The Epistle to the Ephesians contains six chapters. The main subject of the epistle, as its author himself says (Ephesians 3:2-9), is the mystery of God's economy, and then the moral requirements arising from it. Accordingly, the Epistle is naturally divided into two equal parts: Dogmatic, which occupies the first three chapters (1-3); The Dogmatic part is an abbreviated exposition of the main Christian truths, but mainly develops the idea of the Church as the Body of Christ; the moral part teaches the unity of faith and unanimity in moral activity, arming for spiritual warfare. In general, this epistle is extremely important, representing an excellent apology for Christianity. St. John Chrysostom and Blessed Jerome emphasized the mysterious depth of this epistle, and St. Athanasius called it the catechism of Christian teaching. Many of the interpreters see in it, as it were, the program of the entire Apostolic preaching.

Exegetical analysis

The Epistle to the Ephesians contains six chapters. The main subject of the epistle, as its author himself says (Ephesians 3:2-9), is the mystery of God's economy, and then the moral requirements arising from it. Accordingly, the Epistle is naturally divided into two equal parts: Dogmatic, which occupies the first three chapters (1-3); The Dogmatic part is an abbreviated exposition of the main Christian truths, but mainly develops the idea of the Church as the Body of Christ; the moral part teaches the unity of faith and unanimity in moral activity, arming for spiritual warfare. In general, this epistle is extremely important, representing an excellent apology for Christianity. St. John Chrysostom and Blessed Jerome emphasized the mysterious depth of this epistle, and St. Athanasius called it the catechism of Christian teaching. Many of the interpreters see in it, as it were, the program of the entire Apostolic preaching.

Part I

The Epistle to the Ephesians begins with the usual inscription and the Apostolic greeting: "Paul is the messenger of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (vv. 1-2). The holy Apostle first of all gives praise and thanksgiving to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for the election of us to holy life, which was predestined "before the foundation of the world" and consists in the adoption of us as sons to God through Jesus Christ, Who, having accomplished our salvation by His blood and having revealed to men the mystery of God's favor, became the Head of all things in heaven and on earth, and made us through Himself heirs of God (vv. 3-12). who have believed in Christ, and consequently have become partakers of the good things which He has given, and give thanks to God for them, remembering them in their prayers, and asking God to give them the Spirit of wisdom, and to enlighten the eyes of their hearts, that they may know the riches of his inheritance and the power of his power (vv. 13-19). as the God-Man above all creation, and about the submission to Him of all that exists. Here we see the exaltation of human nature in the person of our Saviour, the testimony that the Lord Jesus Christ, even as a man, is the King and Lord of heaven and earth, of angels and men. "And he made him above all things, the head of the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all" (vv. 22-23). This teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ as the Head of the Church is extremely important. Just as the members of our body constitute one living organism with their heads, so all believers with Christ also form one bodily and spiritual organism. Those who are baptized into Christ put on Him, become one with Him. That is why Christ acts in Christians as a creative and life-giving force (Bishop Theophan the Recluse). The whole life of the body, organic and mechanical, depends on the head. And psychologically, the head, as the receptacle of the brain, the main organ of mental activity and the external senses, is recognized as the source of spiritual life, its guiding principle. This comparison of the Apostle gives the idea of the complete dependence of the Church on the Lord Jesus Christ, of the fact that Christ Himself leads His Church." The fullness of Him who fills all in all" (v. 23) — these words are obscure and give different thoughts. It is most correct to understand these words as follows: the Church is a spiritual organism in which there is no place where the Divine powers of Christ would not act. "She's full of Christ. He fills it all" (Bishop Theophan the Recluse). St. Chrysostom explains why the Apostle did not confine himself to calling the Church only the Body of Christ, and Christ its head: "In order that thou, having heard the word head, should not take it in the sense of authority only, but in its proper sense, — not consider Him only a ruler, but see in Him the real head, the Apostle adds: the fullness (i.e., the Church is the fullness) of Him who fulfills all in all. The Apostle considers the title "chapter" to be insufficient, as it were, in order to show the kinship and closeness of the Church to Christ."In the second chapter, the Apostle speaks of how the greatness of the actions of God's economy was manifested in the quickening, as it were, of the resurrection from the dead, spiritually dead people, magnified by God from extreme humiliation. This was accomplished solely by the grace of God, without any merit on the part of man himself: "For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not of you, the gift of God: not by works, so that no one should boast." — these words are very fond of sectarians, trying to prove with their help their false teaching about the uselessness of good works for salvation. But it is clear that here we are talking only about the first moment, about the very arrangement of salvation by God, and not about the assimilation of this salvation by people. Of the latter it is said, "For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has ordained for us to do" (v. 10). The meaning of all these words is that "salvation is arranged for us and we are called to receive it not for any works, but by grace alone. But they are called not to do nothing on their part, but to realize their salvation, being rich in good works" (Bishop Theophan the Recluse, vv. 1-10). The Lord created mankind anew (vv. 11-15), reconciling both Jews and Gentiles to God by means of the cross, killing the enmity on it, that is, the enmity with God, which alienated both peoples from Him because of their sinfulness. And here St. Paul emphasizes the abolition of the Old Testament law in the New Testament with the words: "having abolished the law of commandments by doctrine" (v. 15) and "breaking down the barrier that stood in the middle" (v. 14), that is: "put an end to the law, which, like a wall, divided Jews and Gentiles." "And when he came, he preached peace to you, to those who are far off and to those who are near" (v. 17)—the essence of Christ's gospel was that the Son of God, who became incarnate and suffered for us on the cross, reconciled us to God. The Apostle here calls the pagans "far away," and the Jews "neighbors" (Blessed Theodoret). Jews and Gentiles, united in Christianity, formed one Church, as if one building, established on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets and on the Cornerstone, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and are sealed together by one Spirit (vv. 17-22). It is important here that Christ is the cornerstone on which the Church was built, and not the Apostle Peter, as the Latins, the Roman Catholics, assert.In the third chapter, the Apostle speaks of the hidden mystery of the calling of the Gentiles to the Church of Christ and that it is precisely he who has been given the grace to proclaim this mystery of Christ to the Gentiles. He suffers many sorrows from the Judaizers for this preaching, but he does not lose heart, and the Ephesians ask them not to grieve for him (vv. 1-13). The saint finishes. The Apostle writes the dogmatic part of the Epistle with a prayer for the Ephesians (vv. 14-21), so that they may be strengthened in faith and love for Christ and understand "the love of Christ that surpasses understanding," "that they may be filled with all the fullness of God," that is, with every virtue with which God is filled, "that ye may have Him wholly dwelling in you," according to the explanation of Blessed Theodoret. Wishing the Ephesians to attain the fullness of Christian perfection, the holy Apostle gives glory to God in the Church in Christ Jesus (vv. 20-21 [1]).The second half of the Epistle to the Ephesians, embracing the last three chapters – the 4th, 5th and 6th, is the moralizing part of the epistle. Having explained in the first three chapters that all Christians constitute one Body with Christ as One Head, the holy Apostle deduces from this main idea of the Epistle how Christians, united and renewed in Christ, should live and act. First he depicts: 1) The general order of life, the main feature of which is unanimity in faith (4:1-16); then 2) Rules of life common to Christians of all conditions (4:17-5:21); 3) The rules of life are particular, according to conditions, enumerating the mutual duties of spouses, children and parents, slaves and masters (5:22-6:9), and finally, 4) he calls in general to the struggle against the world and sin, drawing an image of Christian asceticism (6:10-18). This should be based on humility, meekness, long-suffering, and love. The main thing that Christians should strive for is "unity of the spirit in the bond of peace." As the strongest motive for such spiritual unity, the holy Apostle puts forward that Christians have "one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, Who is over all, and through all, and in us all" (vv. 1-6). Each of the believers, as a separate member in the organism, is given a special grace, a special gift, by which he must serve others for the common good. This heterogeneity of gifts not only does not hinder unanimity, but, on the contrary, strengthens the unity between Christians even more, just as the heterogeneity of the members does not prevent the body from growing and strengthening by their mutual cooperation. For this peaceful and loving edification and growth of the Body of His Church, "for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edification of the Body of Christ" (v. 12); Christ appointed "some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers" (v. 11). Here the divinely established church hierarchy is clearly affirmed in denunciation of Protestants and sectarians who deny the legitimate hierarchy. The purpose of the establishment of the church hierarchy is to help the spiritual perfection of believers: "until we all come to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (v. 13), that is, until "all have ascended to a state of perfect repose in God, and, having presented themselves as a dwelling place worthy of God, will have Him dwelling in themselves. This is the measure of the age of the fulfillment of Christ" (Bishop Theophan the Recluse). The main task of the moral Christian life is not to be infants, tossed about and carried about by every wind of teaching, but, following the example of a living organism, uniting with one another in love, to grow the Body of the Church of Christ "into Him Who is the Head, Christ" (vv. 7-16). from age to age. Amen. ^

Part II

In the second half of this chapter, the holy Apostle, depicting the negative aspects of the life of the pagans, such as the Ephesians were before, exhorts "to put off the former way of life of the old man, corrupting in deceitful lusts" and "to put on the new man, created according to God, in the righteousness and holiness of the truth," that is, in the righteousness and holiness of the truth. This inner renewal must be expressed first of all in truthfulness: "Therefore, rejecting falsehood, speak the truth every man to his neighbor" (v. 25); then in angerlessness: "When you are angry, do not sin: let not the sun go down on your anger" (v. 26), that is, make peace with him whom you are angry with before the sun goes down; Further, the Apostle exhorts not to steal, but to work with one's own hands, "so that there may be something to give to the needy," to avoid rotten words, that is, foul language, and to be modest and edifying in conversation, not to offend the Holy Spirit with one's