Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Peter 1:19

"but with precious blood, as of a lamb without spot, [even the blood] of Christ:" — 1 Peter 1:19 (ASV)

With the precious blood of Christ.—“Precious” means, not “much prized by us,” but costly, precious in itself, as opposed to the perishableness of gold and silver. Notice that it is not “Jesus,” but “Christ,” that is, the Messiah. No price short of the “blood,” that is, the death, of the Messiah could free the Jews from the bondage of their “vain conversation.” (Compare to 1 Peter 1:2 and Note.) How Christ’s death freed them from it is not explained here; but we may give a twofold explanation, as we did for His resurrection being our regeneration, in 1 Peter 1:3.

Historically, it did so because when they came to realize that their Messiah could only reach His glories through suffering, it gave them a new insight into the whole meaning of the system under which they had been brought up. It also, however, doubtless, in a more mysterious way that we cannot imagine, procured their emancipation in God’s sight; and the following verses show that St. Peter is again thinking more of the theological than of the phenomenal side of the event.

As of a lamb without blemish and without spot.—We might roughly paraphrase this as: “as of a sacrificial victim, to the sufficiency of whose offering no exception can be taken.” The word “as” shows that in St. Peter’s mind, the notion of a “sacrifice,” in reference to the atonement, was only a simile or metaphor, just as it was with the notion of “ransom.” Once more, observe that the sacrifice was offered to effect a redemption that, for the readers, had already taken place. (Compare to Hebrews 9:14.)

The primary thought in mentioning a “lamb” is, of course, that of sacrifice; but when we consider why that particular sacrificial animal was named rather than another, it is undoubtedly for two reasons:

1. Because of the whiteness, helplessness, youth, innocence, and patience that make it a natural symbol of our Lord. (Compare to Ecce Homo, p. 6,Exodus 3:0.)

2. This reason is found in St. Peter’s own life. The first thing we know of his history was the connection he made between those two words—Messiah and the Lamb (John 1:36; John 1:40–41). Neither he nor St. John (see Revelation 5:6 and elsewhere) ever forgot that cry of the Baptist. They undoubtedly understood that cry to refer not primarily to the Paschal or any other sacrifice, but to Isaiah 53:7, and perhaps to Genesis 22:8. A word in the next verse will make it clearer that St. Peter genuinely had the Baptist consciously in mind when he wrote this.