Participants: Tom Shepherd & Deyvy Rodriguez
Series Code: PBOTB
Program Code: PBOTB00009A
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00:23 Hello and thank you for joining us
00:25 in this program of "Books of the Book." 00:27 We are studying in the Books of 1 and 2 Peter. 00:30 And with us is Dr. Tom Shepherd. 00:32 He is a professor at Andrews's University, 00:35 teaching New Testament interpretation. 00:37 And we're studying about how the Christian must face 00:40 the world as Jesus, his or her example. 00:44 Dr. Shepherd, can you summarize for us 00:46 what we learned about that? 00:48 All right, so in this second half 00:50 or second portion of the book 00:52 in the three sections we talked about. 00:54 He starts off by describing-- well, he transitions into it, 00:58 and then he describes how the overriding concept 01:01 is submission to different kinds of individuals. 01:03 We're gonna see groups of individuals 01:05 that he talks to, that he tells to submit. 01:09 Some of these relationships are seen as a scandal today. 01:12 The first one we started talking about 01:13 was the issue of servants or slaves 01:16 in relationship to their masters. 01:19 But what we're going to turn to now 01:20 is the example of Jesus in suffering and submitting 01:25 which is at the centre of this passage. 01:27 And actually is that the centre of this whole section. 01:32 It's kind of unexpected 01:37 that when he starts to talk to Christians 01:40 that the very first group that he talks to is the slaves. 01:46 It's part of this idea of subverting power structures 01:51 and turning things upside down. 01:53 In the ancient household, the head of the household 01:56 would be the father figure called pater familias. 02:00 And that would be the person 02:01 you would expect to talk to first. 02:03 And yet, he's talked to last. 02:05 So the first should be last and the last should be first. 02:08 And so they--the slaves are held up as an example 02:11 to Christians of submitting to the powers around them. 02:15 I had an experience years ago in Brazil 02:20 that was really an unexpected example to me. 02:25 I was struggling with Portuguese when we first went there. 02:29 After I'd been 5 months in the country 02:31 I started teaching and had these wonderful students. 02:35 But the Brazilians who tend-- they were--they liked to talk. 02:41 And I would, at the beginning of the class 02:44 each day, I would call the roll. 02:46 Well, Brazilians have very long names 02:49 that involve both the mother's and father's name. 02:51 And you could have something like 02:53 Jose Ferreira Nascimento DeSilveira 02:57 you know, this long thing, you know. 02:59 And I was reading through these names 03:00 and I was just mangling them, you know. 03:03 And so every time I would mangle these names, 03:06 these talkative, friendly students 03:08 they would laugh because of me. 03:10 It was funny, you know. 03:11 But it got to me, you know. It, eventually it hurt. 03:17 And I was--one day I was reading through the roll 03:20 and I would say the names and they would laugh. 03:22 And I was say the names and they would laugh. 03:24 And finally I just, I just closed the book. 03:28 And one of the students in the front, said, 03:29 "Oh, professor, you didn't call my name." 03:30 'Cause they were very conscious 03:32 that they had to be marked in as present, you see? 03:34 And I waited till they quieted down 03:37 and then I said in my quite broken Portuguese. 03:41 "You know, it's hard for a foreigner 03:44 that whenever he opens his mouth that you laugh at him." 03:48 Boy, you could hear a pin drop in that room. 03:51 Now they were hurt and this was the beginning of class. 03:55 Oh, it's terrible. 03:57 And I went through the class you know 03:59 and I finished the class and they were all going on, 04:01 they say, "Good night professor. 04:02 Good night professor." 04:04 Actually, you made many friends there as well. 04:06 Oh, man, I just felt terrible. 04:07 There were these three young ladies--God bless them. 04:10 They'd stayed by and then walked back with me, 04:12 backed out of walking home. 04:14 And they said, "Oh, professor. 04:18 Our people don't have manners. 04:19 That's what they said. 04:21 And I went home and I, oh, 04:24 I prayed about this, what should I do. 04:25 You know, I just felt quite discouraged 04:27 about the whole thing. 