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.