Bible Study for Sermon on January 26, 2012

1 Peter 3:18-22 is part of remarks by the Apostle Peter on suffering and a fascinating mixture.  On one hand, it refers to a number of familiar events including Christ's death, ensuing resurrection and ascension; Noah, the ark, and the flood; and baptism.  On the other hand, the passage also includes at least two features.  First, it alludes all to briefly to Jesus' mysterious passage into another realm, or time when, as a spirit, he preached to "the spirits of prison."  Second, and contrary to what is generally expected, Matthew 24:37-39; Luke 17:26-27), the flood waters are viewed as redemptive rather than destructive.

The verses begins with a crucial reminder: "For Christ also suffered for sin once for all" (vs. 18a).  As is clear from the other portion of his letter, Peter is encouraging these "exiles of the Dispersion (1 Peter 1:1) to endure suffering.  This is a common theme found throughout this letter (1 Peter 1:6; 2:12, 21; 4:1, 12-16, 19), and is the core of the material that immediately follows.  Peter also emphasizes the atoning dimension of Christ's sacrifice.  He died on the cross, "the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God" (vs. 18b).  Peter, however, does not linger on Jesus' death.  Even though Jesus "was put to death in the flesh," Peter quickly adds, Jesus "was made alive in the spirit" vs. 18c).

Up to this point, Peter's exhortations resonates with well-known and established testimoy regarding the role of Christ's appeasing  death and our participation in mutual suffering.  But this traditional theological construct is promptly upended when Peater adds, "in which also he went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison" (vs. 19).  To be sure, Peter's assertion is unprecedented, at least as far as one might attempt to base it on citations from other books of the Bible.  Yet in spite of this obstacle, there are two other passages that may help unravel Peter's mysterious claim.

First, early in the letter, Peter mentions that the prophets "prophesied of the grace" and inquired "about the person or time that the Spirit of Christ within them indicated when it testified in advance of the sufferings destined for Christ and the subsequent glory (1 Peter 1:10-11).  According to Peter, "the Spirit of Christ" was present in some mysterious way within the prophets, and in that sense, Christ went and preached to "the spirts in prison."  Applying the ensuing allusion to Noah, then, Peter might be saying that Noah, who could conceivable be viewed as a prophet (2 Peter 2:5), was actually being prompted by Christ's Spirit when he warned his neighbors of the approaching flood.

Second, in the passage that immediately follows 1 Peter 3:18-22, Peter employs language that is somewhat comparable to that found in 3:19.  He writes, "For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does" (1 Peter 4:6).  Although it is impossible to be absolutely certain about Peter's assertion, this verse appears to set out a profound theological parallel between Jesus and all humans.  Just as each person was, is and will be "judged in the flesh," Jesus was as well.  In other words, as our atoning sacrifice, Jesus had to suffer and die in the flesh (be condemned in the flesh), so that he could be made alive in the spirit, "in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison"--to all who lived before him along with those who would live after him.  If this proposition is what Peter had in mind, it would be similar to the declaration found in Hebrews 2:17, which states, "Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people.

Peter explains that "the spirits in prison" were "judged in the flesh" because "in former times they did not obey" (vs. 20a).  To note the good news that the ensuing mention of God's patience, "in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark" (vs. 20b), does not primarily refer to the egregious sins the ancients had committed (Genesis 6:1-7), but, more importantly, to their defiance, that is, to their absolutely refusal to listen to Noah and repent as the ark was being built.

While the fimal portion of verse 20 rehearses the consequence of their obstinate insolence:  only "a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water," the most striking reversal is that these eight souls were saved "through" water, not "from" water.  Based on that primeval example, Peter sees baptism as an equivalent means.  Just as water saved Noah and his family long ago, water once agains serves a redemptive role.  Peter is careful to explain that it is "not the removal of dirt from the body"--for dirt does not separate us from God--"but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (vs. 21).  In short, whoever submits to baptism listens to the "Spirit of Christ."  Returning to the allusion about Noah, a baptized person is not like those who rejected Noah's message, but is one who has heard Christ's proclamation, confesses his or her sins, and seeks God's favor.

According to Peter, this transformation is made possible "through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him" (vv. 21c-22).  Since Chrst was "made alive in the spirit," those who "appeal to God for a good conscience...live in the spirit as God does" even "though they have been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged" (1 Peter 3:18; 4:6).