1 Peter 2:18-25               Bond slaves of Jesus  

There is much teaching which would be very relevant to a great number of present day Christians but which is thought by many preachers to be irrelevant to modern society. Some modern teaching owes more to the teaching of Dale Carnegie (How to make friends and influence people) or Norman Vincent Peale (The Power of Positive thinking). These have little to say about Christian living but emphasise the path to worldly success. The New Testament would remind us that we are called to be slaves of the Lord Jesus. One reason for this may be that slaves formed by far the largest group in the early church. The Greek word which is most often translated  'slave' is doulos.

doulos (‎dou=lo$‎, NT:1401), from deo, "to bind," "a slave," originally the lowest term in the scale of servitude, came also to mean "one who gives himself up to the will of another," e. g., 1 Cor 7:23; Rom 6:17,20, and became the most common and general word for "servant," as in Matt 8:9. In calling himself, however, a "bondslave of Jesus Christ," e. g., Rom 1:1, the apostle Paul intimates (1) that he had been formerly a "bondslave" of Satan, and (2) that, having been bought by Christ, he was now a willing slave, bound to his new Master. (Vine: Expository dictionary of Greek Words)

1 Cor 1:26-31, Paul’s assessment of New Testament Christians is that most of them did not come out of the top drawer. In fact, many of them were Roman slaves.

“For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence.

In the Roman Empire, at the beginning of the Christian era, there were as many as 60,000,000 slaves, Slavery began with Roman conquests, and slaves were originally prisoners of war. In very early times Rome had few slaves but by New Testament times slaves were counted in millions.

Slaves not only performed menial tasks but were by N.T. times doctors, teachers, musicians, actors, secretaries, stewards were all slaves. In fact, all the work of Rome was done by slaves. The Roman attitude was that there was no point in being master of the world and doing the work yourself. The slaves did that and the citizens lived in pampered idleness because as long as Rome ruled the world the supply of slaves was guaranteed to never run out.

Not all slaves were wretched and unhappy, and not all were treated with cruelty. Many slaves were loved and trusted members of the family; but one great inescapable fact dominated the whole situation. In Roman law a slave was not a person but a thing. A slave had absolutely no legal rights whatsoever. For that reason there could be no such thing as justice where a slave was concerned. Master and slave had nothing in common; a slave was a living tool, and tools were inanimate slaves. However a master treated a slave it was just and lawful. With regard to a slave, his master wants was the only law. It was a fact of life that a slave even if he was well treated, remained a thing. He did not possess even the elementary rights of a person and for him justice did not even exist.

Into this situation came Christianity with its message that every man was precious in the sight of God. The great majority of the early Christians were humble working people and many were slaves. It was quite possible in the early days that a slave could be the president of the congregation and one of Rome’s citizens’ a member of it. This was a new and revolutionary situation. It had its glory and it had its dangers.

Suppose both master and servant became Christians. Then they became brothers. There was the danger that the slave might presume upon the new relationship and use it as an excuse for shirking his work. There was also the possibility of the slave assuming that since he and his master were both Christians, he could get away with anything. The relationship between Christian and Christian does not abolish the relationship between man and man. The Christian must be a better workman than anyone else. His Christianity is not a reason for claiming exemption from discipline. In fact, it should bring him under self-discipline and make him more conscientious than anyone else.

Christianity did not leave the matter in that merely negative form. It introduced three great new principles into a man's attitude as a servant and a workman. In this passage Peter is urging the slave to be a good slave and a faithful workman and he sets out clearly the reason why.

Christianity introduced a new relationship between master and man.

When Paul sent the runaway slave Onesimus back to Philemon, he did not suggest that Philemon should set Onesimus free. Neither did he suggest that Philemon should cease to be the master and that Onesimus should cease to be the slave. What he did say was that Philemon must receive Onesimus back not as a  slave,but as a brother beloved (Philemon.16).

Christianity did not immediately abolish social differences but it introduced a new relationship of brotherhood in which these other differences were transformed. Where there is real brotherhood, it does not matter if you call one man master and the other servant. There is a bond between them which transforms the necessary differences which the circumstances of life make necessary. The solution of the world's problems lies in this new relationship between man and ma

Christianity introduced a new attitude to work.

