š¬š§ Glory be to Jesus Christ! š
The continuation of todayās reading was read
earlier and discussed here:
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1 Corinthians XV, 3 – āĪ·Ī¼ĻĪ½ā – āemonā – āusā (āthroughā ours).
1 Corinthians XV, 4 – āĪ·Ī¼ĪµĻĪ±ā – āemeraā – (on the third) ādayā.
1 Corinthians XV, 9, 10 – āĪµĪ¹Ī¼Ī¹ā – āeimiā – (I) am
. It is used for
emphasis. āĪµĪ¼Īµā – āemeā – (to) āmeā. āĪµĪ¼ĪæĪ¹ā – āemoiā – (to) āmeā ((with)
me).
The beginning of the reading is primarily concerned with the continuation of the reading. If Christians did not keep the Gospel, the faith as it was received, then they would not have true faith, and then untrue faith would not be worthy of the attitude that true faith in Christ should have.
Paul goes on to briefly remind the Corinthians of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and His manifestations to the disciples. Many of these manifestations are not described in the Gospels, so this testimony is important for understanding that Christ revealed more than the Gospels describe, and these words complement the Gospels in this regard.
Some people try to deny the truth of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, relying on various assumptions to explain the events. But all of these assumptions do not stand up to scrutiny in light of all the available evidence. The women and the apostles, who were not waiting for the Resurrection, saw and talked to Jesus. He ate food; Thomas, who wanted to be sure, received confirmation; Jesus appeared in different circumstances to different people, including those who were not ready and even hostile to Him (Paul himself was a persecutor, but converted after the miraculous manifestation of the Risen Jesus). The belief of people that the dead do not rise again was confronted with the clear fact of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. A fact that had been foretold long before by the prophets, who had also witnessed other miracles.
Paul goes on to speak of the work of Godās grace on himself, of his vocation and further work, of co-operation with Godās grace.
prematurely born
– in the time of the apostles there was no modern
natal medicine, so children born prematurely were smaller, weaker, and
often sickly, with various disorders. Therefore, Paul, humbly comparing
himself to the other witnesses, speaks of himself as if he were inferior
to them.
It is not I, but graceā¦
does not deny Paulās conscious, purposeful,
and persistent work, but emphasises the strengthening, guidance,
encouragement, giving, fulfilment, help, blessing, and so on, all of
which the Lord gave Paul in the course of his cooperation with
grace.
See also the good writings on the work of Godās grace at the
following links (in Ukrainian):
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/uk/Blahodat.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/uk/Diya_blahodati.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/uk/BozhaBlahodat.html
Whether I, or they, weā¦
– that is, all the apostles and witnesses
of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Matthew XIX, 26 – āĪµĪ¼Ī²Ī»ĪµĻĪ±Ļā – āemblepsasā - ālooked into, looked uponā.
It is a well-known story about a rich young man. It has many good explanations, and I will focus only on a few points, some of which I have written about before.
Regarding the words, No one is good but God
, it is believed that
Christ is indirectly asking the young man about his faith in Him (Do
you believe that I am God?
).
I will start from the end. Jesusā answer to the disciplesā question
shows that the disciples did not understand the significance of Godās
grace in the salvation of people. They thought that a person is savedā¦
by their own righteousness. Moreover, in the Old Testament, wealth is
linked to righteousness, for the Lord blesses those who keep the
commandments. But actually, righteousness itself, if it is real, has its
origin in the work of Godās grace, and the cooperation of the person
themselves. As it is written in the references above, God always begins
the First. He is the Alpha (Beginning) and the Omega (Goal, Purpose)
,
as the Revelation of John the Theologian says.
Human beings cannot be saved by their own efforts; salvation is always a gift from God. I have written about this before, mainly when considering the letters of the Apostle Paul, who writes a lot about it. Nevertheless, one needs to accept this gift and co-operate with God in the work of salvation. Everything is possible for God.
The story of the young man shows us some of the difficulties that come with trying to achieve salvation in oneās own strength. In the end, the young man had difficulty deciding whether to follow Christ. And he went away grieving.
I have written before that the young man put his hope in riches
(another evangelist says this in a parallel place). Putting oneās hope
in something
here means putting that at the centre of oneās life. Where
the Lord should be.
To come into the Kingdom of God
means to live consciously in this
life in accordance with Godās will and calling. Cannot come in
means
that they do not have the strength and ability to live this way, which
is clearly seen in the example of the young man.
And one more thing – Christ called the young man to perfection
through voluntary sacrificial poverty. The young man was overly attached
to wealth, so Christ directly tells him to give away his wealth for the
sake of the heavenly treasure as the way to perfection. See also more
about heavenly treasures:
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To Saint Theodosius of Kyiv Cave Monastery:
For frequent reading from the Apostle, see the link:
https://www.facebook.com/Oleksandr.S.Zhabenko/
For the frequent reading from the Gospel, see the link:
22052023.html
Glory be to Thee, our God, glory be to Thee!
Source:
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