Andreas of Caesarea — Commentary on Scripture

1 Peter 1:1

This apostle was appointed to preach to those of the circumcision, but he deliberately did not limit his preaching to those who lived in Judea. Instead, by sending this circular letter, he sought to preach to Jews scattered all over the world, to the effect that they must hold onto the faith which they have received, for by keeping it they would inherit many great, good, eternal and heavenly things.

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1 Peter 1:2

See how Peter says that he was called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ by the foreknowledge of God the Father. Furthermore, he explains what his apostleship is like by saying that it is in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling with the blood of Jesus Christ. Moreover, we who believe in him have also been sanctified by the Spirit, and he sprinkles us too with his blood in order to cleanse us. For how can we not know that God sanctifies us by his own Spirit and cleanses us believers with his own blood? For Christ was God in human flesh.

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1 Peter 1:3

They have received immortality and the hope of eternal life. These good things in heaven are better than human things. For this reason they praise God the Father, who shows his great mercy in doing these things faithfully. When God is the giver, the things given are both better and certain to materialize. The statement also has relevance to the Old Testament, for in it God gave the land of the Canaanites to those who believed in him.

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1 Peter 1:5

Peter says that God has blessed us greatly and that he has done so through his Son. Furthermore, he says that those who receive these things are those who are protected in the power of God, as Christ himself prayed: “Holy Father, protect them.” If the inheritance is kept in heaven for believers, some grow cold thinking that it has been left for us in the earthly Jerusalem, assuming that the rewards of the kingdom will be acquired by the appearance of luxury every thousand years. They should be asked why they say that this bodily luxury is immortal and unfading but at the same time they limit it to every thousandth year. They need to be told that these words show that the inheritance is in the kingdom of heaven and that it cannot be known by the senses of mortal beings. We have been assured that we shall receive all these great things by the Father himself, who is the one who gives them. For it is certain by other means also that he will bless us with these things through his own Son, and not simply through the Son but through his resurrection. For if everything has been granted to us…

Peter says that God has blessed us greatly and that he has done so through his Son. Furthermore, he says that those who receive these things are those who are protected in the power of God, as Christ himself prayed: “Holy Father, protect them.” If the inheritance is kept in heaven for believers, some grow cold thinking that it has been left for us in the earthly Jerusalem, assuming that the rewards of the kingdom will be acquired by the appearance of luxury every thousand years. They should be asked why they say that this bodily luxury is immortal and unfading but at the same time they limit it to every thousandth year. They need to be told that these words show that the inheritance is in the kingdom of heaven and that it cannot be known by the senses of mortal beings. We have been assured that we shall receive all these great things by the Father himself, who is the one who gives them. For it is certain by other means also that he will bless us with these things through his own Son, and not simply through the Son but through his resurrection. For if everything has been granted to us, what is there left to give? The inheritance is immortal and unfading, and what is even greater, it is not here on earth but in heaven.

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1 Peter 1:6

Right now we have to suffer for the sake of the preaching, but relief for those who toil is near.

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1 Peter 1:11

The apostle insists that the one who spoke by the prophets was the Holy Spirit of Christ. Nor was Christ a mere man, as the heretics say, but he was the incarnate Son of God, consubstantial with the Father. “Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” … For this reason the Savior said: “Many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you are seeing, and they did not see it.”

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1 Peter 1:13

Having spoken of the greatness of the blessings of the Father’s gift, the sufferings of Christ, the Holy Spirit’s prediction concerning him, the prophets’ proclamation, the desire of the angels—having said all this, Peter tells us to hold on to them all by faith.

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1 Peter 1:15

Those who seek to imitate the Holy God must be holy themselves.

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1 Peter 1:16

God insists that we become like him. In God’s holiness lies our salvation. Therefore those who are truly holy now in Christ are prepared for true life in him.

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1 Peter 1:17

If the Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, what are we to think about this passage? For if it is the Father who is indicated here, how is he a judge, judging everyone according to his work? But if it is the Son who judges, taking all judgment on himself, why does Peter mention the Father? The solution here is that if the Father and the Son are one Godhead, the judgment of the Son is the judgment of the Father also, but the Son can also be called the Father of the creatures, having given them birth by partaking in holiness. For on many occasions he called his disciples his children, and to others he said things like: “Child, your sins are forgiven,” and “Daughter, your faith has saved you.”

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1 Peter 1:21

Peter did not stop at Christ’s death but went on immediately to remember his resurrection as well. Just because you hear that the Father has raised the Son, do not retort that the Son cannot raise himself. For listen to what Christ says: “Destroy this temple and in three days I shall raise it up again” and again: “I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it up again.” The apostle says these things in order to teach us that the Father and the Son hold everything in common.

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1 Peter 1:23

The Gospel says: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away, says the Lord Jesus Christ.”

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1 Peter 1:25

God foresaw and forewarned us about all the above, but although he sees our great disobedience, the Lord of all persists in guiding us toward salvation.

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1 Peter 2:2

The divine law wants us to be perfect, but on the way toward perfection it has us first drink milk, as if we were newborn babies, and by that milk we shall grow toward salvation. Paul spoke to the same effect when he said: “Do not be children in understanding, but be innocent in wrongdoing. In understanding be adults.” For it is not possible to advance toward purity, or toward maturity in understanding, or toward adulthood as a worker approved by God, unless you renounce evil and become like an innocent child.

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1 Peter 2:4

This refers to the scribes and the Pharisees and the whole body of the Sanhedrin, about whom it was said: “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.”

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1 Peter 2:8

They stumble because of their wicked mind and because they were chosen for damnation. For it is that which has brought them to this position.

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1 Peter 2:9

We are royal from the fact that Christ is a king, and we are a priesthood from the fact that he is a priest. Furthermore, we are also a holy people, so called by the one who is called holy in himself.

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1 Peter 2:10

When people from different races and nations are called to abandon all their differences and to take on one mind, drawing near to him by one faith and one teaching, by which the soul and the heart become one, they are one holy people.

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1 Peter 2:11

As always, the apostle turns to ethical matters after he has dealt with doctrine. After saying what good things are available because of Christ, he now calls us to lead the right kind of life.

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1 Peter 2:13

By “every human authority” Peter means those which have been ordained by rulers. We are called to submit to them for the Lord’s sake, because he himself said: “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s,” but if they command something which is not God’s will we must not obey them.

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