Commentary on First Peter (122)

1 PETER 4:12-19
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 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. For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, "If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?" So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

Since we have been quite thorough in dealing with Peter's letter, most of the ideas in the current passage have already been discussed in some way. We will, therefore, permit ourselves to be brief.

Whereas for generations the Jews had been subjected to persecution in the forms of ridicule, exile, subjugation, and even slaughter, Peter's readers, among whom are many Gentiles Christians, have never been part of a religious or cultural minority. So at first the hostile reactions against their conversion to Christianity might shock and alarm them (v. 12). But Peter tells them that they should not find anything strange with it. In fact, this is the kind of repercussions that we ought to expect.

As Jesus says in John 15, "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you" (v. 18-19). Non-Christians hate Christians because non-Christians hate Christ. Christians follow Christ and identify with him; therefore, non-Christians hate Christians also.

And why do non-Christians hate Christ? It is because, as John 3:20 says, "Everyone who does evil hates the light." Or, as 1 John 3:12 says, Cain murdered his brother "because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous." In other words, non-Christians hate Christ and Christians, not because there is something wrong with us (4:4), but because there is something wrong with them. It is not because Christians are antisocial, treasonous, subversive, and so on, but it is because non-Christians are evil people. Therefore, John says, "Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you" (1 John 3:13).

Peter applies this line of thinking in verse 13: "But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed." As Christians, we are condemned by association in the eyes of unbelievers – that is, by our association with Christ, the real object of their hatred – and so the world persecute us. But how overjoyed we are, when we realize that what happens to us is because of our association with Christ (Acts 5:41)! The reason for their persecution, and the reason for our suffering, is also the reason for our rejoicing. Moreover, not only are we identified with him in suffering and humiliation, but we shall also be identified with him "when his glory is revealed" (also Romans 8:17).

Now, "If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you" (v. 14). The impact of the verse relies on one's appreciation of the blessing specified here. The "glory" is most likely an allusion to the Shekinah, or the glory cloud of divine power and presence. It is the most valuable blessing that any man could hope for. And to have divine glory rests of a person, well, one wonders if even heaven could get any better, since this glory is the very presence of the Most High.

However, Peter does not say that such a blessing belongs to all those who are insulted, or even to those Christians who are insulted, but only to those who are insulted because of the name of Christ. He has already made the point earlier (2:20, 3:17), but here he says it again: "If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler" (v. 15).

The fact that he repeats and expands on the issue indicates a serious concern. It is the erroneous notion that all the things that a person suffers is automatically unjust suffering and pleasing before God just because he calls himself a Christian. But there is no divine glory when one suffers for wrongdoing. That is called justice, not persecution. Peter is warning against a kind of victim mentality that considers oneself the one who is being wronged no matter what, just because this person belongs to a particular group.