bad behavior, to shun all strife, irritation, rage, anger, shouting, and slander, but to be kind and compassionate to one another, and to forgive offenses in return. "As God also in Christ has forgiven us" (vv. 17-32).Continuing the same moral exhortations in the fifth chapter, the holy Apostle urges Christians to imitate God in love, as children imitate their father, taking his example in all things (vv. 1-2 [1]). As an incentive to a moral life, the holy Apostle points out the deprivation of sinners of the Kingdom of God, warning especially against fornication and drunkenness and against all impurity and covetousness, and exhorting Christians to "walk as children of light," testing what is pleasing to God. The state of the inveterate sinner is like a deep sleep, but he too can awaken from this sinful sleep, and the Apostle cries, "Arise, you who sleep, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light" (v. 14). Some commentators believe that these words are a free translation of what the holy prophet Isaiah said in verses 60:1 and 26:9 [2] and verses 19: "Arise, shine, O Jerusalem, for your light has come... Thy dead shall live, dead bodies shall arise." Further teaching that this temporal life is given to us in preparation for eternity, and bearing in mind the multitude of sinful temptations that surround us in this life, the holy Apostle exhorts: "Take heed, therefore, that ye walk carefully, not as foolish, but as wise, valuing the time, for the days are evil" (vv. 15-16), that is, do not waste precious time, but use it to prepare yourselves for eternity. To do this, first of all, one should not be "senseless," but one should "understand what is the will of God." The Apostle especially warns against the abuse of wine, saying that such abuse leads a person to debauchery. Instead of carnal pleasures, Christians should seek spiritual pleasures, being filled with the Spirit and edifying themselves by singing psalms and spiritual songs, and demanding that these songs be sung not only with the tongue, but also with the heart (vv. 1-20). Here the Apostle presents the conjugal union as an image of the mysterious union of the Lord Jesus Christ with the Church, which is why these verses 20-33 constitute the content of the Apostolic reading during the celebration of the sacrament of marriage. The Apostle demands self-sacrificing love for their wives from husbands, and prescribes complete obedience to their husbands to wives: "Wives, be subject to your husbands as to the Lord" (v. 22) — since: further, the Apostle explains that "the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the Church" (v. 23), then "as the Church obeys Christ, so also the wives are subject to their husbands in all things" (v. 24), that is, in all that is good. From this it is clearly seen that obedience is commanded to wives not at all slavish and compulsory, but "as to the Lord", that is, sincere and heartfelt, based on love. The headship of the husband in a Christian marriage should be understood only as primacy, which is always inevitable in any unions and societies consisting of several persons, but not as power. The husband is the natural head of the family, if only because he bears the main burden of family duties, which the wife cannot bear with the relative tenderness of her nature and the weakness of her physical strength. "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself up for her" – consequently, conjugal love must be first of all spiritual love, and not carnal, and have a moral goal: "in order to sanctify it, cleansing it with a bath of water by means of the word"... "that it may be holy and blameless" (vv. 25-27) — here by "the bath of water" is meant the sacrament of baptism, by which Christ cleanses from all defilement and impurity those who enter His Church. In the same way, husbands should be concerned about the moral purity and salvation of the souls of their wives. At the same time, husbands should express their love in caring for their wife as for their own body – to "nourish and warm" her, "as the Lord does the church" (vv. 28-30 [3]). This again points to the need for spiritual love between spouses in Christianity: the husband should look at his wife not as some kind of mechanical tool for carnal pleasures, but as a part of himself.In this regard, the Apostle also reminds us of the biblical basis for such love for his wife: "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall be one flesh" (Gen. 2:24). With these words, the Apostle wishes to dispose Christian spouses to a strong marital union and to show how unnatural and ungodly marital disagreements, and even more so divorces, are. "This mystery is great; I speak in relation to Christ and to the Church" (v. 32) – St. John Chrysostom best explains these words: "Truly it is a sacrament that a man, having left him who begat him, who gave birth to him, who brought him up, and the one who conceived him, was sick with him, gave birth to him in sickness, leaving those who have done so much good, to whom he is accustomed, is united with her whom he has not seen before, who has nothing in common with him, and prefers it to everything... Truly this is a great mystery, containing some hidden wisdom." "I speak in relation to Christ and to the Church" — with this addition the holy Apostle wishes to suggest that the closeness of husband to wife and their mutual union in blessed Christian marriage are so great and contain such a mystery that they can be the best and most obvious likeness of the mysterious unity of Christ with the Church, in which they have their highest prototype. "There is also much that is mysterious in the natural marriage between husband and wife, as the Apostle says, but I am speaking of Christian marriage, which is concluded in the image of the union of Christ with the Church. Such a marriage is already the greatest mystery, it is already a sacrament of the Church." What is the union of Christ with the Church? It is the closest union, imbued with love, holy and indissoluble. In conclusion, the Apostle says: "So let each one of you love his wife as himself; and let the wife be afraid of her husband" – everything should be mutual for spouses. In