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As I say, we're in 1 Peter chapter 2 looking at looking at verses 21-2. But to set the context, I'm going to read starting at verse 18. 1 Peter 2:18.
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Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. For this finds favor if for the sake of conscience
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toward God a man bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it
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with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it, you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. For you have been called for
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this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in his steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his
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mouth. And while being reviled, he did not revile in return. While suffering, he uttered no threats, but kept entrusting himself to him who judges
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righteously. And he himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. For by his wounds, you
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were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls. Let us pray. Our
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father, we do ask again that by your spirit you would speak. You would speak to our hearts and our our minds and our souls that we might not only again understand but we might be inflamed by
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these things that we might be stirred by them to walk in a way that pleases you. walk in a way that is in obedience, but
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also in a way that is truly in delight to do your will. And so we ask that you would teach us, you would stir us, you would raise us up to be your children,
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to glorify yourself by building your church. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.
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At first glance, it might seem that uh that Peter has misplaced uh this this passage. It's kind of an unexpected um revelation to us that he would begin um
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a deep discussion of Christ's suffering in an address addressed to slaves to household servants.
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household servants. He seems to go off topic. Um because as many commentators have pointed out that in following somewhat of a similarity to
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the Greco Roman household codes that none of them mention anything about suffering. And yet here Peter deviates
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from the perhaps expected norm and makes a claim a claim that all Christians uh back in chapter 2
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verse 16 verse 16 act as free men and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil but use it as he calls us bonds slaves of God.
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All Christians are slaves of God. And now he says, "For this you were called." Verse 21, "You have been called
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for this purpose." But to what are they called? They're not called to suffer
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just the pains, physical pains, and typical sufferings that we have as fallen creatures, as some have called it, the human
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condition. He's not calling us to suffer from the results of our own sin or our own disobedience or the poor judgments
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in life that we might make. But a call to suffer unjustly. suffering even though you haven't done
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anything to deserve that suffering that suffering but only because you desire to live in faithfulness to Christ.
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And Peter continues, "And to keep on doing good even when the suffering
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to suffer. Verse 21 says, "Since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you as an an example for you to follow in his steps."
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The English word example um some of your versions might say model or pattern um doesn't quite get uh capture the
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Greek the Greek sentences um that he's referring to here is is when the teacher would write out a sentence using all the
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words of the Greek alphabet. Uh, and I can't remember, I didn't learn it in second grade, but the the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog, I think,
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includes all the letters of the alphabet. But they would write out a sentence similar to that and the student and I experienced this
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with my grandson Bear last year would take their writing instrument and they would trace over those letters. They would follow and that's where we get the
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idea perhaps of a pattern. But it was the example and they learn their penmanship by tracing accurately those
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letters on that papyrus. I guess it would have been. Some have likened this idea of this example to the paint by numbers where the artist has sketched
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out the picture and you fill in the in between and fill out that picture. Perhaps the
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Perhaps the English word that captures this idea of example is paradigm. That Jesus is not just an example to
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follow, but he is the paradigm to follow. Exactly. follow. Exactly. And Peter assumes that Christians will
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suffer unjustly. suffer unjustly. And here he's outlining the attitudes, the behavior, the the mental acumen that we ought to have
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and that we must have to follow to follow the footsteps. And literally it means
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in the same direction that Jesus took. And this is not hard to or is hard to grasp because if we look at the direction that his footsteps took him,
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they led to the cross. They led to the grave, but ultimately they led to glory.
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And what I'm giving you today because Peter because Peter um as I've studied um just dives so deeply into
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the background and his insight into Isaiah's writings in the section that we read again um if you keeping score 5213
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through the end of chapter chapter 53, which we normally think of as all together as Isaiah 53. But in this section, he gives us four
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relative clauses relative clauses that that speak deeply of Jesus and the work that he did in his incarnation.
