1 Peter 2:18-25
I know it has been a few weeks, so let me recap what we have been talking about. The last section we looked at moved from who we are in Christ to what we must now do with that identity. Peter moved from identity to mission.
That mission included doing good to others. It is not enough simply not to do evil, but we must actively seek to do good. The call Peter gave was to submit to every human authority because it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good.
Peter concluded that section by instructing us to honor everyone and the emperor, but in between those two, we are to love our brothers and sisters and fear God. Overall, Peter was being very general and broad in his speech, but now he is going to get into some specifics of how this will look.
First, he is going to tackle how slaves interact with their masters, and next week we will look at the husband/wife relationship. Why begin with slaves? We can’t be sure, but here are some thoughts. 1.) This was a widespread institution, and many of the people were probably in this status. Most would have been married as well, but the marriage relationship probably wasn’t what caused them the most trouble. 2,) Slavery is a human institution, while marriage is God ordained institution. Peter is going to move from the worldly to the Godly.
Peter instructs those in slavery to submit to their masters with all reverence and not just the good masters, but also the bad. This is one of the verses that causes problems for many people because it is taken to show Biblical acceptance of the institution of slavery. To answer this objection we need to spend a few minutes discussing slavery in the ancient world.
Slavery was everywhere, and anyone could be a slave. Unlike our history with slavery in this country, the color of a person’s skin did not determine their status. People became slaves for a variety of reasons in the ancient world. Some were conquered people, some were poor, others were born into slavery, and some sold themselves into slavery. Since many of these Christians could not participate in society because they refused to worship the emperor, they may have been forced into slavery to survive.
Why does the Bible not condemn and call for an end to the institution of slavery? The answer to that is complicated, but it could be argued that it does. We must understand that society functioned because of slavery. To call for the eradication of it completely would have gone nowhere and would have been counterproductive to what the Biblical authors are trying to teach. Their concern is not to overthrow society but to transform individuals into who God created them to be.
The focus of the Bible is on the individual’s and the church’s relationship to God. We are to be daily transformed into becoming more and more like Christ. It is in this way that the institution of slavery would have been done away with. While slavery is still prevalent in the world today, the attitude towards it has changed completely. That is a direct result of Christians speaking up against it and working to abolish it. We must not look back and judge these early Christians for not doing more. They had to start somewhere, and they trusted in the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish what mere mortals could not.
The word submit is a problematic word. What does it mean to submit to someone? It simply means to show deference to someone else. The key here, and in the next section when it speaks of husbands and wives, is that this deference is voluntary. The word is written in the passive tense. The significance cannot be understated.
In this context, slaves are to willingly show deference to their masters. This is a personal action on the part of the slave. If they do not, there is no ground in this teaching for the master to force submission upon the slave. The master has no authority to punish or compel submission. Submission must be voluntary.
This will have importance when we look at the husband/wife dynamic next week. For now, we need to understand where Peter gets this idea. He gets it from Jesus Himself.
Peter is applying the teachings of Jesus to difficult situations and trusting that Jesus is going to bring about the necessary change. Jesus taught his followers to love those who hate them and to bless those who curse them. Peter is instructing these Christians to follow Jesus’ teaching and Jesus’ example. Jesus submitted Himself to the governing authorities and did not fight back when they beat Him and crucified Him.
The word cruel here speaks of immoral masters. It could mean physical abuse, but it also includes those who are unethical and morally corrupt in their treatment. Whether you have a good one or a bad one, the Christian reaction is the same: submit with reverence.
The reason for this is that it brings favor. The word favor is the same word as for grace. When we endure mistreatment at the hands of others, and we respond as Jesus instructs us to respond, God takes notice and gives us grace to endure.
There is no credit due to us if we are mistreated because of something we did wrong. This goes back to the role of authority to punish those who do wrong. The word “beaten” in verse 20 is a bit misleading. This punishment could involve physical beatings, but the word really speaks of mistreatment in general. When we endure mistreatment, due to nothing we have done to warrant it, God gives us the grace to endure.
The question we must ask ourselves is whether we trust that God can and will give us the grace to endure. When we believe He can and will, we are able to endure. When we don’t trust God, we feel we must act in some way. Peter uses Jesus as an example of trust.
We are called to this because Christ also suffered for us, leaving an example that we should follow. When Peter puts it like that, it is hard to argue with him. It’s not like we can argue that Jesus didn’t have it as bad as us. If Jesus could endure everything He endured, then surely we can get through our trouble.
Peter gives a paraphrase here of Is 53:9 to point out how Jesus acted when he was treated cruelly. Jesus did not return insults with insults or threaten violence when he suffered. Instead, Peter says Jesus entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. Who is the one who judges justly? His Father in heaven.
Jesus’ Father in heaven certainly gave Jesus the grace necessary to endure his suffering faithfully. Why would we think he will not be just as faithful to us? Jesus shows us how to endure.
Jesus himself bore our sins in his body on the tree. God did not send someone else to do his work, but instead came to dwell among us, as a human being. Having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. Because Jesus died for our sins, we are now free to live for him, even if that means we are slaves in this life.
We might not think of ourselves as slaves because of the image we have of slavery. But slavery in the ancient world would have had a lot in common with our modern workplace structure. We are all working for someone. Even if we have our business, we still have to answer to someone. That someone can be nice or they can be cruel. Either way, we are called to endure because of Christ, who suffered on our behalf.
By his wounds we have been healed. We may not experience the fullness of that healing in this world, but in the world to come, we will be completely healed. We are like sheep going astray; we wander wherever our hearts take us, but thankfully, we have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls.
There is a lot of talk lately about who can be shepherds and overseers, but the truth is there is only one Shepherd and there is only one Overseer, and his name is Jesus Christ. Praise be to God! Amen!