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12 - 1 & 2 Peter and Jude |
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LESSON 12• 1 & 2 Peter and Jude
“That You Might Believe and Have Life In His Name” (John 20:31)
Preparation for New Testament Survey, April 30, 2006
The Letters of 1 & 2 Peter and Jude
INTRODUCTION
It is no wonder God preserved a couple of the Apostle Peter’s writings and included them in the canon of the New Testament. As you read through this 1st letter, you can’t help but reflect upon all of Peter’s experiences with the Lord that we read about in the Gospels.
In the introductory greeting the author identifies himself as “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ” (1:1), and in 5:1, he claims to have been an “eyewitness of the sufferings of Christ.”
The first letter of Peter was written to Christians of the Dispersion who were living in difficult times in northern and western Asia Minor (1:1). Inspired of God, Peter carefully penned this general letter to remind them of their “election of God” and to rekindle their missionary zeal.
The purpose of the first letter of Peter was to encourage the recipients to stand fast in their profession of faith (5:12) despite serious trials and persecutions. The letter was written from “Babylon” (5:13) a term which appears to be a cryptic reference to Rome, the great capital of the pagan world (as also found in Book of Revelation – 14:8; 18:2, 10, 21). He had with him Mark, whom he calls “my son” (5:13) and we assume this to be the cousin of Barnabas, an on-again, off-again companion of Paul (Acts 15:37; Col. 4:10; Philemon 24; 2 Tim. 4:11). But admittedly, we don’t have recorded in scripture how he became a companion of Peter. He also mentions the letter was written through Silvanus (5:12). This is the same man called Silas, who was a Greek Christian mentioned many times in the New Testament as a traveling companion of Paul (Acts 15:22-24; 17:14-15; 18:5; 2 Cor. 1:19; 1 Thes. 1:1; 2 Thes. 1:1).
The point to be made in all of this is the close connection that had emerged between Peter and Paul. Some have even said that if this letter did not claim to be from Peter, no one would doubt it came from Paul. There is one other unique connection to this letter – the material in this and the Letter of James. Note the parallelism in the discussion of “faith tested by trials” in 1 Pet. 1:6-8 and James 1:2-4. Even more impressive is 1 Pet. 5:5-9, in which there is a linkage to James 4:6-10 down to the identical citation from Proverbs 3:34.
MONDAY
One other interesting consideration. Most scholars agree this letter was written to a Gentile audience. Please remember that in Paul’s version of the Jerusalem Council recorded in Gal. 2:8, Paul was to preach to the Gentiles and Peter to the circumcised. Isn’t it amazing how God ended up using Peter to reach out to new Gentile converts?
On the heels of that thought, some have even suggested that the material in this first letter was originally delivered as a sermon to candidates for baptism, urging them to stand firm in their new faith.
There are two words that stand out in summarizing the purpose of Peter’s writing – assurance and exhortation. The tone of his letters are warm, pastoral, and full of encouragement. The exhortations are addressed to Christians who shared a common faith and experienced common problems. They were being persecuted and it looked like things would get worse before they got better. Various trials were testing their faith (1:6). They were being spoken against as evildoers (2:12). They were “under the pain of unjust suffering” (2:19). They were being maliciously treated, slandered, and were suffering (3:16-17). They were not to “repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing” (3:9). They were encouraged not to be surprised by the “painful trial” they would experience (4:12). They were participating in the sufferings of Christ (4:13) and were being “insulted because of the name of Christ” (4:14) and therefore were “suffering as a Christian” (4:16).
In the summer of A.D. 64, a great fire destroyed much of Rome. It was widely believed that the Emperor Nero was responsible. Despite his attempts to help the homeless, Nero was unable to allay suspicion. Thus, needing a scapegoat to blame, he selected the Christians and went about to unleash his wrath on them. Up to this point, Christianity had been viewed as simply a sect of Judaism (a legal religion under the Roman system). Waves of oppression and persecution washed over the Empire. During the period, Paul was killed by beheading and Peter was crucified upside down.
TUESDAY
In this first letter, Peter calls his readers to a renewed sense of their own distinctive identity. All who acknowledge God and obey Him become members of an elect people – the people of God. For this elect people, their “living hope” is found in the power of God which is evidenced in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1:3). This “rebirth” qualifies them for an inheritance that is “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (1:3-4). This new life has a definite goal: “the salvation of your soul” (1:9).
The subject of baptism is wonderfully referenced in 1 Peter 3:20-22 while calling attention to Noah and his family who were “saved through water.” Peter draws a parallel to the act of baptism wherein the same power of God that raised Jesus from the dead is extended to all believers who render their obedience through baptism. This represents a transition to a new identity, a transition Peter calls “rebirth” (1:23).
