[Pastor Ralph]

Q1. (1 Peter 2:24) Why do you think the Apostle Peter emphasized Jesus' physical body, when he talks about sin-bearing?

[pickledilly]

Jesus bore no sin in His pure, undefiled spirit - ever. So in order to deal with sin and defeat it for human beings, He had to bear it in a physical body as a fully human man. Because sin began with a physical man in Eden, it could only be atoned by a physical (yet sinless) man.

Before the world was even created, Yahweh (and thus the Son Himself) ordained that the shed blood of the innocent for the guilty was required for atonement and cleansing. The lamb required in the Jewish sacrifices was considered an object of transfer, where the sins of the people were transferred to it and then "taken away". Jesus' literal body and literal physical blood were the final sacrifice as sin and its consequences were transferred to Him. He was truly "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world" [John 1:29]. In His body, He became our literal transfer from sin to redemption.

Also, I think if sin had only been conquered in the spirit realm, it wouldn't have been evidenced and validated to humanity. The sacrifice and victory had to be visible to us in our natural world with a physical death and a physical resurrection. It is our unquestionable evidence of the Truth.

[Elwood C O'Dell]

Q1. (1 Peter 2:24) Why do you think the Apostle Peter emphasized Jesus' physical body, when he talks about sin-bearing?

Perhaps a part of the reason Peter did this is so that we might, in some small way, be able to relate as to the extreem cost involved on God's part to for give us of our sins and purchase our salvation. I think of those who have lost a loved one, those who gave their life in order that we might be free as a nation. They know and can relate to the cost involved for such a freedom. This reminds me of what Peter is writing about concerning the physical cost involved on Christ's behalf. The giving of one's life physically in order to rescue or save us, to have them pay the price so we don't have to, to have them stand in the cap in our place, causes us to think more deeply and appreciate more fully what was the cost involved to secured on our behalf, our freedom, our salvation, and give to us a hope of future glory.

[charity]

I think the main purpose of Peter's emphasis was to help us to identify with Him and understand that sin directly affects each one us and the world around us. I have heard that the Old Testament practice of sacrifice required a guilty person to place his hand on the head of the animal and hold that animal in place while the individual confessed his sin before the priest and before God. This was not a quiet and peaceful procedure. No animal will stand still quietly with the smell of blood nearby for a tranquil confessional to take place. There was contact with the physical elements of a live animal and the witnessing of the killing of that same animal. Jesus’ humanity touches us on a human level affecting mind, will and emotions. To superimpose Christ in the place of that animal, I think brought a very vivid picture to mind for the practicing Jews of Peter's time. It was understood that there was a need for a sacrifice, the sacrifice had to meet certain requirements of being without blemish, and that God required the shedding of blood for the sin to be atoned. This was not a practice between priest and God; this was a very personal practice between man and a very personal God. Through Jesus’ sacrifice, he has established that personal link once and for all.

[Blessed Me]

Q1. (1 Peter 2:24) Why do you think the Apostle Peter emphasized Jesus' physical body, when he talks about sin-bearing?

First, we must believe that Christ came in the flesh, not just as mere man, but in Him dwells the fullness of the God head. Col.2:9 Salvation depends upon His being fully God and fully man at the same time.
God took on a form of man, a human body, for Christ is the image of God. He lived this life, experiencing the pressures, temptations, that we experience, showing us a perfect example of how to live our lives.
He went beyond this to taking our sins upon His body, bringing salvation to those who believe. He is the only Mediator between God and man. He understands the testings we go through, because He was tested in the body as man is tested.
Jesus loved us so much, He was willing to be made a little lower than the angels, to be tested, He never sinned, but He was willing to become sin, to take our sin upon His body, by so doing, He gives back to mankind what was lost when sin came into the heart of man, that is fellowship with Father God.
All this is possible because Christ took on the body of mankind.

As I think about that alone, Christ was willing to leave the Father, to take on the human body, I thank Him for that.
He was tested in the body- thereby understanding our testing, He presents our needs to the Father, that is why He is the only Mediator between us and the Father, I thank Him for that.
He was willing to be crucified, feel the pain that sin brings, with the worst part of it all -as He hung there taking on the sins of the world, He was seperated from the presence of the Father. I thank Him for coming in the flesh, for showing me what love is all about.

[cct1106]

Sin started with a perfect human being (Adam) and for atonement it had to end with a perfect man (Jesus Christ)

[masika]

This is because Christ died for our sins we who had sinned , so we should not have to suffer the punishment we derseve .This is called "substitutionary atonement.

[linda sue]

Pastor Ralph, on Apr 28 2006, 01:45 PM, said:

Q1. (1 Peter 2:24) Why do you think the Apostle Peter emphasized Jesus' physical body, when he talks about sin-bearing?

Can I explain sin-bearing? I think not! I take some things by faith. We do need to start talking about faith at some point in this study. I choose to do so now. God the Father said He had to be born of a woman, under the law, live a sinless life and then obey Him even to the point of death, even death on the cross. The things that were the hardest for Jesus to do, He obediently did, that is what pleased the Father! It takes faith for me to understand all this. Transfering of sin, that is a God thing and I know that He bore my sin in His physical body on the cross, but how is not as important to me as the fact that He is my Redemer, and I know He lives, because He lives in me. So long as I am in Christ and He is in me, the wrath of a Holy and Just God, again a sinner such a myself, is satisfied.