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And um And um today I didn't think that I could cover all of those, but looking forward to next week. So,
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this is a preview of coming attractions to those of you of a certain age where movie theaters actually did that. As I look forward to our communion
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together, as we in the words of the Apostle Paul seek to proclaim his death, as we celebrate communion together,
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I will um attempt to outline and exposit those four relative clauses here. And for those of you who are
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deficient in your grammar like I am, a relative clause is when we might read in verse 22, he who committed no sin. Or in verse 24, and he who bore our sins. And
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Peter takes each of those clauses in turn and helps us with the guidance of Isaiah to understand the depth of what Christ
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did. I've I've kind of struggled with this over the years. The the scriptures tell us to exalt in the Lord and also to exalt the Lord. And there are different things and I get them mixed up in my
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mind, but in my little mind, what I hope to do next week is to exalt the Lord and we will exalt
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in him together. Because the christologology that is set forth within forth within Peter's writings here
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is set within ecclesiology ecclesiological book ends. The church speaking to the church and the book ends
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are in 21 for you have been called for this purpose. Many times in the scriptures, Paul Paul will say things like, "We are, you know, we have
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received these things or we are like this." And and Peter is using that term, but for you have been called for this purpose. And in verse 25, for you were
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continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls. And further if we look at bookends here
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the walking that he has left you an example to follow in his footsteps. Walking in Jesus steps in verse 21
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is followed in verse 25 by reference to the shepherd. The shepherd.
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The shepherd. Yay. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are with me. The shepherd,
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The shepherd, the shepherd's path, as unjust as his suffering may be and our suffering may be, Peter says,
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but it's a path of safety. It's a path of protection. It's a path of deliverance. And that's why he calls us and says to
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us it is your you have been called for this purpose. this purpose. But again further the idea of following
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in his steps following Christ is it not a a reference or somehow we we um epitomize that in in terms of the Christian disciplehip walking with
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Christ and and Peter was a disciple. He was one of the first disciples to be chosen. And this is what Jesus said to him from
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Matthew chapter 4. Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were
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fishermen. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
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But I want to make something clear. Um perhaps only to those of you who are of a certain age but back in the about 35 years ago about
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1990 there was a movement of among uh believers the WWJD movement. It came uh about from um a book by um a
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pastor named Charles Sheldon. He wrote the book um based on a series of sermons that he had done. It's a novel and it's called In His Steps. The subtitle is
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what Would Jesus do? And that book was um somewhat popular among the Christians and until uh 1990,
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I'm told that a um youth group leader in Michigan decided that she wanted her charges to um have some memory, some
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to remember their the idea of imitating Christ. And so she came up um she said at the time the friendship bracelet was
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a a thing and so she made bracelets that were embroidered with because what would Jesus do didn't fit on the bracelet WWJD
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and it became a phenomenon around the country. Uh you would see bumper stickers, you would see bracelets, you would see hats. Um, I remember someone
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uh saying that when they saw someone in a Walmart looking at one of those hats um deciding whether he wanted to buy one, their comment was, "Well, I know
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what Jesus wouldn't do. He wouldn't pay $25 for that hat." That's not what Peter is about here. the the the key themes of the WWJD
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movement were social activism. Uh Charles Sheldon was a a um he preached a social gospel. social gospel. Yes, he desired an act of faith in
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believers and personal sacrifice, but the emphasis was on living out your belief in a practical way. and it left
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up to the the believer the believer his own interpretation. And that's not what Peter is after here.
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Even though First Peter 2 is referenced by some things that I read about the movement, I don't think they could have
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interpreted Peter and come up with bracelets and hats.
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53. Peter uses to expound the christologology what Christ has done. And we owe a debt to Peter because of the six places in
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the in the New Testament where Isaiah 53 is referenced. Peter is the only one who links Christ's passion to the suffering
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servant of Isaiah. And perhaps uh Peter is simply remembering Jesus teaching in Acts three when he gives his ser sermon he
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references Christ as God's servant Jesus God's servant. God's servant. And so Peter is not just using Isaiah 53
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as a proof text as one author says. He's moving beyond the simple appeal of as it is written
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and he gets to the core to the significance of what Isaiah meant. And Peter does have, as I say, direct
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quotes from Isaiah in chap in verse 22, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth. And he has illusions to Isaiah
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53. In verse 23, and while being reviled, he did not revile in return. One author says, "Peter takes Isaiah 53
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and he does an elaborate reorganization of it. He helps us understand it as he began to understand it as Christ's
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disciple." And it's interesting to note that although Peter uses the language of Isaiah, he does not use the sequence of
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Isaiah. He chose instead to follow the sequence of Christ's suffering. I'm one I Cal the word Calvary doesn't
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appear in the Bible. It's Goltha. And when I saw this, my my thought was that verse 21, Christ also suffering for
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you. That's Christ's anguish. That's Gethsemane. That's where Peter began to realize the depth of the suffering of Christ that he would undergo in verses
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22 and 23 where it talks about he while suffering he uttered no threats he was like that lamb before the sheerers is is
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silent is dumb that's that's Golgatha or or Gabatha that's where he is on the pavement in front of Pilate and in verse
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24, he bore our sins in his body, literally on the tree, referencing Deuteronomy about the cursed is everyone who hangs on the tree. There there's
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Golatha. You you have Gethsemane, you have Gabbatha, you have Golgatha,
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all in four or five verses here that Peter unfolds for us. As one author put it, the resurrection is not only a historical event, but also a hermeneutical event.