04:29 So I prayed it through and I was just--no, 04:32 I will be brave, I will be strong, 04:35 you know, I'm a missionary. 04:37 And I went to class the next time 04:40 and I decided I would say nothing about this, 04:43 I would just go on. 04:45 So I called the roll and nobody laughed this time. 04:49 I called the roll. 04:50 And then it was time to open the class with prayer. 04:55 And I always had them stand for prayer 04:57 and I would always ask one of them to pray. 05:01 Because--I don't know, if you, you know, found this 05:05 but when you're learning a foreign language, 05:08 praying in public is the last thing you'd do. 05:10 Because you feel like, I'm talking to God 05:13 it's got to be right. 05:16 So I always had them pray. I said, "So who will pray?" 05:18 Oh, somebody said, "I will pray, I will pray." 05:20 "No, no, no," said the whole class. 05:21 "The president of the class has to pray." Okay. 05:25 So this was the class, mostly of young ladies, 05:27 it was education students. 05:29 And there was a young man 05:30 who was the president of the class. 05:32 So he comes up to the front of the class-- 05:33 well, they didn't usually do this. 05:34 He comes up to the front of the class to pray. 05:36 So I don't know what's happening, you know. 05:38 He comes up to the front and he prays in English. 05:46 Now that might not seem anything great to most people. 05:50 But there weren't many people on the campus 05:53 who could speak English well. 05:55 There weren't very many people 05:56 that I could have a conversation with and then 05:58 about a handful of people that I could have a conversation with 06:01 and I don't recall this young man was one of them. 06:04 He prayed in English. 06:06 And then he turned to me after the prayer, 06:08 he apologized on behalf of the class. 06:11 They gave me a little gift, 06:12 it was a writing pen all wrapped up. 06:15 And then they sang a song about friendship. 06:17 Wow. Man. 06:18 Talk about a bonding moment. 06:21 That was the unexpected example 06:23 that came to my life in Brazil, unexpected. 06:27 Peter has unexpected examples, 06:30 the slaves, examples to the Christian church. 06:33 Now we're gonna come to the greatest example of all. 06:35 I want you to read verses 21-25. 06:39 "For to this you were called, 06:40 because Christ also suffered for us, 06:43 leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps, 06:46 'Who committed no sin nor was deceit found in His mouth,' 06:51 who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return, 06:55 when He suffered, He did not threaten, 06:57 but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. 07:01 Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, 07:05 that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness 07:09 by whose stripes you were healed. 07:11 For you were like sheep going astray, 07:14 but have now returned to the Shepherd 07:17 and Overseer of your souls." 07:21 I've noticed on verse 21 here that Peter speaks of a calling. 07:27 What is this calling? Yes. 07:29 To this you were called, he says. 07:33 This calling is actually the last part of verse 20. 07:37 It is to suffer when you do what is good. 07:41 Now it's not that it is God's will for us to suffer, 07:44 that's not what Peter is teaching. 07:47 Rather it is His will that we do good. 07:50 And if we suffer in the process because we do what is good. 07:55 It is no reason to stop doing what is good. 08:00 Doing good is more important than suffering. 08:04 Even if you have to suffer for it it's better to do good 08:08 than to turn and do what is evil. 08:10 So that's the calling of the Christian. 08:12 The calling of the Christian is to do good. 08:14 To emulate the example of Jesus, to stand in line 08:22 with the moral code that God has laid down. 08:26 Remember He laid the chief cornerstone 08:28 that sets the directions of the house. 08:31 And we are supposed to line up our lives 08:35 with the example of Jesus. 08:39 What is this-- what is the surprise verse 21? 08:42 Now, I told you about unexpected examples, you know. 08:46 And there's a big surprise. 08:48 In fact, there are two surprises in verse 21 08:51 that would just-- you would miss it 08:53 if you didn't realize what was going on here. 08:57 The first is this--the most important is the statement, 09:02 when it says in verse 21, that Christ suffered for you. 09:10 Someone says, "Well, I know. 09:12 I know that's what the New Testament teaches." 