The following is the Epistle reading for this upcoming Sunday.
1 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
What is the pure spiritual milk? Well, from 1 Peter 1, it is the Word of God.
The Word is life-sustaining, like milk for a baby. The more we drink of it, the stronger our desire for it becomes.
When we read about all that God has done, the promises He has kept, throughout history, in the lives of so many people, then we can more fully know and accept the promises He has made to us.
As verse 2 says, we should grow and mature in God's Word, in our understanding of Him. Newborn babies cannot digest complicated foods, as well as adults. It is the same for newborn believers. (Hebrews 5 talks about spiritual milk, but it also talks about "solid food" for the more spiritually mature.)
4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious,
From Matthew 16:16-18, "Simon Peter replied, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' And Jesus answered him... 'And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.'"
There is one rock, one cornerstone -- Jesus Christ -- upon which the Church stands. Jesus is the first living stone. He is the first to be rejected by men but "chosen" and "precious" to God.
5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
We are additions to the Living Stone. And we are being built up and united into one great Temple or "spiritual house". It is our connection to the first stone that makes our own existence significant.
God is the builder of the house.
Just as Jesus was "rejected by men"...I always find it worth remembering that we (Christians) have been told from the beginning, that we, too, would be rejected by the world. Jesus actually promised that the world would hate us because we belong to Him! (John 15)
We shouldn't seek to be hated; we shouldn't live for the sake of provoking others. However, it can serve as a comfort that God has not abandoned us. When/if we experience persecution for our beliefs, God's plan for us is still at work.
Without Jesus, all of our spiritual sacrifices, good works, are unacceptable to God. The only power we have comes from Jesus. We have authority to do the work He calls us to do. That's it.
If making Jesus known isn't at the heart of any effort of the Church, then they are wasting their time.
6 For it stands in Scripture:
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,
“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”
Zion = Jerusalem, the land of Israel, the city on the hill. It would have been understood as the place of God's dwelling on Earth.
God is building a new Temple in the midst of Israel. This Temple is not just for Israel anymore, but instead, it is built up of living stones from all throughout the world. We are made into God's holy people. We are adopted into the story of redemption.
Verse 7 is referring to Psalm 118:22, where David is describing God's steadfast love. Jesus quotes Psalm 118 in Matthew 21.
8 and
“A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.”
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
It is obvious from the reading the Gospels that Jesus did fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 8, which is what is being referenced here.
He truly was a "stone of stumbling". He caused offense. He upset the religious leaders of the Jews, and eventually, the city of Jerusalem demanded His death!
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
We belong to a common ancestor -- Jesus Christ. We are raised to life in Him through baptism.
We are a priesthood. We can enter into God's presence; we can come before His throne of grace (Hebrews 4). We are God's special portion, just as Israel had been.
And just like Israel, we exist for the sake of proclaiming the glory of the God that has rescued us. We proclaim the glory of the Light that came into the world.
Just as God promised to Abraham in Genesis 22:18, Abraham's descendants were made into a great nation which blessed "all the nations on earth".
That is our calling, as well. We're not meant to sit on grace, or to keep it for ourselves. We are called to share it, proclaim it, make it known throughout the world.