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In the nature of things persecution must have been a much more daunting experience for Gentiles than it was for Jews. The average Gentile had little experience of it; but the Jews have always been the most persecuted people upon earth. Peter was writing to Christians who were Gentiles and he had to try to help them by showing them persecution in its true terms. It is never easy to be a Christian. The Christian life brings its own loneliness, its own unpopularity, its own problems, its own sacrifices and its own persecutions. It is, therefore, well to have certain great principles in our minds. (Barclay, “The Inevitability Of Persecution”)
4:12
It is Peter’s view that persecution is inevitable. It is human nature to dislike and to regard with suspicion anyone who is different; the Christian is necessarily different from the man of the world. (Barclay)
It is Peter’s view that persecution is a test. It is a test in a double sense. A man’s devotion to a principle can be measured by his willingness to suffer for it; therefore, any kind of persecution is a test of a man’s faith. But it is equally true that it is only the real Christian who will be persecuted. The Christian who compromises with the world will not be persecuted. In a double sense persecution is the test of the reality of a man’s faith. (Barclay)
This is a favourite New Testament thought. If we suffer with him, we will be glorified with him ( Romans 8:17 ). It is Paul’s desire to enter into the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ ( Philippians 3:10 ). If we suffer with him, we shall reign with him ( 2 Timothy 2:12 ). If we remember that, anything we must suffer for the sake of Christ becomes a privilege and not a penalty. (Barclay)
The words “think it not strange,” are literally “stop thinking it a thing alien” to you. These Christians were thinking that the suffering which they were enduring was a thing foreign or alien to their Christian lives, as if Christianity provided an immunity from suffering. They are exhorted by Peter to think it a natural and expected thing that such suffering for righteousness’ sake would come in view of the world’s hatred of Christ, and therefore to one who bears His name and reflects Him in his life. ¶ Peter speaks of these sufferings as a fiery trial. … The word mean literally “a burning,” but us used in these passages to refer to a smelting furnace and the smelting process in which gold or silver ore is purified. (Wuest, p 118 f)
4:13
Instead of thinking it a thing alien to them, they are exhorted not only to expect such suffering, but to rejoice in the fact that they can be partakers of Christ’s sufferings. (Wuest, p 119)
4:14
Christian suffering in this epistle is limited in its primary application and reference to suffering which is the result of persecution by the world because of one’s testimony for the Lord Jesus. A secondary application may be made in the sense that suffering in general, acts as a purifying agency in the life of the Christian when the latter reacts toward it in a meek and submissive way. (Wuest, p 119 f)
4:15
Some of the recipients of this letter, before they were saved, had suffered reproach as murderers, thieves, evildoers, and busybodies. … The word “busybody" means in the Greek, “a self-appointed overseer in other men’s matters.” (Wuest, p 121)
4:16
The words, “Yet if any man suffer as a Christian” should be understood in their historical background. The Cult of the Caesar was the state religion of the Roman empire, in which the emperor was worshipped as a god. It served two purposes. The subjects of Rome gave obedience to the laws of the empire, not only as a political, but as a religious duty. (Wuest, p 121)
The world believes that the absence of suffering means glory, but a Christian’s outlook is different. … suffering Christians do not have to wait for heaven in order to experience His glory. Through the Holy Spirit, they can have the glory now. This explains how martyrs could sing praises to God while bound in the midst of blazing fires. It also explains how persecuted Christians (and there are many in today’s world) can go to prison and to death without complaining or resisting their captors. (Wiersbe, 2:921)
4:17
The words, “Yet if any man suffer as a Christian” should be understood in their historical background. The Cult of the Caesar was the state religion of the Roman empire, in which the emperor was worshipped as a god. It served two purposes. The subjects of Rome gave obedience to the laws of the empire, not only as a political, but as a religious duty. (Wuest, p 121)
In this verse and the next Peter gave two encouragements in suffering by comparing our suffering as believers with the suffering that unbelievers will experience. This verse focuses on the time of these two experiences of suffering. Our suffering is now, but theirs will be when they stand before God in judgment. Our judgment, by unbelievers now, is lighter than their judgment by God will be later. Our sufferings are part of the opening scene in the last act of God’s redemptive drama. More severe judgment will follow on the ungodly. It helps to see our sufferings in the context of God’s end-times plan. They are not an accident but an assurance of His sovereign control. (Constable)
4:18
The word “scarcely” is the translation of a Greek word that means literally “with difficulty.” … They were being saved with difficulty … (Wuest, p 122 f)
4:19
The Greek word “commit” is a banking term meaning “to give in charge as a deposit.” (Wuest, p 123)
Peter brought together four reasons for suffering in this section: First, God allows us to suffer in order to demonstrate our character (v. 12; cf. Job 1—2). Second, those who identify themselves with Jesus Christ can count on sharing in the sufferings of our Savior (v. 13; cf. Phil. 3:10). Third, our sufferings will be occasions when God blesses us (v. 14). Fourth, our sufferings glorify God (v. 16). Peter then redirected our perspective on suffering by reminding us of the time and intensity of our sufferings, compared with that of unbelievers (vv. 17-18). Finally, he concluded with an exhortation to trust God and do right (v. 19). Peter thus encouraged his readers by revealing God’s perspective on their sufferings. (Constable)
The most striking feature of this section is its bold emphasis on the sovereignty and initiative of God, even in the suffering of his own people. (Michaels, p 274)
5:1-2
One of the lovely things about this passage is Peter’s attitude throughout it. He begins by, as it were, taking his place beside those to whom he speaks. “Your fellow-elder” he calls himself. He does not separate himself from them but comes to share the Christian problems and the Christian experience with them. But in one thing he is different; he has memories of Jesus and these memories colour this whole passage. Even as he speaks, they are crowding into his mind. (Barclay)
