Devotional 03 September 2025

September 03, 2025 • Steve Torres

1 Peter 2:23.jpg

“When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” (1 Peter 2:23–25, ESV)

The Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things were made and by whom all things are sustained (John 1:3; Col. 1:16–17; Heb. 1:3), entered His own creation as a man. John declares, “This is the judgment: the light has come into the world” (John 3:19). The Light Himself, the cornerstone whom the builders rejected (1 Pet. 2:7), stood before human rulers in silence, “like a lamb that is led to the slaughter” (Isa. 53:7).

Though He could have summoned legions of angels (Matt. 26:53), disintegrated His accusers, or overturned the powers of Rome in an instant, He did not open His mouth. Pilate judged the Judge of all the earth (John 5:22), yet Jesus entrusted Himself to “Him who judges justly” (1 Pet. 2:23). He bore our curse upon a tree (Deut. 21:23; Gal. 3:13), carrying in His own body the sin we committed against Him alone (Ps. 51:4). By His wounds we are healed, and by His death we die, not to life, but to death itself, freed from sin’s power to live in righteousness (Rom. 6:6–11).

In this meekness, infinite power bends low. The Word who spoke galaxies into being remained silent to secure our redemption. He who sustains all things allowed Himself to be nailed to a cross, creating a new world where death has lost its sting (1 Cor. 15:54–57).

Peter reminds suffering believers: You now belong to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls (John 10:11; Ps. 23:1). To follow Him is to walk His path, bearing reproach, yet assured of God’s justice. Our suffering, even unto death, is never wasted but is woven into God’s eternal plan, leading to glory beyond comparison (Rom. 8:18; 2 Cor. 4:17–18). Therefore, “lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet” (Heb. 12:12–13), and “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (Eph. 5:14).