1 Peter 1:11Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Therefore, says the Apostle, you must have the same attention toward us that their contemporaries had toward the prophets, lest you be subject to the punishment that befell those disobedient to the prophets.

It must also be observed that in these words the Apostle Peter reveals the mystery of the Trinity.

When he said “the Spirit of Christ,” he indicated the Son and the Spirit. He indicated the Father when he said “from heaven.”

For “from heaven” should be understood not of place, but chiefly of God, who sends the Son and the Spirit into the world.

This Spirit is the third Person of the worshipful Trinity. He is called here the Spirit of Christ, on the one hand, because the discussion concerns His revelation of the mystery of Christ.

On the other hand, He is so called because, eternally proceeding from the Father, He is sent into the world by the Son as the Redeemer of the world.

One and the same Spirit acted and acts in the Old and New Testaments. There He acted initiatively; here He acts in fulfillment.

There and here He is the Spirit of Christ, as the One who communicates the mystery of Christ to the world. There He did so initiatively; here, in fulfillment.

This Spirit foretold the sufferings of Christ, by which the redemption of mankind from sin and all its consequences was accomplished.

He also foretold the glory that followed them. In the original the word is plural, “glories,” expressing the fullness of Christ’s glory.

Those whom He redeemed, and who believe in Him, will also become participants in that glory (1 Pet 1:7).

This whole passage is also remarkable for its depiction of the relation between the inspiring Spirit and the spirit of those inspired in prophetic inspiration.

Inspiration came from the Holy Spirit, yet those inspired were not merely passive instruments. They freely received and appropriated what was revealed to them.

By their own searches and inquiries they clarified and unfolded what had been revealed.

It must also be noted that if the Spirit of Christ acted in the prophets, then the prophetic writings have the same divine authority as the apostolic writings.

The apostolic writings likewise came into being through inspiration from the same Spirit (cf. Jn 14:17, 26; 15:26; 16:7, 13-15 and note).

Only here the truth is revealed more clearly and fully than there. There were images and shadows; here is the revealed truth.

We have heard the Gospel of this mystery through new instruments of the Holy Spirit: angels and apostles.

The angels rejoice even over one sinner who repents. With special love and living expectation they would have wished to hear and see the great mystery of salvation.

Yet it was not revealed to them before the proper time.

The angels first expressed their joy over the salvation of sinners when they announced to the shepherds the birth of Christ in Bethlehem (cf. Heb 1:6).

Afterward the Apostles preached it, moved by the same Holy Spirit who descended upon them from heaven on the day of Pentecost.

Thus all God’s servants ministered to the salvation of Christians: prophets and apostles, angels, and God Himself. How, then, can they be despondent or despair at the sight of any dangers?

By the searches and inquiries of the prophets one must understand those reverent meditations into which they entered when receiving divine revelations about the Messiah.

It also includes their reading of the predictions of other prophets, as they sought to clarify for themselves when and how the Messiah would appear.

But through illumination from the Spirit it was revealed to them that this would not be fulfilled in their time.

The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Christ because He is consubstantial with the Son and was sent down for revelations concerning the Messiah and Savior.

By the merits of Christ, He was given to the Apostles and to all Christians.

Thus in Christianity everything bears the seal of unity and supernaturalness, the whole depth of which even the angels cannot comprehend.

Therefore the Apostle Paul rightly cried out when contemplating the greatness of our salvation: “O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out” (Rom 11:33).

This is what is meant by “testifying beforehand of the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.”

Receiving revelation about these events, the prophets also desired to know precisely when they would occur. They wished not only to contemplate them in the future, but also to live until them and be their witnesses.

How blessed they would have been if their desire had been fulfilled (Mt 13:17), and if with their own eyes they had seen Christ and with their own ears heard from His mouth the word of life and salvation.

But this blessedness was not given to them. It was revealed to them that the events they had foretold would take place in the distant future, to which they would not live.

They learned that what they had foretold as future served not themselves, but us, to whom it has been preached as already accomplished.

Christ the Savior Himself brought this preaching, this good news of salvation, to earth. But from the time of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, it spread throughout the whole earth.

The Apostles, preaching the Gospel by the Holy Spirit sent upon them from heaven, proclaimed Christ everywhere.

For the angels themselves, this Gospel is the object of most intense attention, into which “angels desire to look.”

The depth of the riches, wisdom, and knowledge of God revealed in the salvation of men by the crucified and glorified Christ brings them into reverent wonder.

If our salvation is so dear to the angels, should it not be all the more dear to us who are being saved?