Lesson 56
Study of
First Peter Chapter 3
Review:
3. The death and resurrection of the Sufferer (3:18c).
- having been put to
death indicates
the violent death of Jesus and recalls the violent action of men against Him in
crucifying Him.
- in the flesh dative of reference (sa,rx)
points to the reality of His death as a real human being. He was no docetic phantom who only appeared to have a human body.
-
(on the other hand) but made alive in the spirit;
Both
flesh and spirit, used without an article, emphasize quality and
denote two contrasted modes of our Lord's existence, before and after the
resurrection.
"By
flesh is meant Christ in His human sphere of existence, considered as a man
among men.
By
spirit is meant Christ in His heavenly, spiritual sphere of existence,
considered as divine spirit; and this does not exclude His bodily nature, since
as risen from the dead it is glorified.
* The contrast is between Christ's death
as a real man in His humanity here on earth and His risen life as the glorified
Lord. Flesh and spirit thus denote two successive spheres of existence of the
incarnate Christ.
- Clearly the statement here refers to the resurrection of
Christ, which was the overt indication of the completion of Justification Rom 4:25
3:18 For Christ also died (spiritual death) concerning
sins, once, a just one on behalf of unjust ones in order that He might bring us
to God, on the one hand having been put to death with reference to the flesh
(real humanity) but on the other hand made alive by the Spirit.
3:19-20b The preaching to
"the spirits in prison"
in which also
He went and made
proclamation
Peter's
purpose for including this here I believe is to provide encouragement to his
afflicted readers with evidence of the victory of the suffering Christ.
What He
accomplished! made
proclamation to the spirits now in prison,
The verb here is not the
word for proclaiming the good news of the gospel euvaggeli,zw but is khru,ssw which means to
proclaim, to make a public authoritative announcement.
Next we
find who he made the proclamation to!
to the spirits now in prison, 20 who once
were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in
the days of Noah,
- this particular group
of angels' predicament in which they found themselves is covered in 2 Pet
2:4-5; Jude 6
now in prison
It was to these judged and incarcerated fallen angels
that Christ went and made this victorious proclamation
His presence before them in resurrection body was the
visible proof!
who once (pote - at one time - past) were disobedient, avpeiqe,w
- disobedient - very strong word
expressing one's negative volition to truth;
speaks of one knowing the truth, having heard and understood it but
reject it refusing to be persuaded by it
- The time and circumstances of that disobedience are more
specifically indicated in the following clauses: "when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah,"
- God is patient
toward those who are maladjusted to His plan, this is amplified in 2 Pet
3:9; speaks of giving every opportunity
for anyone to respond to Doctrine or the gospel which ever is the issue!
kept waiting (imperfect act
in the days of
Noah, during his
lifetime, in his generation the only one fully adjusted to the
justice of God, seen in Gen 6:9,
- blameless, tamim, indicates
he was physically pure
-
righteous, tsadiq, reminds us that his pattern of life was consistent
with the truth he knew because he walked with God in fellowship.
during the construction of the ark,
Noah constructed the ark at God's command - a huge
construction project. (Gen. 6:13-14)
God's
patience with obstinate evil is extraordinary, but it does have its limits.
- From Gen 6 we get the impression that Noah worked for
just over 100 years to complete the ark according to the specs as commanded by
God
- they both were characterized by
idolatry, blatant lawlessness, murders, demon worship, sexual immorality and
thefts. Rev 9:20-21
With
the mention of the ark it enabled Peter to shift his thoughts from those upon
whom 'judgment fell to those who were saved by it.
in
which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.
It
was an encouraging reminder to the readers who "must have been painfully
conscious of their small numbers and relative feebleness compared to the pagan
majority among whom they lived.
3:20 who
(fallen angels) at one time were disobedient when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of
Noah, during the construction of the ark in which a few that is eight persons
were brought safely through in passing through the floodwaters.