Peter Misselbrook's Blog
Aug 12 2020 - 1 Peter 1:1-12 – A living hope

Put yourself for a moment in the shoes (or sandals) of the apostle Peter. He had been called from his work as a fisherman by a remarkable teacher who had promised to make him a fisher of men. He had abandoned his means of living to follow Jesus and learn from him. For three years he had listened to his teaching and had seen his miracles. More than that, he had walked on water to meet Jesus. He had been sent out with other disciples to heal the sick, cast out demons and to preach good news to the poor. He had tasted the presence and power of the kingdom of God. When the crowds had been offended at Jesus’ teaching and had turned back from following him, Peter had not deserted Jesus, for no one but Jesus had the words of eternal life. Peter had come to believe and confess that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God.

And then it had all gone so terribly wrong. They had travelled up to Jerusalem for Passover. The crowds had cheered as Jesus came riding into the city on a donkey – David’s greater son returning to the city of David. Jesus had gone to the Temple and had chased out the merchants and had overturned the tables of the money changers – the Lord whom they sought had suddenly come to his Temple. But then, Jesus was arrested, made the subject of a show trial and condemned to death. Peter and the other disciples had fled in disarray. Worse than that, Peter had later sneaked back to see what would happen at the trial. No legions of angels came to save Jesus and vindicate his claim to be the Messiah. Peter’s expectations had been shattered and he was scared for his own life. Three times he disowned Jesus. What’s the point in continuing to confess a helpless captive, on route to crucifixion? Jesus was dead. His lifeless body had been laid in a borrowed tomb. Peter must have been thinking what was later to be expressed by the couple on the road to Emmaus, “We had hoped that this was to be the one who would save Israel.” All his hopes were dead and buried with the one for whom he had abandoned everything.

Dead and buried that is until the third day. On that first Easter Sunday the crucified and buried Jesus had risen again from the dead. They had seen him and had spent time with him. For forty days he had been with them, teaching them about the kingdom of God. And in a moment of wonderful mercy, Jesus had recommissioned denying Peter, calling him again to follow him and to minister the gospel of the kingdom.

And then Jesus left them and they were alone. Until, on the day of Pentecost the risen Jesus Christ poured out his Spirit upon them from heaven, empowering them for the work of the kingdom. Shattered hopes had become hope revived. More than that, they had been born again “into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). A “living hope” because it rests in a living Saviour; one who has conquered death and who lives for ever. Nothing could ever be the same again for Peter. Nothing could ever again extinguish the hope he had in the Lord Jesus.

And now Peter is writing to Christians scattered throughout a number of Roman provinces. Many of them were probably Gentiles, yet all of them now share this same living hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. You also, says Peter, have a share in him, even though you have not seen the risen Christ as we did. He has gone to prepare a place for you in glory and by his Spirit he will guard you from deserting him; he will bring you safely to the place he has prepared for you. You are the recipients of the blessings that the prophets spoke about. You are those upon whom the fulfilment of the ages has come. Angels watch with rapt attention the unfolding of God’s salvation plan; they watch with wonder what God is doing in and through you.

What Peter wrote to these first century Christians he writes also to twenty-first century Christians. We also have a living hope in Jesus Christ, grounded in his resurrection from the dead and the witness of the Spirit. “Though [we] have not seen him, [we] love him; and even though [we] do not see him now, [we] believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for [we] are receiving the end result of [our] faith, the salvation of [our] souls” (1:8-9).

Father God, we bless you for the living hope that is ours in a crucified, risen and ascended Saviour – a living Saviour. Help us to love him who first loved us and to serve him as we speak of him who is our living hope.

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Aug 12 2019 - Jeremiah 1 – The call of Jeremiah

We leave Isaiah to focus on other prophets whom the Lord called to declare his word to Jerusalem and Judah in the days before the Exile. Let me remind you of the historical background.

The Assyrian Empire dominated Israel and Judah to the north-east while Egypt threatened them from the south-west. Israel's rebellion against Assyria had seen the northern kingdom swept aside. Hezekiah, king of Judah, had also rebelled against Assyria. The Assyrian army had invaded the land and destroyed many of its cities, but Jerusalem was spared (see Isaiah 1:7a). After Hezekiah's death, his son, Manasseh sought to placate Assyria by returning to the worship of pagan gods.

Jeremiah was a contemporary of Josiah who, having discovered the Book of the Covenant in the temple, sought to turn the nation back to the worship of the Lord. Josiah remained Jeremiah's protector until his untimely death in battle against Egypt. Meanwhile, the Assyrian empire was being eclipsed by the rising power of Babylon. Jeremiah then became a lone voice calling the people back to the Lord and warning them of the growing threat from Babylon.

It was in the thirteenth year of Josiah's reign that God called Jeremiah to be his prophet, declaring his word not just to Judah and Jerusalem, but to the nations. Despite the Lord's assurance that he had been preparing Jeremiah for this task from before he was born, Jeremiah does not think that he is the right person for the job. "Alas, Sovereign Lord," he says, "I do not know how to speak; I am too young." His protests are reminiscent of those of the elderly Moses when the Lord called him to go and rescue his people from Egypt. The Lord assures Jeremiah that just as he had prepared him for this task, so now he will be with him to enable him to go where he is commanded to go and say what he is commanded to say. The Lord then reached out and touched Jeremiah's mouth as a sign that the Lord has put his word in Jeremiah's mouth – a word that will be powerful and effective to uproot and overthrow kingdoms (v.10). This must have terrified Jeremiah.

