1 Peter 4:17 — Uncommon Tater

For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household…

Summary: The word, ”judgment” has many uses. Today we explore how Peter uses it in today’s passage. 

Why did God let Peter’s letter become part of the Bible? Did you ever wonder what God might have been thinking? Do you suppose the Holy Spirit was looking over what Peter wrote and thinking, “Wait a minute? That’s not what I told him to write?!” No? Me neither. Peter’s letter is just the way God intended it to be. That means that passages like today’s passage are intended to make us think. 

So let’s do that. Let’s think about this. 

When I started this post, I did a little research on what the commentators thought about this passage. What I discovered is that (A) their thoughts are interesting, and (B) none of them agree on what it means. 

Since the commentaries do not help, let’s look at the passage itself. What is it that makes this one stand out? Isn’t it the word, “judgment?” What does Peter mean when he says it is “time” for judgment to begin? And why does he say that judgment begins with God’s household? 

I’m sorry, but I don’t have the answer. What I do know is that the Greek word “Krino,” translated as “judgment,” has a wide variety of meanings. We also know what the context of this passage is. 

Peter has been talking about why Christians suffer. “Judgment” is often associated with suffering. Christians understand this. Romans 3:23 explains that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Because of this, we understand that we deserve judgment. Yet we also know that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15: 3) So if our sins have been paid for, why is there judgment? 

Going back to the Greek for a minute, the word “krino” can mean “to separate, put asunder, to pick out, select, [and/or] choose.” As Peter writes in 1 Peter 2:4, “you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him…” 

It makes sense then that the beginning of judgment begins with setting aside those who are chosen by God. We are rejected by humans, as Peter says, but chosen by God. Our bodies suffer in this world, but our spirits are safe in God’s care. 

Peter tells us that Jesus was “put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.” (1 Peter 3: 18b) He also tells us in 1 Peter 4:1 that we are to “arm [ourselves] also with the same attitude [as Christ].”

You can look at this passage in any number of ways, but for today its message to me is simple. In separating the wheat from the chaff (Matthew 3: 12, Luke 3: 17) Jesus begins his judgment, or separating, by calling those he has chosen to Him. When we are called to Jesus, we are left in the world but not of the world. The world hates us for that, even as they hated Jesus.  

Application: Are you chosen by God? If so, expect that the world will notice. 

Food for Thought: Who is ”God’s household?”