back in some way. You have a strong sense that the person needs to be punished – he needs to be taught a lesson, he needs to suffer consequences for what he did. And then you just simply decide to leave that all up to God. You identify each one of those in your heart and you make the decision, “That person needs to be taught a lesson – God, I’m going to trust You to take care of teaching him a lesson. He needs to suffer some consequences – I’ll trust You with that too, God.”
And right away your flesh says, “But what about the future? If this person gets off scot-free, he’ll just do it to me again and again. And that means I’ll have more suffering in my future.” Then you say, “God, I’ll trust You to handle that as well. I’ll trust You with my future and I’ll trust You with the task of making sure I don’t have too much suffering.”
Then you think about what is going to happen to your reputation, or your career, or something else, and you say, “God, I’ll trust You with that too. I’ll trust You to take care of my career and my reputation and my health and my grades, how I’m going to pay my bills, and everything else that is at risk.”
Other times your suffering from the past has you upset. Maybe it was something that happened to you, maybe it was a mistake you made – anything in your past that causes anxiety for you now. And you say, “God, I know that You are sovereign even over the past. You knew what You were doing back then too. You could have prevented that thing, and You didn’t. I trust You.”
How To Convince Your Soul
“OK, fine. But what if I say all that, but my heart does not go along with what my lips are saying?”
What if I say, “God, I trust You with the future,” but I’m still worried? “I trust You with justice, I trust You to teach him a lesson, I trust You to take care of consequences,” but I find there is still all kinds of anger in my heart? I say, “I trust You with my reputation” but I still can’t sleep at night fretting about all the things people are believing about me. So then what? What do you do if you are telling God that you trust Him, but you don’t feel it? How do you convince your soul?
Who Judges Justly
How did Jesus teach us to do it in His example? What does it say at the end of verse 23?
23 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 focused on the fact that God judges justly.
Focus on the Attributes of God in Scripture
The only way to bring your soul in line with your resolve is to increase your understanding of and belief in the nature of God. God has given us a library of sixty-six books packed full of heart-changing, soul-persuading truth about Him. Immerse yourself in the Scriptures and keep on drinking in truths about what God is like and how trustworthy He is in all these areas. Faith comes through hearing the Word.
Look at what the Bible says about God’s trustworthiness, and do not take your eyes off that until your soul believes it. Focus your attention on the truth about what God is like until your emotions respond accordingly. If I am losing sleep over the fact that someone is mistreating me, or over the fact that someone abused me in the past – if it is causing anxiety, high blood pressure, depression, irritability, discouragement, self-pity – if any of those emotions are becoming greater than my joy or are starting to dominate, then what does that say? My emotions are saying, “God is either not good or not strong or both.” Either God is not loving enough to take care of me, or He is not able. Both of those are dead wrong. Believing there is something wrong with God, or that He lacks goodness or love, or that He lacks power or justice or any other good thing – is like believing the earth is flat, or that the sun revolves around the earth. Even though it looks like it is true, it is not.
And the solution is to expose yourself to the truth of Scripture in that area, and keep your attention on that truth for however long it takes to convince your heart of it. And you know your heart is convinced when your emotions respond accordingly. When the way you feel emotionally matches the truth about God, that is when you know you fully believe.
And how long that takes is a measure of spiritual maturity. For some people, their emotions do not calm down until some brother or sister comes alongside and spends weeks or months pointing them to the truth of God’s Word. For others, it is hours. For others, it is minutes. For others, it is seconds. They receive an injustice, the flesh reacts with a flash of vengeful and retaliatory feelings, but after a few seconds the spirit takes over and the truth of God’s goodness is remembered and trusted, and the emotions calm down. And for others, it is immediate. John MacArthur once said, “Spiritual maturity is when your involuntary reactions are godly.” I think he is right. When your knee-jerk emotional response is in line with the truth of God’s Word, that is a mark of spiritual maturity.
God’s Justice
So when your mouth is saying, “God, I trust you with this” but your emotions are going the other direction, the way to get your soul on board is to focus your attention on what God’s Word says about God’s nature. And especially this one aspect of God’s nature – His justice. Jesus responded the right way to unjust suffering not just by entrusting Himself to God, but specifically by entrusting Himself to the God who judges justly. When you are treated unfairly you have to be absolutely sure that God will make things right. A couple weeks ago we looked into the book of Job and found that God is sovereign even over the unjust suffering that comes into your life. And when you first hear that it can be kind of unsettling.
“What, God is in control of that? Doesn’t that make God guilty of injustice?”
And the answer is absolutely not. God is never guilty of generating any evil of any kind. God is not the source of evil or even temptation toward evil. God only does good things.
God allows temporary injustices, but ultimately He makes everything right. And if you are not 100% convinced in your heart that God always does that – if you think in some cases justice never does come, then you will not be able to respond in the right way.
Motivations: Remember the Cross
So what should we do when we suffer unjustly? Follow Jesus’ steps of humility and non-retaliation. How do you pull that off? By entrusting everything to God. And now in verse 24 Peter is going to give us the motivation.
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness
When someone mistreats us and we are tempted to respond in a sinful way, the cross helps us in two ways. First, by showing us Jesus’ example of forgiveness and entrusting the situation to God. But a second way it helps to remember the cross is that it reminds you what Jesus died to accomplish in your life. That is our motivation.
