1Pe 2:21 | KingComments | STEP | . After Peter showed you the authority relationship of you as resident of your country of residence toward the government, he now draws your attention to another authority relationship. He will now talk about the authority relationship between “servants” and “masters”. As the government as an organ of authority is a consequence of sin, so it is with the relationship of authority between ‘servants’ and their ‘masters’. There is also a distinction. The government is appointed by God as a judiciary authority ( ). Regarding the relation of a servant toward his master it is different. God never meant to make a man to be a servant of another man. However, God does not take away the consequences of sin, but gives instructions on how men, who confess their sin can live to His honor right in those consequences. Regarding slavery, God gives room for the slave to become free, should he have the opportunity to ( ). For the servant who has no opportunity for that God has something else. That servant gets a special opportunity, especially in his work as a servant, to show what it is to be a Christian. Although Peter speaks about ‘servants’ and not about slaves, the position of servants is similar to those of slaves. That becomes evident from the word ‘master’ that literally means ‘despot’, which implies that such a person has unlimited power and that he is the absolute ruler of his house. A servant belongs to the house management and he therefore has more contact with his master than other slaves. That only makes the danger to rebel or manipulate greater. Therefore Peter admonishes them here to submit to their masters with all respect. In order to prevent them from excuses he says in addition that this does not only apply to the “good and gentle” masters, but also to “those who are unreasonable”. It is not that hard to be submissive to a good and gentle master. But it takes a whole lot more to be submissive to a harsh master. For such masters the servants are nothing more than living tools that they have available for themselves, with whom they can deal according to their wishes. Especially when servants have an “unreasonable” master, they are in a position “to adorn the doctrine of God our Savior” ( ). You can apply what is said here about servants and masters to what we call today ‘employees’ and ‘employers’, although this comparison is only partially applicable. As it is already said, in the days of Peter a master was someone who had absolute power over his servant. He could do with him whatever he wanted, while the servant had no right or any opportunity to defend himself against it. Today there are numerous opportunities for an employee to defend himself against certain labor circumstances. He even has the right to strike. Nothing like this was possible in those days. The circumstances may have changed, but the principles that the Scripture brings forward here are still fully effective today. Therefore the believing employee ought not to use his right to strike. He is not appealed to strike, but to work. The pay he receives should not come from the strike fund, but should be earned by working for it ( ). Peter therefore does not speak about the rights of the servant, but about his duties and especially about his attitude toward his master. . When you are the submissive person in a relationship, while your superior is ‘unreasonable’ and treats you unjustly, you can adopt different attitudes. You can resist or endure this grief. You read here what God expects from you. It is said here that the injustice that is done to you, makes you sad. Therefore it is important that the injustice that is done to you does not make you obstinate. The attitude that adorns you as a Christian is bear up under sorrows. You bear up “for the sake of conscience toward God”, which means because you know what God expects of you. If you would respond otherwise, you would be defending your right, but at the same time go against your conscience. ‘Bear up under sorrows’ is foolish in the eye of the world, but God’s Word calls that “favor” when you are “suffering unjustly”. In this way you follow in the steps of the Lord Jesus Who endured in a perfect way. Isn’t it a great grace to be like Him? If you endure ‘grief’ it is a proof that God’s grace is at work in you. It gives you the opportunity to proclaim the excellencies of God as they became visible in Christ. . In case the servant would rebel, he would also have to face suffering, because his master would beat him. Then those whips would be his just reward, for rebellion is a sin. Even when a person suffers like that, he may be persistent in his attitude of rebelliousness and he may become even more rebellious than ever. That gives no credit to God. Such an attitude may be right for people who only think of their own rights and want to get their own way, people who have the idea they should defend themselves. Such an attitude is far away from the grace that God has for anyone who is aware that he is totally dependent on God and has no right to anything. It is a joy for God to connect Himself to you if you suffer like that, because it reminds Him of the suffering that His Son has endured. If you have a harsh employer, it is God’s training school for you to make you more like the Lord Jesus. Isn’t that what you also eagerly want? That is what God has in mind for you if He brings you in a situation where you suffer because of your conscience. . This suffering is an inseparable part of your normal life as a Christian. You do not take suffering as an inevitable and very unpleasant side effect that you would prefer to avoid. I heard about a committed Christian who had once been treated wrongfully, against which he rebelled. He came to a confession of this wrong response when an older sister asked him: ‘Is that all you’ve learned from Golgotha?’ In God’s Word the question comes to us: “Why not rather be wronged? ( )? To suffer injustice is not something you and I can do naturally. That is something we have to learn. The question is whether I want to and whether you want to. Suffering goes together with your call as a Christian. To know what endurance and suffering mean and how you can learn that, your eye is fixed on Christ. Only when suffering and enduring is related to Him, it is valuable and makes your heart happy, how great your suffering may be. Christ has suffered because He in no way gave in to the evil that is in the world and because He didn’t want anything more than going God’s way. The way He went through the world is an example for us. He did not sin by deeds nor by words because He was totally in the will of God and put all things in the hand of His Sender, of Whom He knew that He judges righteously. When it is written here that Christ has “suffered” as an “example” for us to follow, it is of course impossible to have any reference to His atoning and substitutionary suffering. We cannot follow in that. We read about the atoning and substitutionary suffering of Christ in . The suffering in which He is an example for you to follow, refers to His whole life before the cross. All the time of that life was ‘suffering’. He was living in a sinful atmosphere in an unclean world. He was tempted by satan. He was hated by men in return to His love for them. At the same time He went through this suffering “that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest” for you ( ), for He knows all trials from His own experience. In His whole way on earth you have an example that you can follow. If you do that, you fulfill your call. That is God’s purpose with your life. If you want to know how to follow the example of Christ, you couldn’t do better than study the Gospels diligently. There you see how the Lord has responded to all suffering that was done to Him in whatever way. The word ‘example’ was used as an indication for writing models that children had to copy, in order to learn to write and also for drawings from which they had to trace the lines. That’s how you should look at the Lord as an example to learn how to follow Him. Do not follow Him at a distance, like Peter once did, which caused him to deny his Lord ( ). You are only able to follow the example of Christ by walking closely behind Him. Then you will be able to follow in His steps. You see, as it were, the imprint of His footsteps in the sand and you put your feet in it. The more you fall behind, the more the imprint of His footsteps fades. If you walk closely behind Him, His example will remain clear and in that way you move with sure step toward the goal. Now read 1 Peter 2:18-21 again. Reflection: How can you follow the steps of Christ in your situation?

‏ 1 Peter 2:21

To Follow in the Steps of Christ

1Pet 2:18. After Peter showed you the authority relationship of you as resident of your country of residence toward the government, he now draws your attention to another authority relationship. He will now talk about the authority relationship between “servants” and “masters”. As the government as an organ of authority is a consequence of sin, so it is with the relationship of authority between ‘servants’ and their ‘masters’.

There is also a distinction. The government is appointed by God as a judiciary authority (Gen 9:1-6). Regarding the relation of a servant toward his master it is different. God never meant to make a man to be a servant of another man. However, God does not take away the consequences of sin, but gives instructions on how men, who confess their sin can live to His honor right in those consequences. Regarding slavery, God gives room for the slave to become free, should he have the opportunity to (1Cor 7:22). For the servant who has no opportunity for that God has something else. That servant gets a special opportunity, especially in his work as a servant, to show what it is to be a Christian.

Although Peter speaks about ‘servants’ and not about slaves, the position of servants is similar to those of slaves. That becomes evident from the word ‘master’ that literally means ‘despot’, which implies that such a person has unlimited power and that he is the absolute ruler of his house. A servant belongs to the house management and he therefore has more contact with his master than other slaves. That only makes the danger to rebel or manipulate greater. Therefore Peter admonishes them here to submit to their masters with all respect.

In order to prevent them from excuses he says in addition that this does not only apply to the “good and gentle” masters, but also to “those who are unreasonable”. It is not that hard to be submissive to a good and gentle master. But it takes a whole lot more to be submissive to a harsh master. For such masters the servants are nothing more than living tools that they have available for themselves, with whom they can deal according to their wishes. Especially when servants have an “unreasonable” master, they are in a position “to adorn the doctrine of God our Savior” (Tit 2:10).

You can apply what is said here about servants and masters to what we call today ‘employees’ and ‘employers’, although this comparison is only partially applicable. As it is already said, in the days of Peter a master was someone who had absolute power over his servant. He could do with him whatever he wanted, while the servant had no right or any opportunity to defend himself against it. Today there are numerous opportunities for an employee to defend himself against certain labor circumstances. He even has the right to strike. Nothing like this was possible in those days.

The circumstances may have changed, but the principles that the Scripture brings forward here are still fully effective today. Therefore the believing employee ought not to use his right to strike. He is not appealed to strike, but to work. The pay he receives should not come from the strike fund, but should be earned by working for it (2Thes 3:10). Peter therefore does not speak about the rights of the servant, but about his duties and especially about his attitude toward his master.

1Pet 2:19. When you are the submissive person in a relationship, while your superior is ‘unreasonable’ and treats you unjustly, you can adopt different attitudes. You can resist or endure this grief. You read here what God expects from you. It is said here that the injustice that is done to you, makes you sad. Therefore it is important that the injustice that is done to you does not make you obstinate. The attitude that adorns you as a Christian is bear up under sorrows.

You bear up “for the sake of conscience toward God”, which means because you know what God expects of you. If you would respond otherwise, you would be defending your right, but at the same time go against your conscience. ‘Bear up under sorrows’ is foolish in the eye of the world, but God’s Word calls that “favor” when you are “suffering unjustly”. In this way you follow in the steps of the Lord Jesus Who endured in a perfect way.

Isn’t it a great grace to be like Him? If you endure ‘grief’ it is a proof that God’s grace is at work in you. It gives you the opportunity to proclaim the excellencies of God as they became visible in Christ.

1Pet 2:20. In case the servant would rebel, he would also have to face suffering, because his master would beat him. Then those whips would be his just reward, for rebellion is a sin. Even when a person suffers like that, he may be persistent in his attitude of rebelliousness and he may become even more rebellious than ever. That gives no credit to God. Such an attitude may be right for people who only think of their own rights and want to get their own way, people who have the idea they should defend themselves.

Such an attitude is far away from the grace that God has for anyone who is aware that he is totally dependent on God and has no right to anything. It is a joy for God to connect Himself to you if you suffer like that, because it reminds Him of the suffering that His Son has endured. If you have a harsh employer, it is God’s training school for you to make you more like the Lord Jesus. Isn’t that what you also eagerly want? That is what God has in mind for you if He brings you in a situation where you suffer because of your conscience.

1Pet 2:21. This suffering is an inseparable part of your normal life as a Christian. You do not take suffering as an inevitable and very unpleasant side effect that you would prefer to avoid. I heard about a committed Christian who had once been treated wrongfully, against which he rebelled. He came to a confession of this wrong response when an older sister asked him: ‘Is that all you’ve learned from Golgotha?’ In God’s Word the question comes to us: “Why not rather be wronged? (1Cor 6:7)? To suffer injustice is not something you and I can do naturally. That is something we have to learn. The question is whether I want to and whether you want to.

Suffering goes together with your call as a Christian. To know what endurance and suffering mean and how you can learn that, your eye is fixed on Christ. Only when suffering and enduring is related to Him, it is valuable and makes your heart happy, how great your suffering may be. Christ has suffered because He in no way gave in to the evil that is in the world and because He didn’t want anything more than going God’s way. The way He went through the world is an example for us. He did not sin by deeds nor by words because He was totally in the will of God and put all things in the hand of His Sender, of Whom He knew that He judges righteously.

When it is written here that Christ has “suffered” as an “example” for us to follow, it is of course impossible to have any reference to His atoning and substitutionary suffering. We cannot follow in that. We read about the atoning and substitutionary suffering of Christ in 1Pet 2:24. The suffering in which He is an example for you to follow, refers to His whole life before the cross. All the time of that life was ‘suffering’.

He was living in a sinful atmosphere in an unclean world. He was tempted by satan. He was hated by men in return to His love for them. At the same time He went through this suffering “that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest” for you (Heb 2:17 ; Heb 4:15), for He knows all trials from His own experience. In His whole way on earth you have an example that you can follow. If you do that, you fulfill your call. That is God’s purpose with your life.

If you want to know how to follow the example of Christ, you couldn’t do better than study the Gospels diligently. There you see how the Lord has responded to all suffering that was done to Him in whatever way. The word ‘example’ was used as an indication for writing models that children had to copy, in order to learn to write and also for drawings from which they had to trace the lines. That’s how you should look at the Lord as an example to learn how to follow Him.

Do not follow Him at a distance, like Peter once did, which caused him to deny his Lord (Lk 22:54). You are only able to follow the example of Christ by walking closely behind Him. Then you will be able to follow in His steps. You see, as it were, the imprint of His footsteps in the sand and you put your feet in it. The more you fall behind, the more the imprint of His footsteps fades. If you walk closely behind Him, His example will remain clear and in that way you move with sure step toward the goal.

Now read 1 Peter 2:18-21 again.

Reflection: How can you follow the steps of Christ in your situation?