Read the Bible with Me!

Welcome to the Pauline Family's "Year of the Bible"! We've been reading the Bible clear through this year. We are finishing the New Testament, so read along with me. But first, let us pray: 

Father,

When the fullness of time had come, you sent your Word in the One who said, “Whoever sees me, sees the Father.” No revelation can surpass this until Jesus comes again. By your gift, the Church continues to receive unfathomable riches from the inheritance handed on from the Apostles and guaranteed by the Holy Spirit.

Let the Spirit who inspired the writing of today's pages "guide me in the truth and teach me" to follow Jesus ever more closely, until he calls me to follow him to the Kingdom where he lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.

Today's chapters are 1 Peter 4-5 and 2 Peter 1.

Continuing his appeal to Christ's example as inspiring the way Christians should order their daily life, Peter offers practical recommendations that sound a lot like what we read in the letters of St Paul. And then he can't help but turn back to the sufferings of Christ which he himself witnessed firsthand. Do you remember when Peter and John were flogged by order of the Sanhedrin for speaking in the name of Jesus and "rejoiced that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name" (Acts 5:40-42)? The very same sentiment is being enjoined on Peter's readers in 1 Peter 4:13-16.

It is also in the spirit of an eyewitness to Christ's sufferings that he offers his recommendations to the Church as a community, starting with the "shepherds." As you continue to read, you will probably recognize the words of the St Michael prayer that so many pray daily: they are right from the First Letter of Peter! And even Peter's closing benediction acknowledges the reality of suffering. He is not playing around, not hiding the truth from this first generation of Christians. They are called to be like Christ.

With so much already in that wonderful letter, you would think there would be no need for a Second Letter of Peter, but the Holy Spirit thought differently. Scholars in antiquity as well as today question whether the same author was behind both writings. It is not impossible (especially considering how much latitude the scribe was given in preparing a text). At any rate, there was never any question at about 2 Peter being inspired Scripture from the Apostolic era. 

The author, whom we'll accept as Peter, starts us off "on the Holy Mountain" (1:18) that is, the Mountain of the Transfiguration. He once again writes as an eyewitness, but this time not of the sufferings of Christ, but of "his "majesty" (1:16). Evidently, Peter is invoking some mighty powerful authority in what he teaches throughout this letter.

Finish reading 1 Peter here and start 2 Peter here.