Apr 7, 2026 Written by 
Art'working

2nd Sunday in Easter

2nd Sunday in Easter

(1 Peter 1:3–9)

 

1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; in his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

1 Peter 1:4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading. It is kept in heaven for you,

 

Peter knows what the new reality is that has been created in the Christian and which must be given to every person. It is grace that descends from God. To God, who has given us such a great gift, a hymn of blessing and praise must rise from our hearts. The hymn of blessing is not only gratitude for the gift God has given us; it is also an awareness of the gift. Whoever does not know the gift does not even recognise it and therefore does not bless the Lord. Failure to bless is a sign of not possessing God’s gift. Whoever does not bless the Lord does not know what the Lord has done for him and through him. Hence arises the duty to teach the truth of God, His work.

One cannot teach all this in truth unless one teaches who Christ is in truth. Every ‘diminution’ of Christ becomes a ‘diminution’ of glory and blessing in relation to the Father. Today we see a ‘diminished’ Christian precisely because of the ‘diminution’ that has been made of Christ. But the Father too is ‘diminished’ precisely because of the ‘diminution’ that is taught about the Lord Jesus. Whoever wishes to exalt the Christian must exalt the truth of Christ in all its splendour. Peter holds high the truth of Christ and consequently holds high also the truth of the Father and of the Christian.

The God whom Peter blesses is the “Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”. He is Father by eternal generation. Before the creation of the world, the Word was with God and was God, because he was begotten by the Father in the ‘today’ of eternity. This ‘today’ is before time, it is timeless, it is eternal. From all eternity and for ever, God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Father begets the Son, the Son is begotten by the Father, the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. From all eternity and for ever, this is the life of God.

God is blessed because of his ‘great mercy’. Mercy is the richness of divine love, of his heart rich in compassion and pity, which are directed towards man. On the one hand there is God who has everything; on the other there is man who is destitute, devoid of every good. God bends down to this man and fills him with grace.

God’s great mercy is regeneration, new birth, new life, a new calling. These divine gifts are given to us “through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”. The Father raised Christ, His Son, from the dead. He gave new life to His body. This new life is granted to every Christian. Every Christian is enveloped by the newness of Christ, that is, by His resurrection to new life in Christ Jesus. The Christian has died to what he was before; he has been born into the new life lived in the Risen Jesus.

In Christ we have been begotten for a living hope: this hope is eternal life, which already begins in this world. The Christian is one who bears in his life the signs of Christ’s resurrection; he is one who can live as one who has risen together with Christ already on this earth. The Christian can free himself from sin. The Christian can live by truth, charity, justice and freedom. The Christian can be in the world without belonging to the world. This is the living hope. It is a living hope because it draws its life from the resurrection of Jesus at work within him. Where the resurrection of Christ is not at work, all hope is dead. Living hope is a green tree that bears fruit in every season. Dead hope is a dry tree, good only for being thrown into the fire.

“For an inheritance that does not corrupt, is not defiled and does not fade. It is kept in heaven for you.” The resurrection of Christ does not exhaust its fruits on this earth, and the living hope nourished within us does not end with our death. The Christian does not place hope in the things of the world for the present time. The Christian’s hope is to be called to an eternal inheritance. All the inheritances of this world are corrupted, rot, become tainted, and are swept away by time and history. It is enough to observe what is happening around us to realise that everything passes away. Man can trust in nothing, hope for nothing, expect nothing from the earth and from history. What history creates, history also destroys, and what man does, man also brings to ruin. The inheritance, however, to which the Lord calls us is eternal; it does not end, it does not diminish; indeed, it can become ever greater.

This inheritance is not preserved for us on earth, but in heaven. God awaits to hand it all over to us. For this inheritance, it is truly worth losing everything, every single thing, even our very lives. For this inheritance, we must also be willing to go to the cross, like Christ. What is the point of preserving our bodies for a few days only to then lose both body and soul in the eternal fire? What is the point of having a moment’s inheritance of the world, when the world then takes back that inheritance and our very souls? What is the point of selling Christ for thirty pieces of silver, when history then takes the thirty pieces and even our soul? This is the service history renders us. It gives us nothing for a moment: just long enough to gaze upon it with our eyes, and then robs us of our eternal good. God, however, does not! He asks us for the nothingness of history—which is, after all, His own—to give us the fullness of Himself and His eternal Kingdom. 

