The Word Made Fresh
1You wives should accept your husbands’ authority so that your conduct might win them over to the Lord. Even if they don’t obey the word they might be won by their wives’ conduct 2when they see their purity and reverence. 3Don’t worry about enhancing your outward appearance by braiding your hair and wearing gold jewelry or fancy clothing. 4Instead, let your appearance be clothed with the lasting beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit that is precious in the eyes of God. 5That was how the holy women of long ago hoped in God – they adorned themselves by accepting their husbands’ authority. 6For example, Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You become her daughters when you do good and refuse to be alarmed by fears.
7In the same way, husbands, you should show consideration for your wives as you share life together. Honor them as the weaker partner, because they are also heirs of the sweet gift of life. If you do so, nothing will stand in the way of your prayers.
8And finally, all of you should live in unity, sympathy, mutual love, with a tender heart and humble attitude. 9Don’t respond to evil with more evil, or to abuse with more abuse. Instead, respond with a blessing. This is why you were called, and this is how you might inherit a blessing. 10After all, “Those who wish to live to see good days should never speak evil or be deceitful; let them seek and pursue peace. 11For the Lord watches over the righteous and hears their prayers, but the Lord’s face is turned against evildoers.”
13Who would harm you for doing good? 14Even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Don’t fear the things they fear, and don’t allow them to intimidate you. 15In your hearts acknowledge Christ as sacred, and always be prepared to defend yourself against anyone who demands that you explain the hope within you; 16but do so gently and respectfully. Keep a clear conscience so that when you are harshly accused because of your good behavior in Christ, your accusers will be put to shame. 17But if God’s will should allow you to suffer, then suffer for doing good, not for doing evil. 18After all, Christ suffered and died, a righteous man for those who were unrighteous, to bring us to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, 19and went to make a proclamation to the imprisoned spirits 20who were disobedient in their day. God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. The ark saved a few, that is, eight people, who were saved through water. 21And this water, which preceded baptism, now saves you – not to wash the dirt from your bodies, but to beg God with a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22who has ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God, where angels and kings and rulers are subject to him.
Commentary
1-6: Advice for husbands and wives is standard fare in the New Testament epistles. Note that the phrase “accept the authority” is used four times in 1 Peter: All Christians should “accept the authority of every human institution” (2:13); slaves should “accept the authority of your masters” (2:18); wives should accept their husband’s authority (3:1); and “you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders” (5:5). Here, however, the instruction to Christian wives seems to be specifically aimed at wives of unbelievers, in hope that their purity and reverence will win their husbands over to the faith. Inner beauty is more lasting and more to be sought after than outer beauty, he says — advice our modern narcissistic culture casts aside.
7: Husbands are advised to honor their wives. After all, he says, “they are also heirs of the sweet gift of life” — a rare concession of equality between men and women.
8-12: Again, relying on the scripture (the Old Testament — the only scripture he knew) to support his directions (see Psalm 34:12-16), the author presents a list of characteristics to be pursued: unity, sympathy, love, tenderness, humility, and so forth.
13-17: It is apparent that the author is writing during a time when followers of Jesus were often persecuted. His argument is that the best defense against persecution is to live an exemplary life. There’s nothing wrong with doing good, and if you are punished for doing good that is a good thing, a blessing because you are suffering for doing what God wants you to do.
18-19: This is a summary of the work of Christ. He, the righteous one, suffered for the sins of the unrighteous in order to save them. He was killed, but his spirit survived to visit the “imprisoned spirits” — that is, the dead. (This is the source for the line in the Apostles’ Creed, “he descended into hell.”)
20-22: Now he goes all the way back to the story of Noah and the flood in Genesis 7-8. God saved Noah, his wife, their three sons and their wives — 8 people in all — through water. The flood event, he says, prefigures the ritual of baptism, which he sees as an appeal to God “with a good conscience.” The appeal is carried by Christ who, after his resurrection, now rules “angels and kings and rulers.”
Takeaway
How we are treated by those in authority over us may not be in any way an indication of the Lord’s love for us. How we treat others who are under our authority is in every way an indication of our love for the Lord.