1 Peter 2:21-23 meaning

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In God’s perfect plan, He invites believers to suffer for the sake of Christ, even if it means suffering unjustly. Jesus suffered for us, providing a model for us to follow. He always did and said the right thing. Even while the Savior suffered, He did not try to get even or take revenge but trusted God, because God is the ultimate righteous judge and will right all wrongs with perfect judgment.

In 1 Peter 2:21-23, Peter explains that suffering unjustly for doing the right thing is a part of God’s calling and our opportunity to follow Christ’s example. This follows his prior assertion in the previous verses that believers should patiently endure unjust suffering that might occur as a result of righteous behavior (1 Peter 2:19-20).

The apostle begins, For, a word which explains why verse 21 is connected to the previous verse, which asserts that suffering unjustly for doing good gains favor with God (1 Peter 2:19-20): For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps (v. 21).

The simple explanation why believers should embrace suffering unjustly for doing good is that you have been called for this purpose. The phrase you have been called translates a form of a single Greek word “kaleo.” To be called (“kaleo”) in this context is an expression used of a divine invitation. The word “kaleo” appears over a hundred times in scripture. It is often translated “invited,” as in Luke 14:9-24 where Jesus speaks of an invitation to a wedding reception using “kaleo.”

We might get a sense of the use of “kaleo” as a divine calling in verse 21 by looking at its use in three verses from 1 Thessalonians:

1 Thessalonians 2:12 exhorts believers to walk consistent with the high calling/invitation of God to walk in His kingdom and glory.
1 Thessalonians 4:7 asserts that believers were not called/invited to participate in impurity but in sanctification.
1 Thessalonians 5:24 proclaims that God who calls/invites us to walk in His ways is faithful and will bring to pass our preservation at His coming.

We can see then that believers are invited to walk in obedience and gain His great favor and associated rewards. But believers are also safe in His hands as His children, regardless of our faithfulness, because He is faithful. Since believers are new creations in Him, He will always be faithful to us, for He cannot deny Himself (2 Timothy 2:13, 2 Corinthians 5:17).

The context in verse 21 indicates that the phrase for this purpose refers to unjust suffering for doing what is right in order to follow in the footsteps of Christ. Believers have been invited to adopt the same mindset Jesus adopted and lived out in full obedience to His Father. Jesus learned obedience, and because of His willingness to suffer unjustly for the sins of the world His name was lifted above every name (Philippians 2:5-9). Believers are invited to follow in His ways and share in His inheritance (Romans 8:17b, Revelation 3:21).

Enduring suffering unjustly for doing the right thing is demonstrated in the life and death of Christ, since Christ suffered for you (v. 21b).

The word translated Christ means “anointed.” It emphasizes that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah who came to earth as the suffering servant of God (Isaiah 53:4-5). The word “Messiah” comes from the Hebrew word “māšaḥ” which means “anointed.”

The fact that Christ suffered for you likely points to the predicted suffering that Christ endured from the time of His arrest through His crucifixion. 2 Corinthians 8:9 says Jesus was rich but became poor that through His poverty we might become rich. This speaks of Jesus choosing to adopt very humble circumstances, including persecution, that He might bear the sins of the world (Colossians 2:14).

The death of Jesus brought us life (Romans 5:17). He died for the sins of the world that all who believe might have eternal life (John 3:16). The goal of all that Christ suffered was for you. The phrase for you refers to all the people who may benefit from Christ’s death (1 John 2:2).

Jesus Christ not only suffered for our benefit, but His obedience to His Father’s will in suffering for you was leaving an example to follow in His steps (v. 22c)

The action of leaving in the phrase leaving an example to follow contains the idea of a continuing action (present tense) which remains after a point in time. The point in time in this context is Christ’s time of suffering, including His crucifixion. What Christ’s suffering leaves behind is an example to follow in His steps. The calling/invitation for believers is to live as Jesus lived.

