Not Silver or Gold, but the Precious Blood of Christ

1 Peter 1:17-21

The Biblical text from the NRSV is always found in the first column.

The reflection by Fr. Dennis Chriszt, CPPS is always found in the second column.

If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile.

You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish.

He was destined before the foundation of the world but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake.

Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.

Often when subjugated people entered into a covenant with the one to whom they were subjugated, they would be required to pledge not only fidelity, but also their most precious belongings, things like silver and gold. However, the covenant we have with God is not one of subjugation, but one of reconciliation and salvation. Rather than offering our most prized possessions to God, God offers us something more precious than silver or gold. God offers us the Precious Blood of Jesus that ransoms us from “the futile ways inherited from our ancestors.” The master establishes a new relationship, not of subjugation, but of justification – a new covenant unlike any other. This new covenant in the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ raises us up, rather than puts us down. This new covenant is not a treaty of surrender to the one who has defeated us in battle, but a promise that gives us new hope and enables us to be in relationship with God.