The Suffering of Christ — Part Two

I invite you to take your Bibles as we turn together to 1 Peter. First Peter chapter 3, and we’re looking together at the section which begins at the eighteenth verse. I think it’s important that we just read it together to refresh our memories. We’re picking up halfway through our study of last Sunday morning, the notes of which you’ll find in the bulletin this morning, if they’re of help to you in any way. One Peter 3:18:

“For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward[s] God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.”

We concluded our study of last time by noticing that the suffering of Jesus Christ was undeserved, it was unrepeatable, and it was purposeful. We now go on this morning to consider the consequences of his suffering under these three headings which you have before you in your notes—first of all, under the heading of “Victory.”

Just the reading of these verses should be enough to let each of us realize that it would be very easy for us to be sidetracked immediately at this point: to become so consumed with “the spirits in prison,” as we mentioned last time, to begin to wonder about the ark and Noah and all these things, that we end up like the kitten in the nursery rhyme, at least from the United Kingdom, where the little cat went to London… How does it go? He “went to London to see the Queen.” And “‘Little cat, little cat, what did you there?’ ‘I followed a little mouse under the chair.’” And so she never really saw the Queen, because she was sidetracked by a mouse. And sometimes, when we come to our Bibles, and when we come to our personal Bible study, and when we come, even, to our Flocks groups, instead of us going through the central theme, the clear instruction, of the Word, we find ourselves chasing mice under the chairs. So, this morning I don’t want us to do that, hence these three words. And I hope that you will find that we do justice and not despite to the text.

Victory

We arrive at the word victory by considering the sentence which begins at the end of verse 18, where Peter says of Jesus that “he was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.”

Now, depending on the version of the Bible that you’re using, you may have the word “spirit” capitalized or not. If you have the NIV, it’s capitalized. If you have another version, it may not be. I think probably it would be wise to have it not capitalized—to have it a lowercase word. The details for that are irrelevant in terms of our public ministry this morning, but you can take my word for it and research it yourself that what seems to be referred to here is not the ministry of God the Holy Spirit, in the second part of the sentence, but rather the two constituent parts of the Lord’s human nature: body and spirit. For example, in the same way, in Matthew 26:41, Jesus says “the spirit,” small s, “is willing, but the body,” or the flesh, “is weak,” recognizing the constituent elements in himself and identifying them as such.

And it would seem more than likely that what Peter is doing here is he is expressing this truth in terms of what happened when Jesus died upon the cross. He’s pointing out to us that he was put to death in the body. None of this nonsense for Peter that he didn’t really die. None of this silly stuff that he just fainted and woke up because the tomb was cold. None of that for Peter. No, no: “He was put to death in the body.” In his body, his life came to an abrupt halt. When the judgment of God fell upon sin, when the judgment of God reached its apex and was showered down on the person of Jesus, when it was terminated in what Christ achieved—immediately in that moment, Jesus began to enjoy liberation. That’s what this sentence means.

“He was put to death in the body,” but immediately that death took place, Christ was “made alive” in his spirit. He was not the victim of death; he was the victor over death. And in the death of Jesus we have the death of death. If this sentence is not true, then those who have died are gone for good. Upon the truth contained in this sentence hinges the reality of resurrection for those of us who would believe in the Lord Jesus. Therefore, it is very, very important. And that’s why we said last Sunday morning that the curtain in the temple—of which you can read in Mark 15:[38]—the curtain in the temple was torn in two, not at the resurrection of Jesus but at the death of Jesus. Because in his death, he made the access possible for those who were to come to God through him.

Now, let me give you a couple of cross-references for this so that you realize that it is elsewhere in the Scriptures. Otherwise, you may have cause to think that I’m making it up. Romans 14:9: “For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.” Hebrews 2:14–15: “Since the children have flesh and blood, he,” Jesus, “shared in their humanity.” Why? “So that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”

Is there somebody here this morning, and you are held in slavery because you are afraid to die, and you’re wondering, “Is there an answer somewhere?” And here we’re told the answer is not in some place; it’s in someone—and that in his death, being “put to death in the body” and “made alive [in] the [s]pirit,” the Lord Jesus made it possible for those of us who are held in slavery by our fear of death to know liberation from that fear and to be able to face both life and death in his presence.

