Oleksandr Zhabenko

Christ Is Risen! 🌞

Dedicated to Emma Kok and me.

(Acts X, 1 – 16)

Acts X, 4 – ‘εμφοβος’ – ‘emphobos’ – ‘in fear’ (of God). ‘εμπροσθεν’ – ‘emprosthen’ – ‘before’ (the face).

Cornelius the centurion and his household became an example of devout and good pagans who became Christians, and later, at the Apostolic Council in Jerusalem in 51 AD, this story will be mentioned by Peter as a sign that the Lord is pleased to preach not only to Jews but also to Gentiles.

The significance of the story is therefore enormous, universal, and the vision must be understood in this context. Peter’s vision means that non-Jews, people whom the Jews considered to be not directly called to unity in faith with the Jews and therefore not to be the scope of their direct preaching, mission, are in fact also called by God to participate in the faith of the fathers, prophets, and apostles, to participate in the Church of Christ and in the Kingdom of God.

What God has cleansed, do not call (do not do) common (profane) are important words regarding the fact that the Lord has called all people to Himself. And those called by God do not have a special advantage by origin.

I also remember these words personally. After all, my surname is Zhabenko, which derives from the word ‘frog’ in Ukrainian, and frogs were considered impure animals under the Law of Moses, and could not be eaten by the Jews. Moreover, the Revelation mentions frogs in connection with the devil, the Antichrist, and the false prophet – see Revelation XVI, 13.

If someone wants to see this reference as a prohibition for me to preach, then I can answer with the words of the Holy Spirit – What God has cleansed, do not call (do not do) common.

I am also called to the Church of Christ and the Kingdom of God.

As for the words your mercies are remembered before God spoken by the angel to Cornelius in the vision, they are parallel to the non-canonical Old Testament book of Tobit, where the archangel Raphael (healing of God) was sent by God to heal and help a family (and those who joined it) that had shown mercy and was faithful to God.

(John VI, 56 – 69)

John VI, 56 – ‘εμοι’ – ‘emoi’ – ‘Me’.

John VI, 57 – ‘εμε’ – ‘eme’ – (through) ‘Me’, (because of) ‘Me’.

Conclusion of the discourse on the bread of life, which was read for several days in a row. See the links:
05052023.html

04052023.html

03032023.html

02052023.html

29042023.html
(can be read in reverse (temporal, chronological, semantic) order, and the references are to the Gospel readings).

The interpreters note that Christ did not sacrifice part of His teaching in order to make it more attractive to people. If the disciples were tempted by what He really revealed, He did not refuse what He had revealed, the truth of God.

I will focus on the words abide in someone that the Lord uses.

I will not go into theology, which is a very deep topic and requires a lot of writing, which I do not have time for now, but I will note some of the fundamental points of these words.

In theology, there is a concept of perichoresis – someone’s being in someone else. See, for example, the English-language Wikipedia, and there are also versions in other languages, including Dutch (unfortunately, no Ukrainian at the moment)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perichoresis
as well as in the sources cited there.

See also a good essay on the Trinity at
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/Trinity.html

A long time ago I recorded a podcast in which I explained in detail that God is the only One who can abide in someone, and that person does not lose anything of his or her own, but gains God.

Compare, for example, with demon obsession – a person who is obsessed by a demon (or demons) is in him (them) by God’s permission, but (at least partially) loses control over themselves, fulfils the desires of those demons (at least sometimes) without being able to resist them.

Nor do angels abide in people, nor do people abide in angels.

And people do not abide in each other, except for a mother and a child in her womb (here there is a partial abiding of one person in another – the child in the mother, but not vice versa – the mother does not abide in the child). The state of a pregnant woman with a child in her womb is very different from the state of a woman with a child already born, or from a woman (girl) who is not a mother.

And God is the Only One Whose presence in someone does not take away anything essential, but only adds – if God is in someone, then that person fully acquires themselves and God.

As for the perichoresis in the Trinity, the mutual abiding of the Hypostases (Persons) in Each Other also does not mean that They lose anything, but means the fullness of God’s love.

I would also say that people, through abiding in God, can also partially abide in each other – in heart, in spirit, which is also called having one heart and one soul, being of one mind, having one heart and one mouth, and the like.

This is especially desirable for the family and for me personally.

To the Apostle Mark:
(1 Peter V, 6-14; Mark VI, 7-13)

The Apostle Peter’s letter mentions the apostle and evangelist Mark, Peter’s spiritual son (disciple). It is written metaphorically, but I think there is nothing difficult in these words. For a beautiful essay on the kiss of love, see this link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/Kiss.html

The reading from the Gospel of Mark describes the work of the apostles (including his own) and Jesus’ instructions to them. Most of all, we need to beware of money-loving, attachment to earthly things (which greatly harms apostolic zeal). The words about the dust on their feet mean that the apostles should not be discouraged after people’s rejection, but should go on, and should also guard against acquiring other sins from unbelievers. Why will more tolerable it will be for Sodom or Gomorrah than for those unbelievers? Because if they reject the apostolic preaching, Christ Himself, then what will stop them from falling further into sins and vices? And where will true repentance come from?

Therefore, all of this emphasises the importance of the apostolic work, and in particular the ministry of the apostle and evangelist Mark himself.

Glory be to Thee, our God, glory be to Thee!

Source:
https://www.facebook.com/Oleksandr.S.Zhabenko/