It is the conviction of the New Testament that all work must be done for Jesus Christ. Paul writes: “Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Col.3:17). “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1Cor.10:31). In the Christian ideal work is not done for an earthly master or for personal prestige or even only to make money. It is done for God. It is, of course, true that a man must work in order to earn a wage and he must work to satisfy a master; but beyond that there is, for the Christian, the conviction that his work must be done well enough to be able to show it to God without shame.

When these great ideals were set against the situation in the early church one great question arose. Suppose a man has the Christian attitude to men and to work and is treated with injustice, insult and injury.

Peter's great answer is that this is exactly what happened to Jesus. He was none other than the Suffering Servant. This passage is full of reminiscences and quotations from Isa.53, the supreme picture of the Suffering Servant of God, which came to life in Jesus. He was without sin and yet he was insulted and he suffered but he accepted the insults and the suffering with love and bore them for the sins of mankind.

In doing this He left us an example that we should follow in his steps (1Pet.2:21). The word Peter uses for example is very vivid. It is a word which comes from the way in which children were taught to write in the ancient world. It can be an outline sketch which the learner had to fill in or the copy head of handwriting in an exercise book which the child had to copy out on the lines underneath. Back when I was in Infant School we all had a small blackboard and we learned to write by copying the letters from our reading books. Jesus has provided the pattern for living which we have to copy. He was scourged, taunted, crowned with thorns and crucified. Even when He hung there in His dying agony they mocked Him. Jesus has provided the pattern which we have to copy.

If we have to suffer insult and injustice and injury, we have only to go through what he has already gone through. At the back of Peter's mind there was the tremendous truth that the suffering of Jesus was for the sake of man's sin. He suffered in order to bring men back to God. It may be that, when Christians suffer insult and injury with uncomplaining steadfastness and unfailing love, they demonstrate such a life to others that will lead some to God.

Christianity introduced man to a new relationship with God.

At the end of the day, we serve a faithful God. In the last verse of this chapter we come upon two of the great names for God. "We have now returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls," as the King James Version has it. That underlines for us the care and love of our God.

God is the Shepherd of the souls of men. Shepherd is one of the oldest descriptions of God. The Psalmist has it in the best-loved of all the Psalms: “The Lord is my shepherd” (Ps.23:1). Isaiah has it: “He will feed his flock like a shepherd: he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young” (Isa.40:11).The great king whom God was going to send to Israel would be the shepherd of his people. Ezekiel hears the promise of God: “And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them; he shall feed them, and be their shepherd” (Eze.34:23; Eze.37:24).

This was the title which Jesus took to himself when he called himself the Good Shepherd and when he said that the Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep (Jn.10:1-18). To Jesus the men and women who did not know God and who were waiting for what he could give them were like sheep without a shepherd (Mk.6:34). The great privilege given to the servant and the minister of Christ is to shepherd the flock of God (Jn.21:16; 1Pet.5:2).

It may be difficult for some to grasp the greatness of this picture; but in the East even today the picture is still very vivid. When grass is sparse, and there were no protecting walls or fences, sheep are prone to wander. The shepherd, therefore, had to be ceaselessly and sleeplessly on the watch in case harm should come to his flock. This word shepherd tells us most vividly of the vigilance and the self-sacrificing love of God for us who are his flock. “We are his people and the sheep of his pasture”.

The King James Version speaks of God as the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls. The Greek word translated bishop is the word Episkopos. In New Testament times this was a word with a great history. It refers to those who are the protectors of house and home. They would see to it that wrongdoers paid the price for the wrong that they did. They ensured that those who deserved punishment got their just desserts. Bishop, historically, is therefore a many-sided but always a good and noble word. It means the protector of public safety; the guardian of honour and honesty; the overseer of right education and of public morals; the administrator of law and order. So, to call God the Bishop or Overseer of our souls is to call him our Guardian, our Protector, our Guide, and our Director.

God is the Shepherd and the Guardian of our souls. In his love he cares for us; in his power he protects us; and in his wisdom he guides us in the right way. Things are sometimes tough and life is sometimes cruel but we can only see one side of the tapestry. When we see the other side we will understand why.

We’ll talk it over in the bye and bye;                                                     We’ll talk it over my Lord and I.                                                              I’ll ask the reason; He’ll tell me why.                                                    When we talk it over in the bye and bye.