the first letter of Peter his name was
Shimon or Simon when he first became a
follower of Jesus and he was part of the
inner circle of the twelve disciples
when he made his confession that Jesus
was the Messiah
Jesus changed his name to chaos which is
Aramaic for rock which was later
translated into Greek as Petros or Peter
jesus promised that he would become a
leader among the Apostles to guide the
Messianic community in Jerusalem through
its earliest years and that's what
happened remember the early chapters of
the book of Acts eventually Peter was
called to carry the good news of Jesus
beyond the borders of Israel however and
this letter was written decades into
that mission in the wider Roman world we
discover at the conclusion of this
letter that Peter is in Rome which he
calls Babylon and we learned that while
Peter commissioned the letter it was
actually composed by a man named
Sylvanas who was a co-worker of Peter
this was a circular letter sent to
multiple church communities in the Roman
province of Asia Minor which is in
modern-day Turkey and Peter learned that
these mostly non-jewish Christians were
persecuted they were facing hostility
and harassment from their Greek and
Roman neighbors and so Peter wrote to
encourage them in the midst of their
suffering and this helps explain the
letters design and its main themes it
opens with the greeting and then it
moves into a poetic song of praise to
God which introduces the key themes that
are explored in the main body of the
letter where he first affirms the new
family identity of these persecuted
Christians which will help them see
their suffering as a way to bear witness
to Jesus and this has a way of focusing
their future hopes on the return of
Jesus let's dive in you'll just see how
all the pieces work together so Peter
opened by greeting these churches as the
chosen people of God who are exiled
around the world now Peter makes clear
throughout the letter that these
Christians he's writing to are Gentiles
but here he describes them with phrases
from the Old Testament that described
how God chose the people of Israel the
family of Abraham who was himself in
exile and wanderer this is a key
strategy that Peter repeats through the
whole letter he wants these suffering
non-jewish Christians to see that
through Jesus they now belong to the
family of Abraham and so they're
wandering exile just like him
misunderstood they're mistreated and
they're
for their true home in the promised land
Peter continues this idea in the opening
song he praises God for causing people
to be born again into a Living Hope
through Jesus's resurrection in the
power of the Spirit God's inviting all
people into a new family centered around
Jesus a family that has a new identity
as God's beloved children and who have a
new hope of a world reborn by God's love
when Jesus returned as king and for
people who have this hope suffering a
persecution is actually a strange gift
because it burns away false hopes and
distractions like a purifying fire and
it reminds us of our true home and hope
and so paradoxically life's hardships
actually deepen our faith they make it
more genuine from here Peters going to
move on into the body of the letter but
he's going to explore all these ideas in
greater depth so he first develops the
theme about the new family identity of
God's people
he takes even more memorable Old
Testament images about the family of
Israel and then he applies them to these
Gentile Christians so like the
Israelites who left Egypt they too are
to gird up their loins and leave behind
their former way of life on the way to a
new future so they are the holy people
of God now who are journeying through
the wilderness they are the people of
the new Exodus who have been redeemed by
the blood of Jesus who's the ultimate
Passover lamb they are the people of the
New Covenant who have God's Word buried
deep inside them restoring their hearts
and renewing their minds they are the
new temple built on the foundation of
Jesus himself and they're the new
kingdom of priests who are serving God
as his representatives to the nation's
now by applying all of these amazing
images to these persecuted Gentile
Christians Peter is placing their
suffering within a brand new story and
this leads into the next section their
persecution can actually help bring
clarity to their mission in the world to
bear witness to God's mercy among the
nations
so Peter first encourages them to submit
to Roman rule even if it's oppressive
yes he acknowledges their persecution
their suffering is unjust but violent
resistance solves nothing not to mention
that it betrays the teachings of Jesus
who loved his enemies instead of killing
them Peter then specific
highlights the very difficult situation
that Christian slaves and wives faced
when they lived in Roman households
where the patriarch did not follow Jesus
the problem was that it was expected
that everyone in the household would
submit to and worship the patriarchs
gods and so Peters aware that giving
allegiance to Jesus will generate
suspicion so Peter says it's true all
Christians including Roman wives and
slaves have been fully liberated by
Jesus but they are to demonstrate that
freedom not through rebellion but by
resisting evil the same way Jesus did
through showing love and generosity to
your enemies and in homes where the
husband is also a Christian it's a
different story
they are to treat their wives totally
different from the Roman neighbors
regarding them as equals before God who
are worthy of honor and respect and
Peter's hopeful that this imitation of
Jesus's love and upside down Kingdom
will give power to their words as they
bear witness to God's mercy and show
people the beautiful truth about the way
of Jesus but Peters also a realist
he knows that Christians will continue
to be persecuted and so he reminds them
of their future vindication he recalls
how Jesus himself was unfairly
persecuted and murdered by corrupt human
powers but in reality he was dying for
the sins of his enemies and afterward he
was vindicated and given resurrection
life by the spirit and now Jesus is
exalted as king over all human and
spiritual powers then Peter shows how
baptism points to the vindication of
Jesus's followers so like Noah they've
been saved through the waters not as a
magic ritual but as a sacred symbol that
shows their change of heart their desire
to be joined to Jesus in his death and
his resurrection and so now even if they
are murdered for following Jesus their
hope is in future vindication and
exaltation alongside their king which
leads Peter into the final movement he
recalls Jesus's words that his disciples
should consider it an honor and joy to
be persecuted just like he was Peter
then calls on church leaders to care for
these suffering Christians and to show
the same kind of servant leadership that
Jesus did to his followers and finally
Peter reminds these Christians about the
real enemy that they are facing this
hostility isn't simply cultural or even
political there are dark forces of
spiritual evil at work inspiring hatred
and violence and they are to resist this
evil by staying faithful to Jesus and
his teachings and by anticipating his
return and ultimate victory over such
evil
Peter concludes with a prayer for divine
strength and he sends a greeting from
the church in Rome which he calls
Babylon now this is cool Peter's
adopting here the tradition of the Old
Testament prophets for whom the name
Babylon became an archetype for any and
every corrupt nation and so Rome has
become the new Babylon and its empire is
where God's people are now exiled from
their true home in the renewed creation
Peter's first letter is a powerful
reminder of Christian hope in the midst
of suffering God's people have been a
misunderstood minority from the very
beginning and they should expect to face
hostility because they've chosen to live
under the rule of a different King Jesus
however persecution can become a strange
gift to the church because it offers a
chance to show others the surprising
generosity and love of Jesus which is
fueled by the hope of his return and
that's what first Peter is all about