Fathers

1 Peter 1

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Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen ones who are living as foreigners in the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood: Grace to you and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that doesn’t fade away, reserved in Heaven for you, who by the power of God are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved in various trials, that the proof of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ— whom, not having known, you love. In him, though now you don’t see him, yet believing, you rejoice greatly with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets sought and searched diligently. They prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching for who or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, pointed to, when he predicted the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that would follow them. To them it was revealed, that they served not to themselves, but to you, in these things, which now have been announced to you through those who preached the Good News to you by the Holy Spirit sent out from heaven; which things angels desire to look into. Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober, and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ— as children of obedience, not conforming yourselves according to your former lusts as in your ignorance, but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy; for I am holy.” If you call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man’s work, pass the time of your living as foreigners here in reverent fear, knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot, the blood of Christ, who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in this last age for your sake, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead, and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope might be in God. Seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth through the Spirit in sincere brotherly affection, love one another from the heart fervently, having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which lives and remains forever. For, “All flesh is like grass, and all of man’s glory like the flower in the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls; but the Lord’s word endures forever.” This is the word of Good News which was preached to you.

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What the Fathers say

1 Peter 1:12

Eastern Fathers

Theophylact of Ohrid

Here an exhortation is offered, drawn from the high dignity of the subject. The inquiries of the prophets concerning our salvation served us, and the work of our salvation is so wondrous that it became desirable even to the angels. That our salvation is pleasing to the angels is evident from the joy they expressed at the Nativity of Christ. They sang then: "Glory to God in the highest" (Luke 2:14). …

Commentary on 1 Peter ↗

Oecumenius

It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the Gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven; into which angels long to see. However, it has been revealed not for Himself, but for you. Moreover, these two things he does with these words: Peter shows the providence of the prophets, and that those who are now called to the faith of Christ were foreknown by God before the foundation of the world. …

Commentary on 1 Peter ↗

Clement of Alexandria

"Which are now," he says, [1 Peter 1:12] "reported unto you by them that have preached the Gospel unto you." The old things which were done by the prophets and escape the observation of most, are now revealed to you by the evangelists. "For to you," he says, "they are manifested by the Holy Ghost, who was sent;" that is the Paraclete, of whom the Lord said, "If I go not away, He will not come." [John 16:7] "Unto whom," it is said, "the angels desire to look;" not the apostate angels, as most suspect, but, what is a divine truth, …

From the Latin Translation of Cassiodorus ↗

Western Saints

Ambrose of Milan

The mysteries of the more perfect Sacraments are of one kind; for the Scripture says, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. Of another kind are the things which the prophets have announced concerning future glory, unto whom it was revealed, and to whom the saints have preached the Gospel with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, which things the Angels desired to look into.

Letter 79 ↗

Gregory the Dialogist

But because it is said concerning God by the first preacher of the Church, Whom the Angels desire to look upon, there are some who imagine that even the Angels never see God; and yet we know that it is spoken by a sentence of Truth, In heaven their Angels do always behold the face of My Father, Which is in heaven. Does, then, Truth sound one thing and the preacher of truth another? But if both sentences be compared together, it is ascertained, that they are not at all at variance with one another. …

Morals on the Book of Job, Book 18, Section 91 ↗

Bede

Into whom angels long to look. It is indeed clear that so great the later glory of Jesus Christ, the man who suffered for us, followed, that even the angelic powers in heaven, though they are perfected in eternal happiness, not only rejoice to always look upon the eternal magnificence of the Deity, but also the glory of His assumed humanity. …

Commentary on the Catholic Epistles ↗