‘For to this were you called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow his steps,'
Indeed such unmerited persecution and suffering was a part of their calling as Christians, for it was apart of their calling to participate in His sufferings. Christ had suffered for them. They should expect to have to suffer for the sake of the world. For they had been called to be an elect race and a holy people (1 Peter 2:9), and as such must expect to suffer, and must also expect the retaliation from the world which would cause them to suffer. As Jesus had said, ‘if any man would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me' (Matthew 16:24), and further ‘if they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you' (John 15:20). As Christians therefore they had been called to follow in His steps and to suffer in the same way as He would (compare Matthew 16:24; Matthew 5:10-12; John 16:2-3). For in the end it was through suffering that God would redeem a lost world.
Thus it is made clear that there was a necessity for suffering, and they were to expect to share in it with Him. Jesus had gone before them to provide the perfect example of innocent suffering, and that of One Who was also a Servant (Isaiah 53). They too must be servants and be willing to suffer. The idea behind the word ‘example' is that of the one copying the Other, as of a child tracing characters on tracing paper, or of an outline sketch which has to be filled in. Once the initial pattern is laid down there is a certain necessity to it. It is an example to be closely followed or entered into.
We should note that there is more here than just the idea of following His general example by not getting upset over suffering. There is the positive thought that by partaking in His sufferings they would also be playing their part in the redemption of the world. Jesus had suffered that we might follow in His steps, and by following in His steps we are carrying forward God's purposes. In the words of Paul, by suffering for His sake we are ‘filling up that which is lacking in the sufferings of Christ' (Colossians 1:24). That is not to say that His bearing of our sin was lacking, or was insufficient on its own as far as making atonement was concerned. From that point of view His sacrifice was full, complete and sufficient. But it is to bring out that God's purpose is that His further purposes for the world must also be fulfilled through suffering. If the world is to be reached it will be reached by those who suffer, firstly because such suffering reveals the genuineness of their faith (1 Peter 1:7), and God's ways are to be worked out through suffering (Acts 14:22), and secondly because it is through suffering that men and women will be brought to consider and practise righteousness. It is when God's judgments are in the earth that people learn righteousness (Isaiah 26:9).
Thus by being innocent and yet suffering, and bearing it for His sake, these servants are to see that they are entering effectively into the fulfilling of God's plans. They are not just putting up with it because nothing can be done about it, but are positively contributing towards the world's salvation. This would be especially significant if their suffering was because of their loyalty to Christ.