the beginning, the Apostle said: "Obey one another in the fear of God," but nevertheless, the husband is the head, and therefore the wife owes him special obedience. Since wives are inclined to be burdened by the power of their husbands over them, and husbands are inclined to abuse their primacy position, the Apostle concludes by commanding that which can be violated primarily in marriage: he commands husbands to love, and obedience to wives. The expression: "And let the wife fear her husband" is, of course, only a figurative expression, and does not at all signify the wife's slavish fear of her husband, who has no place and cannot have a place in Christianity. This "fear" is nothing but respect for the husband with the fear of offending him and diminishing his love for himself. Blessed Jerome translates this expression: "Let the wife honor her husband."In the sixth chapter, the holy Apostle speaks first of all about the duties of children to their parents, and then of parents to their children. Children should obey their parents, for the natural law of justice requires it, and the fifth commandment of the Law of God commands it, and parents should not be excessively harsh to their children, should not lead them into sin, but should bring them up wisely in the teaching and chastisement of the Lord (vv. 1-4 [4]). Further, the Apostle inspires slaves with obedience to their masters, and masters with a just and lenient attitude towards their slaves. The political or social question of the legality or illegality of slavery is not touched upon here by the holy Apostle at all. The Christian Church in general did not set herself the task of bringing about external political or social upheavals, but only the internal rebirth of people, which should naturally lead to external changes in all human life (vv. 5-9 [5]).In conclusion of his moral instructions, the holy Apostle calls Christians to an invisible spiritual battle with the enemy of our salvation, the devil, and his servants: here we see the foundation of Christian asceticism. The whole life of a Christian should be an unceasing struggle. For this struggle, the Apostle calls on Christians to put on the whole armor of God, to gird up their loins with truth, to put on the armor of righteousness, to put on their feet in readiness to preach the gospel of peace, and above all to take up the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit – the Word of God, and, armed in this way, to wage a stubborn struggle against the snares of the devil, against the spirits of wickedness in the heavenly places, which constantly draw man to the path of sin and opposition to the will of God. This Apostolic reading (vv. 10-17) is read on the feast days of some monks and at monastic tonsures. The main weapon in this case should be prayer, and at the same time it should be unceasing – "at all times". Evil spirits are called "peacekeepers" here not in the sense that they have been given power over the world, but because all evil in the world, all evil people do their will: they are the peacekeepers of the world "lying in evil." The expression "under the heavens" means that the spirits of evil hover everywhere between heaven and earth, embracing us from everywhere, as the air surrounds us everywhere, and are constantly attaching themselves to us, "like mosquitoes in a damp place," according to the figurative comparison of Ep. Theophanes the Recluse. The "whole armor of God" is especially necessary for us to be able to resist these evil spirits "in the evil day." By this "evil day" we must understand especially decisive moments in our lives, such as death and the Last Judgment, when we will need to give an account to God of our earthly life as we spent it. From all this it is clear that Christians are soldiers of Christ, obliged to wage an unceasing struggle against the enemy of God and the enemy of human salvation, the devil, and against his servants and all kinds of evil that proceeds from them. A Christian must be completely irreconcilable to all kinds of devilish evil, but, of course, fight against it by means worthy of a Christian (vv. 10-18).In the conclusion of the epistle, which contains verses 19-24, the holy Apostle asks, firstly, prayers for himself, thereby teaching that the prayers of the Church are more important and higher than all the persons who are placed in it, and, secondly, he speaks of the embassy to the Ephesians of Tychicus, The holy Apostle Paul concludes his epistle with a wish for peace and love to the brethren and with the usual Apostolic blessing: "Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. In "incorruptibility" means, according to the interpretation of St. John Chrysostom, in sinlessness.Therefore, imitate God, as beloved children, and live in love, just as Christ also loved us and gave Himself for us as an offering and sacrifice to God, as a sweet fragrance. ^With my soul I have sought Thee by night, and with my spirit I will seek Thee within me from the early morning: for when Thy judgments are done on earth, then those who dwell in the world will learn righteousness. ^Thus should husbands love their wives as their own bodies: he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one has ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and warms it, even as the Lord does the Church, because we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. ^Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is what justice requires. Honor your father and mother, this is the first commandment with a promise: let it be good for you, and you will live long on earth. And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the teaching and instruction of the Lord. ^Servants, obey your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling, in the simplicity of your heart, as to Christ, not only with visible helpfulness, as men-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, serving with diligence, as the Lord, and not as men, knowing that each will receive from the Lord according to the measure of the good he has done, whether slave or free. And you, gentlemen, do the same to them, moderating your severity, knowing that there is a Lord in heaven over yourselves and over them, who has no respect of persons. ^

