1 Peter 3:18-22 (NRSV)
Read 1 Peter 3:18-22 on biblegateway.com
Verse 18For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, Verse 19in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, Verse 20who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water.
Verse 21And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you-not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Verse 22who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.
Devotion
Gods don't suffer. And they definitely don't die! They
intervene capriciously with human affairs and are usually
impervious to our pleas for justice. The notion that God
would participate in the depths of suffering—six feet
deep to be precise—is completely absurd. Unless, of
course, that God had a passionate love for humanity that
could only be expressed by joining fully in the human
experience. Knowing that God has stood with us and for
us for the sake of love and freedom, we too are called to
proclaim love to others knowing that we are freed to
do so.
The passionate love of Jesus in the flesh is now released
into the world as we are made alive in our baptism. The
suffering that comes from standing with and for others is
now redeemed in Christ. We can now face the toughest
challenges that our world faces knowing that we belong
to God. As James Baldwin said, "Not everything that is
faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until
it is faced."
Prayer
Jesus, teach us how to die before we die. Show us that
true power is in vulnerability. Help us put down our
weapons and pick up our cross. Amen.