09:15 This is the only place in the New Testament 09:20 that says Christ suffered for you, 09:24 only in 1 Peter does it-- it is stated. 09:28 He states it again later in chapter 3. 09:30 Christ suffered for you. 09:33 Wait a minute, don't the-- 09:34 don't the gospels show us Jesus suffering for us? 09:37 Yes. Yes, they show Him suffering for us. 09:39 Well, didn't Paul say that Christ suffered for you? 09:42 No, Paul said, "The Christ died for you." 09:46 Peter says, "Christ suffered for you." 09:50 Is there any difference between 09:51 dying for you than suffering for you? 09:54 Ah, it's a great question. 09:55 I mean, in a sense the two are intertwined. 10:00 But suffering comes before death. 10:03 Dying for you is maybe the end product of that suffering. 10:07 And remember, Peter is describing 10:09 the Christian's response to the world's persecution. 10:13 And so what he wants to say is 10:14 the Christian has an example in front of him, 10:19 not only of death by of suffering. 10:22 And that is the example of Jesus 10:25 that he is going to talk about here in this whole passage. 10:29 And verses 22 and 23, here talk about Jesus' 10:33 suffering before His death. 10:35 What do they express? 10:36 Well, before we go there I want you think for a moment 10:40 about this whole idea of following in Jesus' steps. 10:46 In the Book of Mark 8:34-38, 10:55 Jesus talk--we better turn to the passage. 10:58 Okay. Mark 8:34-38. 11:02 This is an important turning point in the gospel of Mark. 11:06 We talked about this in "Books of the Book" before. 11:10 The Gospel of Mark and here is the big turning point 11:13 is when Peter confesses that Jesus is the Messiah. 11:17 And immediately when Jesus explains 11:19 that He is the Messiah, He starts to teach them 11:21 about His death, where He's going. 11:25 He is the Messiah, where's He going? 11:26 He is going to the cross. 11:28 Mark 8:34-38, this is what it says, 11:30 "And calling the crowd to him with His disciples, 11:32 He said to them, 'If anyone would come after me, 11:34 let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 11:38 For whoever would save his life will lose it, 11:41 but whoever loses his life for my sake 11:43 and the gospel's will save it. 11:45 For what does it profit a man 11:47 to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 11:50 For what can a man give in return for his soul? 11:54 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words 11:56 in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him 11:58 will the Son of Man also be ashamed 12:00 when he comes in the glory of his Father 12:02 with the holy angels.'" 12:03 You see, you have to follow the example of Jesus. 12:06 He said take the cross and follow Me. 12:10 Now here's exactly the same thing 12:12 that's going on with these-- with these questions, 12:15 they're following the example of Jesus. 12:20 So now I'll come to your question 12:22 that you talked about--about Jesus suffering and death 12:26 and what they express to us, okay. 12:30 This is found in verses 22 and 23. 12:32 I want you to read verses 22 and 23 12:33 for us again of 1 Peter 2. 12:39 "'Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found 12:41 in His mouth,' who, when He was reviled, 12:44 did not revile in return, when He suffered, 12:47 He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him 12:51 who judges righteously." 12:54 Now we don't have much time here at this-- 12:57 we're gonna take little break here in a moment. 12:59 But Peter here is actually drawing on the Old Testament, 13:04 from the Book of Isaiah Chapter 53. 13:08 And in Isaiah 53, we have this whole expression 13:14 of the servant of the Lord and how he suffers 13:19 and goes through these terrible experiences. 13:23 But Peter does this in an interesting way. 13:26 And again it's one of those, kind of, unexpected things. 13:30 And I think after the break, 13:32 we'll take and we'll ponder little bit of Isaiah 53. 13:35 And we'll see how the Book of 1 Peter orders, 13:41 or shall we say reorders, the telling of Isaiah 53. 13:45 So we'll take a break at this moment, 13:46 and then we'll come back to talk to you in just a little bit. |
Revised 2014-12-17