First Epistle of Peter
OUR GREAT SUBSTITUTE
Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 2:24 (KJV)
In this verse, we have Christ both as substitute and example. As we noted in connection with verse 21, He must first be one's substitute before He is one's example. He is substitute in the first part of the verse, "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree", then He is our example, "that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness". Then again He is substitute, "By whose stripes ye were healed".
"Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree"
Notice the word "own" twice here. "His own self...in His own body". When we think of His majesty, and His greatness, and His holiness, and the fact that He was "God manifest in the flesh" we marvel that He was willing to do this for us. Then when we think of our insignificance, our sinfulness, and our general unworthiness, we again wonder that He was willing to die for us.
This would tell us, that this offering of His was entirely voluntary. No one forced Him to do it. It might have seemed as though it was man leading Him and nailing Him there, but apart from His will, they never could have done it. When Peter cut off the ear of the high priest's servant, He tells him to put up his sword into his sheath. "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?" (Matt. 26:53, 54).
But none other could bear our sins. God would not, in righteousness, punish any but man for man's sins. It would not be right to punish a neighbor's dog for the neighbor's wrong doing. So it would not be right to punish angels for man's sins. But where could a man be found who could bear man's sins. Every man born, from Adam to the present day, excepting Christ, has sinned. No one could die for another as long as he had sins of his own to die for.
Supposing two men were partners in crime. The one was apprehended, and sentenced to prison. The second one came around and said, "Let me go to jail in his place". The judge would say, "Oh, no, you were a party to the crime, so you both go to jail". We read in Psalm 49:7, "None can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him". This is because all have sinned.
The Lord Jesus had to become man, so he could bear the sins of man. He was both very God and very man. If He had been only man, He would have been sinful. He had to be God to be sinless, and man, to bear man's sins. This is why the doctrine of the Virgin birth is so important. If Joseph had been His father, instead of the Spirit of God, He would have been an ordinary sinful, mortal, and could not have been our Savior. However, Mary must needs be His mother in order that He be man, and so He could die for man's sins.
"bare our sins in His own body"
The word "bare" is a term used in connection with sacrifice. The priest carried up the sacrifice onto the altar. So Christ bore up or carried up our sins onto the cross. The sacrifice was often heavy, and it was a struggle for the priest to get it up the incline and onto the altar. So Christ carried up our sins on the cross, and it was a heavy load for Him to bear. The load of it caused Him to sweat great drops of blood in the garden of Gethsemane. But He was willing to bear it, that He might save poor lost sinners like you and me. We deserved judgment because of our sins, but praise His name, He took our place. "For He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Cor. 5:21). In our verse, Peter uses the language of Isaiah 53:11 and 12. In the eleventh verse, we have the expression, "For he shall bear their iniquities", and in the 12th, "He bare the sin of many".
"on the tree"
This refers to the cross. Five times in the New Testament the cross is referred to as a tree. Some think this is stated for the following reason: that Christ was crucified on a tree and He carried only the cross bar up Golgotha's hill. Perhaps, since the cross was made of wood from a tree, it was called a tree. Some think the cross was a pole with a cross bar, but there is no word translated "pole" in the New Testament. They may not have had a distinctive word for it in the Greek language.
To be hanged on a tree was considered an accursed death. In Deuteronomy 21:22 and 23 we read, "And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he is to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in anywise bury him that day (for he that is hanged is accursed of God)." Christ hanged upon a tree died a death that to a Jew was accursed.
The Romans reserved this death for only the vilest offenders, mostly for slaves, or the lowest class people; and this is the death man deemed our Lord Jesus to be worthy of. How absolutely opposite to the Lord are the thoughts of men. However, it was necessary that He suffer this kind of death. He had to go very low in order to reach those who were very low. He had to become a curse in order to redeem those who were under the curse. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree" (Gal. 3:13).
It was on the cross that He bore our sins. Some have taught that His whole life was a part of the atonement. His whole life and His sufferings up to the cross were to prove that He was one suitable to be the Lamb of God. The sacrifices of the Old Testament were not efficacious until they were on the altar, and so the work of Christ had no sacrificial value to us until He was on the cross.
"that we, being dead to sin"
Here Christ is our example. He died for sin; we should be dead to sin. This does not mean sinless perfection, but it does mean sins should not have dominion over us. We were slaves to sin, but when we trusted and obeyed Christ and became new creatures, we died to our masters. We may fall into sin, but it does not dominate us. The love for sin is gone. A Christian is likened unto a sheep. A sheep hates the mud. He may fall into it, but struggles and bleats until he gets out. Before we were born again, we were like the pig. He loves the mud. You may be able to keep him out of it, but he will run into it the first chance he gets. The Christian's appetite for sin is gone; he is dead to it.