Jesus was not the victim of death; he was the victor over death. And in the death of Jesus we have the death of death.

Now, it’s because of this… And you could also add to that, incidentally, Revelation 1:18, that glorious verse where it says of Jesus, “I … have the keys of [death] and of [hell]”[1]—that he is powerful over all.

It’s because of this that when you come back to 1 Peter 3:19, Peter is telling us that Jesus then went not to evangelize the spirits in prison but to declare his victory—to pronounce the fact that he had beaten the devil and that it was now possible for those who were held in the grips of sin to be liberated. He announced his triumph over evil. And we considered that last time—so that he who willingly had bowed to the cruel authority of the Roman soldiers who brought about his death is the one who has all power at his disposal.

Now, just note that away. That’s just the first thing that he’s saying here. Jesus Christ is the Victorious One. Jesus Christ is unparalleled in time. Jesus Christ is not simply another teacher on the smorgasbord of religious leaders that the world has ever seen. Jesus Christ is not, as some have suggested, some kind of first-century Palestinian Che Guevara. He was put to death in the body, and he was made alive in the spirit. He is victorious. It’s a consequence of his suffering.

Authority

Secondly, that because of that and correlative to it is the fact not only of victory but of authority. And this is Peter’s triumphant conclusion in verse 22, where he tells us that Jesus has gone somewhere. Where did he go? He went into heaven. And what is he doing there? He’s sitting down. And why is he sitting down? Because God the Father has given him a place right there on the throne. And the reason that he now has a place here is because he is back to assume that which was his in all of eternity. If you like, Jesus goes back into heaven with a banner headline in the newspapers, as it were—two words: “Mission Completed.” And because his mission has been completed successfully, he now is authoritative, sitting with angels and over angels and over authorities, with all of these angelic and powerful beings in submission to him.

I want you to notice carefully that it is as a man that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead. His human body has been glorified. He is not in heaven as a spirit. He’s in heaven as a man. Our children ask us all the time, “What will we have? Will we have bodies? Will we be able to see? Will anyone know us?” And the answer is yes. And Christ, our forerunner, has established that for us. We do not believe, as Christians, simply in the immortality of the soul, so that we’re going to all find a cloud somewhere and spin around. But rather, we believe in the resurrection of the body—a body that won’t be decayed, a body that won’t be corrupted, a body that will not be ravaged by sin and failure and suffering such as our earthly bodies are. And Peter makes that clear. The hymn writer drives it home majestically when he says of this scene,

The head that once was crowned with thorns
Is crowned with glory now;
A royal diadem adorns
The mighty victor’s brow.[2]

Jesus this morning is enthroned in the place of victory, of supreme privilege, of sovereignty, and of authority. He is at the Father’s right hand.

Now, there are many implications of this for us on an individual level and as a group of people and, indeed, as a church in the world today. One that I just want to mention to you is this: when we read 1 Peter 3:22, it ought to put in balance for us all of our interest in and potential preoccupation with the political machinations of man. We’re a few days away, now, from these summit meetings. And how strategic and interesting and important they were. And who would be foolish enough to devalue them? But let this be said: beyond those summits, there is a summit; and at the summit is an all-powerful one—he who sets up authorities and who brings them down, he who establishes kings and removes their influence, he who holds the breath of presidents and Politburo members in the grasp of his hand. And you see how important this was for the readers in 1 Peter. For the Roman authorities were apparently so powerful, they could take them and kill them at the whim’s notice. And Peter wants these beleaguered potential Christians to know: “Listen! When all of this cuts loose about you, remember that there is one who is sovereign, who is authoritative over all.”

