This letter, and the next 5 we will read, are named for the author, not for the recipient. So this is the first letter FROM Peter. (James was like that, too.) His letter, like the one from James, is to Jewish Christians who are living abroad.
Peter begins with his main theme, which is the importance of Jesus’ resurrection. It is by the power of the resurrection that believers have any hope in the future, in salvation, in eternal life. Also like James, Peter encourages his readers to persevere in trials, because by this their faith is tested and proven. He reminds them that God has called them to be holy, to do good works, and that they are redeemed and saved by the blood of Jesus.
Peter quotes several Old Testament verses referring to Jesus--He was the stone the builders (the Pharisees) rejected, but He has become the Cornerstone of our faith. Peter also, like the writer of Hebrews, calls the believers a royal priesthood. Hebrews established that Jesus was the Great High Priest, but Peter reminds us that we can go directly to God with our requests and repentance without having to go through a priest.
Next, Peter speaks to the women of the church, as Paul had in letters to Titus and Timothy. Our beauty comes from knowing God, and our gentle quiet spirits, Peter writes. I admit, I am still working on that gentle, quiet spirit bit! Then Peter speaks to the husbands, reminding them that their wives are “a weaker vessel” (3:7, KJV). For a long time, this phrase got on my nerves. Weaker vessel! Bah! I can pray, I can study the Bible, I’m not weaker than my husband. But, really, I am. He can lift my bicycle up and put it in the car, and I can’t. He walks faster than I do. Sometimes I even have to get him to open jars. Sigh--I am the weaker vessel. But that does not make me less valuable. I know that. He knows that. And Peter knew that. He was married, remember? Jesus healed his mother-in-law, and if he had one of those he must have had a wife. Notice what Peter says in the REST of that verse: a wife is “a fellow heir of the grace of life.” Fellow. Equal. Just not able to open pickle jars.
All in all, Peter says that we are to life righteously, doing good and obeying God, “always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence” (3:15). This is the same as “speaking the truth in love” from Ephesians 4:15. We are to live this way even in the face of persecution and insults, for this is what Jesus did. (Very Important Note: This refers to persecution because of our faith, not abusive relationships.)
Finally, Peter reminds his friends, and us, to cast “all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you” (5:7). Peter has spent an entire chapter to the topic of believer’s behavior under persecution, so he finishes his letter by reminding his readers that “after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you” (5:10).
He ends, as do so many letters, with a blessing of peace. God be with you.
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