Epistle to the Philippians

In the second half of this chapter, the holy Apostle, depicting the negative aspects of the life of the pagans, such as the Ephesians were before, exhorts "to put off the former way of life of the old man, corrupting in deceitful lusts" and "to put on the new man, created according to God, in the righteousness and holiness of the truth," that is, in the righteousness and holiness of the truth. This inner renewal must be expressed first of all in truthfulness: "Therefore, rejecting falsehood, speak the truth every man to his neighbor" (v. 25); then in angerlessness: "When you are angry, do not sin: let not the sun go down on your anger" (v. 26), that is, make peace with him whom you are angry with before the sun goes down; Further, the Apostle exhorts not to steal, but to work with one's own hands, "so that there may be something to give to the needy," to avoid rotten words, that is, foul language, and to be modest and edifying in conversation, not to offend the Holy Spirit with one's bad behavior, to shun all strife, irritation, rage, anger, shouting, and slander, but to be kind and compassionate to one another, and to forgive offenses in return. "As God also in Christ has forgiven us" (vv. 17-32).Continuing the same moral exhortations in the fifth chapter, the holy Apostle urges Christians to imitate God in love, as children imitate their father, taking his example in all things (vv. 1-2 [1]). As an incentive to a moral life, the holy Apostle points out the deprivation of sinners of the Kingdom of God, warning especially against fornication and drunkenness and against all impurity and covetousness, and exhorting Christians to "walk as children of light," testing what is pleasing to God. The state of the inveterate sinner is like a deep sleep, but he too can awaken from this sinful sleep, and the Apostle cries, "Arise, you who sleep, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light" (v. 14). Some commentators believe that these words are a free translation of what the holy prophet Isaiah said in verses 60:1 and 26:9 [2] and verses 19: "Arise, shine, O Jerusalem, for your light has come... Thy dead shall live, dead bodies shall arise." Further teaching that this temporal life is given to us in preparation for eternity, and bearing in mind the multitude of sinful temptations that surround us in this life, the holy Apostle exhorts: "Take heed, therefore, that ye walk carefully, not as foolish, but as wise, valuing the time, for the days are evil" (vv. 15-16), that is, do not waste precious time, but use it to prepare yourselves for eternity. To do this, first of all, one should not be "senseless," but one should "understand what is the will of God." The Apostle especially warns against the abuse of wine, saying that such abuse leads a person to debauchery. Instead of carnal pleasures, Christians should seek spiritual pleasures, being filled with the Spirit and edifying themselves by singing psalms and spiritual songs, and demanding that these songs be sung not only with the tongue, but also with the heart (vv. 1-20). Here the Apostle presents the conjugal union as an image of the mysterious union of the Lord Jesus Christ with the Church, which is why these verses 20-33 constitute the content of the Apostolic reading during the celebration of the sacrament of marriage. The Apostle demands self-sacrificing love for their wives from husbands, and prescribes complete obedience to their husbands to wives: "Wives, be subject to your husbands as to the Lord" (v. 22) — since: further, the Apostle explains that "the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the Church" (v. 23), then "as the Church obeys Christ, so also the wives are subject to their husbands in all things" (v. 24), that is, in all that is good. From this it is clearly seen that obedience is commanded to wives not at all slavish and compulsory, but "as to the Lord", that is, sincere and heartfelt, based on love. The headship of the husband in a Christian marriage should be understood only as primacy, which is always inevitable in any unions and societies consisting of several persons, but not as power. The husband is the natural head of the family, if only because he bears the main burden of family duties, which the wife cannot bear with the relative tenderness of her nature and the weakness of her physical strength. "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself up for her" – consequently, conjugal love must be first of all spiritual love, and not carnal, and have a moral goal: "in order to sanctify it, cleansing it with a bath of water by means of the word"... "that it may be holy and blameless" (vv. 25-27) — here by "the bath of water" is meant the sacrament of baptism, by which Christ cleanses from all defilement and impurity those who enter His Church. In the same way, husbands should be concerned about the moral purity and salvation of the souls of their wives. At the same time, husbands should express their love in caring for their wife as for their own body – to "nourish and warm" her, "as the Lord does the church" (vv. 28-30 [3]). This again points to the need for spiritual love between spouses in Christianity: the husband should look at his wife not as some kind of mechanical tool for carnal pleasures, but as a part of himself.In this regard, the Apostle also reminds us of the biblical basis for such love for his wife: "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall be one flesh" (Gen. 2:24). With these words, the Apostle wishes to dispose Christian spouses to a strong marital union and to show how unnatural and ungodly marital disagreements, and even more so divorces, are. "This mystery is great; I speak in relation to Christ and to the Church" (v. 32) – St. John Chrysostom best explains these words: "Truly it is a sacrament that a man, having left him who begat him, who gave birth to him, who brought him up, and the one who conceived him, was sick with him, gave birth to him in sickness, leaving those who have done so much good, to whom he is accustomed, is united with her whom he has not seen before, who has