[AI translation] In this passage, the apostle Peter tackles the most sensitive issue of his day: the slave question. In the original text, the question is not about "servants" in general, but about the most oppressed in society, the people living in slavery. The first Christian churches seem to have been joined by many of the slaves. For it was to the poor and disenfranchised that the gospel of Jesus was a truly liberating gospel. Slaves were not protected by any law, nor were they treated as human beings. The comedies and stories of the time show how harshly they were treated. They were scolded and beaten for every little thing. The capricious, heartless masters paid their slaves easily with death for some misdemeanour. It is into this bitter problem of slavery that the apostle Peter now speaks. What he says on the subject may not be satisfactory for a modern sociologist, but in any case it is of great social significance that he is the first and only voice on the issue of slavery in that age. The apostle Peter speaks to the slaves not with the ideology of a social reformer but with the love of a pastoral shepherd, and what he says is an eternal message of strength for all people who bear the cross for the injustices of life, great or small.Because that is what it is all about. The undeserved suffering, the undeserved abuse. And there always is and always will be, as long as there are human beings on earth. We will always be scarred by each other. There will always be situations that we would not have expected, situations that we see as injustice. Man can endure many things, physical pain, material burdens, grief, sadness, but one thing he cannot endure: injustice. All our nerves are on the alert against it. We certainly don't want to let it dry up on us. The apostle Peter therefore gives us instructions on how to behave in such situations. That is how specifically God intervenes in our lives. So what does he say?
First of all, he says in his Word: examine carefully whether you are really suffering unjustly. "For what glory is it if you suffer to sin and to be struck in the face? But if you do good and yet endure suffering, it is acceptable with God." (1Pt 2:20) If that slave was punished for laziness, he is not suffering innocently. If his unfaithfulness, his neglect of duty, was the cause of the slave's being slapped in the face, then no injustice has been done to him, for he himself has incurred the wrath of his master by his sin! And here we must be very careful, for Satan is quick to deceive us. In judging justice and injustice, when it comes to our own skin, our vision is very corrupted. All men are willing to believe that they suffer unjustly. He thinks he is surrounded by malice, when he is the distrustful of all. He thinks he is being unjustly mistreated, when his own brutality is being returned to him. How many times do I hear the exclamation, "Please, I'm not hurting a fly, and yet people are so mean to me!" And yet, if he would look within himself, he would see that his own aloofness, his smile-freezing moodiness and pessimism, is having an effect on people. This is not injustice. This is what the apostle says: "What glory is it if you bear with your sins?" (1 Peter 2:20) Whoever suffers because of his own sin, who is hurt because of his own intolerable, insufferable, incompatible nature, must not be lulled into the illusion that he is suffering unjustly and unjustly. Let him rather repent, and try to see whether he is not himself the cause of the way people treat him, whether he does not deserve what he is being wronged for?
I know: there is also undeserved suffering. The apostle himself acknowledges that there are some who endure 'doing good and yet suffering'. So he is indeed treated unjustly, he indeed does not receive from the world what he deserves. He is neglected, cast aside, chastised, made bitter without having given him cause. What is the apostle's answer to this?
First, that "it is pleasing in God's sight". So this is not something that man should feel sorry for himself. There is a certain willingness in us to recompense our grievances by feeling sorry for ourselves. We put ourselves in the role of martyr, and we like ourselves for it. Well, says the apostle, do not seek to glorify yourself, but God! For it means that my life is beginning to turn again in the direction of what is called following Christ. Behold, I am then on the path that Jesus walked before me. "For to this you were called; for Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: who, being reviled, reviled not, suffering not, threatened not; but left it to him that judgeth righteously." (1Pt 2,21-23) Can a disciple have a better work than his Master? Do I want to enjoy, to experience pure goodness in the world in which my Saviour was crucified? Is it not natural that His fate should be assumed by His followers? And what was His fate on earth? Slavery. Suffering unjust treatment from the manger to the cross. And how did He walk this path? Quietly and calmly, helped and blessed, without sin or deceit, without complaint or threat, leaving everything entirely to Him, surrendering everything to the Father who judges righteously. And the apostle says that "you are called to follow in His footsteps"!
It is a dreadful thing when a man grinds, digesting inwardly at the injustice done to him, and I know very well how difficult it is to say something encouraging to such an agonized, undeservedly suffering soul. And yet, if the Word of God advises a man in such a situation to look to Jesus, the only truly innocent sufferer, and follow in his footsteps, then surely this is the best advice, the best advice that will set you free, that will give you strength, that will make you victorious!
