1 Peter, Pt. 1: Becoming Like Jesus
About the Series
1 Peter is a letter written to 1st-century Christians living on the edge of the Roman Empire, whom Peter calls “exiles” or “strangers.” These disciples are outsiders in society, but insiders in God’s Kingdom, born into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus. Peter encourages them to rejoice, even in suffering, to love one another deeply, and live holy, disciplined lives. He challenges them as spiritually free people to choose to honor everyone, even those who treat them harshly. Underneath his encouragement and instruction is the underlying assumption that disciples of Jesus are learning to become like him—living their lives as He would. They may share in his suffering, but they will also share in his resurrection! Through this series, we are invited to follow in Jesus’ footsteps, becoming like Jesus in our families, workplaces, and communities.
Read this Sermon Recap
1 Peter pt. 1, Becoming Like Jesus
This letter opens with a typical form of greeting, “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ to the exiles of the dispersion…” We are intended to read this letter with Peter in mind, addressed to Christians who are scattered to the edges of the Roman Empire.
Peter’s own story, including both remarkable moments of privilege (1st disciple, 1st in Jesus’ inner circle, 1st to preach a Christian sermon) and failure (being rebuked as an adversary of Jesus, dramatically denying knowing Jesus on the night He was crucified) is brought to mind as we encounter Jesus in John 21 restoring Peter’s role as disciple and apostle. In that moment, Jesus also points to Peter’s own future martyrdom for the sake of the gospel. “The resurrection changed everything for Peter – everything!”
The letter is written to Christians who were exiles in the Empire. As Christians they were religious and social outsiders in Rome. Now having been dispersed to the eastern edge of the Roman Empire, they found themselves social, ethnic, and religious outsiders in their new homes as well. Karen Jobes notes, “Although Peter’s readers may in fact have been resident aliens and strangers in Asia Minor, the cause of their deeper alienation from society was their faith in Christ…Because they are citizens of the kingdom of God, they are to understand themselves as resident aliens and foreigners wherever they may be residing in this life.” But they aren’t just strangers. They are chosen by God, members of His family.
How might this letter be in some way relevant to us? Most of us will never experience what the original audience of this letter did. There is a distance between the experience of these first century disciples and that of our own time and place. But we do well to not “dissolve the difference”. We should allow this reality to cultivate a compassion in us for those who in our day love 1 Peter because it still speaks to their situation as exiles and religious migrants. We get to use our privilege to work for justice. And also, we learn from the way Peter instructs these disciples, pointing to how followers of Jesus are called to become like their rabbi. Our call is to learn how to live our lives as Jesus would live them if He were us (h/t Dallas Willard).
Discuss these Questions
(Leaders: Before going into the questions, you may want to give your group a minute or so of silence, reflecting on and listening to the Spirit around the question, “What is Jesus inviting you to notice tonight?”)
Tonight we are going to use this set of questions to guide our discussion. You may want to pull up the guide on your phone to help you process and reflect.
What stuck out to you from Sunday’s sermon? Has anything stayed with you that you’d like to share or discuss together?
Though our situation is very different from the 1st century audience, are there ways in which you regularly feel out-of-place or socially alienated because of your faith in Jesus? What do you do in these moments?
It is the role of a disciple to follow their rabbi, to increasingly become like him. Does knowing the suffering and resurrection and future glory of Jesus help you be patient with your own struggles?
Before we close and read the practice for the week, let’s take some time to pray for each other.
Practice for the Week
Dallas Willard explains the role of a disciple is to be always asking “what would Jesus do in this situation if He were me.” That is, how would Jesus live my life as a ______ (engineer, student, wife, friend, etc.). Take this question with you and bring it to mind often, allowing the Spirit to lead you in response.