The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Peter — Section 132

to be Christians like others, they were callccl to lhe pr0pcr bearing of all hardship.~ nppointc<l for them. There was One w!io~o example was to be studied by them. It ·will not be thought that Christ is 11nworllly of imitaliou. It may, however, be thought that he is too great for imitation-that he is only for admiration. 'l'bo word trnnslate,1 "example" sug;-:ests a great pictm·e left us in the life of Christ: how are we to cop:, it line for line? Christ is also put before us here as Leader of the way: how are ~,-e_ to follow him ~tep for step? The_ so!uti;in of this is that his example is singularly 1m1tr,ble, that he 1s a Leader whom 1t 1s smgularly ea5y to follow. There is a vul"ar ~rcatnc..~s which is full of self-importance, which is imprisoned in private intere;ts which multiplies distinctions. Ilut true greatness is forgetful of self, covets nothing which it cannot communicate, goes down iu hope of raising up. '\Ve arc told here that Christ suffered as well as the slaves. W c are told also that he suffered for the slaves (the meaning of which is afterwards brought out). He thus, on the one hand, brought excellence near to us; we do not think of his teaching theoretically as from a. chair of learning. On the other hand, by the great advantage couferred on us, he obtained tho right to be our Example, power over us to make us fo:Jow him. (2) The innocence of Christ in his sufferings. "Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." Did slaves snffer innocently? Christ suffered innocently too. It is to be noted that the idea of sinlessness entered into the Old Testament conception of the Messiah. The language here, with a slight exception, is taken from the Septuagint Version of Isa. liii. 9, "He bad done no violeuce, neither was any deceit in his mouth." The Servant of God (in this a pattern to servants) did no sin, i.e. brought no suffering upon himself by his owu faults. This sinlessness extended to faultlessness in speech, especially to freedom from a common fault in slaves connected with the frequent use of force. Guile was not foiind in his mouth, i.e. there never passed from him, even inadvertently, an expression that wall fitted to convey a false impression (with the escaping of suffering or auything else as bis end). For co!llpleteness we must give this siulessness a positive aspect. He djd always what the truth required in act, and spake always what the truth required in speech. 'IVbat we have here in a general statement is given in detail in the portraiture of Christ in the Gospels. It is interesting to notice the impression produced on the apostles by what they saw. "The idea of siolesmess was by no means so common an idea that all that was necessary to lead men like the apostles to apply it to Christ was an accident or some insufficient occasion. Quite the contrary: thi11 idea was never thought of, nor bad it ever entered into the heart of man to conceive it, until it appeared, not as an idea merely, but as a reality, in the lifo of Jesus of Nazareth. Even now to believe in the realizing of the idea of sinlessness in an individnal is not so very easy a, thing for human nature in its present state. Men are not in general much addicted to· the weakness of believing too easily in the e:x:isteace of purity of heart and true grel\t- ne~s; it is a fact that they are only too prone to doubt them when they really exist, It appears as something marvellous and extraordinary in the extreme, that once, ancl only ouce, in the world's history (and that, too, in a time of great moral degradatiou)- <,he impression could be produced upon the minds of a number of meu, that a. character was unfolding itself before their very eyes, of perfect purity and sinless holiness, anrl that the consequence of its manifestation was to produce in them a faitli for which they lived a!ld in which they died. But once docs this fact occur in the history of maukind" (CTJ!mann). (3) The patience of Christ in his sufferings. "Who, when l,e was re\'iled, re\'iled not again; when he sufforerl, threatened not; but committed. himself to Lim that judgeth righteously." '!'here is here an echo of lsa. liii. 7," lie was oppressed, a11<l he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he is brought as a Jami> tu the slaughter, aud as a sheep before her sliearers is dumb, so ho opened not his mouth." \Vhen he was reviled, i.e. was injured in what was said against him, he reviled. nol again; i.e. <lid not resrnt the injury by any injuriouR word in return. 'IVhen he suffered, i.e. was injured in what was done to him, he threatened not; i.e. though co1,scious of power, he was not provoked by the injury to exercise his pm.er, or even to threaten the exercise of it, against his enemies. 'l'he words have special but not exclusive rderence to the j~dgment-scene fullowcd by the crucifixion-scene. '\Vhen reviled as a sabbath-breaker, he calmly answered that his Father workcu on tho :riahbatb day us well us himself. Wheu reviled as casting out devils by tho prineo of ti.Jc d«vilH, he met the wicked suggestion Ly c,1lmly showi □ g how S,1tau could not cast ou, II, 1-25.] 'l'I-IE FIRST EPISTLI<: GENETIAL OF PElEH. 127