Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Join Peter Englert, a pastor, and Dr. Ron Hall, professor and pastor, as they delve into the book of 1 Peter. This book helps readers cope with suffering in an antagonistic world by offering hope in Jesus. Whether you're exploring faith or a long-time follower of Jesus, read through the book of 1 Peter on your own or with a group of friends with insights to better understand this book of the Bible.
Welcome to the first episode of Reading
1st Peter. I'm here with the Reverend
Dr. Ron Hall. How are you? I'm doing fine
today. Good to be together and share on
1st Peter. Before we get started, we
should introduce ourselves. My name's
Peter. I'm a pastor in Rochester, New
York. And Ron, you were my professor. Yes,
going back years ago from Pennsylvania.
And it's good the way we've kept in touch
over the years. It's great. Well, the goal
of this podcast is to help you read
through First Peter. And so what we want
to talk about today is the first two
verses that really set the stage for the
context and the reason why this book was
written. So before we get started, though,
and we read the two verses, Ron, what are
some of your thoughts on First Peter?
Well, I think it's grasping the overall
picture of the letter, probably written
about 63 AD. Peter is crucified
in 65 AD. It is a turbulent time in the
Roman Empire. Nero is the emperor. He's
vicious with Christians and he's attacking
them. He's These are the famous stories of
Fox's Book of Martyrs, of Christians being
dragged off to the arena, being wrapped in
bloody animal skins and torched. There's a
lot of vicious things that are happening.
So this letter is nicknamed the Letter to
the Suffering Church, and Peter is wanting
to console the people on how do you face
suffering in an antagonistic world. And
we'll frame our whole theme of Peter
being, how do you respond to the suffering
that you face, the antagonism in our
culture. So that's going to be vital. So
about 63 AD, that gives time for 2 Peter
to be written, also written by Peter, and
sets it up before his crucifixion.
So, before we read the first two verses,
there's some conversation about who wrote
1 Peter, but assuming that Peter, also
known as Simon, wrote it, what does that
give us as an inclination about who's
writing this book, Peter, one of the
apostles and disciples of Jesus? Well,
remember the question of Peter as the
author didn't occur until we got into
the 1800s, where rationalism exploded.
And it was in the 1800s to question every
book of the Bible, who authored it. But
before that, Peter was held as being the
author, not the idea of someone else. The
language is a simpler type of Greek. It
fits with the style of Peter. The same
goes on with the refutations in 2 Peter as
to whether he wrote it or not. These do
not appear to be forgeries at all. These
are realities of what was occurring in
that culture, and Peter being the author
carries the weight of the disciple of
Jesus. So it's safe to say you think Peter
wrote 1 Peter? Alright, well let's read
the first two verses, and then let's
unpack it together. So, 1 Peter 1, 1-2.
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to
God's elect, exiles scattered throughout
the provinces of Pontus, Galatia,
Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who have
been chosen according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father, through the sanctifying
work of the Spirit, to be obedient to
Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood.
Grace and peace be yours in abundance."
Quite an audience that he's speaking to.
They're exiled because of persecution for
the cause of the gospel. That theme of
suffering, of them being scattered, will
carry out through every chapter of the
letter. Right by the time we get to
chapter five, how can they respond to
suffering? In a tumultuous world, an
antagonistic world that resents
Christianity. Remember, Christianity was
not popular. It would be like living in
some countries in the world where
Christians are martyred on a regular
basis. Well, that's what it was like back
then. They're scattered to these regions,
made up of Jews and And likely Gentiles
are found among the bunch of people. But
these are believers. He uses that word
elect. So they've been selected. And these
believers are needing to have
encouragement to stay the course. So Peter
is telling them how to respond within that
culture. One thing that I think is
important to bring up In Acts 10, Peter
gets a vision to bring the gospel to
Gentiles, to non-Jewish people. In
Galatians, Paul talks to Peter because he
was in some ways treating Gentiles
differently than the Jewish believers. And
now he's writing this book to the Gentile
believers. Why do you think it's so
important to understand Peter's
relationship with this non-Jewish Gentile
group of believers? Well, Peter grows.
Remember, we're looking at 63 AD. So we
got a lot of tracking history. If Christ
was crucified around 30, 31 AD, depends on
the dating of that. We're talking about
three decades out. Peter has gone through
a lot of growth, a lot of development, a
lot of humbling that has taken place in
his life. And I think there is a
commitment to want to see that these
people are safe in the faith and secure in
the midst of suffering. But the message
remains the same, whether it's a Gentile
or Jewish audience. He will use a lot of
language that is Jewish in chapter two.
about being a chosen generation or royal
priesthood. So he will use the Jewish
metaphors and imagery, but yet there's
that unique feature that we can apply it
both ways. And that's why when we read the
letter and go through these steps, we can
be enriched by it spiritually.
So in saying that, there's many people
across the world that are suffering. You
talked about martyrdom. But how do we
apply this today? The type of
maybe prejudice towards Christianity,
maybe that's not the right word. It's
definitely not comparable. But how is this
book timeless, no matter how culture feels
about Christianity? Now that is a question
that cannot fully be answered because we
don't understand why God allows so much
suffering. But in the timelessness of
dealing with the issue of suffering,
whatever the generation is, we're going to
experience suffering for standing for
Christ. I've been working through studying
on the Islamic faith and the Koran and the
charges against suffering that is brought
upon people that are considered infidels,
and that is alive and active within the
world today. So Christians are not exempt
from this at all. So it's timeless because
in this world, it's a fallen world where
suffering takes place. I recently had a
conversation with someone that says
Genesis 1 comes before chapter 3. God
creates the heaven and the earth, but
chapter 3 is the fall of man that ushers
in the suffering that we experience within
the world. So every single one of us
listening knows of someone that's going
through incredible suffering within their
life, whether it be a marital breakup
that's occurring, trouble with their kids,
conflicts within the family, and the
tensions that are in our world, not to get
political, although at times in Pierce
Peter we have to because Peter does, but
the tensions that exist and create
suffering for all different types of
people. I think that that sets us well
because at the end of verse two, it says
grace and peace. Now you and I, we read
commentaries and there's like five pages
to those two words. Why is there so much
there in those two words and what Peter is
trying to say to a suffering church? Well,
remember that salutation is found in
multiple New Testament letters. We'll see
it again and again, and it became a mark
for Christians to be able to utilize. You
know, when we think about we're saved by
grace through faith out of Ephesians
chapter 2, that grace over and over again
is what redeems us, and he's going to
unpack that the next time we're together
in dealing with verses 3 right on down
through 11 of what that grace looks like.
And the peace, this is not talking about
just a peace, everything be cool. This is
a peace that brings an inner sense of
calmness. And so Christians were to
experience that. You know, as Christ told
us so well, that in this world you have
tribulation, be of good courage, I have
overcome the world. And Jesus said, my
peace I give unto you, not as the world
gives, do I give it unto you. So don't let
your hearts be troubled, neither let them
be afraid. So he is trying to encourage
the audience through the grace that's
provided. And he is also in the process of
helping them to be assured that Christ
will be with them. And you got to love
that salutation. Those are things that we
fast forward to, through. We see him in
scripture, let me just move on, but it's a
good place for you to pause. I love what
you just said, because in this book, it's
not like Peter is writing a sequel to what
Jesus said. It's very much a continuation.
So you talked about John 16, 33, in this
world, you will have tribulation, but be
of good cheer. In many ways, do you see
Peter continuing the teachings of Jesus or
maybe adding an extra layer to it? Oh, I
surely don't see him adding. I see him
living it out. He embodies it. He
incarnates the the reality of Christ and
the message. And this will be reinforced.
And when he writes Second Peter, where
he's remembering the amount of
transfiguration, where he met with the
Lord In 1 Peter, he'll deal with that
revelation that we have to go by. So he is
embodying it, what we call incarnating it.
It's part of him. It's part of his
breathing and functioning of a living
reality of a resurrected Christ. And he'll
deal with that in just a few verses beyond
verse two. You gotta love a book that
gives you a simple intro. So we'll close
on this. As we read the rest of 1 Peter,
why do I need to keep the first two verses
in my mind? Well, one of the
responsibilities of someone who's going to
be a real student of the Bible is to
always read it within their context. So we
have to have a sense of, okay, who is the
author, which we've identified as Peter,
the apostle of of Christ that stands out
over and over again in the Gospels.
Obviously, he became the lead apostle
among the 12. And then the issue of the
audience, who are the people, people that
are going through extensive suffering,
that are the dyspora, the scattered types
of believers that are around that need
encouragement. And so then you have to
say, well, what is he going to say to
these people? What is he going to say to
encourage them in the midst of their
suffering, knowing that it will speak to
us? And we're not just reading the Bible
for what it says to us. We need to
understand what it meant to the original
audience so we can make proper
application. So as we'll work through it,
well, what is God saying to us in the
midst of our suffering that we face? And
that's where we find encouragement. So
just a window into what's next when we
meet again is the hope that he gives. He
gives that confident expectation that you
can have hope with the message of the
gospel in the midst of our suffering.
That's a great way to close. So thank you
so much, Ron. And we're going to start
with verse three. We could probably do a
whole podcast on verse three, but we'll go
into that prayer. Yes. All right. Thank
you so much for joining us. Okay, good.