Глава тринадцатая

2 Corinthians 13:1. This is the third time I'm coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word will be established. Just as God Himself threatens a lot, but always hesitates to punish, so Paul, imitating Him, gathers many witnesses in advance, saying: just as it is written that with two or three witnesses every word will be established, that is, established (Deut. 17:6), so by my three comings every threatening word of mine will be determined and confirmed against you, unless you repent. For he puts his comings in the place of witnesses. 2 Corinthians 13:2. I preceded and continue to preface, as if I were with you for the second time, and now, being absent, I write to those who have sinned before and to everyone else that when I come again, I will not have mercy. I told you before, and I say again: just as I said to you at the second coming, so now with this message I proclaim to you - those who have sinned, as those in need of correction, and the rest, as witnesses - that when I come again, I will not have mercy. He did not say: I will punish, but he used the fatherly word of mercy; for if I find, he says, not corrected, then I will not put it off for long. 2 Corinthians 13:3. You are looking for evidence as to whether Christ speaks in me, With great indignation he says this to those who despised him as a weak person and worthy of contempt. He says something like this: since you want to test whether Christ abides in me, and you laugh at me as a weak person who does not have Christ in you, then you will truly know this if you do not correct yourself. He shows that the words he speaks are spiritual and one should fear his threat, as if Christ Himself had expressed it. I didn’t want to punish them in order to give them experience and knowledge, but because, he says, you are sinning incurably. If, he says, I am forced to punish you, then you will actually learn what you are trying to find out. He is not powerless for you, but strong in you, Why does he add “for you” when Christ is powerful everywhere? Because, probably, they had already experienced His power before. Thus, he expresses the following thought: since you have seen experiments before, you already fully know that He is “not powerless for you,” but “mighty,” that is, has power. Or do these words have this meaning: He shows His power over you in this life, when you can correct yourself, - He strikes you now in order to have mercy on the day of Judgment; He will show His power against the unbelievers on the very day of Judgment. At the same time, he shows that although he will punish, he will punish not himself, but Christ. 2 Corinthians 13:4. for although He was crucified in weakness, He lives by the power of God, Many are tempted by these words, but know that weakness is the weakness of the body, and weakness in faith is also called weakness, as in the words: “Accept the weak in the faith” (Rom. 14:1); weakness, finally, refers to fetters, dangers, humiliations, as in the words: “I am content with weaknesses” (2 Cor. 12:10), etc. In this last sense, the Lord was crucified in weakness, as a victim of persecution, danger and insults; for all this seems to come from weakness. Therefore, just as Paul calls preaching “madness” (1 Cor. 1:21), not because it was really madness, but because the unbelievers thought so about it, just as he says that the Lord was crucified in weakness, not because it was so in reality, but because it seemed so to the unbelievers. But He “lives by the power of God,” that is, by the power of the Father or His own, for everything that belongs to the Father belongs to Him, and everything that belongs to Him belongs to the Father. Thus, He also has power in common, or better yet, He Himself is the power of the Father. So He resurrected Himself in accordance with His own prediction: “Destroy this church, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). Paul says all this because He was despised as being persecuted and suffering misfortunes, attributes them to weakness, and shows that Christ did not suffer any harm from this weakness, as they think. and we also, although we are weak in Him, will live with Him through the power of God in you. That is, we endure persecution, we are persecuted, for this is what weakness consists of. “In Him,” that is, for the sake of Him and His word. And just as He did not suffer harm, having been subjected to malicious intent, so we will not suffer, but “we will live with Him,” that is, we will appear invincible “in you,” that is, for the sake of your salvation. It may also be that in these words he frightens them: although you think that we are weak, we are alive in you, that is, to punish you if you do not improve. 2 Corinthians 13:5. Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves. And what do I say about myself, that Christ speaks in me, that I am strong, although I imitate Him crucified and do not proceed to punishment. For you too, if you want to test yourself, will see Christ in yourself, since you all have faith, either ordinary faith, or in particular, miraculous faith (for believers then performed miracles). Thus, if Christ is in you, my disciples, then much more in me, the teacher. Or do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless you are what you are supposed to be. That is, if you have not lost the gift of miracles that you received. It hints that they live lawlessly, for many, having faith, did not have the power to perform miracles because they lived lawlessly. The meaning of the words is as follows: you do not seem to know yourself, whether Christ is in you? It is not in you because you are “not what you should be.” But he does not express this thought directly, but speaks vaguely so as not to shock them. 2 Corinthians 13:6. About us, I hope you will learn that we are what we should be. These words contain a strong threat, for their meaning is this: you want to acquire information through punishment; and I hope that we will be able to give you proof that we are "what we ought to be" and have not lost the gift of signs and powers. Or: we have not become so corrupt in our lives that Christ had to leave us. He dwells in us because of our