Commentary on First Peter (80)
First, Jesus was without sin. Verse 22 says, "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." The statement refers to his sinlessness in both speech and action, and thus covers all of life. He was completely innocent and righteous before God, so that the Father said of him, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). Hebrews 4:15 says that he was tempted in every way just as we are, yet he was without sin.
When the Jews put him on trial, intending to put him to death, they could not find any false evidence against him (Matthew 26:59). So they brought forward false witnesses (v. 60), but even then they could not get their statements to agree (Mark 14:56). They brought him before Pilate and cried, "Crucify him!" to which Pilate responded, "Why? What crime has he committed?" (Matthew 27:22-23). After he questioned Jesus, he concluded, "I find no basis for a charge against him" (John 18:38). But he perceived that "it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him" (Matthew 27:18). Even his wife knew that Jesus was innocent, and she warned, "Don't have anything to do with that innocent man."
Still, Jesus was treated as a criminal. At his execution, two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left (Matthew 27:38). When one of them hurled insults at Jesus, the other one rebuked him, and said, "Don't you fear God, since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong" (Luke 23:40-41). So this criminal testified to the innocence of Jesus and professed faith in him (v. 42-43).
This sinlessness of Christ accentuates the fact that, as far as his own speech and action were concerned, his suffering were undeserved and therefore unjust. He was, however, bearing our sins and our guilt, and therefore the punishment that these deserved was poured out upon him. But at this point, Peter's emphasis is that Jesus himself did not deserve the suffering that he had to endure.
Of course, although we have been made righteous through Christ, none of us are sinless in ourselves. So if absolute sinlessness is the example that we must follow, then we must give up before we even begin. However, Peter is making a point about a kind of suffering that is undeserved relative to those who persecute us. That is, we must see to it that the punishment we receive cannot be directly connected to something wrong that we have done. As he writes earlier in verse 20, "But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it?"
July 18 2006 | Expositions