When a man enters the eldership, no small honour is conferred upon him, for he is entering on the oldest religious office in the world, whose history can be traced through Christianity and Judaism for four thousand years; and no small responsibility falls upon him, for he has been ordained a shepherd of the flock of God and a defender of the faith. (Barclay)
The elder is to accept office, not under coercion, but willingly. This does not mean that a man is to grasp at office or to enter upon it without self-examining thought. Any Christian will have a certain reluctance to accept high office, because he knows only too well his unworthiness and inadequacy. There is a sense in which it is by compulsion that a man accepts office and enters upon Christian service. “Necessity,” said Paul, “is laid upon me; Woe to me, if I do not preach the gospel” ( 1 Corinthians 9:16 ). “The love of Christ controls us,” he said ( 2 Corinthians 5:14 ). But, on the other hand, there is a way of accepting office and of rendering service as if it was a grim and unpleasant duty. It is quite possible for a man to agree to a request in such an ungracious way that his whole action is spoiled. (Barclay)
Since one of the husband’s primary roles is that of shepherd of his family, it is worthwhile to read verses 2 and 3 from this perspective. A husband should shepherd his family flock by caring for their needs. He should consider this a privilege (voluntarily), he should make his family a priority (eagerness), and he should be a model of integrity (example). Certainly he should tell the members of his family that he loves them.[289, Family Life …, p. 125]
“I have counseled with many pastors who … feel that they are imprisoned by their calling to ministry. They would prefer to be somewhere else, they are not enjoying their ministry, or they are in a difficult situation from which they would like to escape. To them, ministry has become mere drudgery. It need not be so! Peter reminds us that we should serve the Lord and tend His flock willingly. … The Lord does not force us or coerce us to be involved in ministry. He calls us and invites us to ministry, but we have the freedom of saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’!”[282, Cedar, p. 190. Paragraph division omitted.]
“To enter the ministry simply because it offers a respectable and intellectually stimulating way of gaining a livelihood is to prostitute that sacred work. This warning also includes the temptation to use the work of the ministry to gain personal popularity or social influence.”[283, D. Edmond Hiebert …]
5:3
“The effective pastor … must be ‘among’ his people so that he can get to know them, their needs and problems; and he needs to be ‘over’ his people so he can lead them and help them solve their problems. There must be no conflict between pastoring and preaching, because they are both ministries of a faithful Shepherd. The preacher needs to be a pastor so he can apply the Word to the needs of the people. The pastor needs to be a preacher so that he can have authority when he shares in their daily needs and problems. The pastor is not a religious lecturer who weekly passes along information about the Bible. He is a shepherd who knows his people and seeks to help them through the Word.” (Wiersbe, p 2:924)
5:4
“To prevent the faithful servant of Christ from being cast down, there is this one and only remedy, to turn his eyes to the coming of Christ.” (Calvin, See “Other Works Cited” below.)
5:5
All Christians, regardless of our age, should put on humility like a garment, (i.e., let it be what others see as we serve; cf. 3:8). The Greek word translated clothe is a rare one that comes from a word referring to the apron that slaves put on over their regular clothes. (Constable)
“Humility is the great preserver of peace and order in all Christian societies, consequently pride is the great disturber of them.”[298, Henry, p 1948]
5:8-9
“The picture is one of a beast swallowing its prey in a gulp.”[302, Davids, p 191]
“Here is, as it were, a certain characteristic of the divine Word, that it never comes forth while Satan is at rest and sleeping.”[301, Calvin, “Prefatory Address …”. See “Other Works Cited” below.]
5:10
“What Peter has done is pile up a number of closely related terms that together by their reinforcing one another give a multiple underscoring of the good that God is intending for them and even now is producing in their suffering.”[304, Davids, p 196]
Sometimes God puts us through the experience and discipline of darkness to teach us to hear and obey Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and God puts us into “the shadow of His hand” until we learn to hear Him (Isaiah 49:2). “Whatever I tell you in the dark…” — pay attention when God puts you into darkness, and keep your mouth closed while you are there. Are you in the dark right now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? If so, then remain quiet. If you open your mouth in the dark, you will speak while in the wrong mood— darkness is the time to listen. (Chambers, Feb. 14)
Scripture quotations [unless otherwise noted] are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Click here to access the works cited web-page for this document, save those marked as “Notes” or “Other Works Cited”–if any. Most of these cited works correspond to the verses they are outlined with. In the case of general background information and references, one will find cited material with the Bible books the citations are associated with. ¶ Furthermore, all numbered notes that are URL linked are retained numbered notes from Thomas Constable’s, “Dr. Constable’s Expository (Bible Study) Notes.” These links are preserved “as is” at the time of this work’s formation and sometimes include other citation information from Constable.
Calvin, John. “The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews and the First and Second Epistles of St Peter,” in Calvin’s Commentaries, p. 317. As quoted in Constable.
Calvin, John. “Prefatory Address to King Francis I of France,” sec. 7, in Institutes of the Christian Religion. As quoted in Constable.
Marshall, I. Howard. 1 Peter. The IVP New Testament Commentary Series, Ed. Grant Osborne, et al, InterVarsity Press, 1991.
Michaels, J. Ramsey. Word Biblical Commentary: 1 Peter. Ed. David Hubbard, et al, Word Publishers, 1988.
Wuest, Kenneth. First Peter in the Greek New Testament. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, eighth ed., 1960.
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