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Scripture Reading: 1 Pet. 2:21-25
In the previous message we considered what it means for Christ to be our model. We saw that He is the master copy, the original copy, and that through a process of spiritual xeroxing we are becoming a reproduction of Christ. In this message we shall consider other matters in 2:21-25.
First Peter 2:21 and 22 say, “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered on your behalf, leaving you a model that you should follow in His steps; who did no sin, nor was guile found in His mouth.” It is not an easy matter to have no guile in our mouth. Consider how many mistakes you make in one day because of the things you say. Because we in ourselves cannot be without guile, Peter specifically says that no guile was found in the Lord’s mouth.
In verse 23 Peter goes on to say concerning the Lord, “Who being reviled did not revile in return; suffering, He did not threaten, but kept committing all to Him who judges righteously.” According to the usage of the verb “kept committing” in Greek, “all” needs to be inserted here as its object. This word refers to all the sufferings of the Lord. He kept committing all the insults He suffered and all His injuries to Him who judges righteously in His government, to the righteous God, to whom He submitted Himself. This indicates that the Lord recognized God’s government while He was living a human life on earth.
I am somewhat concerned that in your reading of this verse you may not pay attention to the word “judges.” We are accustomed to saying that we commit things to the Lord who is faithful or merciful or kind. Have you ever said, “I commit everything to God who judges righteously”? I do not think that many of us have had this practice. The reason we do not pray like this is that our prayer, expression, and utterance are still too traditional. This keeps us from applying many of the thoughts and utterances in the pure Word. Therefore, in reading a verse such as 2:23, we may take it for granted and fail to get into the real meaning.
While the Lord Jesus was on earth suffering, He kept committing all to the One who judges righteously. This brief word indicates not only that the Lord lived a life that was a model for us, but also that He lived a life absolutely under God’s government. He Himself was always under the government of God, and He committed everything related to Him to God’s judgment.
Peter has already referred to God’s judgment in 1:17: “And if you call upon as Father the One who without respect of persons judges according to each one’s work, pass the time of your sojourning in fear.” Here Peter “is not speaking of the final judgment of the soul. In that sense ‘the Father does not judge anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son’ (John 5:22). The thing spoken of here is the daily judgment of God’s government in this world, exercised with regard to His children. Accordingly it says, ‘The time of your sojourning’ here” (Darby). This is God’s judgment on His own household.
Since these two Epistles are concerned with the government of God, the judgment of God and of the Lord is referred to repeatedly (1 Pet. 2:23; 4:5-6, 17; 2 Pet. 2:3-4, 9; 3:7), as one of the essential items. It began from the angels (2 Pet. 2:3-4), and passed through the generations of man in the Old Testament (2 Pet. 2:5-9). Then in the New Testament age it begins from the house of God (1 Pet. 1:17; 2:23; 4:6, 17) and continues until the coming of the day of the Lord (2 Pet. 3:10), which will be a day of judgment on the Jews, the believers, and the Gentiles before the millennium. After the millennium, all the dead, including men and demons, will be judged and perish (1 Pet. 4:5; 2 Pet. 3:7), and the heavens and the earth will be burned up (2 Pet. 3:10, 12). The results of the varied judgments are not the same. Some judgments result in a disciplinary dealing, some in a dispensational punishment, and some in eternal perdition. However, by all these judgments, the Lord God will clear up and purify the entire universe so that He may have a new heaven and a new earth for a new universe filled with His righteousness (2 Pet. 3:13) for His delight.
In 2:23 Peter says that God the Father is the One who always judges righteously. This means that He governs in a righteous way. Christ put His trust in this righteous One. For this reason, Peter says that when Christ was on earth, He kept committing all to God the Father, who judges righteously.
Verse 24 says, “Who Himself carried up our sins in His body onto the tree, in order that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness; by whose bruise you were healed.” This verse speaks of Christ as our Savior, our Redeemer. As our Savior, Christ “carried up our sins in His body onto the tree.” The “tree” is the cross made of wood, a Roman instrument of capital punishment for the execution of malefactors, as prophesied in the Old Testament (Deut. 21:23; Gal. 3:13).
Literally, “having died to sins” means being away from sins; hence, having died to them. In the death of Christ, we have died to sins (Rom. 6:8, 10-11, 18). We have died to sin so that we might live to righteousness. This living to righteousness is in the resurrection of Christ (Eph. 2:6; John 14:19; 2 Tim. 2:11).
The “bruise” in verse 24 is a suffering that resulted in death. According to Genesis 3:15, the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent, and the serpent would bruise the heel of the woman’s seed. The bruising in Genesis 3:15 is related to the bruise in 2:24.
According to verse 24, we have been healed by Christ’s bruise. This is the healing of death. We were dead (Eph. 2:1), but Christ’s suffering of death healed our death so that we may live in His resurrection.
We have pointed out that the phrase “having died to sins” literally means being away from sins. When Christ carried up our sins onto the cross and died, that death accomplished many things. The death of Christ terminated us, and this termination can keep us away from sin. The best way for people to be kept from sins or from sin is for them to be put to death. No matter how many sins a person may commit, once he has died, death separates him from sins. Peter speaks of being away from sins; Paul speaks of the one who has died being free from sin. Through Christ’s death we can be kept away from sins so that we may live to righteousness. Apparently, being kept away from sin terminates us; actually, it enlivens us so that we may live to righteousness.
As we have pointed out, by Christ’s bruise we have been healed. This means that His death heals our death.
Most of us are accustomed to Paul’s terms, but we are not familiar with many of Peter’s expressions. In verse 24 alone, Peter uses a number of unusual expressions: the carrying up of our sins in Christ’s body onto the tree, being away from sin to live to righteousness, and being healed by Christ’s bruise. Christians do not use many of Peter’s expressions in conversation. I hope that after reading these messages, you will begin to use Peter’s terms and expressions in your fellowship and prayer.
Verse 24 indicates that, as fallen human beings, we were dead and full of sins. But Christ put our sins upon Himself and carried them up onto the tree, the cross, where He suffered God’s righteous judgment for all our sins. Christ’s death on the cross was a bruise, and that bruise, that death, has healed our death. Now we have become alive. On the one hand, Christ’s bruise that heals us keeps us away from sins through His death; on the other hand, this healing enlivens us so that we may live to righteousness.
According to our dead, fallen nature, our intention is toward sins. But now that Christ has died to heal our death and to make us alive, we have a different intention. Because of the life of Christ within us, we live always with the intention toward righteousness, the inclination toward righteousness. This is our Savior, the One who died on the cross to terminate us and to heal our death wound.
The subjective aspect of the cross continues in our experience today by the Spirit. The life-giving Spirit is working within us continually to carry out the subjective aspect of Christ’s cross in our being. Daily we are undergoing the inward working of the cross of Christ, and daily we are being made alive so that we may live to righteousness. Therefore, it is not difficult to overcome sins, because through Christ’s death we are being kept away from sins. His death has drawn a separating line. between us and sins. Being kept away from sins, now we are alive. There is no need for us to strive or to try to energize ourselves. We simply live, and this living always has an inclination toward righteousness. This is the experience of our Savior saving us daily. This understanding of Peter’s word is according to our experience.
We should not have only the objective cross, but the subjective cross as well. The objective cross needs to become subjective to us in our experience. This depends upon the working of the life-giving Spirit within us. When we call on the name of the Lord and have fellowship with Him, the life-giving Spirit operates within us. Spontaneously we experience the subjective working of the cross to make a separation between us and sins so that we automatically live to righteousness.
