đŹđ§ Glory be to Jesus Christ! đ
Ephesians I, 2, 3 – âηΌÏΜ⠖ âemonâ – âusâ (our).
Ephesians I, 3-6, 8 – âηΌαÏâ – âemasâ – âusâ.
Ephesians I, 5 – âÏÏοοÏÎčÏαÏâ – âproorisasâ – foreordained; limited
in advance (in a broad meaning); pre-appointed; set in advance
. It
means that God intended people to live freely with Him in eternal love
and joy, to be good, holy, and so on. It does not mean that God has
determined who will be saved and who will not, but the very purpose of
creating the world and people in particular. See also:
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Ephesians I, 9 – âηΌÎčΜ⠖ âeminâ – âto usâ.
The readings begin with the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Ephesians on weekdays.
Like most other Epistles, Paul begins with an appeal and praise of God and spiritual blessings, as well as thanksgiving. This, as I noted earlier, is what distinguishes the preaching of the apostles from that of the prophets.
The introduction is solemn, uplifting, and magnificent, since the entire message concerns the high mysteries of God, so the very beginning sets one up for a high level of contemplation.
Nevertheless, this does not mean arrogance, but a humble thought of the sublime.
The fact that people were created to be blessed in every blessing is
described here:
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The casting out of a demon from the daughter of a Gentile.
As this passage is understood, Christâs dialogue was not intended to offend or disrespect the woman or the Gentiles (i.e., all non-Jews at the time) in general, for Christ knew that He would heal the daughter and knew of the womanâs faith. But the Jews often sinned by treating Gentiles with disdain. That is why Christ behaved like those Jews⊠in order to put them to shame. For He is showing them what a womanâs faith and humility really are, her trust in God in Christ, qualities that the Jews often lacked.
The situation is thus very similar to the healing of the centurionâs
servant and the praise of his faith. See, in particular, in Matthew:
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If we go even deeper, there is a parallel with the prophet Elijahâs stay in those lands when it had not rained for 3 and a half years according to his word. At that time, the woman also obeyed Elijah, and through him, the Lord, and was blessed because of it. Christ is Greater than Elijah. This is also an example of the fact that although the Revelation of God in the Old Testament was first of all addressed to the Jews, the Lord also cared about other nations, and this is also clearly shown in the time of Christ.
We can also see that Christ did not despise the Gentile woman from the fact that⊠He praised her immediately after she spoke. If someone despised someone in arrogance and saw the humility or at least modesty of the person they despised, they would⊠become even more haughty (emotions would take over). But Christ, instead of being scornful, shows love and mercy. This also directly shows that He did not want to offend the woman, but rather wanted to protect her and praise her (to set her as an example).
To Saint Dymytriy Tuptalo:
For readings from the Apostle, see the link:
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It should be noted that Saint Dymytriy not only ordered the lives of the saints, but was also a theologian, so the reading is appropriate.
For the frequent reading from the Gospel, see this link:
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and other reference cited there.
Glory be to Thee, our God, glory be to Thee!