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There there's a reciprocity here. There's a reciprocal relationship in Peter's mind because Isaiah allowed Peter to make sense of Christ's
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but Christ's suffering also allowed Peter to really understand Isaiah. And isn't that what we've been trying to learn on Thursday nights? Isn't that something that we've been talking about?
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Looking for these quotations, these illusions, these echoes of the Old Testament, and now they help us not only understand our life now, but understand the Old Testament, understand God's plan
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of redemption and the glory that he was building for us in Christ.
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And we can look back now at chapter 1 of First Peter and we can see why he wrote this in verse 10. As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful
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search and inquiry. That's Isaiah. Seeking to know what person or time the spirit of Christ within them was indicated as he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.
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And then Peter, here he is. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you in these things which now have been announced to
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you through those who preach the gospel to you by this Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Things into which angels long to look. And here Peter is unfolding them
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for you in this order. And I go back to how Peter influenced the Gospel of Mark and how I saw in there kind of this
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systematic looking from scene to scene to scene. And here we have in Peter from Gethsemane to Gabatha to Goltha as he unfolds Isaiah to us and as he
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there is an irony to this. Here's Peter, Here's Peter, the man the man who had the the gumption to vehemently object when Jesus
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predicted his sufferings. his sufferings. Listen to the words of Matthew 16. Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things.
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And Peter took him aside. God forbid it, Lord. This shall never happen to you. And here
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And here when Isaiah began to make sense to him and Jesus suffering began to make sense to him. Here he is writing not only to
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first century readers but to you for you to understand who Jesus Christ was and what he did and
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how we ought to live. I have three things in my outline again in general
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in general helping us to kind of map out where Peter is going with these things. He tells us in verse 22 that
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Jesus committed no sin. Jesus suffered even though he was
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And this is matched by a number of verses in the New Testament. The clearest one that I see is Hebrews chapter 4. For we do not have a high priest who
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cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin.
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And Peter in this verse has an emphasis on the verbal aspect of his direct quote from Isaiah 53. Who committed no sin nor was any deceit found in his mouth.
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In Hebrew parallelism, I'm told that when the second phrase uh comes and is very close to the
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meaning of the first phrase, it amplifies that first fl phrase and it it it adds something to the treatment of
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And what he says is that he committed no sin. But in the case of his mistreatment by the revilings, the mocking,
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And I think it's significant because in the context of Peter speaking to household domestics, to those who have masters, those who were under pressure
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and many cases treated unjustly and humans in general, we fail this test so often
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so often when we are mistreated. And I think James tells us the same thing. When we're mistreated, we open our mouths
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and we want to advantage. We want to verbally throw those people
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who accuse us under the bus. We speak abusively or we simply just make threats.
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But Jesus did not resort to those tricks. He did not resort to guile. He did not resort to deceit.
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Jesus did not wilt under the pressure of unjust suffering. unjust suffering. But as Peter reminds us here, kept entrusting himself to him who judges right righteously. He knew that God
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would never abandon him. And I think that's a lesson that Peter wants us to hear, trust God. He judges righteously.
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Or from Romans 12, vengeance is mine, says the Lord. Jesus suffered even though he was sinless. But Jesus suffered and he won. He won
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redemption from sin. It's a great paradox in verse 24. By his wounds
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you were healed. That kind of makes your head spin, does it not? The physical wounds afflicted upon Jesus were fatal. He died.
