Заключение Послания (Еф. 6:19–24)

Saint Paul finished putting on the spiritual warrior in the whole armor of God, and thus finished the subjects about which he proposed to write in the epistle. Now he writes a conclusion. In terms of grammatical form, this speech is closely related to the previous one, but in terms of meaning, a special article begins here. He seems to be saying: that’s all I intended to tell you. Now I ask you to pray for me, that God will help me to be freed for the free gospel of the Gospel. Saint Chrysostom says: “Finally, he mentions himself. What do you want, blessed Paul, by adding your name to the conclusion? This is what he replies: “let my word be given.” In conclusion, Saint Paul, firstly, asks: a) prayers for himself, Eph. 6:19, 20; then b) informs why he sends Tychicus, Eph. 6:21, 22; finally c) expresses his good wishes, Eph. 6:23, 24. Eph. 6:19. And about me, may the word be given to me at the opening of my mouth, to boldly speak the mystery of the gospel. “And for me,” that is, pray. This is not just a proforma and not just evidence of the humility of St. Paul, but a testimony of the faith of the Holy Apostle that the prayer of the Church is strong before God. About the Apostle Peter in Acts it is said that his release from prison at night, before he was supposed to be put to death the next morning, was the fruit of the prayers of all believers (Acts 12). But on the part of the Ephesians, such prayer was a duty to their enlightener with true faith. This is also an instruction for us to pray for our spiritual fathers and for everyone who has in any way contributed and is contributing to the cause of our salvation. What does Saint Paul ask you to pray for? – About the freedom of evangelism. He was in chains and could not freely walk with the gospel, and was so cramped in place that he had no one to open his mouth to. Saint Chrysostom says that the holy Apostle does not ask to pray for that, so that he would be given something to say, for regarding this the promise was always fulfilled in the Apostles: “it will be given to you in the hour that you speak” (Matthew 10:19), but that he might be freed from his bonds, just as when Saint Peter was imprisoned in chains, there was constant prayer for him (abbreviated). He expresses this with the words: “let the word be given through the opening of lips,” that is, with open lips, “with boldness,” - boldly, without hesitation, without fear of spying and eavesdropping, “to say,” - γνωρισαι - to let know, to bring to the attention, to make known. He doesn’t say to whom to “tell”, but this is already clear - to everyone, to the whole world, or to say everywhere; “the mystery of the gospel,” the mystery of the Gospel, or the dispensation of our salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ, which he interpreted in the epistle. This was the purpose of the Apostle's life. He longed to work in this matter, and for such a zealot, remaining in inaction for days and weeks is painful, and not just for months and years. So he asks to pray. And yourself?! And faith in Providence, and, moreover, special for the Apostles?! - And he himself, of course, prayed, and hesitation in faith in God’s special providence for him cannot be assumed in him, but still he asks to pray. And not only these, but also all other objections to the effectiveness and fruitfulness of the prayers of others for us are refuted by this word of the Apostle. The works of the Apostles are lawful for us. They acted as they should. We too should act according to their example, and not take into account the questions generated by empty thoughts. Eph. 6:20. I will speak about him in prison, and in him I will be bold, as it is fitting for me to speak. I will embassy – πρεσβευω; and this word in church Greek is used in the sense of fervent intercessory prayer. So to the Mother of God, to the Baptist, the Apostles and all the saints, it is said: πρεσβευε υπερ ημων - pray for us, pray for us. There is no different thought in the present words of the Apostle: for whom I am embassy, ​​υπερ ου πρεσβευω) - for whom I pray earnestly in chains. There he asked them to pray, but here he says: I myself pray. He asks them not to pray alone, but as if together: he and the Church of Ephesus, as one person. And it was thus, according to the word of the Savior, that if two or three pray together, it will be according to their prayer. Among sincere prayer books, the rule is that, when something special is needed, one should invite another to pray, so that the two of them can pray together. This is according to the commandment of the Lord and according to the example of the Apostle. Another meaning of the word πρεσβευω is embassy. If this meaning is accepted, then it cannot be translated as follows: I am correcting the work of an ambassador or an Apostle even in chains, for Saint Paul did not have the freedom to correct his Apostleship as it should. Why, grieving over this, he asks for prayers for liberation. But it should be like this: about him, on the subject of which I am an ambassador, I recognize myself as an ambassador, obliged to correct the ambassadorial matter, and in my very bonds I recognize myself as such, and I grieve that I cannot act as I should act. Help me with this with your prayer. What exactly? “Let me be bold in it, as it behooves me to speak,” - so that in