Oleksandr Zhabenko

🇬🇧 Glory be to Jesus Christ! 🌞💙💛

Dedicated to Emma Kok.

(John XII, 17-50)

Apostles Philip and Andrew, having Greek names, coming from the same city, could communicate with the Greeks quite well, which explains their behaviour.

Since many people did not understand Jesus, He performed miracles as a sign for unbelievers (here, in particular, the voice of the Father as a miracle).

The words about the Light resonate with the beginning of the Gospel, see also at the link:
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John XII, 24 – there is an interesting opinion about grain at the link:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKiw7X6r6YP/
The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul says in another place:What you sow is not made alive unless it dies. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.” (1 Corinthians XV, 36-38). A grain, until it sprouts in good soil according to its vocation – to be a grain and sprout into wheat - remains one, alone. The grain is not connected by body to other grains (perhaps only by the place of storage) and is not sprouted wheat. And if one were to look at it, he / she would think that it is alone, a single grain. But the important thing is the growth, according to the vocation, it is important for the grain to remain wheat, and in good soil it germinates. And the body, relationships are different than the grain, the sower does not know what the wheat will look like. God knows everything, to Him be the glory forever. Amen.”

John XII, 25 — the parallel passage is explained by reference:
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The first quote from the prophet Isaiah – Isaiah LIII, 1 – is the beginning of the 53rd chapter, which is all dedicated to the prophecy about the innocent and sinless suffering of Jesus Christ for our sins, the salvific meaning of His suffering for us. It is worth reading the whole chapter in its entirety, and it is also a vivid testimony to the clarity of Isaiah’s own prophecies. He was tormented for the sins of all of us, with His wounds we are healed, is the key idea of the chapter. Sin brings torment, suffering, and death, and the Lord takes all of our suffering and death upon Himself instead of us, accepts the consequences of our sins instead of us, and thereby saves us. John also emphasizes the gentleness and gentleness of Jesus further, showing the fulfillment of the prophecy further.

The second quotation from the prophet Isaiah – Isaiah VI, 10 – is also repeated by the synoptics in connection with the parables of Jesus and the understanding of them by people. In Isaiah, this is part of the vision in which he sees the Lord, the seraphim, one of whom purifies him. The meaning of the words is not that the Lord has made people unable to understand and accept the truth in Christ in order to be healed, but that people have distanced themselves from God in such a way that their ability to know God is severely limited, so that it is difficult for them (likewise for some unsuccessful disciples) something more than the simplest in that.

The question of people, who is the Son of Man (it is Christ who is He, which He said many times before), shows their lack of understanding.

John XII, 43 – loved the glory of man more than the glory of God - John often explains the behaviour and life of people precisely by the love of these people – good deeds and life – love for good, for God, and evil – for evil. This may seem unusual, because we often think that people’s actions do not always show their love, they can be determined by various circumstances and reasons other than love. But John emphasizes that people had the opportunity to understand, realize, see and know the truth in Christ, that is, they did deliberately did not dare or did avoid it (just as mature love is aware of itself and what it causes and what it strives for and leads to) . The second reason is that love is the most important and strongest motive, one can say, the ultimate force of human life, so the principal, final decision can be said to be caused by the decisive reason, which means love. Finally, completely – a cardinal decision is made on the basis of love. Love here does not mean a certain state of feelings, but the very whole reality of a personality’s existence in freedom and self-determination, directed to that (also to that personality, here also to Christ, or to someone else) that is important and valuable for a person. If we also remember that the entire Law and the prophets are based on the commandments of love, that love contains all the commandments in relation to all spheres of life, then to love, according to the words of the Scriptures, includes a holistic attitude. Therefore, the overall final decision is also conditioned, in the language of Scripture, by love.

The conclusion of the chapter shows that Jesus is the Savior and that God is not at enmity with anyone. He does not act with certain hidden or obvious personal motives of personal struggle with a person, does not hide a stone behind his soul. Christ does not break people, but gives them life. At the same time, what He says is true, so it will not be neglected and despised, but it will be strong and insurmountable for those who resist.

As many saints say, God is not at enmity with anyone, but many are at enmity against God. With these words, the Lord emphasizes it.

(Matthew XXVI, 6-16)

The similar story at almost the same time is described by all the evangelists, and John even mentions the woman’s name – it is Mary, the sister of the resurrected Lazarus and Martha, the myrrh-bearer. See, in particular, at the links:
09042023.html

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

But they differ in the time of events – as I wrote about earlier. It is possible (but unlikely) that there were two such women, and then each Gospel describes one of them, but then there were two conversations with Judas on the same topic. In my opinion, the most accurate in this place is the Gospel of John, and the event was one – with Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha, ones of my beloved saints. See above for explanation.

Matthew XXVI, 10-11 – Me – ‘εμε’ – ‘eme’.

Here I will add that the woman’s act and the protection of Jesus show that the Lord accepts generosity in love, He is not stingy or deaf in the expression of love that He calls people to. Of course, to think about God’s stinginess is like Judas here, which you need to beware of.

The Lord Himself is generous in love, and teaches us to be generous.

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

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