We are not free from God, we are free in Him, free in Christ, free in the shepherd, free in the door, free in the slave, free in the one who became a slave for me.
This is Jubilate Sunday, the day smack dab in the middle of Easter season, named for its traditional Psalm 66 introit. Likely, it is better known to you by the nickname “Good Shepherd Sunday” because of the pastoral theme across the lectionary readings, which take their cue from the traditional John 10 gospel (broken up across the three years of the readings series). I am not privy to the decisions about pericope choices in the lectionary in minute detail, but it would seem that the “out of order sequence” in the epistle series this year is due to the thematic relationship of the latter half of 1 Peter 2 in place of the first half, which we will see next week at Easter 5. Not an absolutely compelling argument (other Easter 4 readings are less or more connected any given year; for example, contrast the Acts 2 lesson this week!), but it seems the committee was appreciating the serendipity of Peter interpreting Isaiah 53 at this point in his letter, and Isaiah 53 happens to have sheep and shepherds on the mind at verse 6: We all like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way (and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all).
Peter is appreciably clever in his treatment of the Old Testament throughout the letter, and chapter 2 seems especially saturated. He quotes, cites, or at least obliquely refers to Psalm 34 (taste and see that the Lord is good), Isaiah 28 (cornerstone talk), Psalm 118 (the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone), Isaiah 8 (a rock of offense), Exodus 19 (royal priesthood, holy nation), Deuteronomy 10 (chosen race), Deuteronomy 7 (people for his own possession – likely the centerpiece of next week’s sermon helps), and Hosea 1 and 2 (once you were not a people, now you are God’s people). Then, he directly connects Isaiah’s prophecy to Christ, identifying Him as the suffering servant who committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth (Isaiah 53:9), who did not retaliate when reviled (Isaiah 53:7), who bore our sins on the tree (Isaiah 53:4, 11-12), by whose stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5), and who is the shepherd for us wayward sheep (Isaiah 53:6). And that shepherd is also the overseer for our souls (evoking Ezekiel 34).
Flock talk lands Peter’s listeners right in the pen with Jesus’ John 10 audience, and I encourage you as a preacher to study not just the Isaiah 53 prophecy that Peter is intent on identifying with Christ, but Jesus’ own preaching. Notice how the gospel lesson focuses more on the shepherd than on the sheep, and that focus in John 10:1-10 is not only about His shepherding but also about His being the door, the gate for the sheep. The theme resonates with access, entrance, ingress, egress, life, and life abundantly, and, therefore, safe freedom and free safety. How does that stack up with the 1 Peter points? It does so ironically, and you should appreciate this as a preacher. Hear the irony, the reversal, the flip-flop, topsy-turvy talk (and, therefore, rich Kingdom of God talk), based on the context of 1 Peter 2. The apostle is writing/preaching this bit of the chapter as a further explanation of what it means to submit as a slave, to be ordered-under (that hypotassō verb, so consistent in what the Germans call the Haustafeln portions of the New Testament epistles, instructing good order between husbands and wives, young and old, and, as in this case, slaves and masters). Peter links the lot of the domestic slave in his audience (oiketēs) with that of Christ who became slave of all. Hear this, preacher: Jesus does the same thing by identifying Himself in His Johannine wisdom talk with the slave’s role (the shepherd, John 2:2-5), and even with the role of the inanimate object of ingress and egress (the gate, John 2:7-10).
The Jesus of John 10 is a slave, an instrument, not a sovereign, master, or despot. He is a shepherd; lowly, dirty, ignoble, bottom of the food chain sort of work, in the highly stratified world of a Roman imperial backwater. Jesus’ hearers would know that much for sure, despite the parenthesis at John 10:6. And so is the Jesus of 1 Peter 2:21-25! He is a slave who faces risk and bondage, in order that His sheep may receive freedom and safety. That social position is, for the one who receives this word to their benefit, a hypogrammos (“example,” 1 Peter 2:21), an absolutely delightful word that we now want to think about carefully, lest you skip over it too quickly, or blithely imagine a milquetoast “WWJD” message translates Peter sufficiently here.
