ZONDERVAN ACADEMIC

1 Peter

Copyright © 1989 by Word, Incorporated

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

ePub Edition © June 2020: ISBN 978-0-310-11489-5

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Michaels, J. Ramsey.

1 Peter: J. Ramsey Michaels.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical reference.

ISBN 978-0-849-90788-3

1. Bible. N.T. Peter, 1st—Criticism, interpretation, etc. I. Title. II Title: First Peter. III. Series.

BS2795.2.M53 1989

227’.9206—dc20

89–37586

Quotations from the Scriptures in this volume are the author’s own translation unless otherwise indicated.

Any internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 /LSC/ 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To my colleagues in Religious Studies at Southwest Missouri State University, with gratitude, affection, and respect.

CONTENTS

Foreword

Preface

1. The Author and Readers of 1 Peter

The apostle and his letter

Peter, rock and shepherd

The original readers of the letter

2. The Past: Claiming a Heritage

The book

The stories

Sarah

Noah

The martyrs

Prophets and angels

The Messiah

3. The Present: Living in a Hostile Society

The ‘fiery ordeal’

The troublemakers

The state

The household

Slaves and slaveowners

Wives and husbands

4. From Present to Future

Following Jesus Christ

Sharing Christ’s suffering

The cross as example

The cross as redemption

Sharing Christ’s victory

Victory over death: The resurrection of Jesus

Victory over demons: The journey to heaven

Ministering in the family of God

Ministry in the household

Ministry in the congregation

Mutual ministries

The ministry of elders

5. The Future: When Faith Becomes Sight

The revelation

Inexpressible joy

6. Conclusion: The Message of 1 Peter Today

Notes

Index of Scriptures

FOREWORD

Finding the great themes of the books of the Bible is essential to the study of God’s Word and to the preaching and teaching of its truths. These themes and ideas are often like precious gems: they lie beneath the surface and can only be discovered with some difficulty. Commentaries are most useful to this discovery process, but they are not usually designed to help the reader to trace important subjects systematically within a given book of Scripture.

This series, Word Biblical Themes, addresses this need by bringing together, within a few pages, all of what is contained in a biblical book on the subjects that are thought to be most significant to that book. A companion series to the Word Biblical Commentary, this series distills the theological essence of a book of Scripture as interpreted in the more technical series and serves it up in ways that will enrich the preaching, teaching, worship, and discipleship of God’s people.

The New Testament document known as 1 Peter claims a distinctive place in the library of the church’s canon. It represents an attractive and insightful bid to describe what the Christian life is meant to be in times of stress. Its theology is practical and down-to-earth; its tone and temper is that of applied Christianity.

For this reason, above all, it makes a special appeal to the preacher and Bible class teacher. Many congregations and study groups will respond positively to the exposition of this letter, with contemporary relevance not far to seek.

Professor J. Ramsey Michaels has already put the scholarly world in his debt by his thorough and suggestive commentary in the Word Biblical Commentary series. Now he offers a fresh range of insights and suggestions designed to stimulate further reflection and to assist pastors and teachers along with their groups in the understanding of this short, fascinating epistle.

This book is brimful of ideas and hints, based on a careful study of the setting of 1 Peter, intended to make the letter meaningful in today’s church and world.

Ralph P. Martin

Department of Biblical Studies

The University of Sheffield

PREFACE

Many years ago one of my students remarked enthusiastically that he considered the first epistle of Peter a real potboiler. I did not have the heart to correct him. In fact, since he was British, I assumed he must have known of some obscure secondary meaning of the term potboiler that was unfamiliar to me. Because he is now a distinguished colleague teaching in an overseas seminary, he shall remain nameless.

As I reflected on my friend’s misuse of words, I realized that the term potboiler actually does evoke some of the true characteristics of 1 Peter. I presume my friend was trying to tell me that he found 1 Peter packed or loaded with meaning and rich, powerful insights into the work of Christ and the responsibilities of Christian believers—like a pot boiling over. If that is what he meant, he was not far off the mark. The imagery was there even though the word was not quite right.

