Wrong expectations can shatter our hearts. It happens at a family gathering that is again marred by sin. It happens when disillusioned missionaries head home after only a year on the field. It happens when the only thanks we get for serving seem to be criticism. Suffering in both its presence and depth can take us by surprise and devastate us. If we do not rightly prepare our hearts for what comes ahead, all that is wrong in this world will so deeply hurt us that it may cause us to turn back from Christian obedience and wonder whether or not God turned his back on us.
And in a Western world in which the avoidance of pain has become ultimate, such as in the overprescription of pain medication or so-called medical assistance in dying, we can struggle to think rightly about this as Christians. Our society thinks it’s terrible to be inconvenienced, and so it is not surprising that one of the fundamental questions we ask about almost anything we do is: how can we make this less difficult?
But this misses a fundamental lesson that on a deep level we likely already know in some way: following Jesus is painful. Many other Christians through the ages or around the world can testify to this truth. John Bunyan, who speaks of the separation and hardship of his family during his imprisonment, “[it] hath often been to me in this place as the pulling of the flesh from my bones.” Or there is the Haitian pastor who has suffered under poverty and crime for his whole ministry and asks, “Are you willing to let your heart be broken for Jesus?”
But Jesus does not demand something from us that he has not himself endured. Indeed, we suffer because we follow a suffering Saviour. In light of our propensity to avoid pain, this article uses 1 Peter to explore how the Servant of the Lord’s own suffering and glory is the prism through which we should understand our Christian lives. We begin by exploring how the suffering and glory of the Servant of the Lord is the fundamental framework through which Peter understands our salvation and suffering, and then we explore how Peter calls believers to view their suffering in light of his. In closing, we will draw together several benefits which Peter tells believers to expect.
Jesus: The Paradigm of Suffering and Glory
Some form of the word “suffering” (Gk. pascho, pathema) appears over ten times in 1 Peter, which is a lot for a small book. Significantly, Peter closes his initial blessing (1 Pet. 1:1–9) with a statement that will be programmatic for his book, concerning “the salvation” or “the grace prophesied for you” (1 Pet. 1:10, author’s translation, here and throughout). What is it? Peter summarizes “the Spirit of Christ revealed to them the things prophesied concerning Christ [the Anointed], his sufferings [Gk. pathēma], and after these things, his glory [Gk. doxa]” (1 Pet. 1:11). This is a transparent reference to the Servant, for he was anointed, suffered, and was glorified.
And the mention of the Servant is not an isolated reference. In 1 Peter 1:18, Peter talks about a redemption that is not purchased with silver or gold, but rather with the blood (that is, death) of one like a lamb, the Anointed. This sounds an awful lot like the redemption which the Servant will bring about, that is, without the cost of silver, a redemption that happens through him being like a lamb (Isa. 52:3; 53:6).[1]
Even clearer is 1 Peter 2:21–25. This text, in a way that may surprise us, presses strongly into the suffering of the Anointed in order that we should understand our suffering through it. To be clear, it does not say that our deaths are atoning, but it does make that kind of suffering the model for ours. Peter points to the Servant of the Lord repeatedly: Jesus did not sin, and no guile was found in his mouth, and the same should be true of us (Isa. 53:9; 1 Pet. 2:22). When Jesus is reviled and threatened and does not respond in kind, he shows us how to live (Isa. 53:7; 1 Pet. 2:24).
However, the call to imitate ends there and Peter turns his mind to pure marvel: “he bore our sins” (1 Pet. 2:24; Isa. 53:4) and “by his wound, you are healed” (Isa. 53:5; 1 Pet. 2:24), which was the needed remedy for those who had, “like sheep, gone astray” (1 Pet. 2:25; Isa. 53:6). This text again and again shows us that Peter expects us to interpret our suffering through the lens of the suffering Servant.
We conclude our examination of Peter’s use of the Servant with one final text, 1 Peter 3:18. This text also occurs in the context of the believers’ suffering. There Peter writes that “the Anointed also suffered once as a sin offering, the righteous for the unrighteous ones, in order to bring you to God, being put to death in the flesh, but being made alive by the Spirit” (1 Pet. 3:18). The connections to the Servant are many: the vocabulary of the Anointed suffering, the idea of resurrection, the idea of suffering as a sin offering for sins, the label of Jesus as “the righteous one”, death, and that this is the means by which God’s people are returned to him.
This summary has shown us repeatedly that in the book of 1 Peter, the apostle holds up the Servant of the Lord as the prism through which our own suffering should be refracted and viewed. With this clear, we now turn to Peter’s reflections on what our suffering looks like.
Following a Suffering Saviour
It is not insignificant that Peter’s closing exhortation in his letter is shaped by the suffering Saviour. “The God of all grace, the one who called you into his eternal glory in the Anointed, after you have suffered a little while, he himself will restore, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Pet. 5:10). Believers are called for eternal glory (Gk. doxa), united to their Anointed Messiah, but this will only be after they suffer (Gk. paschō). We follow the pattern of suffering and glory that Jesus does. This suffering is portrayed in a few different ways in 1 Peter.
