He did not retaliate

Peter was there. That is the thing to remember when you read 1 Peter 2:23. When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate. When he suffered, he made no threats. Peter is not summarising a doctrine. He is describing something he saw in a courtyard while warming himself by a fire and lying about knowing the man.

He says Christ left us an example, and the word he uses is the word for a pattern a child traces over to learn to write. Follow in his steps. Not admire them from a distance. Put your feet where his feet went.

The steps are specific. No sin. No deceit in his mouth. No retaliation under insult. No threats under suffering. It is a short list and every item is hard. Most of us manage the first two on a good day and fail the last two before lunch. Someone cuts in, someone speaks over us, someone takes credit, and the retaliation is out before we have decided anything.

Verse 23 tells us how Jesus did it. He entrusted himself to him who judges justly. That is the hinge. Jesus did not stay silent because he was weak or because the insults did not land. He stayed silent because he had handed the whole matter to his Father and did not need to settle it himself. Retaliation is what we do when we believe no one else will see that justice is done. Trust is what we do when we believe someone will.

This is why Peter's instruction is not simply grit your teeth. It is a transfer of the case. The wrong done to you is real. Rather than prosecuting it yourself, in the moment, with whatever weapons are to hand, you file it with the judge who judges justly and you go on with your day.

Today, in worship, you may find one such case sitting in your chest. Give it to the one who judges rightly. Then, if you can, stay silent about it for the rest of the day. That is what following in his steps looks like on a Sunday.