nothing in common with him, and prefers it to everything... Truly this is a great mystery, containing some hidden wisdom." "I speak in relation to Christ and to the Church" — with this addition the holy Apostle wishes to suggest that the closeness of husband to wife and their mutual union in blessed Christian marriage are so great and contain such a mystery that they can be the best and most obvious likeness of the mysterious unity of Christ with the Church, in which they have their highest prototype. "There is also much that is mysterious in the natural marriage between husband and wife, as the Apostle says, but I am speaking of Christian marriage, which is concluded in the image of the union of Christ with the Church. Such a marriage is already the greatest mystery, it is already a sacrament of the Church." What is the union of Christ with the Church? It is the closest union, imbued with love, holy and indissoluble. In conclusion, the Apostle says: "So let each one of you love his wife as himself; and let the wife be afraid of her husband" – everything should be mutual for spouses. In the beginning, the Apostle said: "Obey one another in the fear of God," but nevertheless, the husband is the head, and therefore the wife owes him special obedience. Since wives are inclined to be burdened by the power of their husbands over them, and husbands are inclined to abuse their primacy position, the Apostle concludes by commanding that which can be violated primarily in marriage: he commands husbands to love, and obedience to wives. The expression: "And let the wife fear her husband" is, of course, only a figurative expression, and does not at all signify the wife's slavish fear of her husband, who has no place and cannot have a place in Christianity. This "fear" is nothing but respect for the husband with the fear of offending him and diminishing his love for himself. Blessed Jerome translates this expression: "Let the wife honor her husband."In the sixth chapter, the holy Apostle speaks first of all about the duties of children to their parents, and then of parents to their children. Children should obey their parents, for the natural law of justice requires it, and the fifth commandment of the Law of God commands it, and parents should not be excessively harsh to their children, should not lead them into sin, but should bring them up wisely in the teaching and chastisement of the Lord (vv. 1-4 [4]). Further, the Apostle inspires slaves with obedience to their masters, and masters with a just and lenient attitude towards their slaves. The political or social question of the legality or illegality of slavery is not touched upon here by the holy Apostle at all. The Christian Church in general did not set herself the task of bringing about external political or social upheavals, but only the internal rebirth of people, which should naturally lead to external changes in all human life (vv. 5-9 [5]).In conclusion of his moral instructions, the holy Apostle calls Christians to an invisible spiritual battle with the enemy of our salvation, the devil, and his servants: here we see the foundation of Christian asceticism. The whole life of a Christian should be an unceasing struggle. For this struggle, the Apostle calls on Christians to put on the whole armor of God, to gird up their loins with truth, to put on the armor of righteousness, to put on their feet in readiness to preach the gospel of peace, and above all to take up the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit – the Word of God, and, armed in this way, to wage a stubborn struggle against the snares of the devil, against the spirits of wickedness in the heavenly places, which constantly draw man to the path of sin and opposition to the will of God. This Apostolic reading (vv. 10-17) is read on the feast days of some monks and at monastic tonsures. The main weapon in this case should be prayer, and at the same time it should be unceasing – "at all times". Evil spirits are called "peacekeepers" here not in the sense that they have been given power over the world, but because all evil in the world, all evil people do their will: they are the peacekeepers of the world "lying in evil." The expression "under the heavens" means that the spirits of evil hover everywhere between heaven and earth, embracing us from everywhere, as the air surrounds us everywhere, and are constantly attaching themselves to us, "like mosquitoes in a damp place," according to the figurative comparison of Ep. Theophanes the Recluse. The "whole armor of God" is especially necessary for us to be able to resist these evil spirits "in the evil day." By this "evil day" we must understand especially decisive moments in our lives, such as death and the Last Judgment, when we will need to give an account to God of our earthly life as we spent it. From all this it is clear that Christians are soldiers of Christ, obliged to wage an unceasing struggle against the enemy of God and the enemy of human salvation, the devil, and against his servants and all kinds of evil that proceeds from them. A Christian must be completely irreconcilable to all kinds of devilish evil, but, of course, fight against it by means worthy of a Christian (vv. 10-18).In the conclusion of the epistle, which contains verses 19-24, the holy Apostle asks, firstly, prayers for himself, thereby teaching that the prayers of the Church are more important and higher than all the persons who are placed in it, and, secondly, he speaks of the embassy to the Ephesians of Tychicus, The holy Apostle Paul concludes his epistle with a wish for peace and love to the brethren and with the usual Apostolic blessing: "Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. In "incorruptibility" means, according to the interpretation of St. John Chrysostom, in sinlessness.Therefore, imitate God, as beloved children, and live in love, just as Christ also loved us and gave Himself for us as an offering and sacrifice to God, as a sweet fragrance. ^With my soul I have sought Thee by night, and with my spirit I will seek Thee within me from the early morning: for when Thy judgments are done on earth, then those who dwell in the world will learn righteousness. ^Thus should husbands love their wives as their own bodies: he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one has ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and warms it, even as the Lord does the Church, because we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. ^Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is what justice requires. Honor your father and mother, this is the first commandment with a promise: let it be good for you, and you will live long on earth. And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the teaching and instruction of the Lord. ^Servants, obey your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling, in the simplicity of your heart, as to Christ, not only with visible helpfulness, as men-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, serving with diligence, as the Lord, and not as men, knowing that each will receive from the Lord according to the measure of the good he has done, whether slave or free. And you, gentlemen, do the same to them, moderating your severity, knowing that there is a Lord in heaven over yourselves and over them, who has no respect of persons. ^

Founding of the Philippian Church

The Church of Philippi was founded by the holy Apostle Paul during his second preaching journey. When the great Apostle of the Gentiles with his companions and co-workers Silas, Timothy and Luke passed through Galatia and Phrygia and reached the shores of the Aegean Sea, the Holy Spirit did not allow them to go either south to Asia or north to Bithynia. Here, in the seaside town of Troas, St. Paul had a vision. A certain Macedonian man appeared before him and asked him: "Come to Macedonia and help us." It is believed that he was the Guardian Angel of the inhabitants of Macedonia. Having received such instructions, Saint Paul immediately set out there by sea through Naples and arrived in the city of Philippi, located on the border with Thrace, not far from the sea. It received its name from the father of Alexander the Great Philip, who built and strengthened it (in 358 BC). The writer says that it is "the first city in that part of Macedonia" and moreover "Colony". The Romans, having conquered Macedonia, under its last king Perseus, divided it into 4 regions, and the emperor Augustus, in order to strengthen the Roman influence in Macedonia, resettled there many eminent citizens from Italy, placed a Roman garrison in Philippi and granted the inhabitants the rights of the indigenous inhabitants of Italy ("ius italicum"). All this so elevated the importance of Philippi, that they began to be venerated more important than the main city of the region, Amphipolis.Here the holy Apostle Paul and his companions stayed for several days, doing nothing. On the Sabbath they went out of town to the local Jewish meeting-house, where they preached to some of the women who had gathered there. One of these women who heeded the apostolic preaching was Lydia, who sold scarlet, "worshiping God," that is, apparently, a proselyte (a pagan who converted to Judaism). Having believed, she was baptized together with her entire household, and offered shelter to St. Paul and his companions. Her house became a place of assembly for all who believed. From there Saint Paul addressed his preaching to the pagans, without ceasing to visit the Jewish prayer house by the river. Everything went well and well, until the greed and avarice of a certain pagan family, apparently influential, stirred up a rebellion among the people against Paul, because he had expelled the spirit of divination from a certain servant girl, who brought great income to the masters by her prophecies. Meeting the holy Apostle Paul and those who were with him, she followed them and cried out: "These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation." When St. Paul found that this preaching from the spirit of flattery could harm the preaching from the Spirit of Truth, he rebuked this spirit and in the Name of the Lord expelled him from the handmaiden. The enemy raised a storm because of this. The handmaidens, seeing that the hope of the income which the maid had given them by her prophecy had vanished, seized Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the public square to the rulers. There they accused them of disturbing the city by preaching new forbidden customs, "which we Romans should neither accept nor observe."According to the latest laws of the Roman Empire, in order to protect the weakening state power of Rome, the establishment of new religious sects was indeed a criminal offense. The gentlemen of the maid managed to turn the crowd against the preachers of the Gospel. The governors, tearing off the clothes of the apostles, ordered them to be beaten with sticks, and then threw them into prison. The prison guard put the apostles in an inner prison and hammered their feet into a stock. But according to the dispensation of God, this conclusion of St. Paul served only to his greater glorification and the success of his preaching. About midnight, when Paul and Silas were singing praises to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them, suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, its doors were opened of their own accord, and the bonds of all the prisoners were loosened. The prison guard, awakening and seeing what had happened, drew his sword and wanted to kill himself, fearing responsibility for the escape of the prisoners. But Paul calmed him down, and he, demanding fire, could not but be convinced that all that had happened was the work of the power of God. Struck by this, he trembled at Paul's feet, and having brought him and Silas out, he prayed: "My lords, what shall I do to be saved?" Everyone believed and was baptized at the same hour.Meanwhile, with the onset of day, the city governors, who had allowed the Apostles to be beaten the day before, probably not so much out of personal conviction of their guilt as to calm the people's fury, ordered them to be released. However, Saint Paul, undoubtedly in order to erase the impression of the dishonor he had inflicted on the work of preaching, demanded that the governors apologize to them, since they were