Christ Is Risen!
🌞
Since in the work published at the link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/02082025.html
and even earlier in others, published at the links:
https://churchandsociety.org.ua/pdf/projects/zbirnyk.pdf
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/17082024.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/12112025.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/27112024.html
it is written that the use of prepositions has important significance for the correct understanding of important and topical questions, particularly the question of power, I am writing comments regarding the use of precisely these prepositions. As advice regarding reading what is written — one can read the verse in translation or/and original (whoever has such possibility), and then the corresponding comment regarding prepositions here. Then it is necessary to understand which part of the verse the comment concerns, and also to consider what essential for understanding it affirms — or more rarely — denies. Such thoughtful reading helps to deepen understanding and protects from the mentioned mistakes.
I prepared an improved version of my research, the presentation of which is available at the link:
https://www.facebook.com/Oleksandr.S.Zhabenko/posts/
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/uk/commentaries/vystup-2025-hypo-genitive-Romans-XIII_1.pdf
The research material is currently being prepared for publication. I hope, God willing, to present fuller results later after the publication comes out.
I will update the list of references regarding prepositions at the links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/02082025.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/uk/commentaries/Pryjmennyky.html
the latter — once or twice a month (in Ukrainian), to keep the text version current and up to date.
Translated from Ukrainian by Claude Sonnet 4.6 (Anthropic AI), with subsequent editing by me.
Strong's references (note: according to Strong) in the translation of the original text mean that the word is taken from Strong's dictionary, and the specific meaning was chosen following the translation and commentary by Google Gemini.
Matins:
More concerning the readings from the Gospel see at the links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/09052025.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/28072023.html
https://www.facebook.com/Oleksandr.S.Zhabenko/posts/
Liturgy:
More concerning the reading see at the links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/16012025.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/13052023.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/01062024.html
These verses are absent from some manuscripts of the Gospel.
John VIII, 31 — 'εαν υμεις μεινητε εν τω λογω τω εμω αληθως μαθηται μου εστε' — 'hean hymeis meinete en to logo to emo alethos mathetai mou este' - if you remain in My word, you are truly My disciples
. That is, if we live according to the teaching of Christ.
John VIII, 35 — 'εν τη οικια' — 'en te oikia' - in the house
. Where. 'εις τον αιωνα' - 'eis ton aiona' - for ever
. Common expression.
John VIII, 37 — 'οτι ο λογος ο εμος ου χωρει εν υμιν' — 'hoti ho logos ho emos ou khorei en hymin' - because My word has no place (is not received) in you
. Where.
John VIII, 38 — 'α εγω εωρακα παρα τω πατρι λαλω' — 'ha ego eoraka para to patri lalo' - what I have seen (and now remember, know, and see) in the vicinity of the Father, I speak
. The preposition 'para' here with the dative case indicates that what is spoken of is the closeness of Jesus Christ according to His human nature to the Father, such that He speaks divine Revelation even when speaking according to His human nature. 'υμεις ουν α ηκουσατε παρα του πατρος ποιειτε' - 'hymeis oun ha ekousate para tou patros poieite' - you then do what you have heard from beside the father
. Here what is spoken of is the devil as father (see further on John VIII, 44, and also the important explanation at the links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/17052025.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/01062024.html
and further below). The preposition 'para' here with the genitive case. This construction is used concerning the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and also concerning the human nature of Jesus Christ. See more at the links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/uk/commentaries/Pryjmennyky.html
https://www.facebook.com/Oleksandr.S.Zhabenko/posts/
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/02082025.html
Here it is not easy to see the reason for the use of precisely this construction, since what is spoken of is the instigation and teaching of the devil. But it is clear that the devil here conceals himself — people hear
his promptings but do not see him himself. The contrast with Christ, the Father, and the Holy Spirit is also obvious. The preposition 'apo', which could have been used, is not used because the devil — in prompting others to unnatural evil — does not attempt to separate his prompting from himself; on the contrary, through it he strives to establish and strengthen his connection with those who listen to him. It must also be remembered that the devil is an angel by nature, a spirit, and as an angel can communicate spiritually, tempting and teaching evil. In general one may see that Christ as the God-man, whose human nature is filled with the fullness of the Holy Spirit, came to destroy the works of the devil — and therefore what is spoken of is the fact that through Christ, through his unity with the Father and the Spirit, through the Holy Spirit and the Father, the faithful are liberated and overcome the evil one, including his promptings and teaching of evil. It is precisely this construction that is used here in order to emphasise this truth.
John VIII, 40 — 'παρα του θεου' — 'para tou theou' - from beside God
. Jesus here speaks as a human being, according to His human nature. Before this He had been motivating the Jews — and with them all human hearers and readers — with words about truth and freedom; and here too He conducts the conversation as a human being, but a human being from God, close to God, righteous (to which Abraham himself was similar in a significant but imperfect degree). Therefore one may think that His words and this specific expression here mean that He heard them in prayer to the Father according to His human nature. With these divine words the Lord also wishes to motivate all of us to seek the truth and God, and They (God and truth) bestow freedom. If one compares with the words about the Spirit of truth, the Comforter — which have almost the very same expression literally, and in meaning an identical one — then it becomes clear that Christ as a human being has the fullness of the Holy Spirit and is truly the Anointed One of God in the full sense. See more on this in the work at the link at the end:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/PowerOfHuman.html
and also at the links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/uk/commentaries/Pryjmennyky.html
https://www.facebook.com/Oleksandr.S.Zhabenko/posts/
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/02082025.html
John VIII, 41 — 'ημεις εκ πορνειας ουκ εγεννηθημεν' — 'hemeis ek porneias ouk egennethemen' - we were not born (do not originate) from fornication (adultery)
. Here a different preposition is used, which directly indicates the source of origin — 'εκ'. The Son of God, the Second Hypostasis of the Most Holy Trinity, is begotten of the Father
— 'εκ του πατρος'. The Jews do not distinguish between these two prepositions — in vain, for one must distinguish them — whereas the Lord Jesus Christ does distinguish them. Although He is the Creator of people — including these very Jews — their deeds are not from Him but originate from the evil one. Evil has no other source than the devil in the proper sense. God did not create evil — the father of evil is the devil. Therefore what follows concerns the deeds of people and not the people themselves, but the people loved these their deeds more than God and therefore rejected Christ. From this the Lord here cautions us. Also the Jews' use of a different preposition points to their mistaken exaggeration of the role of sin in the origin of sinners — a human being cannot in the proper Biblical sense originate εκ πορνειας
, since they bear the image of God, even if they were conceived in fornication or even rape. A person as a being originates from God the Creator, but their deeds, thoughts, and words can originate from the evil one. When Christ speaks further about those Jews' origin from the evil one, He means their deeds and schemes, the thoughts of the heart, and the like — see above.
John VIII, 42 — 'εκ του θεου' — 'ek tou theou' - from God (the Father); of God
. The preposition 'ek' indicates here origin, and it is also the very preposition characteristic of describing the eternal begetting of the Son of God from the Father. 'απ εμαυτου' - 'ap emautou' - from Myself; of Myself
. The preposition 'apo' in its form before the following vowel indicates here that what is spoken of is something that can be considered separately from Christ Himself, the Son of God — that is, what is spoken of here is His actions with respect to creation, not the Incarnation as such. See in detail the important explanations concerning this construction at the links (especially the first and second):
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/22042026.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/10042026.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/08052026.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/06052026.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/24042026.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/14022026.html
Here I shall present my reflections on verse 34, inspired by earlier older reflections at the link:
https://sites.google.com/view/rozdumy23/home/priklad-5-pro-istinnu-svobodu
The Lord Jesus Christ says: Again and again I assure you that everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.
Why is everyone who commits sin a slave of sin
? Why, for example, is it not possible to commit sin and be its master? Why is it not possible to commit sin and possess it? Why is it only possible to commit sin and be dependent on it to the point of being its slave?
Sin
means missing the mark
in ancient Greek — that is, a miss past God's goal. And how can one possess a miss
if one has missed? How can one be a master if one does not reach the goal? And the like. Therefore a person who commits sin does not possess it but themselves becomes unfree. Freedom here means the capacity to attain the goal, whereas sin does not provide this — it means the non-attainment of the goal — and therefore leads to the loss of freedom to one degree or another.
More on the theme is at the link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/DialogueOnWordsChristFear.html
In general, in this dialogue Jesus refutes the various justifications of the Jews who were inclined to sin yet justified themselves by descent from Abraham — to whom God gave promises (which we examined in more detail during Great Lent) — whilst Christ does not speak here of His own direct origin.
Why does he avoid this? Because if a person attempts to justify themselves through origin, lineage, or people, they will lose a significant part of their motivation for doing good — whereas no blood ties in themselves save a person from sins.
Moreover, such a desire often prevents a person from seeing the truth about themselves. The Lord also speaks about this further.
The Lord Jesus Himself speaks of the Father, with whom He is One.
More concerning the readings from the Gospel see at the links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/17052025.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/13052023.html
Of the Holy Bishop and Wonderworker Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia:
Concerning the readings from the Epistle see at the links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/06122024.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/22052023.html
More concerning the readings from the Gospel see at the links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/18012025.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/24052023.html
Glory be to Thee, our God, glory be to Thee!