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From: 1 Peter 1:10-16

Praise and Thanksgiving to God (Continuation)

[10] The prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to be yours searched
and inquired about this salvation; [11] they inquired what person or time was
indicated by the Spirit of Christ within them when predicting the sufferings of
Christ and the subsequent glory. [12] It was revealed to them that they were
serving not themselves but you, in the things which have now been announced
to you by those who preached the good news to you through the Holy Spirit
sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

Christians Are Called To Be Saints

[13] Therefore gird up your minds, be sober, set your hope fully upon the grace
that is coming to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. [14] As obedient children,
do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, [15] but as he
who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; [16] since it is
written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

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Commentary:

10-12. These verses of thanksgiving (vv. 3-12) end with a reference to the role of
the Holy Spirit in salvation: he acted in the Old Testament through the prophets
by announcing salvation, and now, through preachers of the Gospel, he reveals
that it has come about.

The passage is a clear acknowledgment of the unity and continuity of the Old and
New Testaments: in the Old the sufferings and subsequent glorification of Christ
are proclaimed, in such a way that “what the prophets predicted as future events,”
says St Thomas, “the Apostles preached as something which had come true”
(”Commentary on Eph” 2:4). “The economy of the Old Testament was deliberately
orientated to prepare for and declare in prophecy the coming of Christ, Redeemer
of all men, and of the messianic Kingdom (cf. Lk 24:44; Jn 5:39; 1 Pet 1:10) [...].
God, the inspirer and author of the books of both Testaments, in his wisdom has
so brought it about that the New should be hidden in the Old and that the Old
should be made manifest in the New. For although Christ founded the New Cove-
nant in his blood (cf. Lk 22:20; 1 Cor 11:25), still the books of the Old Testament,
all of them caught up into the Gospel message, attain and show forth their full
meaning in the New Testament (cf. Mt 5:17; Lk 24:27; Rom 16:25-26; 2 Cor 3:14-
16) and in their turn, shed light on it and explain it” (Vatican II, “Dei Verbum”, 15-
16).

These verses show the Holy Spirit’s role as cause and guide of the evangelizing
activity of the Church. In the early days of the spread of Christianity, as described
in Acts, the action of the third Person of the Blessed Trinity was palpable.

12. The Greek word translated at the end of this verse as “look” contains the idea
of bending over carefully in order to get a better look. This metaphor, then, depicts
the angels in heaven contemplating with joy the mystery of salvation. St Francis
de Sales, referring to this passage, exclaims: “Now in this complacency we sati-
ate our soul with delights in such a manner that we do not yet cease to desire to
be satiated [...]. The fruition of a thing which always contents never lessens, but
is renewed and flourishes incessantly; it is ever agreeable, ever desirable. The
perpetual contentment of heavenly lovers produces a desire perpetually content”
(”Treatise on the Love of God”, 5, 3).

1:13-2:10. Having focused their attention on the sublimity of the Christian calling,
St Peter exhorts the faithful to a holiness in keeping with it. He provides some
reasons why they should strive for holiness—the holiness of God (vv. 13-16) and
the price paid for their salvation, the blood of Christ (w. 17-21). He then goes on
directly to refer to the importance of love (vv. 22-25); and he encourages them to
grow up in their new life (2:1-3) so that as “living stones” they can form part of
the spiritual building of the Church, which has Christ as its cornerstone (vv. 4-10).

13-16. Israel was chosen by God from all the peoples of the earth to implement
his plan of salvation: he set the people of Israel free from the slavery of Egypt,
established a covenant with them and gave them commandments about how to
live. These commandments in their highest form tell them to be holy as God is
holy (cf. Lev 19:2). However, those events in the life of Israel were only an imper-
fect foreshadowing of what would happen when Jesus Christ came: Christians
constitute the new chosen people; by Baptism they have been set free from sin
and have been called to live in a fully holy way, with God himself as their model.

The Second Vatican Council solemnly declared that all are called to holiness (cf.,
e.g., “Lumen Gentium”, 11, 40, 42). St. Escriva, who anticipated the Council’s
teaching on this and other points, had constantly preached about this universal
call to holiness: “Christ bids all without exception to be perfect as his heavenly
Father is perfect. For the vast majority of people, holiness means sanctifying
their work, sanctifying themselves in it, and sanctifying others through it — there-
by finding God as they go about their daily lives [...]. Since the foundation of the
Work in 1928, my teaching has been that sanctity is not the reserve of a privi-
leged few; all the ways of the earth, every state in life, every job, every honest
occupation, can be divine” (Bernal, “Monsignor Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer”,
III, 3).

13. “Gird up your minds”: a metaphor based on the custom of the Jews, and Mid-
dle Easterners in general, of gathering up their rather full garments prior to setting
out on a journey, to let them walk with greater ease. In the account of the Exodus
we are told that God laid it down that when the Israelites celebrated the Passover
they should do so with their loins girt, their sandals on and a staff in their hand (cf.
Ex 12:11), because they were about to start on the journey to the promised land.
St Peter evokes this image (which our Lord also used: cf. Lk 12:35ff), because
Baptism, the new Exodus, marks the start of the Christian pilgrimage to heaven,
our lasting home (cf. 1:17; 2:11); and he applies it to sobriety: we need to control
our feelings and inclinations if we are to walk with joy along the route which will
take us to the glorious coming of the Lord.

“The revelation of Jesus Christ”: this is a reference, above all, to his eschatologi-
cal coming at the end of time. The revelation of Jesus began with his incarnation
and will reach its climax at the end of this world. Therefore, the “grace” mentioned
should be understood not only as sanctifying grace but also the whole ensemble
of benefits the Christian receives at Baptism, which will find their full expression
in heaven.

14. “Your former ignorance”: the sacred writer contrasts his hearers’ present posi-
tion with their former one. He does not mean that prior to Baptism they were per-
verse and ignorant, but that the Christian vocation brings such clear knowledge of
God and so many aids to practise virtue that their previous position can be viewed
as one of concupiscence and ignorance. “The followers of Christ, called by God,
not in virtue of their works but by his design and grace, and justified in the Lord
Jesus, have been made sons of God in the baptism of faith and partakers of the
divine nature, and so are truly sanctified” (Vatican II, “Lumen Gentium”, 40).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States