Oleksandr Zhabenko

🇬🇧 Glory be to Jesus Christ! 🌞

Dedicated to Emma Kok.

(Acts XXI, 8-14)

Acts XXI, 8 – εμειναμεν – emeinamen – remained, abided, continued – from 'μενω' – 'meno' – to remain, to continue.

Acts XXI, 12 – ‘παρεκαλουμεν’ – ‘parekaloumen’ – here began to beg.

Paul responds by talking about the loud sobs, weeping and how they break his heart. He expresses his determination not only to suffer, but even to die for the name of Jesus Christ.

Luke and Paul’s other co-workers committed (entrusted) him and themselves to the will of God.

(John XIV, 27 – XV, 7)

John XIV, 27 – ‘εμην’ – ‘emen’ – My (peace) (in Greek ‘peace’ is feminine). The Lord goes on to say that our hearts should not be agitated or timid, He speaks of courage. There are two extremes here and a virtue between them – ” agitation, rebellion” and timidity, fearfulness, and good courage is in between.

John XIV, 30, XV, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 – ‘εμοι’ – ‘emoi’ – (in) ‘Me’.

Due to the ending of chapter XIV, some think that chapters XV-XVII were added to the original text later (by John himself or his disciples). Nevertheless, there are no real differences between these chapters and all the others in terms of meaning and style, so their authenticity is the same as all the others.

John XV, 1, 5 – ‘ειμι’ – ‘eimi’ – (I) ‘am’. It is used for emphasis. ‘γεωργος’ – ‘georgos’ – ‘husbandman, farmer’ (from this word in Greek we have the name ‘George’).

John XV, 5 – ‘εμου’ – ‘emou’ – (from) ‘Me’.

The image of the vine, the vinedresser, and the branches is very expressive and eloquent, and I think it does not require any additional explanation beyond the previous ones.

My Father is greater than Me are quite profound words to explain, and it is generally thought that this means that the Son of God is born of the Father, Who is the Root of the Godhead in this sense, and also that these words point to the human nature of Jesus – the Father is greater than human nature, and the words themselves speak of the glorification of the human nature of Jesus. These words do NOT mean that the Father is greater than the Son in terms of greater fullness of the Godhead (no, all Three Hypostases of the Trinity are equal in the Godhead, It is One for all Three). The difficulty lies in how to understand the birth of the Son of God from the Father, and in the second case, how the properties of Jesus’ human nature are taken on by Him as God. Some of the details of this can be seen in the work here:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/Trinity.html

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

Source:
https://www.facebook.com/Oleksandr.S.Zhabenko/