Suffering Like Jesus Because We Follow Him
One category of suffering that Peter holds out is suffering for doing what is right (suffering of commission). Christians should act according to their conscience before God (1 Pet. 2:19; 3:16). Of course, it is no credit when believers do wrong and so are treated poorly, but if they do good and persevere through suffering, they are like Jesus. In a society that thrived on corruption, there would be ample opportunities to cut corners and make a profit. Christians all around the world and in all types of businesses feel this pressure, the pressure to choose a visible but immoral benefit instead of suffering and a postponed glory. And yet the call is to set apart Christ as Lord, reject fear and inner turmoil, do what pleases God, and know that those who suffer such are truly happy (1 Pet. 3:14–15).
Likewise, there is suffering because we refuse to do wrong (suffering of omission). Each society contains many habits of life that embrace idolatry. 1 Peter 4:4 describes how those around us will consider it strange when we do not run together into their dissipation and sensuality. The connotation here is not strictly sexual, but rather a lack of restraint and a wasteful giving of full vent to one’s desires. Thus, we may think of sexual desires, but we may also think of proclivity for material possessions or just the freedom to choose all things for ourselves without outside interference. When we live faithful, self-controlled lives, others will criticize. The friction and mockery we feel as believers because we stand and live humbly in direct contradiction to the idolatrous systems of our world will hurt. Count on it.
Suffering Like Jesus Because We Serve
In chapter 5, Peter gives a special note to church elders, as those who will suffer. Peter describes himself as a fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of the Anointed, but also a participant in the glory which is about to be revealed. He closes by reminding elders that they will receive “an imperishable crown of glory” (1 Pet. 5:4). Based on the paradigm we have already seen of Jesus’s own suffering and resurrection glory acting as the prism through which we should view our own suffering, it is likely that Peter reminds elders of Jesus’s suffering and their future glory in this passage because this will be especially pertinent to their lives of service. The exemplary lives and gentle use of authority which elders are called to will be painful at times. Only a clear vision of eternity in glory will enable elders to persevere.
Embracing the Benefits of Suffering
To be sure, as Christians, we do not seek suffering as if it were a good in and of itself. It’s not. However, in a fallen world yet to be remade, there are a variety of sweet fruits that suffering produces.
One benefit of note is simply the massive privilege of belonging to Jesus and being called by his name. Peter makes it clear that those who are “reviled in the name of Christ” have the Spirit of God resting on them (1 Pet. 4:14). A few verses later Peter will say that “If as Christians [you suffer]…glorify God in that name” (1 Pet. 4:16). This reminds us of when Peter and the other Apostles rejoice that they are counted worthy to suffer for Christ (Acts 5:41). When we suffer for Jesus, it clarifies that we belong to him who is true life in a world of counterfeits.
And the pain of that belonging changes us. In a verse that has puzzled many, Peter tells us that “the one who suffers has ceased sin” (1 Pet. 4:1). He goes on to explain that the person who suffers is freed from human desires and freed to do God’s will in this physical, earthly life. Although Peter would not endorse a doctrine of perfectionism, there is a truth here. Suffering, like fasting, brings a clarity to our lives in which our bodily, sinful inclinations are weakened in the midst of the joy of clinging to Jesus in pain.
Perhaps this is just another way of saying, “being grieved by various trials, in order that the testing of your faith, which is more precious than gold, might be found for praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:6). That is, our faith—our absolute confidence in the reality of the finished work of Jesus Christ and his coming reign—becomes more and more certain as we face trials. It is not surprising, then, that Peter thinks that this leads us to fresh victory over sin, for our pain gives us more of Jesus. And in his death and resurrection is the Godward life (1 Pet. 2:24).
However, Peter expects the benefits of this suffering to go well beyond our own faith. Like those who have been converted by seeing martyrs die, our suffering will also be a powerful witness. It creates a dissonance with the idols of this world. The Scripture tells us to expect questions from those who watch our lives: “Always be ready for a defense to all who ask you concerning the hope you have among you” (1 Pet. 3:15). Our faith-filled suffering reveals that the emperor has no clothes, that our culture of hedonistic pleasure has left our souls empty, and that knowing Jesus Christ is better than the banquet of dust our culture keeps advertising. Our suffering helps people see this.
After Suffering, Glory
Whatever our suffering may be and whatever the mosaic of goodness that it brings to our lives, we still need to remember that the whole challenging process is underwritten by God. We may receive many of these benefits at different times and in different ways, but whatever happens, God is just. Peter asks, “What is the end of those who disobey the gospel of God?” (1 Pet. 4:17). The answer is justice.
Like our Saviour who “entrusted himself to the one who judges justly” (1 Pet. 2:23), so “let those who suffer in obedience to God’s will entrust their souls to the Faithful Creator by doing good works” (1 Pet. 4:19). Just like Jesus received the glory due him after the cross, so also we will receive our crown of glory when our suffering is done.
[1] There are also other elements that show that Peter has Isaiah 40–66 and the Servant in mind while writing. Salvation in 1 Peter is predicated on the regenerating Word of God. To demonstrate the power of this Word, Peter quotes Isa. 40:6–8: “all flesh is as grass…but the word of the Lord remains forever.” In its original context, it was meant to highlight the surety of the comfort-promises (Isa. 40:1–3; 61:1–3) that God would fulfill in the Servant.
