Oleksandr Zhabenko 🇬🇧
Glory Be to Jesus Christ!
☀️

(Romanians XIV, 9-18 )
Romans XIV, 9 — ‘εἰς τοῦτο’ - ‘eis touto’ - ‘for this’.

Romans XIV, 12 — ‘ἡμῶν’ - ‘emon’ - ‘us’.

Romans XIV, 14 — ‘οὐδὲν κοινὸν δι’ ἑαυτοῦ' - ouden koinon di eautou - there is nothing unclean in itself. In other words, ‘uncleanness’ is not a characteristic of nature or creation itself, but of a person's conscience in relation to something.

Romans XIV, 15 — ‘ὑπὲρ οὗ’ - ‘hyper ou’ - ‘for (for the sake of) whom’.

Romans XIV, 17 — ‘ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ’ - ‘en pneumati agio’ - ‘in the Holy Spirit’. It is emphasised here that the Holy Spirit fills the saved creation and with this He gives everything else that is named here, as well as unnamed.

Romans XIV, 18 — ‘ἐν τούτῳ δουλεύων’ - ‘en touto douleuon’ - ‘serves in this’. Here, the meaning may be ‘serves with this’, but ‘in this’ is a better translation, which carries an additional meaning. The fact is that ‘serves’ indicates the direction of the heart, the personality, that a person is doing ‘’their own‘’ for Christ. If we say ‘’serves with this‘’, then it turns out that at least the gifts of the Holy Spirit, or even the Holy Spirit Himself, become a ‘’way‘’ of human ministry, that is, a person appropriates God's gift to themselves. This is, of course, a misunderstanding of the relationship between human beings and God. And ‘in this’ does not mean ‘appropriation’ of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and of Himself, but indicates the driving force and confirmation of Who and what motivates and confirms a person in this ministry to Christ. This latter is certainly closer to the meaning of the Apostle Paul's words. Someone may want to argue that a person co-operates with God in creating peace, righteousness, in living a holy life, and so on. But the gifts themselves come from God, and in particular, a person cannot comprehend the Kingdom of God on their own; it is always a gift from God. Therefore, it is illogical to think that what is meant here is ‘with this’, since this would indicate that a person comprehends the Kingdom of God by their own efforts, rather than receiving it as a gift from God.

For more information about the reading from the Apostle, please refer to the following link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/04072023.html

(Matthew XII, 14-16, 22-30)
Matthew XII, 24 — ‘μὴ ἐν τῷ Βεελζεβοὺλ’ - ‘me en to Beelzeboul’ - ‘not by Beelzebub’. Here, in contrast to the above, it is more appropriate to use the ablative case, i.e. ‘by whom? by what?’. A person who works with demons does not have to be ‘in one of them’ or possessed by them, although this is also possible. Jesus does not act with demons, as He says right here, overcoming this accusation.

Matthew XII, 27 — ‘ἐν Βεελζεβοὺλ’ - ‘en Beelzeboul’ - ‘by Beelzebub’ - see above. ‘ἐν τίνι’ - ‘en tini’ - ‘by whom’.

Matthew XII, 28 — ‘ἐν πνεύματι θεοῦ’ - ‘en pneumati theou’ - ‘in the Holy Spirit’ or ‘by the Holy Spirit’. Most translations give the second option. The choice affects the understanding, because in the first case Jesus speaks of His human nature in comparison to the ‘children of the Pharisees’ who are also human. The human nature of Jesus is deified, filled with the Holy Spirit, which is why Jesus is also called ‘Christ’, i.e. ‘the Anointed One’. In contrast to the ‘sons of the Pharisees’ who cast out demons in an unclear way, Jesus can from a theological point of view cast out demons, operating in particular with His human nature (which necessarily participates in His operation as God in one way or another, according to the dogma of the Sixth Ecumenical Council), although in this case the actual source of power and authority is the Holy Spirit. Also here, in this case, it must be remembered that the human nature of Jesus is inseparably united with God's in the One Hypostasis of the Incarnate Son of God, so it operates accordingly, knowing, as the Fathers say, that it is the human nature of the Son of God, to Whom as God all things are subject. On the other hand, the second translation is also quite logical, as it is more related to the God's nature of Jesus, as it emphasises His God's dignity. Comparison with the parallel passage in Luke (Luke XI, 20), where the expression ‘with the finger of God’ is used, points to the second option rather than the first, because it is difficult to think of Jesus' human nature in the finger of God. That being said, I am also inclined to think that the second option is more appropriate here.

Matthew XII, 29 — ‘εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν’ - ‘eis ten oikian’ - ‘into (the) house’.

For more information about the Gospel reading, please refer to the link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/04072023.html

In honour of the Mother of God concerning the Pochaev Icon:
(Hebrews IX, 1-7; Luke X, 38-42, XI, 27-28)
For more information about these frequent readings on the feasts of the Theotokos, please refer to the link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/01042023.html

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