Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, s.11.25earched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.
It seems, as many are pointing out in these days, that our culture has been profoundly changed philosophically by the loss of two things: First, any sense of the essentially moral character of life and second, the understanding that our stories are part of a larger story, that is to say, we have lost our sense of a transcendent history. People today do not see themselves as part of the history of the world that has moral meaning and is moving toward a definitive conclusion when, at that day, God will judge every human life.
Even among Christians, sadly our understanding of what is right and wrong according to the Divine Trinity, although given lip service, has given way to a therapeutic understanding that does not ask what does God say is good and evil, but rather asks, what is helpful to me…what will make me happy so that I think better of myself?
In these three verses, Peter helps us to get back on track. What was it that the prophets of old sought to know? What is it that angels long to look into? The word that is used about these curious angels is the same word we find in the gospels when we read that on that first Easter morning people ran to the garden and bent over to ‘peer’ into the empty tomb. That is the imagery here. The angels are peering down from heaven, they are looking to the earth with a studied curiosity even, an amazement. They want to understand, they want to see the pieces put together as to the actions of the Divine One.
They behold the sufferings of God the Son and anticipate the glories that follow and they are dumbfounded. Angels fell. What was done to redeem them? Nothing. Man has fallen. What will become of man? Is he too lost and without hope as those angelic beings who rebelled long ago? No. God will make a way to bring them back…to bring us back. God will do this by suffering Himself in man’s place…for man.
And this divine rescue, this salvation becomes THE event, THE purpose of heaven in time and the theatre for all of this is the foundation of history. The bringing of salvation to sinners, the opening of blind eyes, and loosening of mute lips and all of that for men, for sinful men, for you and me, who in so many ways pale in comparison to the angels.
The context of Peter’s words makes this clear. This salvation has the attention, the full attention and full involvement of God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit as Peter says in 1:3. I have wondered if the angels, in their peering into this glorious salvation have wondered: “Well, we can see what God has done, but what will the response of men be?” Maybe that question keeps their attention. Afterall, in Christ we find the pattern that Peter has already told us is the pattern of life for all who follow the Savior: a life of faith on trial…followed by unfading and imperishable glory in the world to come.
Do you think the angels ‘wonder’, sitting with bated breath watching if indeed our faith will persevere? If we will endure trial and suffering with a living hope? This salvation utterly captivates the angels even as it fueled God’s prophets in history. Angels have seen quite a bit, they are quite familiar with the rise and fall of nations, and even participated in the destruction of wicked men and yet it isthis that so interests them!
So, to sum this up: The OT prophets did not know how much time would separate the Lord’s sufferings from the full manifestation of his glory in the world, but they saw the future in these terms, and these terms only: the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. That is the meaning of history! And the angels watch God bring this to pass and marvel.
Peter will say something akin to this in 4:13 when he again makes the history of Christ the pattern for the history of every Christian: “rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” This is the scheme of history; this is its pattern, that is where it is going, where everything is headed: the revelation of the glory of Jesus Christ. What makes that so infinitely significant is the fact that Christ already visited this world once before and when he was here, the Son of God suffered for the sins of the world…And this baffles the perfect, holy angels of God!
And here is the question for us this morning: Why is this salvation, your salvation and mine, the pinnacle principle for all of history…not more in the front of our thinking, feeling, decision making, and living? Are the angels of God, for whom such sacrifice, suffering and love, and from God no less, was not enacted, more enthralled by the depth and wonder of it all, than are we who are its recipients?
Peter did not say that the angels long to peer into the advancement of technology. They were not looking with curiosity for the appearance of internet capabilities that link the world, or air travel, or radio, television or antibiotics. The angels did not longingly peer into the rise of democratic government to save the world, or the abolition of war. None of this even remotely compares to what was their chief interest…the salvation of rebellious, arrogant sinners.
We Christians think far too much and concern ourselves, our time and energies with matters that are far too small and are quite unimportant when compared to what should captivate, motivate and shape our lives. We should be much, much more given to embracing the life that Christ has modeled for us, the life we are to live and the glories that follow.
We are living in the midst of perversion, lies and questions of who if anyone is telling the truth and there is much we do not know. I do know that the Bible does not promise us a life of ease, or even freedom to worship, it promises us suffering…it promises that in losing life, we find it and that now for a little while we have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
I am convinced that as Christians, we, far too rarely think of what we confront in our lives in terms of what Christ had one and what He will do. How little we live our lives strictly and gladly in terms of Christ’s sufferings and our future glory. Our questions should be; “What does this mean in view of the cross of Jesus? What should I think about this situation in light of the coming glories of the Savior? How does my response reflect on my life’s calling to live, not for myself, but for Him who lived and died for me?”
But we rarely think this way. We waste so much time and energy, throwing it away. Everything we do throughout the day, whether it is our use of our computer, or our reading of an ad, or our decision about a TV show, or the importance we attach to a news story, or the way in which we relate to a neighbor, or our own children, or the choice we make about how to spend our time or money, or the way we think about the problems we face or our hopes for the future…it comes down to this: Everything is really meaningful, everything is really important only in its relation to the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow; nothing can be good or right accept in proper relation to the salvation that God offers the world in Jesus Christ, that salvation the baffles the angels to the point that the long to understanding its depth! Is the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus and the glories that are to come, as captivating to us as it is to the angels?
Prayer: Gracious and kind Father, I confess that I am far too taken with the details of my life and fail to see everything from the perspective of Christ’s work and coming glory. The ‘now’ captivates me more than does eternity. Holy Spirit of God, bring to me through this day the wonders and glories of Christ’s life, death and resurrection for me! Help me to see the abiding hope of what is to come and so much so, that I live in that hope today. Through Jesus Christ my Lord, Amen.