🇬🇧 Glory be to Jesus Christ! 🌞
Philippians II:25 – ‘συστρατιωτην’ - ‘systratioten’ – ‘fellow soldier’ (a soldier who serves with another in the army).
Philippians II, 27 – ‘εμε’ – ‘eme’ – ‘me’.
The reading is more about Epaphroditus and Paul himself. Saint Epaphroditus is revered among the 70 apostles. The Apostle Paul writes about his selfless, sacrificial work for Christ.
The lack of your ministry
– that is, Epaphroditus, being by Paul’s
side in the time of need, helped Paul greatly, so that although the
Philippians were not there, Epaphroditus seemed to supplement
their
valuable help when they were not.
Luke IX, 48 – ‘εμε’ – ‘eme’ – ‘Me’.
Luke IX, 49 – ‘ημων’ – ‘emon’ – ‘us’ ((with) us).
Jesus reveals to His disciples about His upcoming Suffering, Death and Resurrection, but they did not understand and were afraid to ask Him. This is an example of how the Lord sometimes does things that will be useful to people later on, but they may not understand them, but this does not stop the Lord. It is also important to say that misunderstanding can be a stage in development, because if people always understood everything, they would live very differently. The apostles recalled their misunderstanding, as well as Jesus’ words, and they recalled them after His Resurrection and believed. If they had understood, they would have been prepared for the events that awaited Jesus and would have reacted differently, but the Lord allowed them to come to know their weakness. It is important to see that understanding is valuable, but if it is lacking, faith is still needed.
The reading continues with the theme of greatness and humility.
I have written well on the parallel passage in Matthew (Matthew
XVIII, 1-5), and also in Mark IX, 33-37, see the link:
31072023.html
The final reading deals with the topic of people who do not walk
with Jesus’ disciples
, or in modern parlance, the unchurched
. This is
a relevant topic for many, and I wrote about it here:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/Hyper.html
Quote: ” The Lord says that he who is not for you is against you
, he
who does not gather scatters
, he who is not against us is for us
(Luke IX, 49-50, Mark IX, 38-41, Matthew XII, 30, etc.). He is talking
about Himself, generally speaking, from which such an opinion follows
that one cannot be neutral about Christ Himself. This thought is known,
that is, we can never be in the middle, for example, between God and the
devil or we can not be between the Kingdom of God and hell, there is no
intermediate, middle state, in fact, in reality we will never be in the
middle. There is a certain temporary indeterminate state – the present
time, not yet determined, but still it is not final. Regarding Christ,
we cannot be in the middle, neutral
, in terms of being with Him or
against Him, being for Christ or against Him. If the apostles are with
Christ, the Church is with Christ in this context, then these words can
be applied to them. It is impossible to be neutral about the Church in
this sense. Christ is at the center of the universe, and everything has
its meaning and significance in relation to Him, relative to Him, and
there is nothing that has meaning without Him. Everything else that is
not directly with Christ in this context is not at the center of the
universe, and in relation to it we can be neutral, we can take some
intermediate position.
When it comes to the relationship between the Church and the surrounding world, which does not concern the Church itself, i.e. outside the Church, then here the apostles are included in these words of Christ as His representatives, that is actually these words apply to them, they are at the center of the world structure, and you cannot also be neutral in respect with them, you cannot be in the middle, that is (finally) just as you cannot serve two masters, also in another place – a person will decide, love someone and will serve this one – God or mammon. In such a context, a person (or people, or society) cannot be in the middle.
On the other hand, if it is a question of relations between Churches,
which, for example, mutually recognize the Sacraments or have a need for
greater unity, then they cannot consider each other or themselves in the
context that we are at the center of the universe
, because they are
not in this context alone relative to each other in the center of the
universe.
I will stop at the word He who is not against you is FOR you
(Luke
IX, 50). for
is the Greek hyper
(υπερ), which with the genitive case
comes from over
, above
, can also mean a reason, for what
. That is,
these words can also be understood as (a field for agricultural work,
preaching, activity) for you
or also: your actions are for the purpose
of bringing them to the knowledge of the truth
, that is why you are
sent to preach to those who do not mind you
.
I will also add that the same words can be understood in another way
- who is not against you, in that I act above what I act in you
(over
is not more
, but as an excess, similar to the well-known
crumbs
). And in another way – those who are not against you can
often act "on your behalf", that is, their good will serve for the spread
of faith, and their quantity – for the mass of faith.
In all cases, we
see the multifacetedness of God’s providence and care for the faithful
and everyone else. ”
To the Apostle and Evangelist Luke:
Colossians IV, 7 – ‘εμε’ – ‘eme’ – ‘me’.
Colossians IV, 8 – ‘ημων’ – ‘emon’ – ‘us’ (ours). ‘παρακαλεση’ - ‘parakalean’ – ‘comforted’.
The apostle Paul writes his final greetings in the letter and writes
about the intentions of him and his collaborators, among whom Luke, a
beloved physician
by profession and occupation, is mentioned. It is
believed that Luke is so called not only because he treated Paul and
helped him, but also because of his loyalty, for he did not leave him
even when others had left him before (thus their friendship was
tested).
Luke X, 16 – ‘εμου’ – ‘emou’ – ‘Me’. ‘εμε’ – ‘eme’ – ‘Me’ (by Me).
Luke X, 21 – ‘εμπροσθεν’ – ‘emprosthen’ – ‘before; in front of the face’.
For more information on Luke X, 16-21, see here:
24062023.html
Glory be to Thee, our God, glory be to Thee!