1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.
Peter returns to the example of Christ who has been in the background of his thinking in this whole letter. He connects the suffering of his readers to the suffering of Christ. The example that Jesus set was to suffer as an innocent man for the sins of guilty humanity. This is one of the key verses in the New Testament about the concept of the atonement. The atonement is how God through Christ brings about his plan of salvation for humanity. This is one of the richest and deepest ideas in Christian theology. First, Peter notes how Jesus suffered for doing good. He was totally righteous, without sin. He was innocent yet suffered to the point of death. Likewise, we as believers may also suffer for being righteous. Jesus’ suffering had a purpose: to redeem us from sin and bring us to God. He was righteous in all ways but suffered as a sinner in order to open the way for us to go to God. These rich themes are found throughout the New Testament in numerous passages. The goal of Jesus’ suffering is the restoration of relationship between us and God.
Jesus suffered physically. This is a historical fact that is the bedrock of Christian theology. Theology is not based on theory or abstract ideas but on the reality of Jesus’ physical death on the cross. The last phrase, “make alive in the Spirit,” is a bit challenging. Jesus’ resurrection was physical, but it was much deeper. Jesus’ resurrected body was beyond the material world but yet part of it. He could walk through walls, but people could touch him. Paul the Apostle reflected on this in 1 Corinthians 15 about how we will be changed into Jesus’ resurrected likeness. We will have bodies, but they will be spiritual in nature. Paul also calls this a mystery; we do not know what this will be like.
Jesus’ suffering on the cross has significant impact on us in various ways. First and foremost, we are brought to God in reconciliation, redemption, and forgiveness. Second, we are given a model for how we can endure our own suffering. Since Jesus willingly suffered wrong in order to help others, we too may face suffering in order to witness to others of God’s salvation.
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