pious life and will punish the unbelievers who are among you. 2 Corinthians 13:7. We pray to God that you do no evil, not in order to appear to us as what you ought to be: but that you do good, even though we appear not to be what we ought to be. Notice his mercy. He was despised and reviled as a man who had no strength and only boasted in writing; and he not only cancels the punishment, but also begs them not to sin, so as not to bring him to the point of having to punish. For I am not trying to appear “what I ought to be” and have the power to punish, but so that you always do good and repent if you sin; and let me be considered “not what I should be,” that is, let me seem weak and powerless to many, as if I had not found the opportunity to punish you. He did not actually want to be “not what we should be,” on the contrary, he showed himself to be skillful, teaching his disciples not to sin in anything, but said: “we seemed not to be what we should be,” thereby expressing the opinion of many. 2 Corinthians 13:8. For we are not strong against the truth, but strong for the truth. In order not to seem flattering, he says: I am not doing this out of vanity at all, that is, I am asserting that we will not have the power to punish you when we find you not fallen. Even if we try to do this, God will not provide us with His help; for He has given us the power so that we pronounce judgment in accordance with the truth, and not against it: true judgment is pronounced by the one who punishes those who deserve punishment; and the one who tries to punish someone who has not sinned acts against the truth. 2 Corinthians 13:9. We rejoice when we are weak and you are strong, These words show the strong devotion of the apostle to the Corinthians, for the meaning of his words is this: do not think that I am sad because I cannot show my strength to you in the event that you do not stumble. On the contrary, I am very glad when I myself am “weak,” that is, considered weak, as not showing any strength in punishing you, and when you are “strong,” that is, virtuous and free from falls. This is what we pray for, for your perfection. The meaning of his words is this: I not only wish this, but also pray that you will be blameless and blameless, that is, perfect, not giving any reason for punishment. 2 Corinthians 13:10. This is why I am writing this in my absence, so that in my presence I would not use severity according to the power given to me by the Lord for creation, and not for destruction. Having greatly intimidated and made threats, he now represents an excuse for this. I wrote this because I wish that the threats and severity remained only in writing and were not carried out in reality; for I will certainly punish those who have not corrected themselves, since the Lord has given me authority. By this he shows that the Lord Himself punishes through him. Showing that he does not want to use his power to punish them, he adds: “to creation, and not to destruction,” that is, the Lord does not want to destroy or punish, but to create, that is, to do good. However, punishing the incorrigible is creation. 2 Corinthians 13:11. However, brothers, rejoice, I, he says, have done my job; All you have to do is act according to me. For if you correct your life, you will acquire unfading joy in your conscience, although I have saddened you with my words. That is, be perfect both in doctrine and in life, and make up for what you lack. Since there were many temptations and dangers, he tells them: seek consolation in yourself, in each other and in your own change for the better; for a good conscience is great consolation. be like-minded, peaceful. He asked them about this, as those who were in disagreement, in his first letter (1 Cor. 1:10). Unanimity refers to dogmas, and harmony (“peaceful”), a concept opposite to discord, refers to the relationship of people to each other. Therefore Paul requires both. And the God of love and peace will be with you. Not only convinces them, but also prays for them. Or these words do not contain a prayer, but a prediction that if you mutually maintain peace, then God will be with you. God is called the God of love either because He is the source of it, or because He abundantly reveals it in us, or because where there is love, there He is its Lord. He is also called the God of the world either because there is a source of it, or because he reconciled the heavenly with the earthly, or because He is the Lord of it, as property. 2 Corinthians 13:12. Greet each other with a holy kiss. Not feigned and treacherous, like Judas. Because this is why we kiss each other, in order to further inflame love, for through the lips, the souls of those kissing are united primarily before other members. Likewise, when we enter a house, we express our unity by kissing. Or, since we are the church of God, and our lips are the vestibule of this church, we kiss this vestibule, for through it Christ enters into us during communion. All the saints greet you. He unites those present with a kiss, those absent with a greeting, but even here the lips unite, because the greeting comes from them. 2 Corinthians 13:13. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. Having united everyone, he, as is his custom, prays that the grace of the Son, through which He saved us, may be upon them - not by our works, but by grace, having Himself suffered the slaughter for us. And then, as if being asked - where does this grace of the Son come from? answers: out of the Father’s love. What does it produce? The communion of the Holy Spirit, that is, the communion and communion of Him, by virtue of which we are sanctified - having become, as a result of the Comforter’s indwelling in us, partakers of Him, we ourselves become a spirit, not by nature, but through communion. What reason do they have for rejecting the Spirit because Paul did not mention Him at the beginning of his letters? Here he mentions and fully enumerates the Trinity, which may keep us firmly holding the dogmas and leading an immaculate life, so that we may be perfect slaves in the Trinity of the perfect God, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. You might be interested in: