John Calvin Commentary 1 Peter 1:6

"Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, ye have been put to grief in manifold trials," — 1 Peter 1:6 (ASV)

Wherein you greatly rejoice, or, In which you exult. Though the termination of the Greek verb is doubtful, the meaning nevertheless requires that we read it as the statement “you exult,” rather than the command “Exult!” In which refers to all that is said of the hope of salvation laid up in heaven. But he is exhorting rather than praising them, for his object was to show what fruit was to come from the hope of salvation—namely, spiritual joy, by which not only the bitterness of all evil might be mitigated, but also all sorrow overcome. At the same time, to exult is more expressive than to rejoice.

But it seems somewhat inconsistent when he says that the faithful, who exulted with joy, were at the same time sorrowful, for these are contrary feelings. The faithful, however, know by experience how these things can exist together, much better than can be expressed in words.

To explain the matter briefly, we may say that the faithful are not logs of wood. Nor have they so divested themselves of human feelings as to be unaffected by sorrow, or to not fear danger, or to not feel poverty as an evil, and persecutions as hard and difficult to bear.

Hence they experience sorrow from evils; but it is so mitigated by faith that they do not cease at the same time to rejoice. Thus sorrow does not prevent their joy but, on the contrary, yields to it. Again, though joy overcomes sorrow, it does not put an end to it, for it does not divest us of humanity.

And so it becomes clear what true patience is: its beginning and, as it were, its root, is the knowledge of God’s blessings, especially of that gratuitous adoption with which He has favored us. For all who raise their minds to this find it an easy thing to bear all evils calmly.

For why is it that our minds are pressed down with grief, unless it is because we have no participation in spiritual things? But all those who regard their troubles as necessary trials for their salvation not only rise above them but also turn them into an occasion of joy.

You are in heaviness, or, You are made sorrowful. Is sorrow not also the common lot of the reprobate? For they are not free from evils. But Peter meant that the faithful endure sorrow willingly, while the ungodly murmur and perversely contend with God.

Hence the godly bear sorrow as the tamed ox bears the yoke, or as a broken-in horse bears the bridle, even if held by a child. God afflicts the reprobate with sorrow, as when a bridle is forcibly put into the mouth of a ferocious and refractory horse; it kicks and offers every resistance, but all in vain.

Thus Peter commends the faithful because they willingly undergo sorrow, and not as if forced by necessity.

By saying, though now for a season, or, a little while, he supplied consolation. For the shortness of time, however hard evils may be, considerably lessens them; and the duration of the present life is but a moment.

Regarding the phrase If need be, this condition is to be understood as a cause. For he intended to show that God does not try His people in this way without reason; for if God afflicted us without a cause, it would be grievous to bear.

Hence Peter drew an argument for consolation from the purpose of God: not that the reason always appears to us, but that we ought to be fully persuaded that it should be so, because it is God’s will.

We must notice that he does not mention one temptation, but many; and not temptations of one kind, but manifold temptations. It is, however, better to seek the exposition of this passage in James 1.