18 Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. 19 For it is commendable if you bear up under the pain of unjust suffering because you are conscious of God. 20 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. 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.
Dig Deeper
As most young boys with dads do, I grew up listening to and learning from my dad constantly. I heard what he said, I learned what he taught me, and probably most importantly, I learned from my dad how to think. As I grow older, I am constantly amazed at how many things I think are original to my own thinking that actually came from my father. I have long forgotten the specific moments when he might have said something, did something, or taught me something, but the overall impression has remained in my way of thinking. Thus, the things that my dad taught are constantly coming out in the things I say and do because his way of thinking has so deeply impressed itself on my mind. I often think that I have a new thought or new way of doing something only to find out later that my dad has been saying that for years. Once you learn to think like someone, their thoughts will continue to come out in your actions and ways of thinking for the rest of your life.
I don't think that Peter ever forgot about the specific writings of Isaiah but they have certainly permeated his mind to the deepest levels. Thus, it seems that when Peter talks about Christ and his dying on the Cross, he can't help but think of it in terms of Isaiah's prophecies, particularly Isaiah chapter 53. Isaiah 53 became not just a prophecy or description of Christ, but a descriptive model of the suffering servant of God that should be emulated by all Christian believers.
It is estimated that up to one-third of the Roman world were slaves. Roman slavery was an intensely integral part of the economy and of life in general and it could be harsh, but it certainly wasn't as brutal as American slavery. Roman slaves would not necessarily be slaves there whole lives as they could earn their way, buy their way, or even marry their way out of slavery. Many slaves would receive Roman citizenship upon their release, so there were some people who would voluntarily enter into slavery in order to work for a time as a slave and then receive their citizenship. There really isn't an exact term in English for what these people in the Roman world were, so translators have used "slave" because it's the closest word we have. Ethical instructions to slaves were quite common, then, in the ancient world but they usually didn't go beyond exhorting slaves to obey their masters.
Peter knows, however, what becoming a Christian can do to someone's psyche. It is easy to deduce that if I'm in Christ and, in fact, I'm free from the bondage of the world in Christ, then I shouldn't have to subject myself to anything distasteful or unpleasant. It would be easy for new Christians that were slaves to immediately feel that they should no longer be slaves and to run away. Peter knows the disaster that that would bring, however, on the individual slaves, and on the new movement of the people of the Messiah. He certainly didn't want Christianity to devolve into a social movement that had little to offer anyone except the possible hope of feeling that you didn't need to be a slave anymore. Peter knew that social movements, no matter how positive, don't last, but the life of Christ, built on the imperishable Word of God, will last forever. Peter understood that the way to truly demonstrate the life of Christ, who took the deserved suffering of the world onto himself undeservedly for the benefit of the world, was and is to continue to act like Christ in unjust situations. Peter was a realist and was well aware that another reaction might be that some new Christians might be tempted to act insubordinately to their masters and then claim that the subsequent harsh treatment was part of that suffering for Christ. So, he not only reminds them that they should stay where God put them, so that God could use them in those circumstances, but he also urges them to submit to their masters, both good and harsh ones. Why should they possibly agree to do this? Because the job of Christians is to become for the world what Jesus was to the people of His day. He suffered for others so that they might benefit and that is exactly what Christians should do. This is particularly challenging for Americans, who have been raised in a culture that tells us that the very aim of life is comfort and ease.
Peter, beginning in verse 22, uses a string of quotes and allusions from Isaiah, demonstrating the deep influence that the writings of the great prophet had on Peter's understanding of Christ and His work. He has clearly so absorbed Isaiah's message that it has crafted and molded his own way of thinking. Peter's aim is to remind them of the model that Christ set so that his readers could model themselves after the perfect example of Christ.
Peter reminds his readers that Christ was free of sin in both in word and deed. He was innocent not only of the accusations of humans but also in the sight of God, a point made by many other New Testament writers (John 8:46; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 7:26; 1 John 3:5). Peter's primary point, though, is not the perfection of Christ, but the fact that His treatment was completely undeserved and unjust. When they hurled their insults at Jesus, he did not retaliate. This is the kind of behavior that bewilders and infuriates those who are treating someone badly. Jesus could have threatened or enacted divine judgment against them, but did no such thing. Instead, Christ entrusted himself to the judgment of God alone. Peter wants these Christians to understand that when they don't retaliate to mistreatment using the world's methods, they rob the world of their power and demonstrate their trust in the ultimate justice of God. It also has the added benefit of what Paul says in Romans 12:20 (quoting Prov. 25:22) results in heaping burning coals on the head of those who have mistreated you. This imagery does not mean that you will show up the person and make them feel stupid, rather it was a figure of speech that came from the Jewish world. When a someone's fire burned out, they would go and ask a neighbor for burning coals from their fire so that they could take it back and start their own fire again. They would then give a burning coal or two to do just that. The biblical imagery, though, is that of heaping burning coals in the basket that would be carried on their head. The point is that being kind or not retaliating in the face of injustice can assist the other person, you can, so to speak, help them start their fire again.
Christ took all of the injustice for the sake of others and Peter wants them to remember that they are the ones that have benefited from this. He bore our sins that we might die to our sinful selves and live a life that is in right standing with God. Jesus' actions of submission to unfair treatment has put them to rights with God, imagine what impact they might have if they were determined to follow His example. Peter stresses that Jesus died on a tree which emphasizes that Jesus took on the just punishment of a law breaker (Deut. 21:22-23), even though H was innocent, so that all law breakers might benefit. It is by the wounds of Jesus that all of those in Christ have been healed, which refers primarily to the spiritual reconciliation between God and man rather than strictly physical healing.
The final verse in this passage is striking because it shows once again that not only did Isaiah play a large part in developing Peter's thinking but so did the words of Jesus. The image of shepherd and sheep as being applied to the relationship between God and His people was used regularly in the Old Testament and picked up by most of the New Testament writers. But perhaps most influential in Peter's mind was the Messiah's call to take care of His sheep (John 21:15-17). In Peter's mind, these were the sheep of the Master and he was called by the Lord Himself to take care of them. That is exactly what He was doing. They were like sheep going astray, a paraphrase of Isaiah 53:6 and reminds God's people of their status before they entered into the life of Christ. They have, Peter says, returned to the Shepherd, an allusion to the fact that man was designed to be the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27) and can only be restored to that status by entering into the life of Christ (Col. 3:10)
Devotional Thought
What is your typical initial response to unjust treatment. Is it to become infuriated and seek immediate justice for yourself, or is it to follow the example of Christ of seek to discover how in submitting to the situation you might be able to serve the interests and good of others?
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