Now we need to ask why Peter uses the expression “live to righteousness.” This is related to the fulfilling of God’s governmental requirements. Actually, God’s government requires just one thing — righteousness. This is the reason 2 Peter 3:13 says, “But according to His promise we are expecting new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.” In 1 Peter 2:23 we see that the Lord Jesus continually committed all to the One who judges righteously. Then in verse 24 Peter indicates that we should live to righteousness. Peter’s concept here is governmental; righteousness is a matter of God’s government. We have been saved by our Savior to live a life that matches the righteous requirements of God’s government.
God is righteous and His government is established upon righteousness. Psalm 89:14 says that righteousness is the foundation of God’s throne. Therefore, as God’s people living under His government, we must have a righteous life. We must live to righteousness. But because in ourselves we are not able to live this kind of life, the Savior saves us to live a life of righteousness, a life that fulfills the righteous requirements of God’s government.
It is important for us to realize that Christ our Savior has carried up all our sins onto the tree and died there for us. Now His death separates us from sins and enlivens us so that we may live to righteousness. Spontaneously, we are under God’s government and have no problem with His government because we live to righteousness.
In verse 25 Peter goes on to say, “For you were as sheep being led astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” Christ was our Redeemer in His death on the tree. Now He is our soul’s Shepherd and Overseer in the resurrection life within us. Therefore, He is able to guide us and supply us with life that we may follow His model in His steps of suffering (v. 21). According to verse 25, Christ is the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls. Our soul is our inner being, our real person. Our Lord, as the Shepherd and Overseer of our soul, shepherds us by caring for the welfare of our inner being and by exercising His oversight over the condition of our real person.
Our problem was that we were like sheep being led astray. But now we have returned, turned back, to the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls. We should not think that in verse 25 Peter uses soul as a synonym of spirit. This is definitely not the case. A shepherd takes care of the physical needs of his flock, and Christ our Shepherd takes care of the needs of our soul. He is not the Shepherd of our body; He is the Shepherd of our soul, our inner being. We all have a spirit, and the spirit is our inward organ. But our being is a soul. Therefore, Christ mainly shepherds us by taking care of our soul. He takes care of our mind, emotion, and will.
We may think that our problems are with the body. No doubt, the body does give us many problems. Nevertheless, our real problem is in our soul. Our mind, emotion, and will all have problems. Unbelievers are wanderers in the soul, and they do not have a shepherd to take care of them. But our situation is different in that we have a Shepherd who takes care of our soul. Not only do we have the Lord’s life within us, but we also have Him as our Shepherd. He is now shepherding us in our soul.
I would ask you to consider this matter of the Lord’s shepherding according to your experience. Do you experience the Lord’s comfort and sense His comfort in your spirit or in your soul? In other words, where is the Lord’s comfort, in our spirit or in our soul? If you say that His comfort is in the spirit, your answer is not according to the Bible. Before you came into the Lord’s recovery, you may not have known that you had a human spirit. But since you have been in the church life, you have seen the revelation concerning the human spirit. But this revelation may have now become to you a new kind of tradition. To say that Christ’s comfort is in our spirit is to speak according to a new tradition concerning the spirit. Many times we speak of turning to the spirit, perhaps expecting that when we turn to the spirit everything will be all right. Actually, even after we turn to the spirit, many things may not be all right. From experience Peter knew to say that Christ is the Shepherd of our souls. Therefore, Peter does not tell us in verse 25 that Christ is the Shepherd of our spirit or of our body; He clearly says that He is the Shepherd of our souls.
This Epistle was written to Jewish Christians who were suffering much persecution. Apparently persecution is related to our body outwardly. Actually, persecution is aimed at the soul. Because it is our soul that suffers, it is our soul that needs the Lord’s shepherding. It is not our body that needs this kind of care, nor is it mainly our spirit. It is our soul — our mind, our emotion, and our will — that needs the Lord as the Shepherd.
In our experience sometimes we just do not know what to think about. We do not know where to direct our thoughts. This is an indication that our mind needs the Lord Jesus as the Shepherd. I can testify that many times in this kind of situation the Lord Jesus has been a Shepherd to me. As a result of His shepherding our mind is directed and set in the right way.
