Peter now reminded his readers of the consequences of Jesus' response to unjustified persecution. He did so to strengthen their resolve to rededicate themselves to follow God's will wholeheartedly and confidently. He also wanted to assure them of their ultimate triumph in Christ.
Verses 18-22 contain some very difficult exegetical problems. Who are the spirits who received a proclamation (v. 19)? When did Jesus make this proclamation? What was its content? Why did Peter mention Noah? In what sense does baptism save us?
One group of interpreters believes Jesus went to the realm of the dead and preached to Noah's contemporaries between His crucifixion and His resurrection. Some of these say He extended an offer of salvation to them. Others feel He announced condemnation to the unbelievers. Still others hold that He announced good news to the saved among them.
A second group believes Jesus preached to Noah's sinful generation while Noah was living on the earth. They see Him doing so through Noah.
A third group holds that Jesus proclaimed His victory on the cross to fallen angels. Some advocates of this view say this took place in hell between His crucifixion and His resurrection. Others believe it happened during His ascension to heaven.
I shall discuss these views in the exposition to follow.
In 2:21-25 Peter mentioned Jesus' behavior during His passion (2:21-23), His death on the cross (2:24a), and His present ministry as the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls (2:24b-25). In 3:18-22 he cited Jesus' resurrection and ascension into glory, the "missing links"in the previous record of Jesus' experiences. Peter proceeded to explain the significance of Jesus' resurrection and exaltation not only for believers but also for the whole universe. Whereas the previous example of Jesus stressed the way He suffered while doing good, this one emphasizes the theme of Jesus' vindication, which is major in 1 Peter following the quotation of Psalm 34 in 3:10-12.
3:18 "For"connects verses 18-22 with 13-17, but "For Christ also"recalls and resumes the example of Jesus Christ that Peter cited in 2:21-25. Peter used the same phrase to introduce Jesus Christ as an example of suffering there. Suffering for doing good is the point of comparison in both passages.
"Once for all"emphasizes the complete sufficiency of Jesus Christ's sacrifice. It does not need repeating (as in the Roman Catholic mass) or adding to (by any human works, cf. Rom. 6:10; Heb. 7:27; 9:12, 26, 28; 10:10). The emphasis is on the finality of His sacrifice ("once for all,"Gr. hapax) rather than on the extent of the atonement ("for all").
His was also a vicarious sacrifice: the just One died for the unjust ones (1:19; 2:21-24; 4:1; cf. Isa. 53:11; Matt. 27:19; Luke 23:47; Rom. 5:6-10; 1 John 2:1, 29; 3:7). The purpose of Jesus Christ's death was to bring us into fellowship with God.
". . . no other NT writer has this active picture of Jesus leading the Christian to God. But it fits with Peter's usual conception of the Christian life as an active close following of Jesus (2:21; 4:13)."138
The phrase "having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit"has received several different interpretations.
Some interpreters believe that "flesh"refers to the material part of Jesus Christ's person and "spirit"to the immaterial part.139Supporters of this view argue that we should regard "flesh"and "spirit"as two parts of the Lord's human nature (cf. Matt. 26:41; Rom. 1:3-4; 1 Tim. 3:16; 1 Cor. 5:5). The contrast then would be that Jesus' body ("flesh") died, but His immaterial part ("spirit") experienced resurrection. The problem with this view is that an article precedes neither "flesh"nor "spirit"in the Greek text. The absence of the article usually stresses the quality of the noun. This would not be normal if Peter meant to contrast Jesus' body and His spirit. He would have included an article before each noun. The absence of the articles suggests a special meaning of "flesh"and "spirit."Furthermore Jesus' resurrection involved both the material and immaterial parts of His person, not just His spirit.
Another view is that we should take the Greek nouns (sarkiand pneumati, translated "in the flesh"and "in the spirit") as dative ("bythe flesh"and "bythe spirit") rather than as instrumental. The contrast, according to this interpretation, is between wicked men, who put Jesus to death by fleshly means, and the Holy Spirit, who raised Him. However the Greek dative case ("inthe flesh") is probably what Peter intended here rather than the instrumental case ("bythe flesh)."140It is not whowas responsible for Jesus' death and resurrection that is the issue but howJesus suffered death and experienced resurrection. Moreover if "spirit"means the Holy Spirit, its meaning is not parallel with "flesh."
A third view is that "flesh"refers to Jesus' death and "spirit"refers to His resurrection. The weakness of this view is that it is redundant. Peter said, according to this view, that Jesus was put to death in death and that He was made alive in resurrection.
A fourth view sees "flesh"as describing Jesus' pre-resurrection condition (following the Incarnation) and "spirit"as referring to His post-resurrection condition. Peter used the same terminology in 4:6 where he referred to Christians who had died but were now alive. I prefer this view.
"As in Rom. i.3f.; 1 Tim. iii.16, fleshand spiritdo not here designate complimentary parts of Christ, but the whole of Christ regarded from different standpoints. By fleshis meant Christ in His human sphere of existence, considered as a man among men. By spiritis meant Christ in His heavenly spiritual sphere of existence, considered as divine spirit (see on 1. 11); and this does not exclude His bodily nature, since as risen from the dead it is glorified."141
"Flesh' and spirit' do not refer to two parts' of Christ, i.e., his body and his soul; nor does the spirit' refer to the Holy Spirit or Christ's human spirit. Rather, flesh; refers to Christ in his human sphere of life and spirit' refers to Christ in his resurrected sphere of life (cf. [William J.] Dalton, [Christ's Proclamation to the Spirits,] pp. 124-24; TDNT, 6:417, 447; 7:143)."142
"If flesh' is the sphere of human limitations, of suffering, and of death (cf. 4:1), Spirit' is the sphere of power, vindication, and a new life . . .143Both spheres affect Christ's (or anyone else's) whole person; one cannot be assigned to the body and the other to the soul . . .
"The statement that Christ was made alive in the Spirit,' therefore, means simply that he was raised from the dead, not as a spirit, but bodily (as resurrection always is in the NT), and in a sphere in which the Spirit and power of God are displayed without hindrance or human limitation (cf. 1:21)."144
Jesus Christ became the Victor rather than a victim. All who trust Him share that victory (cf. vv. 13-17). This verse is an encouragement to Peter's readers that even though Jesus died because He remained committed to God's will, He experienced resurrection. Therefore we should remain faithful with the confident hope that God will also vindicate us.
3:19-20 Peter here introduced more information about Jesus' activity in His spirit (i.e., His resurrected sphere of life), in addition to what he said about His resurrection from the dead (v. 18), to encourage his readers.
"In which"refers back to the post-resurrection sphere of life in which Jesus Christ now lives (v. 18). The identity of the "spirits in prison"is problematic. The plural "spirits"describes human beings only one other place in the New Testament (Heb. 12:23), but it describes evil spirit beings frequently (Matt. 10:1; Mark 1:27; 3:11; 5:13; 6:7: Luke 4:36; 6:18; Acts 5:16; Rev. 16:13; et al.). Thus we would expect that evil angels are in view, but does what Peter said about them confirm this identification? He said they are in prison (cf. 2 Pet. 2:4) and that they were disobedient in the days of Noah (v. 20). Some interpreters believe that the incident involving the sons of God and the daughters of men (Gen. 6:1-4) is what Peter had in view here, but there are two problems with this theory. First, this incident evidently did not take place during the construction of the ark but before construction began. Second, it is improbable that the sons of God were angels.145Nevertheless these "spirits"could still be angels. If they are fallen angels, Peter may have meant that after Jesus Christ arose He announced to them that their doom was now sure. He may have done this either by His resurrection itself or by some special announcement to them.146
A more probable explanation is that these "spirits"were the unbelievers who disobeyed God in Noah's day by rejecting his preaching.147They are now "spirits"since they died long ago and their bodies have not yet experienced resurrection. He said the spirits of these unbelievers are in prison now (i.e., Sheol) awaiting resurrection and judgment by God (cf. Rev. 20:11-15). One could say that Jesus proclaimed a message to Noah's unbelieving contemporaries in His spirit (i.e., His spiritual state of life before the Incarnation) through Noah. Noah was preaching a message that God had given him, and in this sense Jesus Christ spoke through him (cf. 2 Cor. 5:20). Just so, Jesus Christ was speaking through Peter's readers to their unbelieving persecutors as they bore witness for Him in a hostile world. Noah faced the same type of opposition in his day that Peter's original readers did in theirs.
Another view is that the people to whom Jesus preached were those alive after Pentecost and in bondage to Satan and sin. Jesus preached to them through the apostles. The obvious problem with this view is Peter's linking these people with Noah.148
God would bring Peter's readers safely through their trial just as He had brought Noah safely through his trials into a whole new world. God had done this for Noah even though he and his family were a small minority in their day. Furthermore as God judged the mockers in Noah's day, so will He judge those who persecuted Peter's readers.
"The phrase in the days of Noah' may well be based on the Gospel tradition and on Jesus' analogy between Noah's time and the time immediately preceding the end of the age (cf. Matt 24:37-39//Luke 17:26-27)."149
God is so patient that he waited for 120 years before sending the Flood in Noah's day.(Gen. 6:3). Today He also waits, so patiently that some people conclude that He will never judge (cf. 2 Pet. 3:3-4). Few will escape God's coming judgment just as only eight escaped His former judgment. The rest will die.
3:21a-b The antecedent of "that"seems to be "water"(v. 20). Baptism saves Christians now as the water that floated Noah's ark saved him and drowned his unbelieving antagonists. It does not save us by cleansing us from defilement, either physically or spiritually, but by announcing publicly that the person baptized has placed his or her faith in Jesus Christ. Baptism now delivers (saves) us from the consequences of siding with the world (cf. James 1:21; 2:24; 2 Cor. 6:17-18; Col. 3:8-9; Heb. 10:22). Baptism is the evidence that a person has made a break with his or her past life and is taking a stand with the Savior. It is a pledge (translated "appeal"in the NASB) springing from a good conscience (i.e., a conscience that is now right with God; cf. v. 16).150
". . . they have already experienced salvation in the same way Noah did, namely by passing through water to safety, the water of baptism (cf. the similar analogy in 1 Cor. 10:1-2)."151
"Corresponding to"(v. 21) is a translation of the Greek word antitypon("antitype"). This is one of the places in the New Testament where the writer identified something as a type (cf. also Rom. 5:14; 1 Cor. 10:6, 11; Heb. 9:24). The flood in Noah's day is a type (i.e., a divinely intended illustration) of baptism.
Peter's point in his comments about baptism was this. In water baptism his readers had made a public profession of faith in Christ in their community. This had led to persecution. However by that act of baptism they had also testified to their ultimate victory over their persecutors. Because they had taken a stand for Jesus Christ they could be sure that He would stand with them (cf. 2 Tim. 2:12).
3:21c-22 Salvation comes, not by baptism, but by faith in Jesus Christ whose resurrection and ascension testify to God's acceptance of and satisfaction with His sacrifice (1 John 2:2).152God has subjected all things, even the powers behind our persecutors, to Jesus Christ because of His death and resurrection (cf. v. 18).153"Through the resurrection"continues the thought that Peter began in verse 18 from which he digressed in verses 19-21b.
Jesus Christ's ultimate victory in spite of temporary persecution should be an encouragement to any suffering disciple of the Savior. Verse 18 describes the saving work of Jesus Christ. Verses 19 and 20 refer to His ministry of proclaiming good news to those destined for judgment, which ministry we in our day must continue faithfully as Noah did in his. Verse 21 stresses the importance of confessing Christ publicly in baptism by reminding us of what baptism does and what it does not do. Verse 22 reminds us of our ultimate vindication and destiny.
There is a difference between this reference to Jesus' sufferings and the one in 2:21-24. In the former case Peter used Jesus as an example of how to respond to suffering. In this case he showed that as a result of Jesus' sufferings we can be sure of ultimate triumph, and this gives us confidence as we suffer.
