Affirmation/exhortation. 1 Peter alternates between affirmation and imperatives. We’re in an affirmation section: the writer invites, welcomes, and describes the life to which Christians have been called.

A Nurturing image. O taste and see . . . is an OT allusion found in Psalm 34. Is this an indirect allusion also to the Eucharist? The statement and what follows suggests that the Lord whom Christians taste and the cornerstone to which they are attached and are built into, is Christ.

From mother’s breast to a mason’s stone. The writer now abruptly shifts from the image of a mother’s milk as the life-giving nourishing quality that Christ provides to that of a stone or rock. Christ is a stone. But not exactly. A living stone-not static, but alive and life-giving.

The use of Hebrew quotations. The writer alludes to and draws from a variety of Hebrew Scripture-Psalm 18:22, Isaiah 8:14, Hosea 2:23, etc. God’s faithfulness requires responding faith. Those who have faith know that the stone is precious, but to those who do not have faith the same stone is not a cornerstone.

Cornerstone or Stumbling Block? Our lesson presents Christ as a Rock that will impact people in one of two ways: as cornerstone or as stumbling block. The difference is not that we see different things but rather that we see the same things differently. For one person it becomes the cornerstone for their entire life while for another person, that rock is simply a rock is a rock is a rock. It’s a piece of nomenclature, an idea, an historical person. What makes the difference between the rock as cornerstone or stumbling block is . . . faith. [2]

Quote-so that’s what it means.

Milk has three forms which can be compared to doctrine, that is, the liquid, cheese and butter. Liquid milk is the literal sense of Scripture, cheese is the moral sense, and butter is the spiritual sense. Find a good teacher and you will soon learn these things. [3]

This lesson could offer listeners an instructive lesson in Continuing Ed-growth in Christ. The passage offers the two images discussed above-new born infants / milk vis-à-vis rock.

You might hinge a homily around these twin images. Explore how the Church needs to be and to offer both types of Christian experience and ministry.

As newborn children, one could talk about the congregation as an extended family marked by love and encouragement and welcome. The image could speak to social relationships within the congregation, informal, welcoming and inclusive.

As living stones, we could talk about purpose-how God intends to build a strong, resilient community, emphasizing the sacred and aweful, the mystery, the priestly service, etc. Both are necessary for a balanced and growing community of faith.

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[1] New Interpreter’s Bible XII (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1998), page 266.
[2] Ibid,  page 268.
[3] Hiliary of Arles (401-449), cited in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 2000), page 84.