Glory Be to Jesus Christ!
☀️
Happy Feast of the Assumption of the Most Holy Mother of God! Most Holy Mother of God, deliver us!
Philippians II, 5 — ‘ἐν ὑμῖν’ - ‘en ymin’ - ‘in you’. ‘ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ’ - ‘en CHristo Iesou’ - ‘in Christ Jesus’. The preposition ‘en’ here additionally indicates permanence - may they always be this way.
Philippians II, 6 — ‘ἐν μορφῇ θεοῦ ὑπάρχων’ - ‘en morphe theou hyparkhon’ - ‘in the form, image of God (God) existing, possessing; the form, image of God (God) existing, possessing’. It is difficult to translate accurately, most likely ‘the form existing’. Jesus Christ is the form of God (i.e. God the Father). The word ‘μορφή’ used here does not indicate how the Son exists, how He is born of the Father, but rather that His existence is in no way inferior to the Father's, which means that He is God as well as the Father (and the Holy Spirit as well). The Son exists, lives, and acts like the Father and the Spirit, ‘the Son is the image of the Father’. The whole reading from the Apostle points to the fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah XLV (especially Isaiah XLV, 21-25). ‘οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ’ - ‘oukh arpagmon egesato to einai isa theo’ - ‘did not consider with eagerness to be equal to God (i.e. the Father)’. A comparison with the angel, who became the devil, is possible here - the latter ‘thought eagerly to be equal to the Father’. Christ, being God (unlike the angel), did not seek exaltation (as the angel did), but revealed humility. There is also a parallel here with the Mother of God, Whose feast day is today, because She also showed humility at the time of the decision and always showed humility, calling Herself ‘the servant of God’. I must say that Luke, the author of the Gospel and the Acts, my beloved saint, was a close friend of both the Mother of God and the Apostle Paul.
Philippians II, 7 — ‘μορφὴν δούλου’ - ‘morphe doulou’ - ‘the likeness, image of a servant, a slave’. See above. ‘ἐν ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων γενόμενος’ - ‘en omoiomati anthropon genomenos’ - ‘in the likeness (to; of) humans, having been born; having become like humans, having been born’. This refers to the Incarnation of the Son of God ‘’by the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary‘’.
Philippians II, 9 — ‘ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα’ - ‘hyper pan onoma’ - ‘above every name’. The preposition ‘hyper’ is here with an accusative, which means that it is translated precisely as ‘above, above from’.
Philippians II, 10 — ‘ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ’ - ‘en to onomati Iesou’ - ‘in the name of Jesus’. The translation conveys a deeper meaning, which I will discuss in a moment. By confessing Jesus as Lord, the faithful testify that His name Jesus - ‘the Lord is salvation’ - is real, true, effective, and so on and so forth. This very salvation is the recognition that the Lord is the Saviour, that the Lord has saved a person.
Philippians II, 11 — ‘εἰς δόξαν θεοῦ πατρός’ - ‘eis doxan theou patros’ - ‘to the glory of God the Father’. The preposition ‘eis’ indicates here, in addition to the meaning for Jesus Himself - His Resurrection, Ascension, Second Glorious Coming and Kingdom of God - also the movement of humanity in Christ - to the glory of the Father, to glorification in salvation.
For more information about the reading from the Apostle, please refer to the links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/28082023.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/21042023.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/01042023.html
Luke X, 38 — ‘ἐν τῷ πορεύεσθαι’ - ‘en to poreuesthai’ - ‘on a journey; while travelling’. ‘εἰς κώμην’ - ‘eis komen’ - ‘into the village’. ‘εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν’ - ‘eis ten oikian’ - ‘into the house’.
Luke XI, 27 — ‘ἐν τῷ λέγειν’ - ‘en to legein’ - ‘in speaking; while speaking’. ‘ἐκ τοῦ ὄχλου’ - ‘ek tou okhlou’ - ‘from the crowd’.
Luke XI, 28 — ‘μενοῦν’ - ‘menoun’ - ‘rather; more precisely’. Jesus did not deny the words of ‘a person from the crowd’ (an unknown person), but significantly clarified their meaning. That is, it is a clarification, an expansion of the original meaning. All people are called to fulfil God's will, just as the Mother of God does.
For more information about the Gospel reading, please refer to the following links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/28082023.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/21042023.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/01042023.html
For more information about the Gospel reading, please refer to the following links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/28082023.html
Glory be to Thee, our God, glory be to Thee!