Monday
Monday
The Example of Jesus
To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
1 Peter 2:21
Once Peter had acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah, Jesus began to teach the disciples that he must suffer. But Peter violently disagreed. “No, Lord,” he shouted, “this will never happen to you.” But now in his thinking, some thirty years later, the death of Jesus, which had seemed to him inconceivable, has become indispensable.
We need to recall the historical background to Peter’s letter. Christianity was still an illegal religion, and the neurotic emperor Nero was known to be hostile to it. Already there were spasmodic outbursts of persecution. Peter is especially concerned for Christian slaves in non-Christian households. They must bear unjust suffering patiently, he says. Why? Because this is part of a Christian’s calling. Why? Because Jesus, though sinless, suffered for us but did not retaliate, leaving us an example, that we should follow in his steps.
The Greek word for example here is unique in the New Testament. It denotes a teacher’s copybook on which children trace their letters when learning to write. So Peter is urging us to copy the example of Jesus and also to follow in his steps. This is a poignant appeal from Peter’s pen, since he had boasted that he would follow Jesus to prison and to death, whereas in the event he had followed him only at a distance. Now recommissioned, however, Peter is determined to follow the way of the cross and bear unjust suffering patiently.
A question arises in our minds, however. If we submit to unjust suffering, is there no place for justice? Are we to allow evildoers to trample all over us and so encourage evil to flourish? No. First Peter 2:23 answers our question. It tells us both that Jesus did not retaliate and that “he entrusted himself [and his cause] to him who judges justly.” In other words, the reason we are called to nonretaliation is not because evil should be allowed to triumph but because it is not our responsibility to punish it. It is the responsibility of the just Judge both now through the law courts and ultimately on judgment day. Thus love and justice are not incompatible; they complement one another, as we see in the example of Jesus.
For further reading: 1 Peter 2:18–23