So what does it mean in practice to "follow in His footsteps"? When Jesus suffered innocently, "He did no sin". Suffering innocently can be a good breeding ground for a lot of latent sins: bitterness, anger, hatred, revenge, hardening, envy, and many others.
But in the same way, unmerited suffering can also be a means, an occasion for experiencing greater grace. The pain in which we allow God to lead us leads us to life. If a man keeps his pain in his own hands, if he takes care of it or wants to take care of it, in a completely human field, pain makes him cynical, bitter, full of complaint. It is harmful. However, if one accepts God into one's pain and allows him to dispose of it, then God turns what would have been meaningless suffering into spiritual discipline. A better person will come out of it. He becomes a better man. The very pain from which we suffer may come from some evil source, as here in our primer, from heartless men, but the question is not where it comes from, but where it leads. It can lead to an increase of sin and it can lead to purification. This, in turn, is determined by whether we involve God in our pain and allow and ask Him to make it, as He does everything else: part of His purpose for our salvation.
God can often put enough good into the injustice we suffer to work for our good. He can also use devil-born evil to shape God-inspired people. With God, even our defeats can be turned into victories. The most important thing, then, is not that life should be fair to us, but that we should be given the strength to turn life's injustices into salvific opportunities, into useful tools.
When Simon of Cyrene came home from the field, they put a cross on him. It was a cross he did not deserve, and yet they forced him to carry it! This is what life does to us very often: it takes us and puts a cross on our reluctant shoulders. But this cross changed the whole career of Simon of Cyrene and his whole family, because his two sons, Alexander and Rufus, became well-known believers. Simon not only carried the undeserved cross, but also put it to good use. When life puts the cross on us, we are more closely connected to Christ through that cross, and that connection changes us forever. It is not the suffering that ennobles, but the way we bear it. Simon bore it well and it transformed him. This suffering is the most active heroism!
Then Jesus "in his mouth was found no guile, ... but he did not reproach, he did not threaten while he suffered" (vv. 22-23) - he prayed! Yes: for the very people from whom he had to suffer injustice. That is a very practical thing! Pray for those from whom you suffer. It is harder to hate someone when you have prayed for them. If you have asked God's blessing on someone, it is harder to curse them. Prayer takes the sting of resentment out of our hearts. Whenever you think of the person, bathe your thoughts in prayer first. A thought without prayer becomes a resentful thought.
Also, you follow in Jesus' footsteps by thinking about how you can do good to the one who has been unjust to you. Sneak up to his heart. He will be armed and waiting for you to strike back, but you strike him where he is defenceless: his heart! Convince evil with good. The more evil that comes from him, the more good must come from you. When we love those who hurt us, when we turn the other cheek, as Jesus said, then we will rise above our enemies, we will be greater than them, and we will have conquered them! But if not that, we have won our own souls. In both cases we have won!
And finally, Jesus did not threaten, but left it to God to judge righteously - meaning don't have the last word, let God have it! It is best not to answer ourselves to those who hurt us, but to let the Lord Himself answer for us! And He will always give the answer, an answer that will bring a complete solution to the problem! Let Him win where we cannot! You can safely entrust your grievances to the One who made the world's greatest defeat, the cross of Christ, the world's greatest victory!
So Jesus has given us an example, an example to follow, to follow in His footsteps. But he has not only given us that - he has given us more than an example: he has given us the opportunity, the strength. The apostle ends this passage thus. For ye were as sheep going astray: but now are ye converted to the shepherd and overseer of your souls." (1Pt 2:24-25)
His innocent suffering is not only an example, but an atoning sacrifice, a substitutionary satisfaction. He bore our sins in His own body on the tree, the tree of shame, the tree of the most painful slave death, the tree of the most terrible retribution, the cross. And up there, on that tree, sin killed his body, and his death killed sin, because he had suffered retribution for it and obtained forgiveness. By His wounds our spiritual wounds are miraculously healed. Because of Him we are freed from our most basic human nature, which is the instinct that as you are for me, so I am for you! Under the guidance of the Shepherd and Overseer of souls, we no longer have to return offence with a similar coin: we can lay it on the shoulders of the one who has borne the sins of the whole world!
Amen
Date: 24 October 1954.
Lesson
Jn 10,27-30