1. 1 Peter 1:11 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What is meant by the phrase “the sufferings of Christ”?

1 Peter 1:11 (ESV)

11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.

The Greek makes plain that these sufferings happened to Christ; that is, he was very much the victim. The plural indicates the multitude and the variation of the suffering Jesus experienced. In other words, the prophets predicted not only the suffering Jesus experienced on Good Friday, but they indicated that his whole life would be characterized by suffering. Just as we live our lives outside of Paradise in a vale of tears, so Jesus too experienced pain in multiple forms throughout his earthly sojourn, with his suffering climaxing on the cross.