Seeds for 06/21/2024 - 1 Peter 4:15-16
Scripture:
If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.
Observation:
Yesterday, Peter said that if we are insulted for being a Christian, we are blessed. Today, he addresses suffering—yet again. Peter assumes some sort of suffering on the part of Christians is the norm and not the exception.
In his culture of honor and shame (as opposed to guilt and innocence, to simplify), certain experiences brought shame upon a person and their family while others preserved, or maybe added, honor to that person and their family.
Peter tells us not to be ashamed if we suffer as a Christian. Suffering carried a stigma that brought shame. For being a murderer or a thief, we can see how shame would make sense. Suffering publicly due to punishment and exposure for one’s crimes brought with it stigma and shame, and understandably so.
In the cross, Jesus not only dealt with guilt by giving Himself as a sacrifice to take our place. He also dealt shame by subjecting Himself to the cross, a means of death that was designed for maximum shame and which aligned with the Old Testament’s curse upon someone hanged upon a tree. The NT letter to the Hebrews speaks to this.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
“Scorning its shame.”
The whole point of shame is to embarrass someone for their association. For Jesus, scorning the shame of the cross was putting His arms around the source of embarrassment and shame rather than pushing it away. Having done so, we now praise the name of the One whose honor as the King of Creation was not diminished by the cross, but which claimed the cross for His wonderful saving purpose.
We who are called by His name may now, through Him, scorn its shame too and live in victory and freedom.
Application:
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, your took my guilt and shame on the cross. Help me to live unashamed of the gospel that brings freedom, joy, and peace. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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