01 Mar 2007 - 1 Peter 4:1-3

Thursday, March 1, 2007

Jesus, please use these next few moments to open my eyes to truth that
will change me a little bit more into your likeness. Amen

Today’s Scripture: 1 Peter 4:1-3

What do you see? How does “suffering in the flesh” eliminate sin?

This is a strange little text. Peter seems to suggest that suffering in
the flesh is the route to eradicating sin in a person (verse 1). Is he
saying that physical suffering unhinges our worldly passions and fixes
our intentions squarely upon following God’s will? If this were the
case, we might end up prescribing various forms of flagellation as
effective remedies for sinful habits. Some in history have adopted this
route. Maybe we should become people who aggressively pursue suffering
itself in hopes that it will fix us. Or maybe not.
Let’s look again. Peter has been talking about Christ’s suffering on the
cross (3:18) as that which has brought us to God. He will later say that
our baptism portrays the reality of Christ’s suffering and resurrection
cleansing our consciences (3:21). Then in Chapter 4 Peter will tell his
readers to so identify with the righteous suffering of Christ so as to
determine to live life the very same way Jesus faced death. In the
Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus resisted all the normal and natural signals
of His body (which, I am sure, were telling Him to run as fast as He
could away from the place!) Upon the cross, with His body so broken and
breath running shallow, the consuming essence of Jesus was His heroic,
loving obedience to the will of God.
To imitate Jesus the Sufferer is to live for God and reject sin of any
kind and at any level. The imitation of Jesus begins with His life story
being central in my imagination. My imagination feeds off of what I
read, watch, and muse on. I have opportunity this Lenten season to think
long and hard about the story of Jesus’ and His relentless journey to
the cross. As I do, I pray that my feet will itch to walk in such
magnificent footprints on the very ordinary path set before me here and now.

Jesus, teach me to suffer in Your suffering that I might live as You lived.

Jeff Reed,Hillside Covenant Church