Author: Bryan Richardson

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 2:4-9 (day three)

if he rescued…then the Lord knows how to rescue…

Peter references the reporting of God’s actions in scripture in order to provide a basis for his claim of God’s continued historical action. Peter’s argument would not have had much strength if he had said, “If a team of elite troops sworn to protect their people knows how to rescue them from an enemy, then God knows how to rescue people from temptation.” A team of special military operatives comes nowhere near God’s faithfulness and abilities. God can only be compared to God. Of course, if one doesn’t believe that God exists, then the point is moot. In such a case, one has nothing to appeal to for ultimate power and goodness and hope other than the created order. If that’s all there is, then no higher purpose exists. Humanity needs more.

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 2:1-3 (day three)

There will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them…

Whatever system denies that the created physical realm is good; whatever system denies that the human being is very good; whatever system that, like the world, oppresses women and calls it the natural order; whatever system leads one to believe that doubt must be repressed instead of vigorously investigated; whatever system supports and furthers injustice in the name of the law; whatever system seeks favor in the eyes of the power structures of this world – that system is a destructive heresy. That heresy’s power arises from the fact that it’s so very hard to see.

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 1:16-21 (day three)

…until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts…

Dietrich Bonhoeffer used to talk about “religionless Christianity.” What did he mean by that? Concepts employed by theologians often leave room for debate. But this particular phrase almost certainly envisions a world in which Christ’s presence has so totally influenced and formed the lives of his disciples that the forms of religion are no longer necessary; the systems of governance and commerce and societal interaction shall exude justice and compassion and humility and service. For now, we experience these world systems as an extension of the individual will to power over others, leading to marginalization and poverty and war. But there is coming a time when religion will no longer be necessary, when faith shall be sight, when the morning star arises within. Peter foresaw that it must be so.

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 1:12-15 (day three)

…the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.

Of all people, Peter knew what “laying aside of my earthly dwelling” means, and what it does not mean. If he intends to tell his readers that he’s tossing aside his body in order to “fly away” and live an incorporeal existence, then the message here is that nothing really matters on earth, and — even more shocking — that being human is a flaw,  not a feature. But as “Jesus Christ has made clear” by his own resurrection, not only does human life matter on earth, God will double down on it.

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 1:8-11  (day three)

For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.

In Peter’s pastoral care, he does not condemn people who struggle; rather, he acknowledges how difficult it is to navigate the world. Who has not felt as though a circumstance or a person or an event or a disappointment or a time of suffering is an unfathomable mystery that leaves one lost and afraid? Peter says, “Yes, people will stumble through darkness when they can’t make sense of the world. But you can learn to see better. Your brothers and sisters – the church – will teach you. Little by little your eyes will adjust to the brightness of the way of Christ.” You were made to see. And you will.

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 1:5-8  (day three)

…and in your brotherly kindness, love.

Each attribute listed by St. Peter builds toward love. Years earlier, Jesus, issuing his new command to love one another, took stock of all the world’s grasping for power and forcing its way, and, right in the middle of the mightiest empire the world had ever known, pronounced love the pinnacle of any and all acts, whether human or divine. John (let us love one another, for love is from God), Paul (faith hope and love remain, but the greatest of these is love), and here Peter all testify to love. How is it that they so confidently affirmed the Lord’s words? Was it that “Jesus said it so that settles it?” Or was it rather that they underwent love’s healing presence within their deepest selves? Read their stories and see.

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 1:1-4  (day three)

…you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

Lust, often sexualized in common usage, refers to any desire having the quality of a craving that eclipses all concern for the well-being of others.  Power, pleasure, position, possessions – one treasures these things as the means to connection, safety, security. And eventually one sees them as synonymous with connection, safety, and security. Because they appear to be rare, they must be forcefully obtained at any cost before someone else finds them and leaves you with nothing. Such a world is zero-sum by nature, and you are the only one who will look out for you. Peter found a different life – heaven’s life – in which connection, safety, and security never cease no matter the circumstances. Jesus taught Peter to live as he lives – eternally.