1 Peter: living hope in suffering

About the book

The letter opens, "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:1), and the writer calls himself "a witness of Christ's sufferings" (1 Peter 5:1). At the end he says he has written "Through Silvanus" (1 Peter 5:12), most likely the Silas who travelled with Paul. Many take Silvanus to have written down or shaped the letter; some think he carried it. Mark, who sends greetings (1 Peter 5:13), is usually taken to be the Mark whom Papias, early in the second century, called Peter's interpreter, who wrote down what Peter taught; Papias also quoted this letter Eusebius, Church History 3.39. Early in the fourth century Eusebius counted it among the books accepted everywhere Eusebius, Church History 3.25.

Greetings come from "The church in Babylon" (1 Peter 5:13). From early times the church understood Babylon here as a name for Rome, likened to the Babylon that once held God's people captive. With the tradition that Peter died a martyr in Rome under Nero, the traditional view dates the letter about 62–64, from Rome; the map under the Jesus tab sets it in the era of the church (c. AD 30–90). Its readers lived in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, in today's Turkey. Many were Gentiles, for "Once you were not a people" (1 Peter 2:10), and Peter calls them exiles because their home is with God.

Many scholars think the letter was written in Peter's name after his death: its Greek seems too smooth for a fisherman whom Acts calls one of the "unschooled, ordinary men" (Acts 4:13), calling Rome Babylon became common after the temple fell in AD 70, and some hear in its sufferings the persecutions of a later time. Others, among them evangelicals, who stress the authority of Scripture and the telling of the gospel, hold the traditional view: Silvanus' help explains the style, and the suffering the letter describes is the slander and scorn of neighbours, not a state persecution of a later age.

How it unfolds

Key passages

The letter begins with praise:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

1 Peter 1:3

This hope looks to an inheritance kept in heaven, so it brings joy even in trials: faith that has been tested is more precious than gold refined by fire (1 Peter 1:7). Exiles in the world, the believers are God's own people. What God said to Israel at Sinai (Exodus 19:6) is now said to those who trust in Christ:

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

1 Peter 2:9

Slandered by their neighbours, they do not repay evil with evil but do good, and they are to "Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope that is in you" (1 Peter 3:15), with gentleness and respect. Sharing the gospel, in the New Believers course, takes this up. At the end Peter writes, "Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7).

The book and Christ

Peter says that the Spirit of Christ in the prophets "predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow" (1 Peter 1:11). It is what the risen Lord taught on the road to Emmaus: the Christ had to suffer and then enter his glory (Luke 24:26). So in this letter the believer's suffering, too, leads to glory.

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. "By His stripes you are healed."

1 Peter 2:24

Peter reads Isaiah's suffering servant (Isaiah 53:5) as Jesus on the cross. As Matthew Henry puts it, "Christ's death was designed not only for an example of patience under sufferings, but he bore our sins" Matthew Henry. Peter, who had denied his Lord three times and wept, was given the charge "Feed My sheep" (John 21:17); now he urges the elders, "Be shepherds of God's flock" (1 Peter 5:2). He was himself a man restored by the grace of the Chief Shepherd.

Reading it

Its five chapters can be read at one sitting; begin with 1 Peter 1. Read 2:21-25 beside Isaiah 53. Mark where hope, suffering, glory and grace appear, and come back to the letter in a hard season. Then go on to 2 Peter.

Practice