Introduction – If we suffer for
doing good, it is a good thing, because we are then like Christ. We partake in His sufferings. We are reminded of His vengeance completed
and His vengeance to come. We share and
proclaim His victory over all His enemies.
But what does this have to do with Noah and baptism?
Christ Suffered (v18) – Suffering
comes up over and over in this epistle, and so we return to it again and
again. Christians will be called upon to
suffer in innumerable ways. Christ
suffered and in doing so, we see the most ‘unfair’ suffering possible,
accomplishing the greatest good. The
just dies for the unjust, and in doing so demonstrates His righteousness, “that
He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Rom
Death and Life
– Jesus Christ’s death proclaimed the justice of God and His judgment over
sin. God does not let sin go. He is holy in His vengeance. But Jesus was made alive as well in His
resurrection, declaring Him to be the Son of God with power (Rom 1:4).
Salvation for
the Unjust – Here is the offense of the cross. Jesus did not die for any who are
self-justified. He only died for
sinners, enemies of what is good and true.
Judgment Proclaimed (v19) – We are taught
in the Apostle’s Creed that Jesus descended into Hades (or hell – but not the
place of Final Judgment). Hades (in
Greek) was Sheol (in Hebrew), the place everyone
expected to go to when they died. Jesus’
story about Lazarus and the rich man (Luke
Proclaimed, Not
Evangelized – The Greek word is not “preach the good news”
(see 4:6), but rather a more general herald or proclamation of victory. Christ ‘preached’ His victory over
disobedient spirits in prison (Tartarus). His suffering provided the opportunity for
the proclamation of His victory over the Fall, and His
judgment upon the disobedient spirits.
In His ascension, He carried up those who were in
Justice Poured Out (v20) – The
proclamation of judgment at the death of Jesus is compared to the proclamation
of judgment in the days of Noah. For 120
years, Noah preached as he built an ark.
What was he proclaiming? The
waters of judgment were coming and only those who are in this ark of salvation
will be saved through the water.
The Comparison
of Longsuffering – God was longsuffering in those days,
waiting patiently for the appointed time to pour out His wrath. Peter, in encouraging the
saints that “the end of all things is at hand” (4:7), compares this time (prior
to the 70AD destruction) as a time of suffering and waiting. God was to be avenged.
Baptism Saves (v20-21) – Baptism,
that is, being placed in the ark, saved Noah and his household. Peter calls this a ‘type’ of baptism. When the waters of judgment fell, only those
in God’s care passed through.
Baptism Saves?
– Peter quickly condemns the ‘wooden’ understanding of this. There is no magic in the waters of
baptism. Baptism does not save
automatically like water automatically washing off the dirt.
Baptism Saves
– Baptism, that is, the answer of a good conscience, saves. Just as Noah had to be placed in the ark in
order to be saved through the waters of judgment, so we must be placed in
Christ, because forgiveness does not come without a price. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is
no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live
in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself
for me.” (Gal 2:20).
Christ Reigns Now (v22) – Noah came out
of the ark into a new creation, where God reestablished His covenant,
instructing Noah to ‘be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth’. Jesus Christ, having come through the flood
of the wrath of God the Father, and bringing His household through that flood,
now establishes us in His New Covenant, His New Heavens and New Earth, and
instructs us to fill the earth as well (Matt 28:18-20). We do so as His household of faith while He
reigns at the right hand of God the Father, having made all angels, authorities
and powers subject to Him.
God is
Longsuffering, But – it does come to an end. Today is the day of salvation. No one knows the day of his end. And when the floodwaters come, you must be in
the ark. There is no second chance (Heb
Jesus’
Suffering Came to an End – and so will yours. Not only that, you are to embrace that
suffering as part of your discipleship. More on this in the next chapter.
Vengeance Will
Be Completed – Everyone will be judged. No sin will go unpunished. You will be judged in Christ, in the ark, and
you will come through the water, or you will be judged finally at the Last Day.
Christ is
Victorious – over all of His enemies. But more than vengeance, this is the good
news. For Christ’s victory is our salvation, and the salvation of the world. Dave
Hatcher,