Remember the Reason
Jesus died not just to take care of the problem of your past sin, but also your future sin. In what way? Some people teach that it deals with future sin the same way as past sin – forgiveness. They say, “God has forgiven all your sins, past, present, and future.” But the Bible never says that. The way the cross deals with the problem of future sin is not through forgiveness, but through sanctification –giving you ever-increasing victory over your sin. Jesus says, “I will forgive the guilt of your past sins, and I will also give you victory over sin in the future. I will enable you to die to sin (become less responsive to sin), and live for righteousness.” Grace is not just forgiveness. It is also sanctification – power to change your heart so you become more and more obedient to God.
So if you struggle with being motivated to respond in a humble way to mistreatment, remind yourself that Jesus died to bring about godly responses in you. He died to bring about a change in your heart so that instead of anger, vengeance, retaliation, resentment, or self-pity, we respond with humility, patience, kindness, love, and faith in God. That is something Jesus wanted so bad He gave His life to purchase it. He took the beatings and whippings and thorns and mocking and nails and spear and humiliation and death – all to bring about a situation where when your wife belittles you with her words, you respond in a Christ-like way. He set aside all the glories and joy of heaven and became a man in the form of a lowly servant and was despised and rejected and bore all of the wrath of God so that when your husband comes home late for work again without even calling, you respond with patience and gentleness and love instead of anger.
You have the capability of Christ-likeness, and reminding yourself of what it cost Jesus to purchase that capability for you is a powerful motive for responding in a righteous way instead of a sinful way.
Remember the Recovery
So remember the reason for your redemption. Secondly, remember the outcome of your redemption – your recovery from the disease of sin.
24 …by his wounds you have been healed.
The sinful responses you naturally have to unjust treatment – that was sickness. Sickness is bad. And by His wounds you have been healed from that sickness. If you have the flu and someone heals you, you do not want to go out and get it again. If you lived in the first century and you had a broken leg, and Jesus came along and touched you so it was as good as new, you would not go find the nearest sledge hammer and break it again. Giving your spouse the cold shoulder when you are treated poorly – that was sickness. Getting all up in arms when you are treated unfairly at school or work – that was sickness. Jesus died to heal you from that. Peter says, “Jesus paid the highest imaginable price to give you the medicine for that. So don’t go back and re-infect yourself with that disease.” Remember the reason for your redemption, remember your recovery from the sickness of sin, and third – remember your rescue.
Remember Your Rescue
25 For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
The old way of responding was not only like sickness, it was also like lostness. When you lived that way, you were like a lamb that got separated from the shepherd, and was subject to wild animals that wanted to tear you apart, injury, starvation – all the dangers that shepherds protect their sheep from. That is what a life of selfishness and sin is like. It is like being lost and helpless and vulnerable, and it is only a matter of time before you are destroyed in some horrible way. That is what you were like.
25 … but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Now that you are a Christian you have returned to the care of the Shepherd. Now you have someone to lead you beside quiet waters, and to make you lay down in green pastures, and to restore your soul. You have protection from danger, all the food you need, refreshment, rest – all that a good shepherd provides for the sheep. Why would you go back to being lost in the wilderness? That is what vengeance and anger is. Someone hurts you and you lash out or get even – that is you leaving the Shepherd and going back into the horrible wilderness. The whole point of your salvation was to be rescued from that!
And what a beautiful way this is to end this section. All of us safe in the loving care of the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls. The word shepherd and the word pastor are the same word in the Greek. When it is talking about animals it means shepherd, and when it is talking about people in the church, it means pastor.
And it is interesting that Peter uses that title and then a second title for Jesus – Overseer. That is another word used for the office of pastor in the church. In the New Testament, there are three different titles that are used to describe a pastor in the church: elder, shepherd (pastor), and overseer. In fact, Peter uses all three of those in chapter 5.
1 Peter 5:1 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder …2 Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers
You see those same three titles for pastors in Acts 20. And pastors are referred to as overseers in Philippians 1:1, 1 Timothy 3:1-2, and Titus 1:7. So it was a common way to refer to pastors. Peter is referring to Jesus here as the Pastor and Overseer of our souls.
As our great Pastor, He feeds us and protects us. As our Overseer, He guides us, cares for us, leads us, and governs our lives. And this is a wonderful place to be. Jesus is the one in Isaiah 40:11 where it says He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart. Peter ends this whole section by saying, “Look, the ordeal of being lost in the woods and night and ravaged by the wolves and starving to death with no one to care for you or provide for you or protect you – that horrible ordeal is over. It’s over!” You are back in His care. You are back in the loving care of your great Pastor. Do not even think about going back into the deadly darkness of revenge and anger and anxiety when you face unjust suffering.
Benediction: Isaiah 64:4 Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.
1:25 Questions
1. Is there something in your life right now that you are finding difficult to fully entrust to God? What attributes of God in Scripture would be helpful for persuading your soul of God’s trustworthiness in that area?
2. Is there someone in your life who has or is sinning against you that you have failed to really consider the mitigating circumstances that will help you have some patience and compassion for them? (No need to mention the name)
3. How could remembering the cross become a greater motivation in your life? Perhaps by memorizing Titus 2:11-12?
