The Servants Clothes, 1 Peter 5:5

The central word for me in this verse is used only here in the New Testament.  The word is translated “be clothed with” (NKJV), “clothe yourselves” (ESV).  The Greek word is  ἐγκομβόομαι (egkomboomai), and is defined by Strong’s G1464 as follows:

 

 “knot or band by which two things are fastened together, to fasten or gird one's self” – with the following note:

“This was the white scarf or apron of slaves, which was fastened to the belt of the vest and distinguished slaves from freemen. Therefore, 1 Pet 5:5 ("gird yourselves with humility as your servile garb") encourages Christians to show their subjection one to another by putting on humility. This could also refer to the overalls which slaves wore to keep clean while working—an exceedingly humble garment.”

This word describes the function that is similar to the uniform coveralls worn by workmen today or the blue blouse or overshirt worn by the French working classes in the 19^th Century.  To illustrate, I’ve included Paul Cezanne’s portrait of a workman, “Man in a Blue Smock” from the Kimbell Art Museum.

This is how I should live – I must wear humility as a garment to mark myself as the slave of Jesus Christ and to protect the “white robe” of His righteousness which He has given me to wear.

 

1 Peter 2:23 - Who... did not revile in return"

“Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously.”  1 Peter 2:23

The central and most striking – no pun intended – concept in this verse is the nonretaliatory nature of Jesus Christ and our instruction to be like Him.  He was reviled but did not “back revile” as the Greek vocabulary reads.  This is so not like me!   When someone hits me with words, reviles me, my instinctive, practiced, and usually very effective response is to hit them back with more hurtful words.  How contrary to Christ that makes me!

Colossians 2:4 speaks to this same issue with these words, “being reviled we bless….”  That is being like Christ.  If something must be said, and we almost always feel we must speak an answer, then let our reply be a blessing.  The culture will not do this, ever; so returning a blessing when reviled will surely mark the believer as a follower of Jesus Christ.  It is this separation that will mark the church as different from the world, and such marks are vital to the cause of Christ.

The True Church, Dwelling Place of God

1 Peter 2:5 (Daily study for Tuesday, January 13, 2015)

The typical Greek word order here is interesting and a bit poetic.  Peter places the noun before the adjectives as he writes that we are “stones living,” “a house spiritual,” and “a priesthood holy.” The order of the words, however, is secondary to the progression of thought and purpose they present.  We are first living stones exactly the same as Jesus was a living stone (v. 4).  Our purpose as stones is to be built into a spiritual house.  Paul used the same metaphor in Ephesians 4:19-22.  The picture is inescapable!  Believers are each one part of the building, the church, the “holy temple of the Lord,” “the dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”  Each stone is important, invaluable, and essential.  The house of the church is not complete without every stone in place.  Naturally, some stones are more visible than others, but none make the house of God more complete by their presence than any other stone, and none make it less complete by their absence.  All of us are equally valuable and equally important.

I am a stone, just a stone, chiseled from the same pit as all the other stones, shaped by the same hand, and designed for His plan in His special place by the same great Architect.  I am put by His grace where I and I alone must be, so there is no room for pride, jealousy, complacency, or indifference.  I cannot fit in another’s place nor can he take mine, for we are all part of the Master’s great plan to the full measure of His sovereign grace.  We are the dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Built of Living Stones - 1 Peter 2:5

 

What is the Church - Daily Notes Transcription

Though the word “church” is not used, this description of the assembly of believers is picturing the believers as a church and uses the metaphor of a building.  As I began looking at the 5 characterizations of this metaphor, I was struck by the emphasis Peter expresses as he begins this verse.  The Greek is καὶ αὐτοὶ, and the usage makes the expression emphatic.  The simple English translation is “and you…” but the combination and placement of the words at the beginning of the verse is closer to our expression, “and you yourselves….”  In verse 4, Peter speaks of Jesus the Stone rejected by the builders as the “living stone by men rejected,” so in verse 5, he associates us with Christ as living stones by using the words καὶ αὐτοὶ – and you yourselves are living stones!