There are not as many personal references in 2 Peter for the authorship of Peter, as there are in 1 Peter. Though the opening verse of the epistle identifies the author as Simon Peter, an apostle of Christ, it has been challenged by critics because of the later date than Peter’s lifetime and different style from that of the first. The recipients of this letter would have been the churches that would include, in Asia Minor, Churches in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. The historical situation that prompted the author to write this letter is the presence of the false teachers in the church who apparently were backslidden Christians. The situation became serious, because the doctrine and practice of these false teachers were contrary to those taught by the apostles. The apostles taught that Jesus would return for them in their day. But, these false teachers had convinced some, particularly spiritually weak or new Christians to accept their doctrine and practices. They even posed a danger to those mature in faith who yet had remained unconvinced by them. Their doctrine was based on eschatological skepticism. They, as well as many other early Christians, expected that the Parousia of Christ would occur during the life time of the first generation of Christians. But that generation died without experiencing Parousia. As a result, they claimed that the apostolic proclamation of Parousia was a myth. They also claimed that the apostolic proclamation was not inspired but were the result of the prophet’s misguided personal interpretations of their own prophetic visions. The author’s urgency stems from the conviction that the Parousia would occur in the life time of the Christians addressed. Since the appearance of false teachers and their scoffing is a precursor or sign of the Parousia of Christ and the judgment of the world, the author believed that the Parousia was near.
Chapter 3 of II Peter starts with refuting the false teachers’ accusation. In our given passage for today, the writer further urges the churches not to overlook God’s forbearance. Here, he has reworked on Psalms 90.4, which says, “For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past, or like a watch in the night. The writer uses this verse to prove that human life is transient, while God is everlasting. The period before the eschatological end would seem long to humanity, but not to God. It is affirmed that what may seem like a delay of the Parousia is not a delay from God’s perspective. The author does not address the problem of the failure of the Parousia to occur within this limited time. Rather, he admits the delay and affirms the eventual fulfillment of the promised Parousia. The delay does not indicate a false promise, but God’s forbearance as provision for the repentance for sinners. In V.10, the affirmation of Parousia and judgment opens with the verb Echo ‘will come’ to emphasize that, although God’s patience delays the Parousia, surely it will come. The simile of the thief probably comes from Jesus’ Parable of the thief in gospel tradition (Mt. 24: 43, 44; Lk. 12: 39, 40). It conveys both the unexpectedness of Parousia and the threat of judgment it brings to those who impose on the patience of God by delaying their own repentance.
Patience is often cited as a character trait of God based on God’s self-revelation in Ex. 34: 6, 7. This mercy is an outgrowth of God’s love in putting up with sins of sinners and withholding the judgment. This gives the sinner, the time to repent but this time of mercy is not unlimited. Judgment will eventually come for the unrepentant, and the time of its coming is as unpredictable as the coming of a thief. Thus we should not take so much comfort in the patience of God, having a false sense that there is plenty of time to repent.
We may say about the coming of Christ as a future event. We may feel it is a doctrine we have to lay on one side but we cannot escape from the certainty of the entry of God into our own experience. As a community of faith, we should not think it as a future event which may happen at the end times. It is not a one-time end action that is going to happen afar. Many a time, we tend to think like that and be reluctant to the things that we ought to do. But, as responsible people of faith, our attitude towards Parousia should not be a final or end time event. It is sure that Christ breaks into every one of our lives. Coming of Christ is a daily process, which happen every day in our lives. Christ breaks into our life in each and every aspect we experience. But, we should be in a position to realize the coming of Christ into our lives. We have to prepare ourselves to meet Christ who is coming into our life. That preparation is the repentance and the righteous actions which have to be continued throughout our life. Our repentance should be renewed day by day. If Christ’s coming is a daily process, then our repentance and righteousness should also be a daily process.
May God help us to be prepared to meet Christ who comes into our lives. Amen.
Chapter 3 of II Peter starts with refuting the false teachers’ accusation. In our given passage for today, the writer further urges the churches not to overlook God’s forbearance. Here, he has reworked on Psalms 90.4, which says, “For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past, or like a watch in the night. The writer uses this verse to prove that human life is transient, while God is everlasting. The period before the eschatological end would seem long to humanity, but not to God. It is affirmed that what may seem like a delay of the Parousia is not a delay from God’s perspective. The author does not address the problem of the failure of the Parousia to occur within this limited time. Rather, he admits the delay and affirms the eventual fulfillment of the promised Parousia. The delay does not indicate a false promise, but God’s forbearance as provision for the repentance for sinners. In V.10, the affirmation of Parousia and judgment opens with the verb Echo ‘will come’ to emphasize that, although God’s patience delays the Parousia, surely it will come. The simile of the thief probably comes from Jesus’ Parable of the thief in gospel tradition (Mt. 24: 43, 44; Lk. 12: 39, 40). It conveys both the unexpectedness of Parousia and the threat of judgment it brings to those who impose on the patience of God by delaying their own repentance.
Patience is often cited as a character trait of God based on God’s self-revelation in Ex. 34: 6, 7. This mercy is an outgrowth of God’s love in putting up with sins of sinners and withholding the judgment. This gives the sinner, the time to repent but this time of mercy is not unlimited. Judgment will eventually come for the unrepentant, and the time of its coming is as unpredictable as the coming of a thief. Thus we should not take so much comfort in the patience of God, having a false sense that there is plenty of time to repent.
We may say about the coming of Christ as a future event. We may feel it is a doctrine we have to lay on one side but we cannot escape from the certainty of the entry of God into our own experience. As a community of faith, we should not think it as a future event which may happen at the end times. It is not a one-time end action that is going to happen afar. Many a time, we tend to think like that and be reluctant to the things that we ought to do. But, as responsible people of faith, our attitude towards Parousia should not be a final or end time event. It is sure that Christ breaks into every one of our lives. Coming of Christ is a daily process, which happen every day in our lives. Christ breaks into our life in each and every aspect we experience. But, we should be in a position to realize the coming of Christ into our lives. We have to prepare ourselves to meet Christ who is coming into our life. That preparation is the repentance and the righteous actions which have to be continued throughout our life. Our repentance should be renewed day by day. If Christ’s coming is a daily process, then our repentance and righteousness should also be a daily process.
May God help us to be prepared to meet Christ who comes into our lives. Amen.
[This Meditation was lead by Chrisida Nithyakalyani (chris_niths@yahoo.co.in) , Final Year BD Student]