Turn to Ephesians 1, and look how Paul puts it in the twenty-first verse. Terrific verse, Ephesians 1:21—a good one for your shaving mirror in the morning, gentlemen. Ephesians 1:21. Speaking of the great power of God, which he has exerted in the resurrection, in “rais[ing] him from the dead”—verse 20—“and seat[ing] him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.” Listen to what he says. Verse 21. Where is this Jesus? “Far above all rule and authority.” Not just a wee bit above it. Far above it. And “far above … every title that can be given, not only in the present age but … in the [age] to come.”

So you have a title, do you? That’s fine. Does it give you a fat head? That’s not so good. How may I take the title on my door and put it in perspective? In your mind’s eye, every day that you walk through that door, Mr. Executive, see one name over your name: “Jesus Christ, who is high over all and every title given”—not so that you’ll crawl but so that you’ll thank him that he who is the title bearer and the title giver is the one who is victorious and authoritative over the affairs of life and time.

Possibility

The third word is the word possibility. Incidentally, that application in no way exhausts the implications of the great truth of the authority of Jesus. We could spend a long time on it. But the word possibility causes us now to backtrack to these verses concerning the ark and baptism.

Now, the reason for gathering our thoughts together under this word possibility is as follows: as we, this morning, comprehend what is being taught here by Peter concerning the nature of Christ’s victory and authority, we see the possibility of the saving benefits of what he has done becoming personally ours. We see the possibility of entering into the benefits of this victory which Christ has wrought. And so it is that as he refers to the ark and to baptism, etc., what Peter is doing, it seems, is this: He is triggered in his thinking as he reflects on the fact—if you notice it here in verse 20 and 21 or so—that there were only eight people who were brought safely through the flood. He tells us that the reason that they were able, any of them, to come through the flood was because God had waited patiently while the ark was being built.

There will be many at the gates of heaven able to preach magnificent sermons because of so much that they’ve heard, but they arrive not clothed in Christ.

Paul tells us, incidentally, in Romans 2, that God’s operating on the same basis even today. Just as in Noah’s day there was no one there—there was no ark, and there was no one in it—so today God continues to wait patiently. He waits patiently for husbands who have believing wives. He waits patiently for children who have praying moms and dads. He waits patiently for boyfriends and for girlfriends to come and bow beneath his victory and to enter into his authority. Paul puts it in this way: “Do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward[s] repentance?”[3]

It would seem that the idea of eight being brought to safety through the water turns Peter’s thoughts to Christian baptism. And just as the benefit at the time of the flood was enjoyed only by those who entered the ark, so the blessings of the gospel may be enjoyed only by those who enter into Christ. Do you understand that? It’s so very important. The message came through Noah to all the people: “It’s going to rain, folks—big-time. But I got news for you: although you think it’s a bunch of nonsense, this thing that I have been building in my back garden is God’s way of salvation. I want you to run into it and be saved,” said Noah.[4] And life continued as it was—people getting married and giving in marriage, giving birth to children and carrying on their own sweet way.[5] And still Noah, God’s man in the generation, said, “Come on now! Run into the ark.” And only eight went in.

The task of the prophet, the evangelist, the teacher, whatever it is—my task this morning—is to say to men and women, “In light of God’s patience, will you not run into Christ today? Will you not run in and be saved?” Please understand: only the eight who went in were saved through the flood. The rest, knowing of the offer and seeing the rain, perished. And there will be many at the gates of heaven able to preach magnificent sermons because of so much that they’ve heard, but they arrive not clothed in Christ—people who come and take the Communion celebration and eat and drink judgment to themselves because they have never entered into Christ in such a way that the eating of the bread and the drinking of the cup may be the very symbolism of their having eaten of Christ as Savior and drunk of the benefits of his shed blood.[6] But you can do that this morning. You can run into Christ just where you’re seated. Just cry out to him from your heart.

