Jesus to the Rescue!

“Then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment” (v9).

Don’t call one of the Avengers. Forget trying to contact the Justice League. Pete tells us that there’s only one and only one Hero to call. Jesus. Don’t waste your time with anybody else. That’s because when Christ comes to your rescue, He handles everything. Our Savior doesn’t just snatch us out of the fire in the nick of time. He also personally punishes the bad guys. It’s Jesus to the rescue!

The apostle is writing here from Rome to friends in what we know today as Turkey. This is a followup letter to believers “in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bythinia” (1Pet 1:1). His first note encouraged Jesus’ followers to hang tough during a time of awful persecution and pressure from the outside (1Pet 3:19-20). Now he writes because of trouble on the inside. A group of con artists have snuck into the church and are tearing things apart through false teaching (2Pet 2:1-3). The former fisherman wants his readers to be sure that job isn’t too big for God. He dives deep into the OT and uses four examples from the book of Genesis to make his case. Example number one: God dealt with the fallen angels (Gen 6:1-6; 2Pet 2:4). Example number two: He flushed worldwide wickedness with the Great Flood (Gen 6:8-13; 2Pet 2:5). Example number three: He rained down His hot wrath on the terrible twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:23-28; 2Pet 2:6). Example number four: He came to Lot’s rescue just before the mushroom cloud rose (Gen 19:1-22, 29; 2Pet 2:7). Because God came to the rescue in these four examples, He’ll certainly be the Hero once again. It’s Jesus to the rescue.

Just how bad is the situation in these churches? How do we know folks just aren’t complaining to Pete about a couple of boring sermons or the color of the carpet? He talks about their “trials” (v9). While the Greek term (peirasmos) can certainly mean a period of testing, MacArthur: makes the point that it can describe “an attack with the intent to destroy.” In other words, this is a trap. Dr. Luke uses this word to describe the devil’s attack on our Savior in the desert (Lk 4:13). It’s a deliberate attempt by this team of false teachers and destroy the church. Because of what our Savior experienced during that satanic attack, we can be sure that Jesus can rescue us when we need a Hero. And that includes what’s going down in these Asian churches. 

We can be sure that Christ isn’t just flying by the seat of His pants. He’s not making up His plan to save us as He goes along. “The Lord knows how to rescue” (v9). He’s done it before. He’ll do it again. Just as fallen angels, Noah’s family, the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as Lot. Nike sold a ton of sneakers by telling us that “Bo knows.” When we’re in a tight spot, Pete wants us to remember that “the Lord knows” (v9). Jesus knows EXACTLY what to do in order to save us.

We can count on Christ to “rescue the ungodly” (v9). The original language contains the verb ruomai, which means to save or bring someone out of severe and acute danger. Jesus gets busy when the situation is hopeless. His timing is absolutely perfect. He’s always there in the nick of time. God used His perfect timing when Jesus showed up the first time. “When the fullness of time had come, God sent His Son” (Gal 4:4). When Jesus saves, He’s always on time.

You may wonder if God rescues everybody. Good question. King David knew a thing or two about the God who saves. As a matter of fact, he wrote a song about it. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all” (Ps 34:18). In other words, God’s people are going to have a boatload of trouble in this life, but He’ll come to the rescue each and every time. A few hundred years later, Paul let his friends in Corinth know about the very same God who saves. “No temptation (Gr. peirasmos) has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation (Gr. peirasmos) He will provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1Cor 10:13). To put it another way, sometimes Jesus rescues us from the storm. Sometimes He rescues us in the storm. That’s why Christ made sure to teach His posse to pray that God would “deliver us from evil” (Mt 6:13). No matter the situation, it’s Jesus to the rescue!

Our Hero doesn’t just save us from evil, but He holds the bad guys behind bars until the final judgment. Eventually every one of them gets a court date at the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev 20:11-15). When Jesus pounds the gavel and delivers His final verdict, these spiritual convicts can look forward to eternity at the lake. The lake of fire, that is. He makes sure the wicked “under punishment” (Gr. kolazo). The word means to punish with the implication of severe suffering. It literally means to cut off, lop off or prune. If the bad guys don’t cut it out, God will cut them off. He’ll toss them in the joint and throw away the key. 

It’s Jesus to the rescue!