As the Apostle John states, by living as Jesus lived, we have no reason to fear the judgment (1 John 4:17). If believers follow in His steps we will share in His glory (Romans 8:17-18, Revelation 3:21, Hebrews 2:10, 2 Corinthians 4:17).

The word example is a unique word “hupogrammon,” meaning a model of behavior. This word translated example and the word translated leaving each occur only here in the New Testament. Peter seems to be using unique words that sound alike, “hypolimpanno” (leaving) and “hupogrammon” (example), to call to attention the importance of Christ’s leaving an example.

Peter intentionally suggests his readers are to follow, meaning to use someone as a model for how to do something. In this context, the model of doing something is Christ. Believers are to follow in His steps. The word steps literally mean footprints (Romans 4:12, 2 Corinthians 12:18). This pictures a person placing his feet in the footprints of the person he is following.

The footprints of the model behavior to be followed in this context is Christ’s response to unjust suffering. Christ was the one:

who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously (vs. 22-23).

Peter mentions five responses that Christ modeled during His life and ministry, and during His suffering of condemnation to death on the cross while being actually innocent:

He committed no sin—meaning Christ did not perform any evil actions. This is a quote from Isaiah (Isaiah 53:9a). The fact is Christ was sinless His whole life (2 Corinthians 5:21).
nor was any deceit found in His mouth—also a quote from Isaiah (Isaiah 53:9b) implying every word spoken by Christ was honest and true (John 8:26, 31, 40).
and while being reviled, He did not revile in return—this means when people hurled verbal abuses at Christ, he did not hurl them back (Isaiah 53:7, Matthew 27:14, Luke 23:34).
while suffering, He uttered no threats—implying while on the cross He possessed the power to fight but chose to forgive instead (Matthew 26:53, Luke 23:34).
but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously—meaning that in handing himself over to men, Christ was entrusting Himself to God, His Father, following Him in obedience. Because of that, God exalted Him (Philippians 2:9).

That Jesus kept entrusting Himself to God who judges righteously means that Jesus continually trusted that God would make His suffering worthwhile. He trusted that His Father would reward His obedience greatly. This is a major theme throughout this letter. As we will see in the last chapter, Peter will admonish believers to continually humble themselves under God’s hand, trusting that He will reward those who trust Him with the proper honor at the proper time:

“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time.”
(1 Peter 5:6)

This is just what Jesus did. He kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously by humbling Himself before His Father, following only in His will (John 5:30). This was continuous, He kept trusting. Jesus did not insist on justice occurring immediately. He trusted that God would bring justice in His own time.

1 Peter 2:20-23 reveals many practical applications for believers today. We should also follow Christ’s example in suffering by doing the right thing. Modern believers are called to suffer rejection and persecution from the world as our Lord and Savior suffered. These principles are also echoed in other parts of Scripture:

Christians committed to living in obedience to Christ should expect to suffer unjustly for their faith (2 Timothy 3:12, John 15:20).
We should rejoice in having an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of our Lord (Matthew 5:10-12).
We should avoid seeking to get even (Romans 12:17, 19).
We should give enemies a blessing instead of abuse (1 Peter 3:9, Romans 12:14, 1 Corinthians 4:12) and overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21).
We are encouraged to react to rejection/shame from the world the same as Jesus did; He was continually “despising the shame” of the world. This means He gave no value to the shame heaped upon Him compared to the “joy set before Him” of the promised reward of sharing His Father’s throne as a human (Hebrews 12:2, 2:9, 1:5, 13).
We are exhorted to consider difficulty we face in this world as nothing compared to the “eternal weight of glory” we can gain in rewards from pleasing God by following in His ways (2 Corinthians 4:17, Revelation 3:21).

While seeking to follow Jesus in doing good, we can also remember Jesus’s admonition to be shrewd while aiming to be innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16). We can follow Jesus’s example to perceive the craftiness of those who oppose us and present the truth with good framing (Luke 20:23).

We can also arm ourselves with the weapons of spiritual warfare and recognize that we have no human enemies; our true enemies are spiritual principalities of evil (Ephesians 6:12-18).