Apr 21, 2026 Written by 
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4th Sunday in Easter

4th Sunday in Easter

4th Easter Sunday (year A)

 

(1 Peter 2:20b–25)

(Psalm 22)

 

1 Peter 2:20 ... But if, whilst doing good, you endure suffering patiently, this is pleasing to God.

1 Peter 2:21 For to this you have been called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his footsteps:

1 Peter 2:22 he committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth,

1 Peter 2:23 when he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but entrusted himself to him who judges justly.

1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that, having died to sin, we might live for righteousness; 

1 Peter 2:25 By his wounds you have been healed. You were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

 

It is a grace for those who know God to suffer unjustly. It is not the suffering itself that is grace, but the opportunity that God grants, through the injustice endured, to be freed from one’s own pride. What glory would there be, in fact, in enduring suffering because we have done wrong? If one suffers because one has sinned, having transgressed the law of God and of men, this affliction or suffering is not by grace, but by fault. This suffering, if lived in conversion, in the patience of Christ, becomes and is transformed into grace. It is grace, however, insofar as it helps to redeem one’s own guilt; it also helps to free us from our pride, if all is accepted in humility. Glory does not lie in punishment, but in the redemption of punishment and in the holiness that arises from punishment redeemed and sanctified by the humility with which it is lived.

“But if, whilst doing good, you endure suffering with patience, this will be pleasing before God.” The Christian must not do evil. The Christian is one who lives in truth, in the holiness of Christ, in the imitation of Christ. He must remain in goodness, and from the goodness in which he dwells he must bear every suffering with patience. This is the path of his sanctification, as it was also for Christ.

Peter now says that this is our calling (v. 21). Suffering is intended to free us from all vainglory, pride and spiritual arrogance. “For Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you might follow in his footsteps”: There is a difference between us and Christ, and it is a great one. We suffer because of our sins and our iniquities. We suffer for ourselves. Christ, on the other hand, did not suffer for his own sins. Christ suffered for us. For our sake, he endured the Passion, the cross and death. By suffering for us, he left us an example, so that we might follow him along the Way of the Cross, carrying our own cross. Christ is our model. He suffered as a righteous man, because of the justice he proclaimed. This is the truth of Christ, and these are the footsteps we must follow.

Jesus always remained in the greatest righteousness: that of loving always, of not repaying evil with evil, or insults with insults, refraining from any threat of vengeance. He responded to evil with good, to hatred with love, to insults with prayer, to abuse with forgiveness. This is the example He has left us. Jesus “entrusted his cause to the one who judges righteously”: it will be the Father who defends his cause. God, however, defends Christ’s cause in the divine way, not in the human way. The divine way is the glorious resurrection of his body and the transformation of his body of flesh into a body of spirit, so that the risen Christ now dies no more.

Christians too are called to entrust their cause into God’s hands. The Lord will know what to do and when to do it to restore the righteous to their rightful place, the righteous who now suffer unjustly because of human sin. Whoever gives their life to God, whether in joy or in suffering, will have their life safeguarded by God. How? No one will ever know this. This knowledge belongs to God alone and to no one else.

Thus Peter continues: “He bore our sins in his body on the wood of the cross”: Jesus is not merely an example of how to endure suffering. He is also the sacrament of eternal life. Jesus did not bear his own sins on the wood of the cross. He was innocent, holy, without blemish. On the cross, in his body, he bore our sins, to remove them from the world. He removed them by hanging them on the cross, nailing them to it, and thus destroyed them forever. Whoever wishes to may now destroy their own sins. They destroy them by having them forgiven in the name of Christ, but also by bearing the root of pride and lust upon the cross of suffering. Every Christian is called to make this truth their own, “so that, no longer living for sin, we might live for righteousness”: Christ bore our sins on the cross to take them away, so that we might no longer live for sin, but for righteousness.

What is righteousness? It is the perfect fulfilment of the Father’s will in our lives. We live to fulfil the Father’s will. We live to realise the Word in our lives. We can do this thanks to Christ who bore our sins on the cross, in his body, to take them away from the world. After Christ died on the cross, anyone who wants and desires it can live without sin; they can live exclusively for righteousness. “By his wounds you have been healed”: We have been healed from the wounds of sin. If we have been healed, we can live as healthy people, and we live as healthy people by doing God’s will. If we have been healed, we can carry the cross as Christ did; we can go all the way in fulfilling God’s will. If we have been healed, we can master and submit to God’s will every impulse of pride, vainglory and arrogance. If we have been healed, we can face suffering by carrying our own cross, just as Christ did.

“You were like sheep going astray”: without Christ, one is like a stray sheep, without a shepherd, a sheep left to its own devices, exposed to every temptation and every sin. This is the condition of those who do not know the Lord. They are without a fold, without a shepherd, without pasture, without a destination, constantly exposed to being killed. Without Christ, one is already in the realm of darkness and evil. “But now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls”: By embracing the faith, by receiving the Word, Christ is welcomed as Shepherd and Guardian, guide and support of one’s soul. With Christ, Shepherd and Guardian, the Christian soul walks in safety. This is why Psalm 22 says: “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want; he leads me to green pastures; he restores my soul by still waters. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” 

 

 

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation – an exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers – Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ, True God and True Man in the Trinitarian Mystery

The Prophetic Discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24–25)

All Generations Will Call Me Blessed

Catholics and Protestants Compared – In Defence of the Faith

The Church and Israel According to St Paul – Romans 9–11

 

(Available on Amazon)

16 Last modified on Tuesday, 21 April 2026 16:25
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Argentino Quintavalle

Argentino Quintavalle è studioso biblico ed esperto in Protestantesimo e Giudaismo. Autore del libro “Apocalisse - commento esegetico” (disponibile su Amazon) e specializzato in catechesi per protestanti che desiderano tornare nella Chiesa Cattolica.

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