Roman citizens. The governors were afraid that they had subjected the Roman citizens to corporal punishment, and even without trial, and when they came, they apologized to them, asking them only to leave the city. But the Apostles did not immediately depart, but first came to the house of Lydia in order to establish in the faith the newly founded young Christian community. Only after arranging everything necessary for the further existence of the community, did they go on (Acts 16:9-40). Thus was founded a Christian community in Philippi in the year 51 or 52 A.D. After leaving Philippi, Saint Paul left his co-workers Luke and Timothy there for a short time. St. Paul's relations with the Philippians did not end there. The Church of Philippi proved to be the most ardent and devoted to its founder and the most abundant in the fruits of Christian mercy and charity. The Philippians' relationship with the Apostle Paul was touchingly loving. Wherever the holy Apostle was, the Philippians watched him with loving filial eyes and constantly gave him material and moral support in his life full of labors and sorrows. The Apostle responded to them with the same mutual love. "My beloved and desired, my joy and my crown," the Apostle addressed them later in his Epistle (Phil. 4:1). More than once they sent him help to Thessalonica (Philippians 4:16 [1]), and probably also to Corinth (2 Corinthians 11:8-9 [2]). When the Apostle was sent to Rome to be judged by Caesar (62-63), the Philippians sent their eldest presbyter Epaphroditus to him with a monetary allowance. On his third preaching journey, after spending three years in Ephesus and deciding to visit Achaia, he went there through Macedonia and, among other cities, visited Philippi, as one might think, twice (Acts 19:21 [3] and 20:3-6 [4]). ^To the other churches I have caused expenses, obtaining from them an allowance for the service of you; and when I was with you, although I suffered a deficiency, I did not trouble anyone, for my lack was made up by the brethren who came from Macedonia; and in everything I have tried and will try not to be a burden to you. ^When this was done, Paul resolved in the Spirit, having passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, "Having been there, I must see Rome also." ^There he stayed for three months. When, on account of the indignation made against him by the Jews, he wanted to go to Syria, it occurred to him to return by way of Macedonia. He was accompanied to Asia by Sopater Pyrrhus the Berian, and from the Thessalonians Aristarchus and Secundus, and Gaius the Derbean and Timothy, and the Asians Tychicus and Trophimus. They went ahead and waited for us at Troas. And we, after the days of unleavened bread, sailed from Philippi, and in five days came to them at Troas, where we tarried seven days. ^

Reason for writing

When, after his third missionary journey, the holy Apostle Paul set off for Jerusalem, he was subjected there to a fierce attack by the Jews, he was imprisoned and demanded the judgment of Caesar, after which he was sent to Rome. During all this time the Philippians tried to help the holy Apostle, as he himself hinted at (Phil. 4:10 [1]), but circumstances were not favorable to them. When the Apostle arrived in Rome, the Philippians collected for him abundant financial aid and sent him with Epaphroditus, whom the holy Apostle calls his brother, co-worker and companion (Philippians 2:25 [2]). Accepting the offering of the Philippians from Epaphroditus, as "fragrant incense, a pleasing sacrifice, acceptable to God" (Philippians 4:18), Saint Paul learned from him that among the Philippians, in addition to grief for him, there spread a heavy contemplation about the fate of the persecuted faith of Christ itself, as a result of which there was also a faint-hearted fear of its enemies and a lack of unanimity in the struggle against them. Then Saint Paul also learned that among some of the heterogeneous members of the Philippian community, vanity and covetousness had arisen before one another, as a result of which mutual disagreements arose. It is possible that the Judaizers began to confuse the faithful there, as well as everywhere where Christian communities arose. Finally, Epaphroditus informed the holy Apostle about certain persons who served as a temptation for the Philippians. All this, taken together, disposed the holy Apostle Paul to write an Epistle to the Philippians. But the coming of Epaphroditus was soon darkened by sorrow for the Apostle: Epaphroditus fell ill, and moreover so gravely that he was at the point of death, the news of which reached the Philippians. Finally, God had mercy on him, and not only on him, but "also on me, so that sorrow should not be added to sorrow" (Philippians 2:27). When the recovered man had recovered to such an extent that he could endure the hardships of the journey, the Holy Apostle sent him to his own people, handing him his epistle.As is natural to expect, in view of the above circumstances, the main purpose of the epistle was to express love and gratitude to the Philippians, and at the same time to praise them, as faithful to the faith, sincerely and without hypocrisy. However, the Apostolic Epistle could not do without instructions in faith and morals, but these instructions are set forth here without the usual strict logical sequence. In this epistle there is no division into dogmatic and moral parts, which is usual for Paul's epistles: the epistle is private, not official. It resembles rather a fatherly friendly letter and is filled with expressions of gentle and tender feelings that were established between the holy Apostle and the Philippians. We do not see in this epistle either the severity of rebukes, or persistent commands, or authoritative apostolic decrees. Especially characteristic of this epistle is the absence of the accusatory element in it.I rejoiced in the Lord that you have already begun to take care of me again; you have been concerned before, but circumstances have not been favorable to you. ^However, I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and co-worker and companion, and your messenger and servant in my need. ^

Time and place of writing