Following Jesus's Example

I Peter 2:19-25

How do you respond when you’ve been unfairly attacked or mistreated?  If you’re like most people, including myself, you want to get back at the person and get even.  Hurt them as bad as they hurt you, maybe even worse.  However, this is not the way that God would have us respond, and that is what our Scripture lesson for today is about.

The people to whom the Apostle Peter was writing to were experiencing persecution for their faith, unjust persecution, and he wrote to give them encouragement during this difficult time.  Some of you who read this may live in countries where it is very difficult to be a Christian, and openly showing your faith may bring some significant persecution.  For other Christians, the persecution might not be so open and obvious.  We may get picked on by our boss, or our unsaved family members or neighbors may mock us.  In either case, Peter gives us an example to look to for how to respond.

Peter starts off saying to make sure that any attacks or mistreatment aren’t justly deserved (vs. 19-20).  If we get a ticket for speeding, or our boss calls us in for sleeping on the job, don’t plot revenge or start complaining of being persecuted.  On the other hand, if we suffer for doing what is right, for being a Christian and living for Him, we will please the Lord if our response is appropriate.  He will bless faithfulness.  Be patient and don’t complain or try and retaliate.  He will reward us in due time.  Believers will find favor with God if they are treated unjustly for His sake and they accept it in faith, rather than responding in anger or revenge.

Look to Jesus.  He is the example to follow, by emulating how He responded when He was treated unjustly (vs. 21 - 24).  What had Jesus done to deserve the brutal treatment He was getting?  Nothing!  Unjustly arrested in the middle of the night, hauled before an unfair court where His sentence had already been decided.  Jesus was slapped and punched.  Then handed over to be brutally scourged, forced to carry His cross out of town, and then crucified.  He had done nothing wrong, and how did He respond?  Jesus could have called on legions of angels to come and set Him free, and to destroy those Jewish religious leaders and Romans, but He didn’t.  He suffered for our sake to set us free from sin’s bondage.  Jesus never complained.  He committed Himself to God (vs. 23).  When we commit something to someone, we are turning it over to them, trusting that they will keep it safe.  That’s what Jesus did.  He had perfect trust that God was sovereign.

When we might sometimes face unjust trials, whether large-scale persecution, or only mocking or snide remarks, we need to follow Jesus’ example.  Face the suffering with patience and calmness, being confident that God is in control.  Jesus suffered and died for our salvation, and now, we as Christians, should be dead to sin and live for righteousness.  We are to live by His example, and follow in His footsteps.

Little children often like to be just like their parents.  Sometimes they will even play dress-up, putting on their parents oversized clothes and shoes.  They want to be just like mommy and daddy, following their example.  I live in the north, where we get snow, sometimes rather deep, every winter.  Before sidewalks and streets are shoveled, a parent might go out, making footprints in the snow, and then instruct their child to step into the footprints they have made.  They are to follow in his steps.  That is what we are to do with Jesus (vs. 21).  He has gone before us, giving us an example to follow.  We are to follow in his steps.