6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.
Dig Deeper
When I was in college I had a history professor for a couple of classes on the Civil War. He was probably my favorite professor in all of my years in college. I learned a great deal from him not just about the Civil War but about maturity, justice, hard work, in short, about life. After I had graduated from college I moved back to Wisconsin from Oklahoma and lost contact with him. His influence on me didn’t end, though. I had learned a love for history and a respect for teaching that has become a part of who I am. In fact, as I began to teach, I found that I emulated many of his assignments, several aspects of his teaching style, and even discovered that I quoted him frequently, sometimes loosely, sometimes word-for-word. My implementation of his style and even his words spoke both of his influence on me as well as my respect for him.
Over time though, much of his influence has faded. I don’t think I quote him much anymore, nor do I really remember anything that he specifically used to say. I’m sure some of his influence has remained with me, but I’m not really able to point to specific things anymore and say that came from my professor. Peter was obviously and intimately changed forever by his few years with Jesus in a way much deeper, longer lasting, and more important than the influence my professor could have ever had on me. In fact, as we read this letter from Peter, we see that Jesus’ influence on Peter was profound and had not faded over time. Peter spent the remainder of his life preaching about and telling people about Jesus. In fact, some of the early church fathers claimed that the gospel of Mark was based on Peter’s sermons about Jesus. As we read this opening passage, in particular, we can see the deep influence of Jesus’ thoughts and teachings on Peter. He quotes Jesus, he teaches lessons that he learned from Jesus, and he continues to pass on to others the influence that the Messiah of Israel had on him.
Peter began his letter a bit on the theological side as he praised God for the salvation in Christ that is waiting in heaven for the time of the great renewal and resurrection. Now he shows his heart as a pastor and minister as he turns to the practical, daily concerns of the believers to whom he is writing. They have learned that part of their life in Christ will cause them to suffer grief in all kind of trials, but that should not cause them to lose heart or see it as senseless suffering. Rather, they should rejoice, a term always used in the New Testament as a jubilant reaction to a divine action. Peter is not just telling them to be full of joy because the coming resurrection will make all of their current trials worthwhile. Suffering for the Christian serves a purpose that moves us closer to our ultimate goal. Thus it is not something to be avoided at all costs, but something that can be overcome with dignity and joy because we are assured that it is part of the process of our salvation. Peter, like James in James 1:3 sees suffering as something to rejoice in because through suffering we learn exercise virtues like patience and perseverance. Peter is after only telling them in so many words what Christ had promised for his followers (Matt. 10:22-26), which was that the world would treat the followers of Christ with the same disdain that they had treated him. When Christ is revealed at the time of the Second Coming and the renewal of all things (Matt. 19:28), praise, glory, and honor will be given to those who have persevered in being transformed into the image of Christ. Because our ultimate goal is to become like Christ and not to be comfortable or happy, we can rejoice in suffering because it produces Christ-like qualities in those who suffer for the sake of Christ (James 1:2-4).
They had not seen Christ as Peter himself had, but they still love him and they believe that his life would bring them reconciliation with God. Why is Peter so confident that they can believe him and be filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy despite the fact that they have never laid eyes on Jesus? Because Peter was standing next to the risen Christ when he lovingly looked into the eyes of Thomas, who needed to see and experience Jesus, and told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." Jesus had promised that there would be a great harvest of those who had not seen him but had believed and Peter took him at his word. Because they have faith in the life of Christ, they could be filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy because it is only through his life that salvation is possible. Those who are in Christ are utterly safe despite the trials and suffering that had come their way. This is key to understand as well. Peter is not talking about suffering in general but suffering that has come their way exclusively because they are in Christ.
Peter has mentioned the salvation that is available in the life of Christ, a salvation that in one sense is already available but will come fully when Christ returns. Now he is gong to digress for a few verses to describe in more detail the full glory of the salvation to which he has been referring. This is the very time and the same salvation that the prophets had referred to in the past. The grace that had come to through Christ was not something unexpected or unanticipated. It was what the Old Testament had been pointing to all along, thus their salvation was firmly rooted in the New Testament. The prophets, even the angels had longed to know God’s plan more fully but what they had only hoped to see, these young Christians were now enjoying. The time of Christ had been predicted by the Old Testament prophets and, in fact, Peter tells us, it was the Spirit of Christ himself who inspired those early writings. They knew that the things they were pointing to and writing about was not for them to see, it was for God’s people in the future. The Christian community can rejoice, says Peter because they are that people. They were preparing God’s people for a later salvation that was coming, and the Church has the privilege of enjoying that time.
Peter says that it was not only the glories of salvation through the life of Christ but also the sufferings of Christ that had been revealed through the prophets. That the prophets had long ago predicted that the Messiah must suffer in order for this glory of salvation to come, no doubt stuck in the mind of Peter firmly. Peter had, after all, once rebuked Jesus and tried to deter him from any notion of a suffering Messiah (Matt. 16:22), but now he understood that suffering was central to a correct understanding of the Messiah. Whenever Peter talks of Christ suffering, he never uses his personal name, "Jesus," but the Messianic title, "Christ" (1 Pet. 1:11, 19; 2:21; 3:18; 4:1, 13, 14: 5:1). What stood out for Peter was that the Messiah would have to suffer. This initially shocked and horrified Peter but now he had come to embrace it. It was the Spirit of Christ, after all, that had inspired the prophets to confirm that the Messiah would be made complete in his sufferings.
Devotional Thought
Peter believed that suffering was not something the Christian should try to avoid because suffering can actually help accomplish our transformation into the image of Christ. Do you see suffering and trials as an opportunity to grow more like Christ or something distasteful to be avoided at all costs?
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