this gospel I boldly, boldly, without hesitation, speak openly everywhere and before everyone, as I should speak, as an Apostle of God. The word “verb” must be combined with “I dare”. But one cannot help but see that if “I embassy” is taken in the meaning of “ambassador,” then the flow of speech will not be entirely coherent: for then “let me dare” will depend either on: “and pray for me,” or on: “may the word be given to me.” Both are far away, and speech is indignant. But if “I will embassy” - πρεσβευω is taken in the meaning of “I pray”, then “Yes, I dare in it” will directly depend on this “I pray”. And I pray for the same thing that I ask you to pray for, that is, to speak boldly to me in the gospel, as the Apostle should speak, “to say everything that I was sent to announce” (St. Chrysostom). He assigned the same goal to their prayer, that is, to speak with open lips with boldness everywhere the mystery of the gospel. If you do not accept “I embass” in the meaning of “I pray,” then in the words: “Let my word be given,” and “Yes, I dare in it,” there will be an unnecessary repetition of the same thing in relation to the same persons. Eph. 6:21. May you also know what I am doing about me; Tychicus, beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything. “The Apostle himself only mentioned that he was in bonds; Tichicus instructs Tichicus to tell the details about his situation. He explained in his message everything that relates to dogmas and the structure of morals; as for the actual news, this was left to the one who delivered the message. That’s why he added: “let you know,” that is, so that you inquire “even about me.” And through this he showed his love for them, and gave an opportunity to reveal their love for him” (St. Chrysostom). From the words: “and you”, making any kind of guidance does not seem thorough, that is, as if if: “and you”, then someone else should also be guessed. The words: “even about me, what I do” - some explain and mean: everything that you would like to know about me - Tychicus will tell you everything. Assigning a special subject for “what is about me” and a special one for “what I do” is an unnecessary concern that cannot give anything positively true except for the multiplication of words. Who is Tychicus does not mean the Apostle in detail either here or in other epistles. In Acts it is said that he was a native of Asia (Eph. 20:4), from the area where Ephesus is and where the Apostle worked for so long in the gospel. It is easy to assume that this is a believer who is sincerely attached to the Apostle and chosen by him to promote the Gospel in whatever way he can. It is clear that he was delivering messages. But since he was entrusted with many things to complete, it must be assumed that he had both the mind and character that made him capable of faithfully fulfilling such an important assignment. These are the qualities that the Apostle indicates in him when he says “beloved brother,” that is, a Christian worthy of all love in mind and character and beloved by me. This is a high recommendation. But even higher is the following: “a faithful servant in the Lord.” A minister, not a servant, but a διακονος, is the executor of assigned assignments, or one assigned task, like the seven deacons in the Church of Jerusalem. Saint Paul wanted to mean by this: my helper and co-worker in the work of evangelism. "Faithful". Just as I rely on him in everything, so can you, who already know him. He is faithful, therefore he will tell you the whole truth, as it is; and if you had a need to communicate something through him, you can completely rely on him. "About the Lord". He is faithful and undertakes the labors of serving the Gospel not for human reasons, but for the Lord; acts in the fear of God, before the face of the Lord, for His glory and His holy Gospel, without any calculations. Eph. 6:22. I have sent him to you for this purpose, so that you may know about us, and may your hearts be comforted. “For this reason.” Consequently, there were no other goals. This is answered by the epistles of Tychicus, and not by the writing of an epistle. In relation to the epistle, one can only infer from this that there were no special motives for writing it, but only one desire: to show them my love and to renew in their memory the entire economy of salvation. And by writing the epistle and the message of Tychicus, the Apostle wanted to show only his fatherly love and desire to be in communion. Saint Paul could not help but assume that the news of his captivity had also reached them. From this circumstance, they themselves could guess a lot, and even more could be said by the ill-wishers of both the holy Apostle and the Gospel itself. So that no confusion would arise from this and in order to disperse the grief that his spiritual children could not help but feel when they heard about his bonds, he sends Tychicus to them to tell them about the affairs and circumstances of the Apostle and thereby comfort them, assuring them that there is no danger to their father, who so tenderly loves them and is loved by them. The one thing that bothers him is that he cannot preach freely. Let them pray about this. “How much love there is here (in this word and deed!” (Saint Chrysostom). Eph. 6:23. Peace to the brethren and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Well-wishes are