1 Peter 1:3-12 is the opening berakah of the epistle. A berakah is a blessing addressed to God . In 1 Peter, it sets the theological motive for the rest of the epistle which has three main parts (Dalton, "First Epistle of Peter" in NJBC) : The Dignity of the Christian Vocation and its Responsibilities (1:3-2:10), The Witness of Christian Life (2:11-3:12), and The Christian and Persecution (3:13-5:11). The sub-section constituted by 1:3-12 is set apart from 1:13 by the word Dio, (dio) "therefore", which begins another sub-section on the vocation to holiness (1:13-2:10).
1 Peter 1:3-12 can be further subdivided into the following parts:
- 3-7 - The work of the Father through the Son
- 8-9 - Jesus Christ, loved and believed
- 10-12 - Revealed by the Holy Spirit
The relative "whom" in verse 8 signals a new topic in much the same way as "about which salvation" in verse 10 begins a new one. These parts are tied up into a unity by the following keywords: salvation (5.9.10), day (chairos 5.11 ), rejoice (6.
, to be revealed (7.12).
The work of the Father through the Son (3-7). There are two main verbs in this section: "caused new birth" (3) and "rejoice" (6); the subject of the first is "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" while that of the latter are "ye", the addressees of the epistle. The new birth for the author and his addressees that God has made possible "through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" has made them sharers in an inheritance kept for them in heaven until the last day. In the Old Testament, the inheritance promised by God for his people is land where they can experience God's peace. In the Synoptic Gospels, the promise of the land has become that of God's kingdom/reign (see the Beatitudes). Jesus' references to a "treasure in heaven" has become a heavenly inheritance that the author describes with three adjectives: "imperishable, undefiled and unfading". This is the "living hope" for which God has caused new birth (3). The word "hope" is used five times throughout the epistle (1:3.13.21;3:5.15). It is basis for Christian witness, the power coming from the suffering and death of Christ (1:21) from which he/she draws the confidence to face a hostile world (1:13), and together with faith (3:5), the ground for Christian life (3:15).
It is on account of this living hope that -- as the author observes -- the Christian "rejoices" in spite of present conditions characterized by "diverse temptations". The Greek word peirasmoV peirasmos is used in the New Testament in the sense of "temptation" (an inducement to turn one's back on God, as in the Desert Temptation of Jesus) or "tribulation", a difficult situation where one's faith is tried, as in times of persecution. The Christian undergoes tribulations so that the genuineness of his/her faith may shine out until the manifestation of Jesus Christ. The period of trials is described as "for a while", an echo of John 16: 16.17.18 and is explained to the disciples thus:
Amen I say to you: you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. A woman, when she gives birth, has sorrow, because her time has come. But when she has delivered the child, she doesn’t remember the anguish any more, for the joy that a human being is born into the world. Therefore you now have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you (Jn. 16:20-21)
The "little while" is the period between the ascent of the Lord and His return; it is a period where it is necessary (eeee) for the Christian to be in the midst of tribulations. It is during this time that the Christian must stand firm in the grace of his/her new life. But the Christian does not stand there without any help. The author employs a passive participle to describe the Christians in the world. They are "protected/shielded/preserved" until "the last day" (v. 5), "when Jesus Christ is revealed" (v.7).
Jesus Christ, Loved and Believed (8-9). All the verbs in this section have as subject "Ye", the men and women who have received God's gracious act in Christ. The verbs "love" (indicative) and "believe" (participle) are paralleled by two verbal participles for seeing: idein idein and oraw orao.
Though you have not seen him (idontes), you love him;
Even though you don't see him now (orontes), believing in him you rejoice
with an indescribable and glorious joy.
The author of the epistle distinguishes himself from his addressees in that he has seen the Lord and been with him (cf. 1:1). He commends his addressees for their love and trust in him whom they haven't had any visual contact. This love and faith in Jesus Christ is the reason for the Christians' joy, "inexpressible" and "glorious" (v. .
Love, faith and the joy that both engender in the Christian characterize his present moment which is described by the phrase "as you gain the goal of your faith: the salvation of souls". Christian existence is an activity primarily of God but also of Christians themselves who work out their salvation "in fear and trembling" (cf. Phil. 2:12). The middle present participle komizomenoi (from komizomai) has the sense of "gaining/receiving for oneself". While the heavenly inheritance is already kept for the Christian (v.4), he still has to make it his own.
Revealed by the Holy Spirit (10-12). The "salvation" referred to in the preceding sections is explained in this last sub-section but as an object of the investigation of the prophets of the Old Testament. The "Spirit of Christ" had -- "testifying beforehand" -- insinuated to them the suffering of Christ and the glory that followed it but they realized it was not for their time that it will happen; it was for somebody else's time. In the gospel of Luke, Jesus expresses this as a macharism to his disciples:
Blessed are the eyes which see the things that you see,
for I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see the things which you see, and didn’t see them,
and to hear the things which you hear, and didn’t hear them.” (Luke 10:23-24)
What the prophets desired to know and what the angels desire to peek into (1Pet. 1: 12) has been shown to Christians through those who have proclaimed these things to them. The same Spirit "sent from heaven" who indicated to the prophets the salvation to be worked in Christ, is the same one who works in those who proclaim the gospel.
To (whom = "the prophets") it was revealed that
not to themselves
but to you were they administering those things
which now have been announced to you
through the message of those who proclaimed the gospel to you
In the Holy Spirit sent from heaven...
The italicized phrase is difficult to render in English since it is made up of a participle in the passive euaggelizamenwn, literally, "of-what-has -been-evangelized (to another)". The point is clear however: what the prophets wanted to know and "angels peer into", Christians now experience. Thus is the Christian life described in the opening section of 1 Peter: it is the work of the Trinity, anticipated by the prophets and which Christians have received as a gift through faith in Christ and which they make their own in the "little while" that is given them for attaining the goal of their faith: salvation. It is a contemplative vision of what God has done from the past to the present (10-12), and from the present (3-9) until the eschatological moment when Christ is finally revealed. It is a vision that reassures, a reality that gives joy to those who hope, believe and love.
A Note for the Second Sunday of Easter
A section of the above text is selected as the Second Reading for the Second Sunday of Easter. It is cut after verse 9 so that it can be made to resonate with the Gospel of the day, John 20:19-31. 1 Peter 1:8-9 echoes the macharism of Jesus in Jn. 20:29: “Blessed are those who have not seen, yet believe.” Peter’s commendation to his addressees transfers a post-resurrection statement to a Church immersed in “diverse tribulations”. For this latter, it is no longer the “seeing” that causes gladness, but the love and faith directed to her Lord that the preaching of the gospel awakens.
