1 Peter 2:4Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

It is built from living stones, that is, from believers who have received the all-enlivening Spirit, and not from those dead in trespasses (Rom 6:11). Faith and hope are the supports that hold these living stones on the immovable foundation, Christ. Love is the strong bond that unites them both with the foundation and with one another. The Apostle Paul uses the same image to instill unanimity in believers who came both from Jews and from Gentiles (Eph 2:12-22).

The Apostle uses the word "coming" to signify this idea of communion because he later uses the image of the priesthood. In the Old Testament the priests serving in the temple are called those who come, or draw near, to God (Lev 16:1; Num 9:13; Ezek 40:46).

In the New Testament, through Christ, access to God has been opened to all believers (Heb 9:1 and following; Heb 7:25; Heb 10:22; Heb 10:6; Heb 4:16).

Although by regeneration itself the Christian has been placed, and stands, in communion with Christ, this not only does not remove the need for constant and ever fuller communion with Him. On the contrary, it contains that necessity within itself.

For this reason the word "coming" is used, in the sense of an unceasing striving to draw near to Christ.

"A living stone": the Apostle later cites Isaiah's prophecy about the cornerstone which Jehovah God will lay in Zion as the foundation of a new building (Isa 28:16; cf. Ps 117:22).

Christ Himself refers this prophecy to Himself, understanding the stone as Himself (cf. Mt 21:42 and note). The Apostles interpret it in this sense as well (cf. Rom 9:33), and Peter himself does so in his speech before the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:11) and here.

According to the meaning of this figurative depiction, the Christian community is the house, or temple, of God. The individual members of this community, that is, each Christian, are the stones from which this temple is built.

Christ is the cornerstone on which the whole building rests. See the notes on Mt 21:42 and Acts 4:10.

He is called a living stone in the same sense in which Christ calls Himself the living bread (Jn 6:51; cf. note and parallels). Namely, He has life in Himself and is the source of life for all that lives.

In particular, He is the source of life for those who believe in Him (Jn 1:4; Jn 5:28; Jn 6:68; Jn 14:19 and following; Jn 4:10; Acts 2:28; cf. the notes on all these passages).

He penetrates and fills with His life and life-giving power the whole body of His Church, which grows through Him.

"Rejected by men, but chosen by God": Ps 117:22. In the Psalmic image, and likewise in Christ's interpretation of it (Mt 21:42) and in the Apostle Peter's own interpretation (Acts 4:11), this is said only of the builders of the building.

They rejected this stone as unsuitable for construction. Here it is applied to all people, to the whole sinful and darkened world, in contrast to God, who is holy and most wise.

The concept is generalized for a sharper contrast, as in Jn 1:10-11; see note. Believers in Christ are presented as an exception from this sinful world that rejected Him.

But this false judgment of men about the stone is opposed by the unerring judgment of God about it. According to that judgment, this stone is chosen, in the sense of being the best of all, and precious in the sight of God.

It alone is the stone upon which the temple of God can be built without fear of its collapse. It alone can be the cornerstone, firmly bearing the whole building upon itself.

Christ, rejected by the unbelieving world, is the foundation of the Church, which saves believers from eternal destruction.

In Her, not only must all gradually grow unto salvation, but there must also be sacred persons able to offer sacrifices higher than those offered in the Old Testament. These sacrifices must be more fruitful and express the fullest self-offering to God. They must be fully pleasing to Him. Such a sacrifice can only be a man's whole life, that is, all his outward and inward good works. They must accord with the spirit of Christian teaching and be done in communion with Jesus Christ, through faith in His redemptive sacrifice. Under the image of a living stone, Jesus Christ was already depicted in Daniel's prophetic vision (see Dan 2:34, 44, 45). He Himself referred David's prophecy about the cornerstone to Himself (see Mt 21:42). Many Apostles also ascribed this image to Him (see Rom 9:33; Acts 4:11). Jesus Christ called Peter a stone. He calls all believers to be living stones (cf. Eph 2:22; Heb 3:6). That is, they are to be firm in faith and, as far as possible, serve as strengthening and support for one another. In this way they assist the growth and unbreakable firmness of the Church's standing. A particularly expressive presentation of believers under the image of stones is found in Hermas, a church writer of the end of the first century. "Be perfected morally, each one separately and each in relation to all, so that your whole community may be like a spiritual temple in which God dwells," says our native commentator in concluding the explanation of this passage. Another commentator says: "Christians must daily lift up their hands to Christ and draw near to Him in prayer, in order to receive from Him power and grace for every good work, for strengthening in all temptations, and for consolation in all sorrows."

Therefore the Apostle Peter exhorts believers to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. These are prayers, as well as works of beneficence and communion in love. For "with such sacrifices God is well pleased" (Heb 13:16). In the Old Testament, the offering of material sacrifices and the performance of public worship were entrusted to the priestly order. Likewise, in the New Testament Church, special clergy are appointed for the performance of church services. But in the Old Testament, apart from the divinely established priesthood, all members of the chosen people were destined to be "a royal priesthood and a holy nation" (Ex 19:6). That is, they were to offer spiritual sacrifices with boldness to the heavenly King. In the same sense, New Testament believers are called to be a holy priesthood. In the Old Testament, material sacrifices were offered in the temple. Likewise, external New Testament worship is performed in temples. But apart from the material temple in the Old Testament, the whole chosen people was the dwelling place of the God of Israel, or His Church in a spiritual sense (Lev 26:12; 2 Cor 6:16). So also New Testament believers are called by the Apostle Peter to build themselves into a spiritual house. The Apostle Paul says something similar about them: "Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" (1 Cor 3:16). A material temple is built from soulless stones. Believers in Christ, who collectively form the temple of God, are living stones of this temple. They are animated by faith in Christ and united with one another by this faith as closely as stones are tightly joined in a material building. The chief foundation of a material temple is its cornerstone. The foundation of the spiritual temple formed by the community of believers in Christ is Christ Himself, the living Stone. He is life in Himself and the source of spiritual life for believers (Jn 1:4; Jn 5:26; Jn 15:4). According to the Psalmist's word, He was rejected by the builders, that is, by the leaders of the Jewish people. Yet He became the head of the corner, the cornerstone of the Church founded by Him. Jesus Christ applies these words of the Psalmist to Himself (Mt 21:42). The Apostle also applies them to Him (Acts 4:11). The Church founded upon this Stone (Eph 2:10) is so strong that She will be preserved until the end of the age, unconquerable by the gates of Hades (Mt 16:18). This is truly a "chosen and precious" Stone, as the next verse says on the basis of the Old Testament Scripture.