He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.
Summary: Peter focuses in on the key fact of Christianity: That Jesus was put to death, was allowed to remain dead, and then was made alive again.
Peter starts out addressing his letter to God’s elect, and then it seems like he touches on every teaching that is important for a Christian to know. In today’s passage, he lays out the evidence for his belief that Jesus really is the Messiah, the Son of God.
Jesus was put to death.
There are those who don’t believe that. I don’t know if anybody could deny that Jesus existed, but they can deny he was put to death. But Peter knows better. He was there. If anyone knows about denying Jesus, it was Peter. Having done that, he was only able to be restored by the risen Christ.
Still, Jesus was put to death.
In human terms, this is the end of the road. Nobody gets a second chance when it comes to death. We are not talking about someone being resuscitated by CPR or mouth-to-mouth breathing. This is not about somebody on the operating table with equipment and doctors who can keep the heart beating. This is about dead. Stone cold. Sealed in the tomb dead.
Of course, there were clues to what would happen. Jesus had already brought people to life like Lazarus. Even those in danger of death, like Peter’s mother-in-law, Jesus healed. But when Jesus died, who was there to raise him from the dead?
Who indeed.
The sentence structure of today’s passage is interesting because it doesn’t talk about what Jesus did. Instead, it talks about what was done to Jesus.
It was people who killed Jesus. The very beings Jesus came to save killed him. They beat him, insulted him, mocked him, beat him some more, made him carry his cross to the place where the dregs of society were tortured to death. Then they hung him on a cross and tortured him to death.
And Jesus was dead.
Then something happened. Something amazing. Jesus was made alive again. Peter says, “made alive in the Spirit.” God allowed Jesus to be killed. And then, after three days, it is as if God made Jesus all over again. This is beyond my capacity to understand as a human. Yet, we have Peter’s assurance that it did happen. The whole rest of Peter’s life is a testimony to that truth.
Who would be crazy enough to believe the Apostles if they changed their story about Jesus because someone threatened them with death? But that isn’t what happened. They chose to die rather than betray Jesus. Not the dead Jesus, the living one.
Application: Consider how you think of Jesus. Is he alive to you?
Food for Thought: What does ”alive in the Spirit” mean to you?
Alive in me, through me, in my actions, my thoughts, my wants and desires, part of my every day decisions made with Jesus in them.
Tim,
Very nice description of how our Lord lives through us.
I know I have used this term before, “Godincidence,” but today’s passage is not a coincidence for me. He has been trying to get my attention and today was the thump on the head.
Yesterday, I was reading about letting the power of God control our lives and I woke up, writing this question in my prayer journal: “How do I let the power of God control my life?” Then, today’s devotional action word was “control” and within the context of the devotional was a response to the question I had written in my prayer book. Also, amongst the answer was reference to 2 Peter 1:6, “And to knowledge, self control, and to self control, perseverance, and to perseverance, godliness.”
I read today’s Three Minute and it’s about being ‘alive in the Spirit.” I believe to be “alive in the Spirit” is allowing Him to have the power of control in my life (which is not always easy to render control). I have been struggling with these things lately, but then putting everything together that I’ve read the last couple of days and what Peter is saying, and then Tim sums it up, “Alive in me, through me, in my actions, my thoughts, my wants and desires, part of my every day decisions made with Jesus in them.”
Control is surrender as Jesus surrendered to the Father on the cross. Not my will, but Your will. Being alive in the Spirit is exactly as Tim describes, but I would add one more thing – Believing the best while trusting in Him and allowing Him to do His good work in our lives.
Nicely said, Darla!
It does come back to surrendering our will to His will. And no, that is not easy. Yet when we allow our God to be in control, amazing things are prone to happen!
While Jesus was made quite literally alive in the Spirit – physically alive and all that entails, when I think of being alive in the Spirit for me I think of spiritual life (Galatians 5: 16, 25; 1 Corinthians 2: 15 – 16; John 3: 7 – 8), abundant life (John 10: 11), meaningful or purposeful life (Galatians 5: 22 – 23a).
So I agree with Tim that the Spirit permeates my life when I walk in Him. And I agree with Darla that He then has control of my life as I submit to Him. Zechariah 4: 6.
Rich,
Thank you for the collection of verses on this topic. They provide a wonderful perspective on what God has to say about this. (I linked the passages here.)
What does ”alive in the Spirit” mean to you?
Being convicted by the Holy Spirit, I had to buy a Bible to attend Bible study. The lady at the Christian Supermarket picked out a beautiful Bible for me. It was a Scofield Reference Bible, KJV. I took it home, opened the box and began to read. Thats where I stopped, I could not understand a thing single thing written in this book. I went back, explained my problem to the lady and she sold me a children’s Living Bible to help me. I combined the two and began to understand enough that I could answer the questions in my lessons for Bible study. In six weeks of study, the faith from the Holy Spirit was overwhelming and accepted Christ.
As the study continued, the Holy Spirit opened my eyes, and gave me the power to release sins of conduct, and thoughts that separated me from God. And this was followed with the fruit of the Spirit, the power to conform into the image of Christ and obey God. These two have been the toughest part, letting go of the old and putting on the new. I know what is right to do, I want to continue growing, serving God, but after all the proof I have the He is real, I still have my pet sins. Actions that my flesh tells me make ME who I am. The Lord is making gains in these areas but it is a struggle I will have until the day I meet Christ face to face and He in His power will perfect me.
At the same time I have never been happier or had a greater peace in my entire life.
Because of Christ I am always with God, the Lord has brought me a long way from not understanding the Bible to actually being aware of living in His Holy Spirit , and being used as He sees fit.
“ An imperfect being to do His perfect will on earth.”
John 16:8-12; Ephesians 2:8; 1 Corinthians 2:9-13; Galatians 5:16; Galatians 5:22-23, Luke 11:9-13, Acts 5:32
Ron,
Thank you. Your story is a beautiful reflection of what life is like in Christ.
Today’s reading makes me think of a poem I wrote a while back titled,..I Took The Swing,..
It’s been written that He bled for you and me
His love is so that it’s been stained upon a tree
The tears I shed are for Thee
And still,.. I wonder why it had to be
Ashamed as I am, hammer and nail in hand
Still,..I took the swing and pierced Your flesh with my sin
You love me still, though it hurt and died on the cross as my friend
Lord,..may Your love for us never end
I believe I was alive in the Spirit when I wrote this one,..
Enjoy!
And thanks for the in depth study,..I didn’t have anything at first after reading everyone else’s,..I was like well that about cover’s it,..and then this poem gets brought to the top of my head,..
Thank you for sharing that with everyone John.
John,
Thanks for sharing your poem today! I had a sneaky suspicion that you were a poet at heart, now you have proved that true! 🙂