“Baptism That Now Saves You”

Now, when you look at this and you realize that it’s kind of complicated—at least it seems so to me—it seems more than likely that when baptisms took place in the early church, the truth of the gospel being proclaimed, the story of the ark and the flood was used as a significant scriptural illustration. Otherwise, it seems strange that Peter would use it in this way. And so we must ask ourselves the question, then: Well, what is Peter not saying? And therefore, what is he saying? And then we must ask the question: Well, how can we determine what Peter is saying and what he is not saying? And the answer to that is: we’ll compare Scripture with Scripture, and we will work on the assumption that Peter will not contradict himself, because Peter was moved by the Spirit of God as he wrote the various things and as he preached the various sermons. Therefore, we can safely say, in light of this—and I’ll illustrate it in just a moment—that Peter is not saying in this that it is mere participation in the outward form of baptism which saves people. Okay?

When you read this—and it happens all the time—people come, and they say, “Look what it says here! ‘And this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also.’ Hey! There you’ve got it! Baptism saves you! Cut out the nonsense! Let’s get on!” Okay, well, fine. What do you do when you come to something like that?

You know when you get an exam at school? You’re going through it, it’s going fairly well, and you come, and it goes… It just grinds to a halt. Bam! “Now what do I do?” Well, you can waste the rest of your time there, or you can go away and do some other stuff on the paper in the hope that something may dawn on you as you come back to it. You come to a problem in some area—in some area of your expertise—it’s kind of like getting a bone, you know, in a piece of fish: you take it out and leave it there for a wee while, and if you’re extremely hungry, you could always lick it later on; but you don’t want to choke yourself on it.

So here’s what we do: Okay, here’s Peter, and he seems to be saying baptism saves you. We’d better check, because if baptism saves you, we’re going to have to redirect the whole issue. So let’s see what Peter really was saying.

Acts chapter 2. And we’re going to do this very quickly. Acts 2:38. He’s preaching—it’s the day of Pentecost—filled with the power of the Spirit, urging men and women to believe in the Lord Jesus. Look at what he says in verse 38: “Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you.’” Now there’s a significant word that’s added to it immediately. He doesn’t just say, “Be baptized, every one of you.” He says, “Repent and be baptized.” Now, what does repentance mean? It means an about-turn. It means to turn away from sin and to turn into the benefits of Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is something cognitive, and it is rational, and it is the expression of the will. So, we know that when Peter began to preach, right out of the chute, he wanted people to understand that there was going to have to be the response of their will to God, to the truth proclaimed. They would repent, and then they would be baptized “in the name of Jesus Christ” so that their sins may be forgiven. And they would “receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 3:19. Peter’s still preaching: “Repent, then, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out.” Where’s the mention of baptism? No mention of baptism. Is that significant? Well, of course it is. “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out.” So how can my sins be wiped out? By repenting and turning to God—turning away from sin and turning to God in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the pledge of God is that sins will be wiped out.

Acts 5:42. The proclamation of Peter, even though they were dealing dreadfully with him, never changed: they “proclaim[ed] the good news that Jesus is the Christ.” Now, if the issue simply was to baptize people, you would assume that when they were finally let out of jail and they got back to the business, they went there way, and they found some water, and they said, “Let’s just keep baptizing people. What do we have to proclaim anything for? Let’s just get these guys baptized, ’cause all that matters is you get baptized, you get saved.” But they didn’t do that. The proclamation preceded the portrayal in baptism.

Acts 6:4: they gave their “attention to prayer and [to] the ministry of the word.” And right into 1 Peter 1:3: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” Verse 23: “For you have been”—what?—“born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.”

So when you begin to put all of this together, it becomes apparent—and I don’t believe that one has to manipulate Scripture in any way to do so—it becomes apparent that Peter is not suggesting that the benefits of salvation are to be experienced as a result of any power in the baptismal ceremony or in the baptismal water. That’s why he makes the parenthetical statements: “baptism that now saves you also,” dash. He qualifies it. He says, “I’m not talking about the removal of dirt from the body. I’m not talking about something external, but I’m talking about the pledge of a good conscience towards God, and I’m talking about it happening as a result of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

So, he says, “It is he, Jesus—the incarnate, crucified, risen, enthroned Lord—and not it, baptism, which makes it possible for us to know freedom from sin and entrance into life.” And as we say so often at our baptismal services, while salvation may be portrayed in baptism, it is not performed by baptism. Alan Stibbs says, “It is only Christ who can save through His death and resurrection, not the baptismal water and its administration.”[7] And if only we had Peter here this morning to clarify this rather complicated little section, he doubtless would have told us the exact same thing.

Now verse 21. The word here, “pledge,” is an important word, because it refers in secular usage to the questions and answers that would be used at the time of sealing a business contract. So he says baptism is a “pledge of a good conscience toward[s] God.” Two men come together. They’re going to make a business contract, and the question is asked, “Do you accept the terms of this contract and bind yourself to observe them?” “Do you accept the terms of this contract and bind yourself to observe them?” Answer: “Yes.” “Fine. We’ve got a deal.” It’s the exact same word that is then used in baptism—hence the questions and answers which surrounded baptism, and which ought to surround our approach to baptism. Jesus stands and looks into the gaze of those who will be baptized tonight and every night, and he says, “Do you accept the terms of my service? Do you accept its privileges and promises, and do you undertake its responsibilities and its demands? Yes? We have a contract. No? Take a walk.” It’s that significant.

An unbaptized Christian is a walking contradiction.

We use the word sacrament. Some people don’t like the word sacrament because it is an abused word. It’s an excellent word. It comes from the Latin word sacramentum, which was a soldier’s oath of allegiance. And when a man or woman is baptized, they’re taking a soldier’s oath of allegiance. How, then, is it possible for a child in infancy to take a soldier’s oath of allegiance? It is not possible. Therefore, we do not ask for it.

“Well then,” says somebody, “are you telling me that adult baptism ipso facto is devoid of any kind of ramifications of abuse?” No, not for a moment. Just read Acts chapter 8, and read the story of Simon, who got baptized, and he was a bad rascal before he got baptized, when he got baptized, and after he’d been baptized. And he even confused the apostles concerning it.[8] People come to me and said, “You know, there’s a person from the church there, and you baptized them x years ago, and you ought to see them now.” Well, that’s a great sadness, but listen: we baptize tonight upon profession of faith, not upon the assurance of salvation. You go down into those baptism waters tonight, and you’re saying, “I profess to take the oath of allegiance to Jesus Christ.” And the test of time will reveal reality or unreality.

Well then, let me just summarize; we must finish. What we’ve been learning in these verses, in reverse order. One, we learned this: that there is a great possibility and a great necessity for repentance and for faith. We recognize that in the authority of the Lord Jesus over all the universe, over the church, and over our lives, there’s no matter that he is not interested in. There is no problem that he is unable to help us with. We recognize at the same time that for Peter, baptism and faith was so interwoven in his thinking that, along with the rest of the New Testament, he takes it for granted that baptism and profession of faith go hand in hand, bringing us to the conclusion that an unbaptized Christian is a walking contradiction. And finally, we realize that the victory which is Christ’s is a victory which now we may be able to share.

Have you ever stood by the graveside of a loved one? Sure you have. A good friend? And you heard the minister say the words of Jesus, “I am the resurrection, and the life. And he that believes in me, even though he die, yet shall he live. And whosoever lives and believes in me will never die.” And then he turned to [Martha], to whom he first spoke it, and he asked her a question: “Hey, Mary, do you believe this?”[9]

And he comes to us this morning, and he asks the same question: “Hey, Mary, John, Frank, Ed, Sally, do you believe this? Do you believe it enough to take the oath of allegiance and follow after me?” Do you believe it enough to come in obedience and faith and to eat and drink the emblems of his cross? Then come to the place where the answers are found—to the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ—and let us bow there in preparation for this time of celebration.

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[1] Revelation 1:18 (KJV).

[2] Thomas Kelly, “The Head That Once Was Crowned with Thorns” (1820).

[3] Romans 2:4 (NIV 1984).

[4] See 2 Peter 2:5.

[5] See Matthew 24:37–39.

[6] See 1 Corinthians 11:29.

[7] Alan M. Stibbs, The First Epistle General of Peter, The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1959), 144.

[8] See Acts 8:9–24.

[9] John 11:25–26 (paraphrased).