Послесловие (Флп. 4, 21–23)

Saint Paul ends his Epistle with general greetings (Phil. 4:21-22) and his usual signature (Phil. 4:23). Phil.4:21. Kiss every saint in Christ Jesus. You, the brethren who are with me, kiss you. “Kiss” - greet, my bow, convey my good wishes. “Everyone is holy” - every believer, sanctified in the waters of baptism, who has made a vow to live holy and for this reason has received the grace of the Holy Spirit in order to be able to conscientiously fulfill this vow, throughout his life not allowing not only deeds, but also words and thoughts that are displeasing to God and contrary to His and our holiness. "About Christ Jesus". No one can be holy except in Christ Jesus. For the sake of faith in Him, remission of sins is given; through baptism into death His new life is born; and the grace of the Holy Spirit is given by Him, and all life, therefore holy, is the fruit of His action in us, when we surrender ourselves completely to Him, nothing of ourselves, without His assistance and all-action, without expecting and without relying on ourselves for anything. The general expresses goodwill to them; but “this is also important; for to greet them in this way is a sign of great love” (St. Chrysostom). “You, the brethren who are with me, kiss you.” He does not name who they were, probably because they were not known to the Philippians. From the previous review it is clear that he had no famous companions with him, except St. Timothy; Some of the newly converted were still far from perfect in the matter of self-sacrifice. This, however, did not prevent them from being brothers of all Christians, and sincere brothers, disposed towards all Christians and ready to be in communion with them. Having become accustomed to Epaphroditus, they became accustomed to his compatriots. Therefore, they could unflatteringly want to testify to their good wishes to the Philippians: which is what the holy Apostle does. For he does not write on his own behalf, as if only for form, but according to their desire and request. Phil.4:22. You kiss all the saints, especially those like Caesar’s house. There he said greetings from those who were always with him, and here he sends greetings from all believers throughout the city. Then the communication of believers was the most sincere. Converging to Saint Paul for prayer, for holy communion: for it was always the first thing, and everyone tried to receive communion every day, if possible, and to listen to teachings from the Apostle of the Lord, they all became acquainted with Epaphroditus, and through him also with all the Philippians, and expressed to the Apostle the desire that he would greet them on their behalf when they heard that Epaphroditus was returning. And not only all the believers sent greetings to them, but also those who were from the house of Caesar. And these last ones are even more so. Why more? Because, it is true, they loved the Philippians more than others for their goodwill to St. Paul, or because they heard more praise from the Apostle than others about the Philippians, or for some other reason. Apparently, they more persistently expressed their desire to welcome the Philippians and expressed their warmest favor towards them. The Apostle added: more. Who were from Caesar's house? Maybe some of Caesar's relatives, maybe some of those living only in his house. But apparently they were such that they were worth special mention. Saint Chrysostom says to this: “The Apostle encouraged and inspired the Philippians, showing that the teaching had reached the royal house. For if those who were in the royal palace despised everything for heavenly things, then it was much more appropriate for them to do this. And this was proof of Pavlova’s love that he narrates and says many important things about them, which aroused in the courtiers a desire to greet those whom they had never seen. Since the believers were also oppressed at that time, there was great love between them. How? So that those who were at a distance from each other were mutually connected; and those who were at a distance, as if they lived close, greeted each other; each was disposed towards others as if they were members of their own. The poor were disposed towards the rich, just as the rich were towards the poor; and there was no advantage, because they were still hated and persecuted, and for the same reason. For just as some captives who came out of different cities, gathered in one city, become close friends with each other, because a common disaster unites them: so in the same way the believers at the time when they were united by common disasters and sorrows had great love for each other.” Phil.4:23. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. “At the end the Apostle added the usual blessing. May we also achieve this through the intercession of the one who wrote this and the assistance of the Lord Christ. With Him glory to the Father with the Holy Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages” (Blessed Theodoret). You might be interested in: