but as ye have share in the sufferings of Christ, rejoice, that in the revelation of his glory also ye may rejoice with exultation.
Peter writes to Christians under fire, and he does not promise them escape. He tells them their pain is a share in Christ's own sufferings, and that joy comes twice: now, and when His glory appears.
The trial only looks like an accident if we forget whose road we are on. One writer contrasts their fiery trial with what they had expected from their own Scriptures:
How perplexed they must have been! They read their own Scriptures and remembered the promises made to Israel about earthly blessings. And here they were, suffering want and hardship, persecuted and slandered by those around them. He writes to them not to think it strange when they pass through fiery trials. It is not some strange thing happening to them. It is the path the Shepherd went, and the sheep must follow Him. He suffered; it is the believer's privilege to suffer with Him.
Sharing Christ's sufferings has a limit. What He bore for sin, He bore alone. We receive the healing from it; we do not stand in it with Him:
Christ suffered for sin so that we would never have to. His wounds heal us; we do not share in them. What Christ suffered when God forsook Him in wrath, He suffered alone. He did it so that we would never taste one drop of that dreadful cup, which we could not bear. But we are to have a part in the sufferings Christ bore for righteousness, and in those His work of love brought on Him — poor and feeble as our faith is.
Earlier in the letter Peter had commended suffering for doing good. Here he lifts the ground higher. The suffering is now a share in what Christ Himself went through:
Here he goes beyond suffering for righteousness and for doing good. In keeping with the fiery persecution they faced, he reminds them of this: as far as they share, or have fellowship in, the sufferings of Christ, it was theirs to rejoice. Then, when His glory is revealed, they may rejoice with exultation too.
The two halves of the verse belong together. What we share now settles what we will share later:
The sufferings and reproach of Christ have their answer in glory. In the same way, those who suffer for His name's sake will share His glory on the day He is revealed. If the saint takes in the blessedness of that coming glory, it will lead him, in the middle of trial, to "be glad also with exceeding joy." Every bit of suffering that God may allow His people to pass through for Christ's sake is a pledge of coming glory.
Notice that Peter says His glory, not ours. The joy he promises is joy over what happens to Christ:
The Lord endured the cross because of the joy set before Him, and He thought nothing of the shame. In the sufferings of this present time, the saints are always to keep before them the joy they will have when their Lord is revealed in His glory. It is not here the glory that we shall have, but our joy in the glory that He shall have. Still, we know that He will share the glory with His co-heirs.
Peter calls for joy twice: joy now, and joy when the suffering is over. (The phrase "with exceeding joy" below comes from an older translation of this verse.)
We are to rejoice now, while the suffering goes on. Then we shall clearly be conquerors in front of our enemies. But the day of Christ's glory is hurrying on, and then we shall be glad "with exceeding joy." … His supreme glory will crown His supreme sufferings. It will be our honour and joy to share in both. Which shall we see to be the greater honour in that day?
This joy is not the pursuit of hardship for its own sake. The reason for rejoicing lies outside the suffering, in what it connects us to:
What truly sustained the soul of the Christian was the thought of suffering for Christ and with Him, not philosophical theories… Scripture plainly says that the cross is our outward link with Christ, as eternal life is the inward one. For this reason alone, believers are told even to rejoice in trouble. There is no hint of any grim delight in increasing one's burden of sorrow.
- Shared — the fire is not a strange thing but the Shepherd's own road; the sheep follow where He walked.
- Shared, but bounded — He bore the suffering for sin alone, and it heals us; His suffering for righteousness and love is ours to share.
- Shared with a Person — Peter goes past suffering for doing right, to fellowship in the sufferings of Christ Himself.
- Shared as a pledge — every bit of suffering for His name promises a matching share in His glory.
- Shared in joy — rejoice now, in the middle of it. Rejoice with exultation later, when His supreme glory crowns His supreme sufferings.
If ye are reproached in [the] name of Christ, blessed [are ye]; for the [Spirit] of glory and the Spirit of God rests upon you [on their part he is blasphemed, but on your part he is glorified.]
Peter writes to people already in the fire. He tells them that insult borne for Christ's name is not a misfortune to pity but a state to call blessed — because of who rests on them while it happens. (Older translations say "reproached" where the ESV says "insulted." The writers quoted below use the older word.)
Everything turns on the word "name." One writer explains what the world sees when it insults a Christian:
We are declared to be happy or blessed if the reproach is "for" the name, or "in" the name of Christ; which means that the world sees in us His representatives. The Lord Jesus was once in this world as the Great Representative of Jehovah. So He had to say, "The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me" (Ps. 69:9). That was certainly no disgrace to Him, and to be reproached in the name of Christ is an honour to us.
One writer traces the title back to where the Spirit came from, and to whom He is given:
Christ was not here, but in the glory of God. From there came the Spirit, sent by the Father in Christ's name, and sent by Christ Himself from the Father to remain with them and be in them (John 14, 15). How fitting and full of comfort the reminder! He was the seal of their accomplished redemption, and the pledge of the glory coming to them. He is the Spirit of God, which is more and better than glory. Such was the Spirit that rested on them, both for energy to endure and for joy now and forever. No doubt this is generally true of all the sons of God, for He is the Spirit of sonship, whom believers receive since redemption (Gal. 4:4; Eph. 1:13-14). But it is said here with emphasis, to sustain those who suffer for Christ's name.
Peter's verb matters. It says more than that the Spirit is present:
The word "rests" carries the thought of "refreshment." So rays of divine glory light up the dark hours of persecution. They comfort and refresh the soul with a foretaste of its eternal joy and portion.
Another writer describes the same moment as contact with the glory itself, and with a power that changes us now:
When I feel that I have been reproached for the name of the Lord, it is as if the edges of the glory had touched me! The Spirit of the glory where Christ is has, so to speak, touched the one who has been slighted for His name. Take it wherever you will, God brings the power of His glory to bear to sanctify our hearts and ways now.
Suffering now carries a guarantee about the future:
Every bit of suffering that God may allow His people to pass through for Christ's sake is a pledge of coming glory. The Spirit of glory, the Spirit of God who had come from glory, rested upon these suffering saints, and was the pledge of the coming glory.
Some translations add a closing clause: they blaspheme Him, but you glorify Him. Commentators differ over it. Kelly calls the words "quite true, and said in substance elsewhere." He brackets them, because the best and oldest manuscripts leave them out. Other writers treat the clause as central. They read it as the answer to the Lord's own prayer:
These believers were passing through the fire of persecution because they confessed the Name of Christ. Above all, they showed in their lives the excellencies of Christ. As the Apostle says, "On your part He is glorified." In these believers there was an answer to the Lord's prayer when He said to the Father, "I am glorified in them" (John 17:10).
So avoiding reproach costs us something real. One writer draws the uncomfortable conclusion:
Instead of trying to escape sufferings with Christ, a little reproach, a little contempt for Christ's sake, we should welcome all of it most gladly. There is a blessing in it, even when people call us narrow or any other name of contempt, because we exalt Christ and are true to Him. And if we were only more faithful, more separated, more loyal and devoted, we would also have more reproach. As a result, we would know more of the blessed experience that we are the resting and dwelling place of the Spirit of glory.
- Name — The insult is not about you. The world sees Christ's representatives in you, so the reproach is His — and carrying it is an honour.
- Glory — He is called the Spirit "of glory" because He came from where Christ now is. He seals a redemption already done and pledges a glory still to come.
- Rests — The word carries refreshment: divine light in dark hours, as if the edge of the glory had brushed you.
- Glorified — Men blaspheme His name; you display it. A persecuted life answers His own prayer, "I am glorified in them."
- More — The Spirit rests where the reproach falls. More faithfulness brings more reproach — and more of this, not less.