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Lenten Season · First Sunday in Lent · Year B

1 Peter 3:18-22

Suffering for Doing Good

February 14, 2027

The Subsiding of the Waters of the Deluge, Thomas Cole
The Subsiding of the Waters of the Deluge, Thomas Cole, 1829Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington
Cole paints the moment after: bare rock, a skull, a dove returning, and water draining out of a world that has been stripped.In the days of Noah, eight persons were saved through water, and baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you.Thomas ColeFounder of the Hudson River School (1801-1848), English-born, who treated American landscape as a subject fit for moral and religious argument.Smithsonian American Art Museum, WashingtonThe national collection of American art, in the old Patent Office Building where Lincoln held his second inaugural ball.Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington
Revised Common Lectionary
GospelMark 1:9-15Mk 1:9-15
Epistle1 Pet. 3:18-221 Pt 3:18-22
Old TestamentGen. 9:8-17Gn 9:8-17
PsalterPs. 25:1-10Ps 25:1-10

Overview & Insights

“Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.” (1 Peter 3:18)

Finally (not to end the letter but to complete this passage) there comes a general exhortation to the whole Christian community, married and unmarried alike. Peter commends a set of attitudes which together depict what relationships within the Christian fellowship should be.

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Take it further: 1 Peter 3:18-22

Commentary

1 Peter 3:18-221 Pt 3:18-22 Working Preacher

Reads Christ's suffering, the spirits in prison, and baptism as the flood's antitype.

1 Peter 31 Pt 3 Enduring Word · David Guzik

Evangelical verse-by-verse notes on Christ's death, proclamation, and baptism saving us.

Classic commentaries on 1 Peter 3Classic commentaries on 1 Pt 3 BibleHub

Assembles classic and modern comment on one of the New Testament's hardest passages.

1 Peter 3:18-22 resources1 Pt 3:18-22 resources Precept Austin

An in-depth study page with Greek word studies on the baptism and spirits-in-prison verses.

Background & Word Study

Suffering Under the World's Authorities (1 Peter 2:13-4:19)Suffering Under the World's Authorities (1 Pt 2:13-4:19) Theology of Work

Frames the passage within 1 Peter's theology of suffering for doing good.

Theological Themes in 1 PeterTheological Themes in 1 Pt Enter the Bible

Maps the letter's core themes of holiness, endurance, and hope in suffering.

Overview: 1 PeterOverview: 1 Pt BibleProject

An animated overview of the whole letter to situate the baptism passage.

The Church Fathers

1 Peter 3, patristic commentary1 Pt 3, patristic commentary Catena

Patristic comment on Christ preaching to the spirits and baptism's saving sign.

Questions preachers ask

How does 1 Peter link the flood and baptism?

As Noah's family was saved through water, so baptism now saves through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who suffered once for all and reigns over every power.

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