"live unto righteousness"
This is not the righteousness that a Christian has imparted unto him when he is born again. It is the practical righteous life that a Christian lives. Christians have their faults, but as a whole they should live lives which far surpass the lives lived by the unsaved. Christ lived the perfectly righteous life. He always did the right thing. He is our pattern. Our copy will not be as good as the original, but it should be something like it. In this may we follow His steps.
"by whose stripes ye were healed"
Here again, Christ is our substitute. It is interesting to note that when Paul speaks of the cross, it is usually in connection with the death of Christ. When Peter brings in the cross he usually brings in the sufferings of Christ. No doubt this is because Peter personally saw Christ go through those sufferings, but Paul did not.
These stripes of the Lord were terrible. They used a whip with a number of leather thongs. On the end of each thong was tied a piece of sharp metal or bone. These thongs would leave an awful welt as they wrapped around the body, the ends leaving a wicked gash as they penetrated the flesh. Sometimes these whips would lay bare the veins and even the bones and bowels of the poor victim. It was a punishment often inflicted on slaves. Perhaps some of the slaves Peter's message would come to suffered thus. They were to bear their punishment even as Christ bore His. This would be a great consolation to these slaves to know that Christ suffered even as they suffered. It certainly would ease the gall of their suffering. Perhaps this is what Peter had in mind when he said, "By whose stripes ye were healed."
Some have tried to make from this that there is healing in the atonement. If healing was in the atonement, much that Peter wrote would be needless. He writes primarily to those who were suffering. He nowhere tells them to put faith and obedience in Christ and their suffering would be over. But rather, he exhorts them to endure suffering patiently. There are other things to be healed from besides sickness and suffering. We can be healed from care, heartache, etc., also from sin. His suffering and death certainly cures us from wickedness. When we see what awful things He went through for us to pay for our sins, we have no more love for sin.
Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 2:25 (KJV)
"For ye were as sheep going astray"
It would seem here Peter is thinking again of Isaiah 53, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all" (v. 6). It is a well-known fact that sheep easily stray, but seldom find their way back again. Then if one goes astray, others are apt to follow.
A teacher asked Johnny, "Johnny, if your father had ten sheep and one of them crawled through a hole in the fence and was lost, how many would he have left?" Johnny answered, "None". "O no Johnny, maybe you do not understand the question," and she repeated it. Again the answer came back, "None". "Johnny, you do not seem to know your arithmetic." "Well", said Johnny, "Maybe I do not know my arithmetic, but I do know sheep. If my father had ten sheep and one crawled through a hole in the fence, and was lost, the other nine would follow him."
This is just what happened with the human race. Adam and Eve sinned and went astray and all humanity strayed after them. So all are lost by sin and our tendency is to wander farther and farther away from God. Only as the Good Shepherd goes out after them will they be returned to their proper fold.
"but are now returned"
"Returned" is the same word often translated "converted". It means to be turned about. It is the same word Christ used to Peter when He said, "And when thou are converted, strengthen thy brethren" (Luke 22:32). Peter was soon to deny the Lord and act shamefully, and the Lord meant when he was restored (turned about) he was to strengthen his brethren. This word in Luke 22:32 does not mean conversation to Christ in salvation, but that is what it does mean in our verse (1 Pet. 2:25). We were going astray, but we have been converted to Christ.
"unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls"
There are under-shepherds, but Christ is "The Shepherd". Wise under-shepherds will lead souls to Christ and gather them around Him. Too often under-shepherds are faithless and gather sheep around themselves. This could the reason for most of the divisions within the religious world.
The word "Bishop" merely means "overseer". It is the same as "elder". Elder is the man overseeing the work. Christ is both the "overseerer" and the "elder". He is everything. There are many elders, but He is "The Elder" or "Bishop".
There are three nice things said of David and the sheep. In 1 Samuel 16:11 it says, "He keepeth the sheep". In 1 Samuel 16:19 it says of him, "Which is with the sheep"; and then in 1
Samuel 17:15, "But David went and returned to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem". Keep the sheep, with the sheep and feed the sheep are the three important works of the shepherd. All these things the Lord Jesus does for His sheep. David, in order to keep the sheep had to kill a lion and a bear. David risked his life for the sheep.
The Lord Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep" (John 10:11). He not only saves but He keeps. "With the sheep" speaks of companionship. The eastern shepherds are with the sheep night and day. Our Lord Jesus is with us at all times. He said, "Lo, I am with you alway" (Matt. 28:20). And He is a real companion too. "Feedeth the sheep" speaks of His provision for us. A good shepherd will always provide the best pasture for his sheep. Our Lord Jesus provides us with every needful thing. Our green pasture is the Word of God. There is food there for all our need, but we must feed upon it. The 23rd Psalm is a wonderful commentary on our shepherd and His care for His sheep. He is a very good Shepherd, may we be good sheep.