[Stan]

Q1. (1 Peter 2:24) Why do you think the Apostle Peter emphasized Jesus' physical body, when he talks about sin-bearing?

Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.


When we think of sin most of us think about physical sin caused by bodily desire. Those sin are carried inside us and cause a separation from God. Jesus took those sin that we carry and carried them in His body separating Himself from the Father. His physical body became our sacrifice to the Father for every sin we will ever commit. He gave His all for us because of His love for the Father and we are to follow His example. Peter is showing that the physical body of Christ was our sacrifice and that we as christians are to sacrifice our body and it's desire for the love of Christ and to do the will of the Father by believing and living as Christ has shown in His example.

[Nancy Decker]

To me it seems Paul emphasized the Body of Christ so that we as human beings with painful sufferings in our own lives can identify with Jesus's bodily physical pain in His sacrifice on the cross.. It would be hard to believe His suffering as God would actually feel like human pain...not just the pain of bearing our sins which I think would be psychological and mental and emotional primarily.

We are so physical when we think of the bodily pain Jesus must have suffered being hung on that cross, that we can barely identify with that pain, much less the horrible burden of SIN He bore for all of humanity...when we can barely suffer of our own little or big sins. Our ability to grasp the suffering of Jesus on the cross is limited to me, and I am thankful for what I do feel as it is about all I can bear to feel. My own heart wants to avoid suffering pain of all kinds, so when I consider His painful suffering and identify it as what He did for me, it humbles me, helps me appreciate my Lord more, and helps me WANT to avoid sinning more..in true repentance, and helps me believe He REALLY loves me personally.

To contemplate all of this is too deep for me during the short service of communion and I cannot express my tears of repentance at that time, nor my thankfulness to be able to be a part of the precious BODY OF CHRIST. Indeed, we should be able to rejoice in our sufferings here for as James says...they are for creating our good fruit of His Spirit, which He desires us to have in our lives in abundance.

[JustJeff]

Perhaps if we simply look at the Lord on the cross in a distant, spiritual sense, bearing the burdens of a sinful world, the enormity of His sacrifice seems small. If, however, we see Jesus like us and we remember how difficult and painful it is to bear our own sins, then we may truly appreciate the great pain He bore in His body. As He hung on the cross that day can we see the weight of His own body causing tremendous pain?
Can we see the weight of our sin adding to the tremendous pressure and then, multiply that by billions?
I believe Peter remembered very well that Last Supper. He gives us vivid imagery of the Lord's command to remember His broken body by keeping the event in the real, physical world.

[Jezemeg]

I believe that Peter emphasised Jesus' physical body in regards to bearing our sins for two reasons. As Jesus was both fully human and fully divine He was free of personal sin, unlike the first Adam, who was the one to cause sin to enter the world. Therefore it was His choice to take on all of our sins, so that by dying on the Cross He could make permanent atonement for our sins and so remove the 'veil' that had existed between God and His people. The other reason I believe that Peter emphasised Jesus' physical body was to stress that Jesus would have fully experienced all the pain He suffered as a consequence of His accepting our sins as His burden. His divinity did not shield Him from suffering the full pain and torment of the physical traumas that beset his body.

[haar]

Since the fall of Adam, sin bearing had always involved a physical body. The animals that were sacrificed to atone the sins of the people by the Priests were animals that were physically killed. The blood of animals could however not atone sin permanently. The ritual had to be repeated every year. God had to devise a permanent way of atoning for sins through the physical suffering and death of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself prophesised that He would suffer and die for the salvation of many. He meant His physical death. This is the reason for the incarnation, God becoming man so that he could die for our sins (as God, He could not die). Thus Peter merely restated the obvious.

[Don W]

For several reasons, but a couple of them are because He was the perfect sacrifice as the Lamb of God so His body was spotless and sinless; and because He died physically on the cross at Calvary and was bodily resurrected again from His death as He took all of our sins upon Himself so we might be forgiven for them. The picture of animal sacrifices of spotlessly perfect animals in the Old Testament was a picture or representing the perfect sacrifice of the Lord Jesus in the New Testament, and these sacrifices took place with the physical bodies of the animals just as did the final and complete sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary, and this is a couple of reasons why Paul emphasized the sacrifice of Jesus’ physical body when he spoke of sin-bearing for us.

[baseballfan]

Pastor Ralph, on Apr 28 2006, 07:45 AM, said:

Q1. (1 Peter 2:24) Why do you think the Apostle Peter emphasized Jesus' physical body, when he talks about sin-bearing?

I think Peter emphasized Jesus' physical body because we can relate to a physical body.

[Helenmm]

Q1. (1 Peter 2:24) Why do you think the Apostle Peter emphasized Jesus' physical body, when he talks about sin-bearing?

