The Second Sunday After Christmas, January 5, 2025
The Second Sunday After Christmas, January 5, 2025
No Christian suffers in vain. However, theologians of glory count suffering as foreign to the Christian life. In this, they practice Christian triumphalism and strive for an inappropriate and ill-timed glory. On the other hand, theologians of the cross-count suffering as a blessing. They count it as sharing “in the sufferings of Christ” (vs. 13). Therefore, suffering is not in vain. Here, both apostles, Peter and Paul, preach that the Christian’s suffering joins him or her with the sufferings of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul writes, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my physical body—for the sake of his body, the church—what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ” (Col. 1:24). We may wonder just what could be lacking in the sufferings of Christ. The lack is the application of Christ’s suffering “for you.” You, the Christian, do not suffer in vain. Your pain, affliction, and hardship directly apply Christ’s suffering to you. Jesus Christ, God Incarnate, our Savior and the Redeemer of the World, blesses all suffering by the touch of his flesh. His touch and blessing do not mean that your suffering is justified any more than Christ’s suffering and death were warranted. That your suffering and Christ’s suffering are unwarranted binds your sufferings together and prompts Peter to admonish his hearers to avoid criminality and trouble (vs. 15) since such behavior would justify your suffering. Peter again joins Paul as they both preach a delayed glory. Peter writes, “… so that when his [Jesus’] glory is revealed, you may also rejoice and be glad” (vs. 13). Paul writes, “When Christ (who is your life) appears, then you too will be revealed in glory with him” (Co. 3:4). This sequence, suffering first and then glory, is rejected by Christian triumphalism and theologians of glory. Theologians of the cross grasp what Christ preached to his disciples, “A disciple is not greater than his teacher…” (Mt. 10:24; Lk. 6:40; Jn 13:16). So, the Apostle Paul concurs, “…because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…” (Ro. 8:29). The image of Christ in this sin-broken world is that of a man suffering the will of God, being hanged on the cross, and dying—suffering first, glory later (vs. 19).
Table Talk: Discuss those times when you, as a theologian of glory, have practiced Christian triumphalism.
Pray: Heavenly Father, join me in my sufferings to Christ in his. Amen
I Peter4:12-19
12 Dear friends, do not be astonished that a trial by fire is occurring among you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice in the degree that you have shared in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice and be glad. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory, who is the Spirit of God, rests on you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or thief or criminal or as a troublemaker. 16 But if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but glorify God that you bear such a name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin, starting with the house of God. And if it starts with us, what will be the fate of those who are disobedient to the gospel of God? 18 And if the righteous are barely saved, what will become of the ungodly and sinners? 19 So then let those who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator as they do good.