Yikes! It is cold outside! 38 degrees when I went to do chores this morning!! And there was frost on the windshield of my truck when I left for an early morning appointment! Fall is here!
Good discussion and comments about Peter's words from yesterday! Thanks for journeying and growing with me.
The beginning of this chapter is about wives submitting to husbands! Remember the time and context of when these words were written!
Here we go...
"In the same way..." (so the way that we respect people of authority because of their position), women should accept their husbands authority. Personal thought- each spouse should respect the authority of their spouse. I think all people should learn to respect others. One of the common themes you all talked about yesterday was respect being "lost" from our culture. That may solve some of the problems we are having! Peter brings up Sarah's obedience to Abraham as an example (vv 5-6). The idea is that Peter is not calling these women to something new, it has always been around!
Peter then begins commentary on "adornments and outer beauty" (vv 3-4). During the time of Peter, women would dye their hair blonde or wear wigs (imported from Germany, according to Barclay) that were blonde hair. Peter's commentary is that what is inside is more important than the outside (v 4). We know that- right? There has been much in the news lately about Facebook and Instagram being more strict about allowing "body shaming" memes and comments. Teenage girls- and boys- are feeling the pressure to be more beautiful, more skinny, more pretty, whatever...It is causing damage. It is what's inside that counts- but we don't always see that, do we?
Peter does add in a few lines at the end of this section about husbands "showing consideration" to their wives in recognition that the "woman is the weaker sex" (v 7). Peter meant weaker in a physical sense, but I can see this being used by some people as "proof" that women are weaker! Peter does "admit" that women are heirs to salvation and eternal life too!
Peter then switches his discussion to becoming unified in spirt, mind, and empathy (vv 8-9). We have talked many times before that the feeling of compassion and empathy seems to be lost by the population. Imagine what we could do if we did all work together; imagine how we could be if we all had compassion. Peter then quotes from Psalm 34 demonstrating the blessings that people receive when they turn from evil and do good. Why is it so hard for people to be nice and do good to others? What has happened that everyone is mean and angry all the time? Why have we lost our compassion for others?
Though Peter says we should repay evil with good, he also lived in the real world (as we do) where good is sometimes payed back with evil (vv 13-14). Even when we are repaid with evil, we should remember that suffering is a blessing. God will care for us, especially when we suffer unjustly. Look at Christ (v 18). He definitely suffered unjustly, but was "rewarded" with resurrection! Jesus, the just, suffered for all of us, the unjust. It was Jesus' suffering that gave us the goodness of eternal life.
"He went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison..." (v 19). Peter's theology (and many theologians agree) that Jesus went to Hades between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Those three days, Jesus was teaching, preaching, and proclaiming salvation to the souls in Hades (the spirits in prison). Did Jesus preach judgment or did Jesus evangelize? Was Jesus talking good news or was Jesus condemning?
Peter ends with reference to the Noah flood (vv 20-22) washing away all the sin and hate in the world; baptism does the same for us- washes away our sin and guilt. The water of baptism is an invitation to God to accept us- and for us to accept God.
A good variety of topics for us to mull over this weekend! Have a good rest of the day!
Peace+
Pastor Paul
Cathy so nice to see you this morning at service.
ReplyDeletePeter says that women swhould submit to their husbands authority but he also says that husband should honor thier wives. I think this means each spouse should respect the other in the marriage. when Peter speaks of women being weaker he may be speaking of physical weakness. Men' are stronger of body usually than women altho women do do thru childbirth which takes a lot of strenght that possibly men would not withstand?
Peter says not to repay evil with evil in other words "turn the other cheek". We should be kind to each other . it seems this concept is not always present in todays world. The times of my grandparents neighbors helped neighbor which you don't witness so much now Perhaps that is because most households today both parents are out working to help pay bills etc in the time of my grandparents the women usually were at home and the women seemed to help family and neighbor . now most parents are out working and when they get home they are doing what needs to e done at home. Not really the best but could be a reason that things are so different???
I also agree that Peter is speaking during a time we don't understand totally today, but, as Clara said, he says wives obey but husbands honor. And vs. 7 in my translation does say "...and as being heirs together of the grace of life..." making us equals in the eyes of God's Grace. My exception to these versus 1-7 is admonishing that women do not adorn themselves but what about the men? Is Peter talking about them in vs. 4???? While it is true what is inside is more important then what is outside, still, we all take some pride in how we look. Versus 8 - 17 - called Christian Conduct in my translation - is pretty clear. And I am surprised how important what we say is to Peter, James and some of Paul's letters. It would be nice if we would repay evil with good, but I can tell you that I don't always do that always - I wish I did. My translation comments are rather interesting about vs. 19 and 20 - possibilities are 1) Jesus preached through Noah to the wicked generation of that time 2) Jesus went to some prison where fallen angels were incarcerated because they married human women during Noah's time or 3) Jesus went to the place of the dead where he preached to the spirit's of Noah's wicked contemporaries. It then goes on to say that option 3 is Biblically out of the question because it offers a "second chance Frankly, all three options seem strange! I would have thought that Jesus did go to all those who had died previously to his coming and "preach" to them about God because weren't those "alive" at the time being given a "second change"? I love versus 8-15!!
ReplyDeleteCathy, it was GREAT seeing you!
Thanks, ladies. I enjoyed the service. It was nice receiving “real” communion again.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think Peter or Paul were married or their wives would have straightened them out about their views on women lol! Actually Peter seems to be saying that husbands and wives should have respect for each other. I can live with that.
My commentary says that Peter lists 5 elements that should characterize any group of believers: harmony,sympathy, love, compassion, and humility. He says that we should share the reason for the hope that we have. He reminds us that Jesus died for our sins. Our hope is that we will receive forgiveness and salvation if we do our best to live good lives.
This is a passage that has a lot of food for thought. A marriage consists of give and take from both parties. A man is not king of his castle and does not lord over his wife. Women today are thought of and treated much, much differently than they were in Peter's time. At least they are in our part of the world. In the Middle East, they are thought of a little differently, to say the least. Here, women are thought of as equals to men, and I think that this is how it should be. The old adage about beauty being skin deep is simply not true, Real beauty goes much deeper. This is the beauty that counts.
ReplyDeleteOne difference occurred many years ago when I was in the fire department. One of the male firefighters spoke up and said that he always wanted to do interior firefighting with another man instead of a woman because women do not have the physical strength that men have. This, while true, doesn't preclude women from being good firefighters. Their are plenty of jobs to be done at a fire scene that women can do as well as men.
Clara spoke of women having to go through childbirth. I think that it is very possible that women have a much higher tolerance to pain than men. I have noticed this with my wife. She seems to be able to handle pain much better than me.
How can we work better together? Can we work together, or are we always at each others throats? There are two things that have happened here recently that prove that mankind is basically good and that we can work together. The first is the derailment of an Amtrak passenger train nearby in rural Montana. It appears (from an article in today's newspaper) that the local people of all walks of life came out from everywhere to help people who were on that train. In reading the article, I thought that I should have driven the 100 miles or so to the scene and helped out as best I could. This was really a heart warming story of people helping strangers in their time of need.
The second was closer to home. I had surgery on Sept 8 and again on Sept 16. We had neighbors who came over and cut our grass for us without us asking them. Rhea was trying to find someone who cuts lawns around where Dan lives, and while she was trying to find someone, the neighbors showed up and cut the grass for us. There is definitely good in people even though it is not evident from the news programs.
Jack, thank you so much for your two examples of how people still come together when needed!! They are great examples and I still truly believe in the goodness of people who truly desire to help! Glad you are doing so much better!!
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