Peter pictures the church as “a spiritual house” . . . God’s House . . . the Lord’s Temple. It is a “spiritual house” where “spiritual sacrifices” are made to God (2:4-5). In 1 Peter, as in Ephesians, the metaphor of growth is closely associated with the metaphor of building (Eph. 2:19-21;4:12-16).
From this discussion, notice how Peter provides a list of household duties (2:13-3:7) with a central theme being that of submission. Christians are measured not by the standards of others but by the one who called them and gave them their new identity: “As he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy” (1:15-16).
As redeemed children of God, Peter exhorts the readers to holiness and love. He gives some practical moral imperatives (2:11-3:12). The ethic of submission was a hard lesson learned for this seasoned Apostle Peter, but now he prioritizes it as central to our faith!
WEDNESDAY
The second letter of Peter and the Letter of Jude are step-children in the New Testament canon. In truth, the letters are not easy to read. Neither are they easy to understand. Reading them requires a greater cryptographic ability than is needed for most of the other books of the New Testament.
The two letters are so closely akin because they share a substantial amount of material. Much of Jude’s material is also found in 2 Peter. Some have even questioned, “was Jude written first and later incorporated into 2 Peter?” Some even suggest that the “first letter” referred to in 2 Peter 3:1 was really Jude.
Jude introduced himself as “a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James” (v. 1). This raises the question as to which James – James the brother of the Lord (Gal. 1:19; 2:9) or James the son of Alpheus (Mt. 10:3; Mk.3:18) or James the son of Zebedee (Mt.4:21; Mk. 1:19)?
Among all of the books of the New Testament, none has been more disputed as to canonicity and authorship than 2 Peter. Scholars point out that from 2 Pet. 3:15-16 it is clear that this final letter from Peter could not have been written until a good number of the Pauline Epistles had been written and gathered together. This means the earliest possible date would be A.D. 60; more likely a date of A.D. 64-68.
The intrusion of false teachers who had wormed their way into the church made it necessary for Jude and Peter to write these letters. Despite their knowledge from history of those who fell under God’s judgment for their evil deeds, the enemies of the Christian way were continuing in their attack on Christianity.
As you read through the 2nd Chapter of 2 Peter and the Letter of Jude, note the marked contrast between the character and teaching of true apostles (like Peter and Paul) and that of the false teachers (antinomians) whose lives were marked by their denial of Jesus, immorality, rejection of authority, enslavement to sin, and misuse of scripture.
THURSDAY
Jude has been called the “difficult and neglected letter” for the following reasons:
* Casual readers find it bewildering. To the American mind, it sounds almost like “apocalyptic imagery” as one reads the vivid descriptions of angels, rocks, clouds, dead trees, gainsaying of Korah, the wicked Balaam, and the other things that come gliding across the page in this brief letter.
* Scholars also find this letter difficult. Some have declared there are more textual variances in this letter than any other in the New Testament.
* Commentaries have expressed much concern about the relationship between Jude and 2 Peter. There is an obvious similarity seen in the last twelve verses.
Jude sets out in the early section that his preference would have been to be positive and encouraging in speaking of the “common salvation” we share in Christ (v. 3). Two things however disturbed Jude that demanded his attention:
* False teaching about Jesus;
* Ungodly living within the Christian community.
Jude does not mince words. With scathing denunciations he declares that the false teachers are immoral (vv. 4, 7, 16) and covetous men (vv. 11, 16), who reject authority (vv. 8, 11). They were grumblers, malcontents, loud-mouthed boasters (v. 16), and were characterized by Jude as men “who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit” (v. 19).
Their doom is sure and so Jude speaks in verses 5-7 of some Old Testament (and extra-testamental) examples of rebellion and punishment:
* The people who were saved out of Egypt but who were destroyed later;
* The angels who did not keep their own place and were condemned;
The filthy people of Sodom and Gomorroh who indulged in gross immorality and were punished with fire.
FRIDAY
One of the important matters addressed in 2 Peter is the certainty of future judgment at the second coming of Christ (3:1-7). The day of the Lord will come suddenly and unexpectedly, like a thief, and “the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men” (3:10-13). In view of the approaching end, Peter exhorts Christians to “make every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with him”(3:14-17). The writer ends, as he had begun, by calling on his readers “to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (3:18).
These letters are important for they shed light on the state of Christianity at the close of the New Testament period, revealing that at that time libertine heresies were threatening the early church.
One final note. The doxology that Jude gives is the most exalted in all of early Christian literature and worthy of our deep consideration:
To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy – to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.- Jude 24-25
© 2006, Pleasant Valley Church of Christ
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