Devotional
Oh boy. Here we go. I'm going to give you the short(ish) version here. If you want the long version (6 pages), click here for a PDF.
This passage is part of a larger chunk of the letter that starts at 2:11 and goes through 4:11. It concerns how Christians behave along a non-Christians society so that "though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God." It's an incredibly practical passage about how to avoid persecution, jail time, and state-sponsored execution.
The basic logic of this chunk is "be so well behaved, that even if you run afoul of the empire, they'll see your good deeds and think twice about punishing you." It's not all that dissimilar than the "twice as good" double standard that blacks in America live under, as described by Ta-Nehisi Coates. If you want to avoid violent discrimination (for your religion, in the case of 1st century Christians; for your skin color, in the case of 21st century persons of color), then be twice as good as anyone else around you, with the hope that that will be enough to avoid punishment for merely existing (spoiler: it usually wasn't/isn't).
Basically, Peter is setting his exiles down for "the talk." If you want to not run afoul of the state, then yes, believe in Jesus and the resurrection and the second coming. But also do these things too.
What follows, particularly in 2:13--3:7 is how to submit to authority. The key command is in 2:13, "Submit yourselves...to every human authority." This is followed by a list of examples. And it's in this list of examples that Peter gets a little revolutionary - in a very subversive way.
His first example is slaves. They are to "submit yourselves to your masters." You don't know it, but what Peter just said was amazingly progressive for the time. In Greek philosophy, there was a natural order to how the world was arranged. Free men were at the top. Male heirs came next. Then women; children; slaves.
The way you would usually describe these relationships was by appealing to nature. "Slaves are subordinate to their masters." This is not a command. It's a description of the way things are.
But Peter doesn't say that. He says, "be subordinate" or "submit yourselves." Peter is in fact affirming the humanity and free agency of slaves. They aren't subordinate by nature. They can choose of their own free will. And, in Peter's estimation, it was in a Christian slave's best interest to submit themselves to their masters, lest they suffer the punishment of the empire.
He does the same thing in 3:1, "Wives, in the same way submit yourselves." Again, not a description of reality ("Wives are subordinate, by nature"). He is saying that women have agency and choice.
But where Peter really goes bonkers, from a 1st century point of view, is in verse 7. "Husbands in the same way ** be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you." Do you see it? Peter is saying that in the same way that slaves should submit to their masters; in the same way** that wives submit to husbands; husbands ought to be considerate of their wives; treat them with respect; and (wildly enough) treat them as fellow heirs!
While - 2,000 years later - there are still too many churches where I couldn't preach that husbands should submit to their wives without getting thrown out, Peter also recognizes that he couldn't explicitly tell 1st century husbands that either. But through grammar and rhetoric, he is subversively making the same point.
Scripture has ways of surprising us and pulling us forward in ways we don't always expect. We should remember that while the Bible was written for us, it was not written to us. Therefore, we must submit ourselves to the perspective of the original audience in order to hear what they heard and understand what they understood.
Apply
- So that they might better understand the love of Jesus, what are ways that you can submit to your partner, friend, family, co-worker, or boss today?
Pray
God, I thank you that you submitted yourself to humanity, allowing yourself to be beaten, abused, and killed. You showed yourself willing to suffer for the sake of others, even me. Give me the courage and strength to know when to submit, when to stand up for myself, and how to know the difference. Amen.