purely moral, flowing from the spirit of faith in Christ. “Peace of the brethren”, so that everyone lives among themselves in harmony, without any embarrassment; “love”, so that they do not outwardly live in peace, but have a heartfelt union of love with each other. Where there is love, there is certainly peace, and a lasting peace that nothing earthly can upset. Let love be sanctified by faith. “There is no benefit from love without faith, or, better said, without faith love cannot exist at all” (St. Chrysostom). Here is an injunction: let there be no love other than in the spirit of faith, and a warning, lest love lead to a violation of faith. “He wants them not only to contain love, but also wisely, and not interfere with people of other faiths” (St. Chrysostom). Keeping faith is the root of everything. From it comes love; from love - peace. "From God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ". Everywhere the Apostle shows that freedom belongs only to seeking, while the gift of the very virtues comes from God. No matter how much you fight, you won’t succeed in anything. But if you don’t fight, you won’t get anything. We need both. God, seeing the strong desire and seeking, gives and, seeing the zealous guarding of what was given, keeps what was given to the one to whom it was given. Here is a paraphrase of this text, as done by blessed Theodoret. “He put peace in front, but he also put in love, showing that the latter produces the former. He also combined faith with love, prescribing love according to the law of the Gospel. He also indicated their giver, not only God the Father, but also the Lord Jesus Christ, and with Them the All-Holy Spirit. For he added: “grace...” Eph. 6:24. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption. Amen. Two methods of good wishes. There, what was more favored was what depended on them; but here it is more that it comes from the generosity of God, although this is not unconditional, but under the condition of love. “Those who love the Lord” calls all those who have believed in Him, cleave to Him and walk in His commandments. “Grace” is the favor of God, and every perfect gift, coming from above, necessary for everyone for salvation. I wish grace not only to you, the Ephesians, but to all who love the Lord everywhere. The turn of phrase suggests a certain movement of the Apostolic heart, which always embraced everyone. What does the word mean: in “incorruption”? Physical decay is the decomposition of the body. Moral corruption is a sin. The Apostle desires that none of the Christians be subjected to this final corruption, for otherwise they will no longer have love, and they will lose grace. Theodoret writes: “Grace is not given to everyone unconditionally, but to those who love the Lord, and even to those not unconditionally, but with love, they keep His life-giving laws.” Avoidance from all sin and fulfillment of every commandment are already presupposed in the lover. But perhaps there will be someone who sinfully thinks that it is possible to love the Lord and yet sin in some way. The apostle demands uncorrupted, complete, perfect love. It requires that the heart all belong to the Lord, and not be divided between Him and something else. A heart that turns to something else is a damaged heart, unfaithful, treasonous. And the purity of motives is immediately obvious. In a word, the Apostle demands love that is irreproachable in all respects. Saint Chrysostom understands “incorruption” to mean sinlessness. Here are his words, which together can serve as an excellent conclusion to the entire interpretation: “Tell me, what is the corruption of the body? Is it not when it all decomposes and its composition falls into parts? This is what happens to the soul when sin reigns in it. Chastity and truth are the beauty of the soul, and courage and prudence are health for it! That sins produce corruption is clear from the fact that they make people shameful and weak and cause other illnesses. Listen to what the Scripture says: “All flesh made its way upon the earth” (Gen. 6:12). And in another place: “men are corrupt in mind” (2 Tim. 3:8). Our body is perishable, but our soul is imperishable. Oh, when would we not expose her to corruption (corruption)! Original sin made this possible. Even after baptism, he can corrupt the soul and make it the prey of undying worms. But, on the other hand, worms cannot even touch the soul when they find it incorruptible. Be careful not to corrupt your soul. Corruption itself will one day be clothed with incorruption. And what by nature is not subject to decay (the soul) cannot in itself be destroyed. Thus, incorruptible corruption, without end, and immortal death are possible. This is exactly what will happen when the bodies become incorruptible. Therefore, if you go there with corruption in your soul, then it will become incorruptible for us and will have no end. Constantly burning and always being food for worms, this, of course, is incorruptible corruption. I beg you: let us be afraid of these words! Let us also keep these laws (incorruption) and burn with love for the Lord, so that we may become partakers of the Apostolic blessing by the grace of Christ who saved us. With Him glory to the Father, with the All-Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages! Amen" (Theodoret). You might be interested in: