An Example In Paradox

1 Peter   •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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As a believer, I must look to the example of Jesus and live as He did, so others would seek salvation through Jesus Christ.

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Before we get into the sermon, I have to give you a definition of paradox before we go any further. Actually, I just need to get this out of my system lest you think I’m letting something slip by me. Okay, here it is. A paradox is simply two individuals who have spent many years in college to receive their doctoral degrees. Thus, you have a pair of docs. There; now that is off my mind, so I can continue on.
Merriam-Webster defines paradox this way: a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense. The ancient Greeks were well aware that a paradox can take us outside our usual way of thinking. They combined the prefix para- ("beyond" or "outside of") with the verb dokein ("to think"), forming paradoxos, an adjective meaning "contrary to expectation. I think one of the most relevant examples would be from a quote I recently read: Climate friendly billionaires are a bit of a paradox.
Let’s look at some paradoxes about Jesus that most everybody is aware of, whether or not they believe in Christ as their Lord and Savior.
Even though the Bible tells us that Jesus is also God and creator of all that there is, the world usually thinks of Him as a helpless baby in a manger in the village of Bethlehem.
Some who are a bit more knowledgeable will recognize that He was a carpenter following after His daddy’s occupation. But many would find it difficult to believe that this blue collar worker was able to totally baffle and confuse the elite, religious teachers at Jerusalem.
Unlike the teachers of that timeframe, who were arrogant, pushy, and appeared to be beyond the scope and reach of the common individual, Jesus was extremely likable and approachable and extremely caring and considerate.
This carpenter, who was not supposed to be that educated or powerful, was somehow able to heal people of their diseases and even raise the dead.
Yet, even if the world could accept the reality of these paradoxes, if that is all the further they went, they would still be lost in their sin and condemned to eternity in hell. Many of the Jewish people find themselves bewildered and without direction at this point, because there is a portion of the Bible which is intentionally not taught. That is found in , which speaks quite specifically of the suffering Messiah, and is central to understanding this section of Peter’s writing. The world as a whole has a difficult time accepting this paradox of a Messiah, the only One able to save, as having to suffer in order to accomplish His purpose for coming to earth.
As an ultimate example of submission to the Father’s will, is the willingness of Jesus to do all that needed to be done to provide salvation to all who would believe in Him.
As a believer, I must look to the example of Jesus and live as He did, so others would seek salvation through Jesus Christ.

An Example in the Paradox in Jesus’ Response - 2:21b-23

Nobody enjoys suffering. However, we know that an individual is very willing to suffer anything for the one they love. These next verses help to describe that suffering by Jesus’ example in his responses to it.
1 Peter 2:21b–23 NASB95
For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;
We recall from last time in 1 Peter, how we have been called to be a witness for Christ in our willingness to submit to those in authority over us; responding to others in ways that always reflect that we belong to Jesus Christ. However, many times we are left wondering how exactly that ought to look. Well, we are going to look at several examples which show themselves as a paradox so that we might more easily understand what our responses ought to be, so that others will also want to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior for themselves. In fact, the word for example refers to a practice many of us did in our elementary years. We would take a picture that we wanted to draw and place it under another piece of blank paper. Then we would carefully trace over the picture onto our page so it would look like the original drawing. In a similar way, we can follow in His steps.
We are immediately reminded that our suffering or mistreatment should not be a problem when we look at the big picture. After all, Christ set the example for us. The example is simply that He also suffered for you. This suffering was actually at the hands of the authorities, civil and religious. We’re certainly not above Christ. In the Gospels, He even promised us that we would suffer for His Name Sake. And, of course, what is the purpose of an example, except to have others learn from it and follow it? This also is an example to the readers and to us, that we can very easily be innocent while doing exactly what God wants us to be doing, yet still experience suffering.
We should also be careful to not simply think of His suffering as just the physical, bodily suffering. In the context of Peter’s writing, we understand the framework of the redemption and salvation we have through Jesus Christ, in what theologians call his redemptive suffering. Obviously, we cannot follow that example since we have a sin nature, while Jesus did not. That is why the other examples are given shortly afterward for us to follow. We can suffer for Christ’s glory, yet we will never be able to suffer as Christ did for a person’s salvation.
Keep in mind that those reading this letter were undergoing incredible persecution and suffering. Plus, it was only going to get worse. These are not just abstract what-if scenarios. As a backdrop, Peter uses the section of Scripture from , which is probably the most descriptive picture of the suffering that the Messiah would undergo.
Peter then begins to break down the examples of suffering into some specifics in verses 22-23. Jesus suffered even though He committed no sin. He suffered even when there was not any deceit found in His mouth. Isn’t it amazing that one can often tell what is going on in the heart by what comes out of the mouth? Since Jesus had no sin, obviously He would never say anything sinful. The word for deceit is somewhat of a broad term that speaks about sinful corruption.
In what ways did Jesus suffer? He was reviled. How did Jesus respond? Even though he was reviled, He did not revile in return. The phrase being reviled simply means to pile on abuse, and vile language on someone. If we consider for a moment all that was done to Christ, especially in the final 24 hours of His earthly life, we never once see Him become angry, call down fire and punishment from heaven, or anything that most of us would have resorted to doing. The fact that Jesus did not respond in kind is also a paradox to our minds because He would have been the only Person who had a right to do so.
While suffering, He uttered no threats. He was the only Person on this earth who was or ever will be totally just and righteous. He was the only One Who actually could have done anything about this since there was nobody to match His power and ability. In addition, Luke tells us that Jesus asked the Father to forgive His abusers.
How could Jesus endure all of this, never once sinning in the midst of this horror? Besides being God and in total control, the last part of verse 23 tells us that He kept entrusting Himself to Him Who judges righteously. He could trust His Father in that justice would prevail ultimately and that He had done exactly what He had come to do. There is something else fascinating about this phrase kept entrusting. It carries with it the idea of a past action that is continuing on and on. Jesus never asked how many more times must he keep being abused. Jesus kept giving it to the Heavenly Father to take care of Him.
What an example for us. We can also entrust ourselves to God, knowing that He has everything in His hands. Even though I fail Him miserably so many times, I have been judged righteous by God through Jesus Christ. No matter how often I fail, or how often Satan and his workers attempt to derail and deride me, I know that I am precious in God’s sight as His child who has been purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ. Thus, I will continually entrust myself to His care.

An Example in the Paradox in Jesus’ Results - 2:24

To see someone take the responsibility and accept the consequences for our actions is absolutely mind-boggling. Yet, that is what Peter is describing as he points out what Jesus did to make us whole. Jesus kept himself sinless even in the midst of the ungodly activity against Him, which continued to make it possible for Jesus to successfully do what He came to do.
1 Peter 2:24 NASB95
and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
He Himself is such a powerful description. Jesus Christ and no other, willingly and lovingly gave His life as the perfect and complete sacrifice for the sins of all who would ever believe. It was Jesus and no other who was able and actually bore our sins in His body on the cross. In other words, Jesus died in my place and in your place. He became our substitute. We see the amazing work Jesus did just in the word bore, which means to carry as a sacrifice. Theologian Leon Morris writes: Redemption is substitutionary, for it means that Christ paid the price that we could not pay, paid it in our stead, and we go free. Only Jesus could do this. Only Jesus could experience this; not only carrying the sins of the entire world over all time, but He experienced separation from His Father for that short, yet eternal, moment in time.
Redemption is substitutionary, for it means that Christ paid the price that we could not pay, paid it in our stead, and we go free.
He Himself is such a powerful description. Jesus Christ and no other, willingly and lovingly gave His life as the perfect and complete sacrifice for the sins of all who would ever believe.
The readers of this letter completely understood the amazing picture that was being painted. They were quite familiar with the history and teachings and example of the many sacrificial lambs that were offered in the temple over and over for the sins of the people. Thus, when this once for all substitutionary death by Christ took place, they knew that this was the completed and final sacrifice for the sins of humanity. But the effect of this is only for those who choose to believe, who are God’s chosen.
The paradox begins to stretch our minds to the point of breaking. Think about it; a sinless Christ became our sin. The result is that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. A further paradox is that we were completely unrighteous and full of sin, yet through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, we were given the opportunity to be free from sin ruling our lives, but the righteousness which is found in Christ can now rule. So not only are we declared righteous, we are now among those who are set apart, the saints. Our old nature is no longer in charge, because we have been given a new nature. The purpose of Christ’s death is not just for salvation for heaven, but that we would live a new life even today.
For by His wounds you were healed. Christ was wounded in order for us to be healed. This is not speaking of physical healing, but of the spiritual healing of our souls, such as is described in . This describes what has taken place when we were given this new nature.
The world might suggest that Jesus was a great example for humanity. They might agree that He was the greatest teacher Who ever lived. However, no example or teacher could save this lost world. Only Jesus, the perfect, unblemished Lamb of God could take away the sins of the world.

An Example in the Paradox in Jesus’ Rescue - 2:25

Let’s face reality. We are compared to sheep in this verse which is not a very flattering description. Before Jesus, we were so ignorant as to the danger we were facing, we kept wandering away from safety and walking headlong towards destruction. Yet, Peter gives us some really good news because of Jesus’ willingness to rescue such goofy, sheepish people.
1 Peter 2:25 NASB95
For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.
This verse further amplifies the fact that verse 24 is referring to the healing of our souls, or our spiritual healing. I would not suggest that God cannot physically heal, if He so chooses. However, the last part of verse 24 is not a promise of physical healing based on Christ’s work on the cross.
If we think about the role of the shepherd, there is another paradox. In the Old Testament, the shepherd guarded and guided the sheep. One of the primary purposes was for wool and then ultimately the meat from the sheep. In other words, the sheep would end up dying at the shepherd’s hand. However, in the New Testament, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, Jesus Christ, would actually die for us, the sheep.
We can see from this verse that what Christ did was absolutely necessary. We were straying away from God. We were hopeless and helpless. The Bible accurately portrays sheep and us as ignorant, always putting ourselves in danger, wandering away from safe places, unable to do basically anything for ourselves.
In Christ, we
But now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls. Because of Jesus Christ, we have been allowed to come home. This is the picture of repentance and a turning from our former lifestyle of sin. It is often seen as a parallel to the illustration in of the wayward son who turned away from his self-centered, wayward, empty life and came home to his father.
And now that we’re under the Shepherd’s protection, He watches over us to protect us from sin and enables us to grow and become more like Him. In fact, the word for guardian is the word that is elsewhere translated bishop or overseer. That is why the pastor and elders are instructed to shepherd the flock of God.

Reflections

Our theme today has been: As a believer, I must look to the example of Jesus and live as He did, so others would seek salvation through Jesus Christ. In this section, we have seen that Jesus is truly an example in paradox.
This is seen by how we need to follow the example Jesus gave us in His response to the ultimate suffering.
This is seen by how we need to follow the example Jesus gave us by the ultimate in suffering which resulted in our salvation. Though we don’t have the ability to save anyone, our example can cause people to look to Jesus and seek Him for their salvation.
This is seen by how we need to follow the example Jesus gave us by His willingness to rescue us from the hopeless end to which we were wandering. We dare not just watch as individuals around us are wandering around in helplessness in a meaningless existence.
Our desire is that we might point others to Jesus Christ for salvation by following His example. Yes, it is a paradox. But then again, being given eternal life when we don’t deserve it is also a paradox.
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