 

 

 

https://www.movimentoapostolico.org/formazione/parola-commentata/nuovo-testamento/27-prima-lettera-pietro.pdf

 

 

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation – an exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers – Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ, True God and True Man in the Trinitarian Mystery

The Prophetic Discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24–25)

All Generations Will Call Me Blessed

Catholics and Protestants Compared – In Defence of the Faith

The Church and Israel According to St Paul – Romans 9–11

 

(Available on Amazon)

202 Last modified on Tuesday, 07 April 2026 20:41
Rate this item
(1 Vote)
Argentino Quintavalle

Argentino Quintavalle è studioso biblico ed esperto in Protestantesimo e Giudaismo. Autore del libro “Apocalisse - commento esegetico” (disponibile su Amazon) e specializzato in catechesi per protestanti che desiderano tornare nella Chiesa Cattolica.

Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Latest from Argentino Quintavalle

Previous
« Resurrection Easter
Next
3rd Sunday in Easter »
back to top
The joy of the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. With Christ joy is constantly born anew [Evangelii Gaudium n.1]
La gioia del Vangelo riempie il cuore e la vita intera di coloro che si incontrano con Gesù. Coloro che si lasciano salvare da Lui sono liberati dal peccato, dalla tristezza, dal vuoto interiore, dall’isolamento. Con Gesù Cristo sempre nasce e rinasce la gioia [Evangelii Gaudium n.1]
The Spirit of the Lord continues to pour out his gifts upon the Church to guide us into all truth, to show us the meaning of the Scriptures and to make us credible heralds of the word of salvation before the world [Pope Benedict, Verbum Domini]
Lo Spirito del Signore continua ad effondere i suoi doni sulla Chiesa perché siamo condotti alla verità tutta intera, dischiudendo a noi il senso delle Scritture e rendendoci nel mondo annunciatori credibili della Parola di salvezza [Papa Benedetto, Verbum Domini]
This belonging to each other and to him is not some ideal, imaginary, symbolic relationship, but – I would almost want to say – a biological, life-transmitting state of belonging to Jesus Christ (Pope Benedict)
Questo appartenere l’uno all’altro e a Lui non è una qualsiasi relazione ideale, immaginaria, simbolica, ma – vorrei quasi dire – un appartenere a Gesù Cristo in senso biologico, pienamente vitale (Papa Benedetto)
Jesus invites us to discern the words and deeds which bear witness to the imminent coming of the Father’s kingdom. Indeed, he indicates and concentrates all the signs in the enigmatic “sign of Jonah”. By doing so, he overturns the worldly logic aimed at seeking signs that would confirm the human desire for self-affirmation and power (Pope John Paul II)
Gesù invita al discernimento in rapporto alle parole ed opere, che testimoniano l'imminente avvento del Regno del Padre. Anzi, Egli indirizza e concentra tutti i segni nell'enigmatico "segno di Giona". E con ciò rovescia la logica mondana tesa a cercare segni che confermino il desiderio di autoaffermazione e di potenza dell'uomo (Papa Giovanni Paolo II)
In reality, an abstract, distant god is more comfortable, one that doesn’t get himself involved in situations and who accepts a faith that is far from life, from problems, from society. Or we would even like to believe in a ‘special effects’ god (Pope Francis)
In realtà, è più comodo un dio astratto, distante, che non si immischia nelle situazioni e che accetta una fede lontana dalla vita, dai problemi, dalla società. Oppure ci piace credere a un dio “dagli effetti speciali” (Papa Francesco)
It is as though you were given a parcel with a gift inside and, rather than going to open the gift, you look only at the paper it is wrapped in: only appearances, the form, and not the core of the grace, of the gift that is given! (Pope Francis)
È come se a te regalassero un pacchetto con dentro un dono e tu, invece di andare a cercare il dono, guardi soltanto la carta nel quale è incartato: soltanto le apparenze, la forma, e non il nocciolo della grazia, del dono che viene dato! (Papa Francesco)
We must not fear the humility of taking little steps, but trust in the leaven that penetrates the dough and slowly causes it to rise (cf. Mt 13:33) [Pope Benedict]
Occorre non temere l’umiltà dei piccoli passi e confidare nel lievito che penetra nella pasta e lentamente la fa crescere (cfr Mt 13,33) [Papa Benedetto]

duevie.art

don Giuseppe Nespeca

Tel. 333-1329741


Disclaimer

Questo blog non rappresenta una testata giornalistica in quanto viene aggiornato senza alcuna periodicità. Non può pertanto considerarsi un prodotto editoriale ai sensi della legge N°62 del 07/03/2001.
Le immagini sono tratte da internet, ma se il loro uso violasse diritti d'autore, lo si comunichi all'autore del blog che provvederà alla loro pronta rimozione.
L'autore dichiara di non essere responsabile dei commenti lasciati nei post. Eventuali commenti dei lettori, lesivi dell'immagine o dell'onorabilità di persone terze, il cui contenuto fosse ritenuto non idoneo alla pubblicazione verranno insindacabilmente rimossi.