When Jesus
Christ was upon the earth, he chose twelve disciples in the beginning
of His ministry. One of those disciples was one known as “Simon”
who was also known as Peter. The following letter was addressed to
the Jewish people who scattered after the Christians were persecuted
in Jerusalem. Peter introduces himself in this first verse of the
first chapter where we read:
Peter, an
apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered...”
The
verse begins, “Peter, an apostle of
Jesus Christ, to the strangers...”
“Peter” whose
name is “Petros” in the Greek and means “a rock or stone”
began his letter in the normal fashion for the beginning of letters
of his time by using the writer's name. He called himself, “an
apostle”
which means “delegate, messenger or one sent forth with orders”
“of Jesus”
which is the word “Iēsous”
and
means “Jehovah is salvation”
“Christ”
which means “anointed” “to the
strangers”
or “ones who come from a foreign country into a city or land to
reside there by the side of the natives or foreigners”. Peter
considered himself as “one sent out” by Jesus, and he addressed
his letter to the Christians who were known as “strangers”
in the area
to which they fled.
The
verse goes on to say, “...scattered”.
Peter continued with the word, “scattered”
which is “diaspora”
and
means “dispersion such as when the Israelites were dispersed among
foreign nations and of the Christians which were scattered abroad
among the Gentiles”. The Christians were “scattered”
in the “diaspora” which was caused when Rome and the Jews began
to persecute them in Jerusalem. These disbursed people had Peter's
attention, and these were the ones to whom he writes.
When
we think about Peter's words in this first verse, we can almost sense
his care for those who had to leave their homes and homeland because
of the persecution they faced as Christians. Perhaps as we slowly go
through Peter's letter, we will identify with these who put their
trust and faith in Jesus Christ. May the Lord Jesus lead us by His
Holy Spirit to understand what He would say to us through the words
of Peter, in Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Next
time we continue to look at the first verse of First Peter, so read
ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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