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But I think here Peter showed us why. No, this passage is not misplaced.
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fatal. Yet somehow Yet somehow his fatal wounds result in life for us.
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Peter ties together the injunction in verse 18. Servants be submissive to your masters literally with all fear.
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And the encouragement to yeah to yeah stay the course, keep doing good. Keep entrusting yourself to he him who judges
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righteously. Peter Peter does not say just resign yourself to suffering. It's going to happen. Just happen. Just grin and bear it. He says it is our calling.
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Calling we have because we are in Christ. It's a calling the world cannot understand. You you will probably be reviled when
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you don't revile in return. when when you're not meeting threats with threats or insults with insults.
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But there is great significance in the fact that Jesus bore our sins in his body on the tree.
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Christ sacrifice bore sin and the vicarious bearing of the judgment for our sin has ethical implications for our lives. Peter ties his ethics and his
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ecclesiology and firmly grounds them in christologology and it can't be any other way.
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example with without with without Christ bearing his our sins in his body on the cross. Without that victory, that victory over
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death and sin, you might as well just find a neighbor on your street who's really rich and follow his example.
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nothing. It has no import for us. Jesus suffered though he was sinless. Jesus suffered
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and won redemption. But Peter also reminds us that Jesus suffered for straying sheep.
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One basic s theme is Christ's example but another basic theme is that Christ suffered for you and again this atoning aspect of Jesus or example is at the heart of his
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pastoral exhortations it's the motivation verse 24 verse 24 so that you may die to sin lit literally
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that you may exit sin and live to righteousness. We can be living in righteousness because of the atonement.
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And we can exit sin and live righteously because of the atonement. And the picture, as you know from scripture, the the
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picture of straying and lost sheep is one of the most vivid pictures in scripture about the human condition, is it not? The the cast sheep that that's
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lying in the ditch and it's four feet or and it's so big and the wool is so thick it can't roll itself over.
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And in Jesus words from Matthew 9, Jesus passing through the villages observing the people. the people. Matthew writes of him, "Seeing the people, he felt compassion for them because they were distressed and
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dispirited like sheep without a shepherd." Such were Peter's readers, but such were all of us.
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We wandered away as Paul says without hope and without God in this world. Sheep with no one to feed us, no one to guard us, no one to guide us, no one to lead us.
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And that's why I think we can take special delight in Peter's but but now of verse 25. You are continually straying like sheep, but now you have
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returned. You have turned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.
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And I'm I'm not sure I have plumbed the depth of the joining of these two words, the shepherd and guardian of your
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souls. But it's extremely comforting, but also at the same time I I searched and searched for a word. I I think the word might be sobering.
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The shepherd looks after the flock. He gathers the sheep. He sees to their needs. He comforts those who are in lamb.
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The shepherd, as we learn from John 10, he knows the flock. But the flock also knows his voice and respond to it.
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The overseer is one who watches over a charge to protect it and to preserve it. And the word is is different from the the shepherd pou.
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It's episcopos. It's episcopos. It has the idea of seeing the overseer would be a better word I think than guardian. It has the implication as the same as
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the shepherd of of service but it's service with a dignity. It's a service with authority. And the Old Testament idea of of
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God's oversight God's oversight is described by the word visitation. the idea of of his judgment and his mercy, his authority in our lives.
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And if we combine these together, we have a more complete picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, the shepherd, the good shepherd who laid down his life for
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the sheep, but also our authority, also our visitation, the incarnation of Christ in our lives.
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And this results in this this wonder that we have of Jesus Christ. As Edmund Clowney wrote of him, "The Lord who
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knows the secrets of our hearts also watches over our souls." That's the Lord
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that Peter invites us through the help of Isaiah to know him and to follow in his steps. Let us pray.
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Our father, we do thank you for these words and we do ask that not only would you in the tright words of
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our modern life wed our appetites, we ask that you would light a flame in our souls to know and to dive deeply into Peter and his insight into Isaiah. We
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pray, Father, that we would know Christ and we would be known by him. Draw us to yourself. Draw us into this knowing. In
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Christ's name we pray. Amen. Please rise for the benediction
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from Hebrews chapter 13. chapter 13. Now the God of peace who brought up from the dead, the great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you
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in every good work to do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight. Through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
