John Calvin Commentary 1 Peter 2:21

"For hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow his steps:" — 1 Peter 2:21 (ASV)

For even to this were you called. For though his discourse concerned servants, this passage should not be confined to that subject. The Apostle here reminds all the godly generally about the nature of Christianity, as though he had said that we are called by the Lord for this purpose: to patiently bear wrongs. As he says in another place, we are appointed to this.

However, so that this does not seem grievous to us, he consoles us with the example of Christ. Nothing seems more unworthy, and therefore less tolerable, than to suffer undeservedly. But when we turn our eyes to the Son of God, this bitterness is mitigated, for who would refuse to follow him going before us?

But we must notice the words, Leaving us an example. Since he discusses imitation, it is necessary to know what in Christ is to be our example. He walked on the sea, he cleansed lepers, he raised the dead, he restored sight to the blind; to try to imitate him in these things would be absurd. For when he gave these demonstrations of his power, it was not his intention that we should imitate him in this way.

Therefore, it has happened that his fasting for forty days has been unreasonably made an example, though what he intended was very different. We should, therefore, exercise right judgment in this respect, as Augustine also somewhere reminds us when explaining the following passage:

Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart (Matthew 11:29).

And the same thing can be learned from the words of Peter, for he marks the difference by saying that Christ’s patience is what we should follow. This subject is discussed more extensively by Paul in Romans 8:29, where he teaches us that all the children of God are predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ, so that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Therefore, so that we may live with him, we must previously die with him.