1"A fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ." Peter has every right to write as an apostle, and he writes as a fellow elder. The Greek word, *sympresbyteros*, appears nowhere else in the New Testament. He offers two credentials, both about Christ: he saw the sufferings, and he will share the glory. Leaders are legitimized by where they stand in the story of the crucified and glorified Lord.
The charge is to 2"shepherd the flock of God that is among you." Peter once heard Jesus say "Feed my sheep" (John 21:15-17), and he hands the assignment on. Three contrasts follow, and each names a temptation of leaders: reluctance, greed, and control. The flock belongs to the 4"chief Shepherd," so elders tend what is not theirs, and they will receive 4"the unfading crown of glory." The word for unfading is built on the word Peter used for the inheritance in 1:4. Wreaths in the Greco-Roman world withered, and this crown will not.
5"Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another." The verb is rare. It is connected to the apron a servant tied on before working, and Peter may remember Jesus tying a towel around himself in the upper room (John 13). Humility in the ancient world was a servile trait, fit for people with no standing, and Peter asks everyone in the church to wear it like a work apron.
6"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God." The mighty hand is an image from the Exodus. A hand that feels heavy in a trial is the same hand that lifts. The proper time for exaltation is the final day.
Then comes the verse most readers remember. 7"Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." The participle is a single decisive act, the way a person throws a load onto a pack animal, and it echoes Psalm 55:22. The reason is the most personal in the letter. It matters to him.
The lion still roams, 8"seeking someone to devour." Peter has already said that angels, authorities, and powers have been subjected to Christ, so resistance is possible against a defeated power. Nobody is alone in the fire.
The promise that closes the letter comes 10"after you have suffered a little while." Then 10"the God of all grace" himself will 10"restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you." The pronoun is emphatic, since he does the work himself. The first verb, *katartizo*, is the word the Gospels use for James and John mending their nets (Mark 1:19). Peter was a fisherman, and he knew the word from the shore. God mends what has been torn, and the other three verbs describe the repaired life, confirmed, strengthened, and set on a firm foundation. The letter then ends as it began, with grace and peace, and with a last word to all who belong to Christ: stand firm in the true grace of God.
Ask what anxiety you are still carrying that God has invited you to throw.
Prayer
Father, teach us to humble ourselves under your mighty hand. We cast our anxieties on you, because you care for us. Keep us sober-minded and firm in faith against the adversary, and after we have suffered a little while, restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us. Let us stand firm in your true grace, and give your peace to all who are in Christ. Amen.