My own study of 1 Peter over the years, both devotional and scholarly, has only deepened my sense of wonder at the richness of this brief letter attributed to the prince of Apostles. It was a rare privilege for me, therefore, to contribute a volume on 1 Peter to the Word Biblical Commentary series (1988). The completion of the project has not diminished my fascination with this letter, nor has familiarity dampened my appreciation of its unique testimony to Christ and Christian living. O n the contrary, it has increased them immeasurably. Now I am grateful to Ralph Martin and Word Publishing for the opportunity to highlight some major themes of 1 Peter for a somewhat wider audience in the present volume.

1 Peter is seldom listed among the major witnesses of the New Testament. It has not received the scholarly attention given to Paul—what is one short letter weighed against a dozen?—nor the attention given to any of the Gospels, or the Book of Acts, or even the Book of Revelation. It has never challenged the great preachers of the church in quite the same way that the letter to the Romans or the Gospel of John challenged them. This is surprising in view of the fact that its author is supposed to have been the one to whom Jesus gave the keys of the kingdom of heaven and the promise that whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Matt 16:19).

One reason for the comparative neglect of 1 Peter in the church and in the academy is its brevity, and another is its association with 2 Peter, which is almost certainly not the work of the Apostle Peter but the product of the next generation in the development of the ancient church. Doubtless some of the uncertainty about the authorship of 2 Peter has rubbed off on 1 Peter in the eyes of scholars. And as long as the need exists to interpret 1 and 2 Peter under a common rubric, the distinctiveness of each is to some degree going to be lost. Once 1 Peter is separated from 2 Peter and Jude, and from the broad miscellaneous category of Catholic Epistles or General Epistles, so as to be appreciated in its own right as a unique witness to Jesus Christ, its stock rises.

This is precisely what has happened, by editorial decision, in the Word Biblical Commentary and Word Biblical Themes series. For example, 1 and 2 Corinthians were put together in a single volume in the themes series (though not of course in the commentary) because their themes and the situations they presupposed were intertwined. This is not the case with 1 and 2 Peter, and the editors wisely decided (despite their brevity) to keep them separate in both series. For this, readers have every reason to be grateful.

There is no one correct way to bring out the major themes of even a short letter such as 1 Peter. From a purely theological standpoint, it can be done in relation to the Trinity—God, Christ, and the Spirit—as I attempted to do in the last few pages of the introduction to the commentary (pp. lxvii-lxxv). In the present volume I have chosen instead to set forth the perspective of 1 Peter on the past, the present, and the future of the people of God, with special attention to the transition from present to future. For this idea (though not for its application to 1 Peter) I am indebted to Bruce J. Malina, whose thought-provoking article, Christ and Time: Swiss or Mediterranean? appeared in the Catholic Biblical Quarterly in January 1989.

I have also made generous use, where appropriate, of the thoughts and language of Christian poets and literary figures, among them Gerard Manley Hopkins, Gilbert K. Chesterton, Flannery O’Connor, C. S. Lewis, and Amos Wilder, and of die language of certain familiar hymns and gospel songs. I have learned through the years that the books of the New Testament are not only full of words but of music as well. The tools of biblical exegesis help us to get the words right, but if we want to hear the Word of God in all its power and fullness we must listen to the music. Few New Testament books are richer in their music than 1 Peter, and sometimes the writers and poets can help us hear notes we might otherwise miss.

If the wording of my quotations from 1 Peter seems unfamiliar, it is because I am using my own translation from the commentary. The reader will not go far wrong, however, with the

RSV

or the

NIV

. Comparison with the translation used in this volume may even be illuminating. At 1 Pet 4:14, however, the longer text followed by the King James Version is to be preferred over all the rest. Those who are looking for bibliography, or for discussions of alternative views on various questions of interpretation in 1 Peter will not find such information here. For this, they are referred to the commentary. The information explosion in biblical studies is such that even there only a sampling is possible.

It is my hope that this modest volume might contribute in its way to the renewal of the Christian church in our time. Whether it does or not depends on whether it falls into the hands of someone who will catch the spirit—not of this book, to be sure, but of 1 Peter itself—and help bring to realization Peter’s vision of what it means to be the people of God in a world and a culture still far from God, the Father of Jesus Christ our Lord.

1

THE AUTHOR AND READERS OF 1 PETER

The apostle and his letter

A quick survey of all the letters contained in the New Testament gives the impression that Paul had something close to a copyright on the title, apostle of Jesus Christ [or Christ Jesus].