When a Rainbow Pointed to Baptism in Christ

This week we came to a passage in 1 Peter (3:17-4:6) that is one of the most difficult passages in the New Testament to interpret. With regard to the passage, the only thing more difficult than understanding Peter's original meaning is working out the application for us, in our setting. In this passage we find Peter citing the flood in the days of Noah as an ante-type of Christian baptism; teaching that Jesus announced his victory to the spirits in prison, who were associated with the evildoing which brought on the flood; proclaiming that Jesus' victory has put in their proper place all angels, authorities, and powers; and noting that the gospel has now been preached to the dead, so that they might be made alive in the spirit.

One of the reasons this passage seems so strange to us is that we are not familiar with certain Jewish writings of the period with which Peter seems to be interacting. In the book of 1 Enoch, for instance, the sons of God (angels) who intermingled sinfully with human beings in Genesis 6:1-6, are "imprisoned" in hell as their judgment for the debauchery which brought upon the world the flood. Why this reading was important to Peter, and how his Gentile readers in Western Asia Minor would have heard these words are questions for which we have no ultimately satisfying answers; moreover, what Peter meant by referring to this we do not know either.

Rather than spend a lot of time talking about different interpretations of this passage in minute detail, what I want to focus on in this passage is what I will put forth for your consideration as the big idea of this passage. I submit that the big idea of this section of 1 Peter is that Jesus' life, death and resurrection has gained him a victory on behalf of humankind that has defeated the work of the evil one. Though this victory has yet to come to full fruition in this fallen world, (we are mindful that we live in between Jesus' resurrection and the consummation of all things where Christ will be all and in all), all rebel forces which are at enmity with God and human flourishing have been made subordinate to King Jesus. God is at work to bring salvation to this world, in spite of the fact that evil still taints his creation. And, though the Christians to whom he is writing are few in number, like Noah and his few, God will work through them to bring salvation to many. The flood waters of Noah's day made vast destruction but at the end of that story we are told that after the flood God left us a sign of his promise to never move against creation again. We call that sign a rainbow but the author of Genesis simply used the word for a warrior's bow, which points away from the world. And now, in Christ, we have a sign: baptism. The waters of baptism mark the outpouring of God's grace and love, powerful enough to save all of humankind and defeat every enemy of human flourishing.

Peter's portrayal of Christ's cosmic victory over evil also instructs us regarding how we ought to think about God's love for us, all people, and our world. Though we are complicit through our sin in the breaking of God's shalom, God is positively inclined towards human beings and desires us to escape the evil that is at play in the world. God is itching to give each of us our share in the victory of Jesus over evil. The knowledge that this is God's disposition towards us is itself a stimulant to receive him more fully. But what about those who do not know of this victory? How are we to think of those who are captured by evil? Well, we are all too familiar with the tendency for Christians to demonize those outside of the church but the gospel leaves no place for this with its emphasis on enemy-love, an emphasis prevalent in 1 Peter. "1 Peter does not warn in totalizing discourse against an evil world, but calls his community to resist the devil that prowls around, looking for someone to devour (5:8). The image of a prowling devil suggests that evil is not some impenetrable darkness outside the walls of the church, equally thick in all places; rather, evil is a mobile force, something one always has to deal with but is never quite sure where and how one will encounter it. The statements that celebrate Christian calling “out of darkness into his marvelous light” notwithstanding (2:9), 1 Peter does not operate with the stark black-and-white opposition between “divine community” and “satanic world.” Correspondingly, the author seems less interested in hurling threats against
the unbelieving and aggressive non-Christian neighbors, [23] than in celebrating Christians’ special status before God (see 2:9f.). Christian hope, not the damnation of non-Christians, figures centrally in the letter (see 1:3; 3:15). [24] - Volf from his essay, Soft Difference."

Questions for discussion:

1. How do the interpretive difficulties that swirl around this passage of 1 Peter make you feel about the Bible? Does it shake your faith or make you roll your eyes a little when you realize that for some reason Peter finds it important to interact with 1 Enoch in order to discuss Jesus' victory on our behalf? (1 Enoch is not regarded as canonical by orthodox Christians or Jews.) Do you have to believe that the flood in Noah's day actually happened according to the biblical record in order to follow Jesus in faith and repentance?

2. Do you think of God as itching to give you a share in Jesus' victory and his love? Do you tend to see God more as an extravagant lover or as a miserly lover? Do you see him more in one of those two metaphors with regard to certain struggles you have? If so, why do you think that is?

3. Do you sometimes find yourself engaged in a "totalizing discourse against an evil world"? Is it harmful to our spiritual formation to view life framed as a "stark black-and-white opposition between 'divine community' and 'satanic world'? Why or why not?