In his excellent book on Job, Christopher Ash emphasises the concept of “redemptive suffering” over against the erroneous idea that people always reap what they sow, and onlywhat they sow. This was the shared worldview of Job’s three counsellors; hence their joint conclusion that Job must be guilty of sin and therefore under God’s wrath. They had no other theological category to work from. The result was that they simply added to Job’s misery.
In the end, Job would learn that his suffering was, in fact, because he was right with God. The outcome would be a deeper knowledge of God and, by Job’s intercession for his three friends, they would be delivered and redeemed. That is, God would forgive them and, like Job. they would experience the wonder of being accepted by holy God (Job 42:7–9). We can conclude that Job’s suffering proved, in the end, to be good not only for his own soul, but also for the souls of those who for too long mistreated him. Job’s suffering was redemptive, pointing us to one who, many years later, would ultimately suffer redemptively for the sake of others.
The Lord Jesus Christ, of course, did not need to be redeemed and yet, by his suffering, he did experience a close relationship with the Father. In what has always been to me a mysterious verse, the writer to the Hebrews records that Jesus “learned obedience by the things he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). That is, Jesus’s suffering under the hand of the Father was the greatest demonstration of faithful obedience ever displayed. And his faithful, worshipful obedience while suffering secured faithful obedience from those for whom he suffered, died, and rose again.
The sufferings of Jesus saved our souls. His loss was our gain. And our Lord expects us to have the same mindset as we suffer at the hands of others. This is at the heart of the book of 1 Peter. That is, believers are called to live righteously, which means we will suffer at the hands of those who do not behave righteously. And as Peter points out in 1 Peter 2:18–25, our suffering too can be redemptive; it can lead to the salvation, to the spiritual healing of others.
Peter is explicit that every believer is called to follow in the steps of Jesus Christ our Master. As Bonhoeffer said, “When Jesus calls a person to follow him, he bids them to come and die.” This is part and parcel of what it means to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus. We are called to suffer and, in a limited and yet in a wonderfully amazing sense, our suffering can be redemptive.
Peter, quoting from Isaiah 53, writes, “By his wounds you were healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” (2:24–25). Jesus Christ suffered for those who were his enemies (Romans 5:8) with the consequence that they returned to him. Redemptive suffering. And in the context, Peter is speaking of a righteous response to those who behave like the believer’s enemy. Peter’s point, at the least, is that, as believers respond righteously in suffering, it is possible that those who wound us may in the end be healed. They may, in fact, be redeemed. You might need to be wounded for another to be healed.
This was certainly the case with the Philippian jailer who, after literally wounding Paul and Silas, soon thereafter repented, professed saving faith, and was baptised (Acts 16:22–34). The “jailhouse rock” no doubt impacted him (vv. 25–28) but no less than the testimony of two believers suffering joyfully. The righteous sufferings of Paul and Silas yielded the fruit of conversion.
The point to take away is that, when we suffer for Christ’s sake, remember that in the wisdom of God this is not only good for your soul, but it may prove to be good for the soul of another as well. And most importantly, redemptive suffering—as with the Lord Jesus—brings much glory to God (John 12:27–28).
Grateful for 1 Peter.
Doug