Glory be to Jesus Christ!
🌞
The continuation of today's reading is the one referred to at the following link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/25102023.html
The Apostle Paul calls us to behave in accordance with our vocation to be part of the Body of the Son of God, the Church, and to live accordingly.
First of all, he calls for unity and peace, growth in God, in the same faith.
Important verses 4-6 show that Baptism is one (this truth is even included in the Creed), that is, it is not repeated.
One faith
means that the Lord has revealed to the faithful one faith, not several different ones, and that one faith is the result of the Unity of God's Revelation, as well as its eternity and immutability. This all stems from God's attributes - for the Revelation of God has its source in God Himself.
Luke XIII, 14, 16 - 'ἡμέραι' - 'emerai' - 'days'. 'ἡμέρᾳ' - 'emera' - 'days'.
Jesus heals a serious illness with the word, and is rebuked by the leader of the synagogue for healing on the Sabbath. The elder of the synagogue is wrong - first of all, it is not human beings who perform miracles, but God who performs true miracles. And God can act on any day without breaking the Sabbath. And if the synagogue elder rebukes Jesus, he attributes the miracle to the human being, and thus denies that it is from God, but instead believes that a human being can perform miracles by his or her own nature.
The second error is that Jesus did nothing that could even remotely violate the Sabbath. It was permissible to speak on the Sabbath, in particular when gathered in the synagogue.
Finally, the third is that the synagogue elder could not have performed such a miracle or anything like it, but instead he tries to show his greater righteousness than Jesus by keeping the Sabbath
. The modern meaning of the word hypocrite
- a person who pretends to be someone they are not - is fully present here. Another possible meaning of the word hypocrite is a person who has an inner judgement, who judges (unrighteously) inwardly
, and this is also present here, because the elder had rejected Jesus earlier, otherwise he would have been more respectful and impartial, especially in response to the miracle.
Why does Jesus address the group rather than the one elder? Because the elder expressed the attitude of the whole group, especially since he had been chosen by the group to be the elder because of his representative (characteristic) views.
The words of Jesus and the example of the animals expose the mistakes and biases of the elder and many in the assembly. They are very eloquent, so the reaction of even Jesus' enemies is understandable.
The Lord sets an example of caring for people's needs regardless of time and season, and regardless of any other circumstances. Moreover, He praises care for animals and other creatures.
Glory be to Thee, our God, glory be to Thee!