1 Peter 2:21 “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps.”
In all things we are always to look at our Lord Jesus as our example that we are to follow in this life, and the area of suffering is no different. In the above-quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit tells us explicitly that we are to follow Christ’s example of suffering. So what does scripture reveal to us about the suffering of Christ?
1 Peter 2:18-23 “Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. (19) For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. (20) For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. (21) For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: (22) “Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth"; (23) who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously.”
In the same passage of scripture where the Holy Spirit instructs us to follow the example of our Lord’s suffering, He also elaborates on the type of suffering that He is talking about, for in this passage He says that those who suffer wrongfully for doing good are following the example of Christ. So how does one suffer wrongfully for doing good? It is in the way that we react when we incur suffering. For the scripture says that when Christ suffered and was reviled, He did not revile in return, neither did He threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. For you will recall that the scripture teaches us that vengeance belongs to the Lord (Romans 12:19). And so when we are threatened and reviled for doing good, we are not to react as this world reacts, but rather we are to follow our Lord’s example and take it patiently, committing ourselves to Him who judges righteously.
Hebrews 12:1-4 “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, (2) looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (3) For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. (4) You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.”
We see in the above-quoted passage of scripture that our Lord Jesus endured hostility of sinners against Himself. There are numerous accounts in the gospels when the crowds wanted to stone Jesus, and the only reason that they couldn’t at that time, was because His time had not yet come. And there were also many times when our Lord had to withdraw from Judea because the Jews were plotting to kill Him. And so when our Lord’s time finally came, those same crowds crucified Him. Nevertheless, all through His time of earthly ministry our Lord patiently endured the open hostility displayed against Him, by the very people that He came to save. You will recall that we saw earlier that our Lord said to us, that if they hated Him that they will hate us also. And so if as believers we are living godly lives, then we too will experience open hostility from certain quarters in society. The Holy Spirit counsels us that when we do encounter such hostility that we are not to become discouraged, but rather look at the example set before us by our Lord Jesus and patiently endure that hostility. But the above passage also speaks about the example that our Lord set by enduring the cross. And so there are going to be some of the Lord’s followers who will be called to endure not only hostility from sinners, but also physical abuse and some even martyrdom. Many of the Lord’s saints around the world today are experiencing exactly that.
Hebrews 13:12-14 “Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. (13) Therefore, let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach. (14) For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.”
Under the old covenant there were a number of types and shadows which reflected the suffering that our Lord Jesus endured outside the city of Jerusalem. For example, when the children of Israel offered a sin offering to the Lord they had to burn the carcass of the animal outside the camp (Exodus 29:14). Jesus was our sin offering, for the scripture says that He was made sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21), which is why He had to suffer outside the city gates. Another type was when one was cursed for being a transgressor. They had to be removed from the camp and stoned to death outside the camp (Leviticus 24:14). The scripture teaches us that Jesus became a curse for us, which is why He had to suffer outside the gate (Galatians 3:13). And so He had to be banished from the camp for us. And yet another type was when anyone became unclean due to some form of illness such as leprosy for example, they were banished from the camp and they had to remain outside until they were cleansed (Leviticus 13:46). The scripture teaches us that Jesus bore our sicknesses and diseases in His own body (Matthew 8:17), and so again Jesus had to suffer outside the camp for us. With regards to all three of these types of suffering that our Lord incurred outside the gate however, the believer is not able to share in them, for we cannot take on ourselves the sin of the world, and we cannot take on ourselves the sicknesses of the world, and we cannot take on ourselves the curse of the world. So why does the Holy Spirit tell us in the above-quoted passage of scripture that we are to go forth to Him outside the camp? The answer lies in the next phrase “bearing His reproach”. So what does that mean?
Numbers 12:13-15 “So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, "Please heal her, O God, I pray!" (14) Then the Lord said to Moses, "If her father had but spit in her face, would she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut out of the camp seven days and afterward she may be received again." (15) So, Miriam was shut out of the camp seven days, and the people did not journey till Miriam was brought in again.”
The above-quoted passage of scripture reveals to us what the Holy Spirit means when He says that we are to “go forth to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach”. The context of the above passage is that Miriam and Aaron had spoken against Moses because he had married an Ethiopian woman, and they were also saying that they too were prophets through whom the Lord spoke. God had heard their words and He summoned all three to stand before Him at the tabernacle. God then rebuked Miriam and Aaron for speaking against His servant Moses, and it seems as if Miriam had been the main instigator against Moses, because God then judged Miriam and she became leprous. Moses then interceded on her behalf that the Lord would heal her, and that is where we pick up the account in the above passage. The point that I wanted to highlight from this passage is that our Lord said that if her father had spat in her face she would have been shamed and banished from the camp for a period of seven days. You will recall that when our Lord Jesus was crucified that they spat in His face (Mark 14:65), and so He was shamed and had to be taken outside the gate. The earlier passage of scripture that we quoted stated that our Lord endured the cross, despising the shame. And so this is the reproach that we are to bear for His name. As believers, we too are to take up our cross of persecution and suffering when society both figuratively and literally spits in our faces, despising the shame even as our Lord did.
Michael E.B. Maher
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