Jeremiah is shown a couple of visions. The first assures Jeremiah that the Lord is watching to ensure that his word is fulfilled (v.12). The second is of a boiling pot being poured out towards Jerusalem from the north – from Assyria and Babylon. This is a sign that God is stirring up the nations in the north to rise up in battle against Judah and Jerusalem.

Jeremiah is to declare God's judgment on his people, "because of their wickedness in forsaking me, in burning incense to other gods and in worshipping what their hands have made" (v.16). The Lord tells Jeremiah not to be terrified by those to whom he is sent, for, "Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land – against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you" (vv.18-19).

The Lord Jesus gave similar assurances to his first disciples. He told them that just as the Father had sent him into the world, so now he was sending them. If the world had hated and rejected the Lord Jesus, they were not to be surprised if it hated them also. But they were not to be afraid. Jesus promised to be with his disciples to the very end of the age and, by his Spirit, give them the words that they should say. Nor were these promises only for those first disciples; this is a promise that holds good until the end of the age – until the day when Jesus Christ returns.

Father God, help us to be faithful in telling the world of your holy anger against sin but also of your wonderful salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. By your Spirit, give us the words to say in the various situations where you place us that we might always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us. Lord Jesus, keep us from fear and enable us to know that you are always with us, to the very end of the age.

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Aug 12 2020 - Introduction to 1 Peter

Who wrote this letter?

The letter opens with a simple assertion of authorship by "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ" (1:1).  But many have suggested that the very fine quality of the Greek in which it was written could not have come from a Jewish fisherman. 

Peter did not write this letter on his own; Silvanus acted as his amanuensis or secretary (5:12). This Silvanus is the same man who is named in 1 Thess 1:1 and 2 Thess 1:1 as joint author with the Apostle Paul and Timothy of these two Epistles; he is also the Silas who is mentioned in Acts." Silas/Silvanus was an able minister of the word (Acts 15:32) and, after having worked with Paul in Corinth may have gone on to work in Asia Minor, perhaps alongside Peter. It seems likely that Silvanus played an active role in writing this letter rather than simply following Peter's dictation. The Greek vocabulary and style probably reflect that of Silvanus rather than Peter.  

Nevertheless the mark of Peter's influence and authorship is clear. Many of the themes of this letter reflect those of Peter's speeches recorded in the opening chapters of Acts: The age of fulfilment, the Messianic age, has begun. This has been inaugurated through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus who has fulfilled the prophecies of the Jewish scriptures; all this came to pass by God's "determinate counsel and foreknowledge". By virtue of his resurrection, Jesus has been exalted to God's right hand, as Messianic head of his people, the new Israel. The Holy Spirit in the Church is the sign of Christ's present power and glory, and the proof that the hope of Israel is now being realised. This hope will shortly reach its consummation in the return of Christ in glory, and the judgement of the living and dead. These facts are made the basis of an appeal to repentance, an offer of forgiveness, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and a promise of eternal life to those who trust in the crucified and risen Messiah.  

Who was Peter writing to?

The letter is addressed to Christians living in the northeast of Asia Minor, bordering the Black Sea, an area that Luke reports Paul had not been allowed to evangelise (Acts 16:6-10). We have no knowledge of how these churches came into being, but it would not be surprising "for a Christian leader to desire to communicate his support and encouragement to a suffering group of Christians, even if they were otherwise unknown to him " (Peter Davids).

The churches to which this letter was written probably consisted of both Jewish and Gentile Christians. Much debate has centred on whether the churches were predominantly Jewish or Gentile, with strong views being expressed on either side. 1 Peter 1:18 would seem to favour the view that the recipients were predominantly Gentile converts. Whatever the case, all are addressed in terms borrowed from Old Testament descriptions of Israel: it is those who are in Christ, whether Jew or Gentile, who are heirs to the prophecies and promises of the OT.

When was it written?

The letter was probably written from Rome some time between 64 and 68 AD – i.e. between the martyrdom of Paul and that of Peter.

What is Peter's message to these Christians?

The persecution suffered by Christians is viewed as a crisis like Noah's flood. Davids comments, "Peter looks at the persecution of the believers as an eschatological crisis from which they have fled to the 'ark' of salvation in Christ and which will break upon the world in final judgment and the revelation of Christ from heaven in the near future."

In the face of such a crisis, believers are called to a life of personal, corporate and social holiness. This is not, however, a 'grim' holiness but is motivated and empowered by a living hope and a joyful anticipation of seeing Christ, a hope rooted in the reality of Jesus' resurrection from the dead (1:3). It is by virtue of Jesus' death and resurrection that these believers have been redeemed from the emptiness of their former lives and have been made 'the people of God' (2:10). 

Above all, Peter wants to encourage Christians facing a time of trial to go on following Christ in the assurance that they will be brought safely through all manner of trials to glory.

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Peter Misselbrook