The physical is totally connected to the supernatural. God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit - Jesus being God in the physical. Man is body, soul and spirit. (Whatever he does in one of theses three aspects affects the whole. To sin in the flesh corrupts the soul and spirit also. To love Jesus in the spirit affects the soul - behaviour - and the body - peace) Water is ice, water and steam. When Adam sinned he did it in the flesh but his eternal status (spiritual) was changed. Not only that, but the corruption that entered his soul became effective in the whole earth of which he was created, and to which his body would return. "The whole creation will be delivered from the bondage of corruption..." Rom 8:21 This corruption of the whole earth was demonstrated when the blood of Abel cried out from the ground and was heard in heaven. Gen 4:10 Our Father's sensitivity is great towards not only us, His children, but towards every hair (or minutiae) of His creation.

Also, Adam gave the dominion vested in him away to satan by believing satan over God. God had vested Adam (physical man) with dominion over all the earth, and He will not rescind that gift. Therefore the only way it could be wrested from satan was through an uncorrupted physical man. So Jesus had to become human in order to be able to retrieve dominion over all the earth from satan.

Sin brought violence into the world, and Cain's blood was the first example of the outcome of violence. It cried ot to God fromthe earth. Any violence(eg domestic violence leads to physical violence) pertains to blood, takes the life energy from its victim. Jesus had to defeat satan in every sphere including the physical. He had to overpower all violence, and to do that he had to suffer the violence full on, in the physical. The source of violence was physical. although it had soulish and spiritual consequences. It was the source of violence which had to be defeated on its own terms. The source of violence was physically effected, and had to be physically annihilated. Man then continues to have choice (dominion) over his participation.

In communion we are identifying with the victorious man, as distinct from the corrupted man. We are learning to participate in the great victory of Jesus, won for us on the cross.

[steve.c]

Pastor Ralph, on Apr 28 2006, 07:45 AM, said:

Q1. (1 Peter 2:24) Why do you think the Apostle Peter emphasized Jesus' physical body, when he talks about sin-bearing?

The sacrifice of Jesus was brutal and physical and it was made by someone who was without sin for those that are sinful. When we share in His sacrifice and share His body at the Lord's Supper we should think of the suffering that Jesus suffered underwent on our behalf. The courage with which He bore pain and humiliation. It then brings His gift to us in sharp relief. It helps to remind us exactly what we are sharing.

[Teddi_Deppner]

I think it's sort of been said already, but here's the way I express it...

Israel had a covenant with God that included very physical consequences for obedience and disobedience. Sin resulted in physical illness, mental breakdown, financial disaster, oppression by enemy nations, etc. The only way to get out of the curse of breaking the law, out of the consequences of your sin, was to repent, make the proper animal sacrifices, and change your ways.

I believe Peter's emphasis on our sin being in Jesus' physical body has to do with his understanding of this personal, physical element of our redemption. By accepting the sacrifice of Jesus, by accepting that He bore my punishment in His own body, I am made free of that old cycle of sin and death. I've been redeemed from the curses that were associated with the old covenant law (Gal. 3:13, Deut. 28).

Not that bad things won't come along -- Jesus Himself said we'd have trouble in this world -- but that I no longer have a relationship with God based on a covenant where if I sin then I automatically reap sickness, hardship, etc. God no longer enforces a physical curse upon His people when they enter into the new covenant in Jesus' blood. Therefore, when bad stuff happens (such as a physical illness), this scripture encourages me to trust God in faith that it's not a curse based on my sin. I have peace with God; Jesus already bore the punishment so that I could be made well.

Also, Peter seems to emphasize throughout the book (see 1 Pet. 2:20-24, 3:14,17, 4:1-2) that Jesus' experience was an example for us. Just as Jesus suffered unjustly (not because of His own sins), we should take courage when suffering for doing good. Up to this point, in the Jewish culture, if bad stuff happened to you, then you assumed that you did something wrong. If you experienced calamity or sickness, everyone assumed that you sinned.

But with this encouragement from Peter, this certainty of peace with God through the sacrifice of Jesus, Christians could face suffering with assurance of their freedom from guilt and shame, with courage and hope. Rather than trying to figure out what they were doing wrong, or allowing accusations and condemnation from fellow Jews to hit home, they could stand strong for Jesus and do the will of God even in the midst of hardship.

[PCHRIS]

Q1. (1 Peter 2:24) Why do you think the Apostle Peter emphasized Jesus' physical body, when he talks about sin-bearin?

As in Leviticus 16, Aaron took a live goat, put both hands on it and confess all of Israels sins onto it, thus a scapegoat.
Jesus bore all of our sins onto his physical body and took the next step in the shedding of His blood, the atonement of our sins, He is, in a sense, our scapegoat, for our sins.

[jabarke]

The physical body is where we feel all the pain that we dread when it is injured. Most of us fear physical pain a great deal. We do almost anything to avoid it. With this in mind I think Peter, who underwent a lot of physical pain as he sufferred persecution for his faith in Christ, knew he could reach us in a way we could all relate to with what Jesus went through to pay our debt of sins. For someone to put themselves through this extent of physical pain because of the His love for us opens us up for His Spirit to come into our lives & give us an eternal relationship with Jesus Christ, my Lord & Savior.