Our emotion, being complicated, is easily upset. This is especially true of the sisters’ emotion. Therefore, we need the Lord Jesus to shepherd us in our emotion. His shepherding comforts our emotion.
Our will also needs the Lord’s shepherding. As human beings, we often find it difficult to make the right decision. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to make a decision. Unbelievers have no one to lead them and guide them in making decisions. But we have a Shepherd to lead us and guide us. The Lord’s leading and guiding is primarily related to our will. As the living Shepherd, the Lord continually directs our will. I cannot tell you how many times I have experienced this. The Lord is truly the Shepherd of our soul. He directs our mind, comforts our emotion, and leads and guides our will.
According to my experience, there is a difference between leading and guiding. Leading is related to a destination. Suppose you are driving from your home to a certain city. A road map may lead you to your destination. But once you arrive at that city, you will need a guide, someone to direct you to the exact place where you want to go. In the Bible some verses speak of the Lord’s leading, and others, of His guiding. On the one hand, the Lord will lead His people to the holy land. But once He has led them there, He will guide them to Mount Zion.
As our Shepherd, the Lord leads us first and then guides us. He leads us to the right place, and He guides us to the exact spot. This is Christ, our Shepherd.
In order to be our living Shepherd, it is necessary for Christ to dwell within us. If Christ today were not the life-giving Spirit in us, if He were only the exalted Lord in an objective way in the third heaven, how could He be our Shepherd? For Christ to be our Shepherd, He must be with us, even in us. Many times He goes along with us in order to turn us back. Consider how the Lord was the Shepherd to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus. These disciples were going in one direction, but the Lord went with them in order to turn them to go in another direction. Luke 24:15 says, “And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.” Then He asked them what they were talking about. In a sense, these disciples rebuked the Lord when they said, “Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?” (v. 18). Then the Lord asked, “What things?” (v. 19). After walking a while together, they constrained the Lord to stay with them (v. 29). Then, as He took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, “their eyes were opened, and they knew Him” (vv. 30-31). This is an example of the Lord’s shepherding.
Sometimes the Lord shepherds us in the same way that He shepherded the disciples on the road to Emmaus. We also may speak to Him in a nonsensical way or ask Him nonsensical questions. We may even rebuke Him, and He may pretend not to know what we are talking about. Many of us can testify of having the Lord Jesus shepherd us in this way. As the life-giving Spirit dwelling within us, He is the Shepherd to us in our experience.
According to Peter’s word in 2:25, Christ is also the Overseer of our souls. I wonder how many Christians have experienced Christ as an Overseer, as an Elder.
The New Testament reveals that an overseer is an elder and that an elder is an overseer. In 5:1-3 Peter gives a word to the elders concerning the shepherding of the flock of God. What is the function of an overseer? The Greek word for overseer means one who oversees a particular condition or situation. This word seems to indicate someone above us who takes oversight concerning us and watches what we are doing. However, according to our experience, the Lord as the Overseer is One who cares for us. For Him to oversee us means that He takes care of us. As the Overseer, the Lord does not govern us or rule over us. Rather, He cares for us as a mother cares for her child. A mother oversees her child with the purpose of caring for the child. She wants to take care of every need. The same is true of Christ as our Overseer.
As we read 2:18-25, we see that Peter was very rich in experience. In this portion he speaks of grace, the writing- copy, the Savior, the Shepherd, and the Overseer. Christ is the life within us, and He is also the model for us to follow. If we live by Christ as our inward life, that is, by the indwelling Christ Himself, we shall undergo the process of spiritual xeroxing to become a reproduction of Christ. At the same time, we shall experience Him as the Savior saving us, as the Shepherd leading and guiding us, and as the Overseer caring for us. Oh, Peter’s experience was rich, and his writing is marvelous! May we all practice to enjoy Christ according to what is revealed in these verses. May we all enjoy Him as grace, as the model, and as the wonderful Savior, Shepherd, and Overseer.