He is a slave who faces risk and bondage, in order that His sheep may receive freedom and safety.
Remember learning how to write? Not essays or term papers or sermons, I mean actual letters. Writing your ABC’s (or when you were at seminary, your alpha-beta-gammas, or your aleph- beth-gimels!). Can you remember yourself at age 6 or thereabouts, holding the chunky pencil that was too big for your hands, with a huge capital letter facing you on a page, and dotted-line examples to draw, connecting your dots slowly at first, and after your finger muscles and hand coordination got enough time on task, quicker and less shaky, smoother and staying in the lines? That dotted-line letter on the page is a hypogrammos. It is not just an exemplar to copy, but a dotted line to copy onto. A machine analogy here would be closer to a groove, slot, or track, a channel to keep a needle or other tool in to be guided. I cannot help but connect this with Ephesians 2:10: You are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which He prepared in advance that you might walk in them. We lose the truth of this all too quickly if we think it is about some kind of temporally linear law + gospel + response, as if now it is time for my good works in response to the gospel, free from God who has already done His bit, so now it is up to me. No, that is not how it goes. We are not free from God (needle out of the track, needle off the track), we are free in Him, free in Christ, free in the shepherd, free in the door, free in the slave, free in the one who became a slave for me. Yowzah!
This is context, mind you. You need not preach on the slave/master reversal embodied in Christ as shepherd. But appreciating it is essential historical, grammatical, cultural, and theological background to your exegesis and preparation of this text for preaching. You do, of course, need to deliver the Christ the text delivers, and pay special attention to who the Christ is and what He does in 1 Peter 2. This Jesus is shepherd and overseer of your souls (1 Peter 2:25). He is hypogrammos as we discussed above (1 Peter 2:21). Indeed, He is the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 (1 Peter 2:22-25)!
And what does Jesus do? He suffered for us (1 Peter 2:21), and outlines a way to walk, a groove to follow (1 Peter 2:21). He committed no sin or deceit (1 Peter 2:22). He is the one reviled who does not return the sass and who trusts in God instead of returning threats when suffering (1 Peter 2:23). He bore our sins in His body on the tree, was wounded for us (1 Peter 2:24). This is the direct proclamation of Christ’s saving work for your hearer. Deliver it faithfully, whatever direction your sermon ultimately takes, because the only thing that will save your hearer is the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Finally, how does this text confess Easter? It has been three or four weeks now since your major celebration. The lilies are likely limp and the chocolate bunnies no longer on the discount shelves. Each passing week may prove more difficult to recall the fact of Christ’s resurrection and their own. Notice, Christ Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. That death/life dynamic is Easter through and through. Do not fail to see that Christ’s death is purposive for a real, boots-on-the-ground, lived life. Remind your hearers of this and reflect on the fact of what that life looks like, a suffering sort of thing (1 Peter 2:19), an enduring sort of thing (1 Peter 2:20), a gracious sort of thing (kharis – a mark of God’s favor!) in God’s sight (1 Peter 2:19-20). That is a real life. It is the one Christ lived, and lives on our behalf, for our benefit, and for our salvation. And it is one that is palpably and often painfully real, which we live too, and are called to live it in righteousness, a righteousness not our own, but given as a gift (there is the right valance of kharis in this context!) by the Christ who died and lives for us. Deliver the Christ dead and alive. Invite your hearer this week into that dead and living life, into Christ, for that is where their life is forever. And that is where their (and your!) life is right now.
God bless your preaching this week!
Additional Resources:
Craft of Preaching-Check out 1517’s resources on 1 Peter 2:19-25.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you preaching 1 Peter 2:19-25.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
The Pastor’s Workshop-Check out all the great preaching resources from our friends at the Pastor’s Workshop!
