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Fr. Paul reads Paul's imprisonment as the pattern of "the obedient slave" that Paul offers before giving Christ himself as the supreme example in chapter two. His chains are known even to the whole praetorian guard, so that his imprisonment is unders
A daily note from the team at OCABS.ORG, drawing on the published works of Fr. Paul Nadim Tarazi, with citations to his books and lectures.
Readings: Philippians 1:12-20; Luke 6:46-7:1.
Fr. Paul reads Paul's imprisonment as the pattern of "the obedient slave" that Paul offers before giving Christ himself as the supreme example in chapter two. His chains are known even to the whole praetorian guard, so that his imprisonment is understood to be "for Christ," and this fact has emboldened the brothers to speak the word without fear. Some preach out of partisanship, hoping to add affliction to him, others out of love, knowing he is put there "for the defense of the gospel." Fr. Paul stresses that Paul refuses to judge their intentions, leaving judgment to God alone, and rejoices because the gospel's advance depends not on human motives but on the God who will bring to completion what he began.
This rejoicing is bound to the coming joy of the kingdom, which Paul hopes to share with the Philippians through their shared "progress and joy in the faith." For Paul, affliction and joy are not opposites; both belong together as integral parts of the gospel word, so that chains and confidence coexist in the same letter.
In his lectures on Luke, Fr. Paul situates the twin-house parable at the close of the new Torah Jesus delivers while standing in the plain like the Ezekielian son of man. This law falls into two tablets, and the parable of rock and sand ends the second, so that it is "as though he delivered his total Torah instruction" before he "entered Capernaum." For Luke this teaching material, rather than coming from a lost source, is drawn from Paul's own letters and presented as commandments binding on the whole community of the faithful.
The root pair of the day · ט-ו-ב ṭet–waw–bet, טוֹב ṭob · ط–ي–ب ṭāʾ–yāʾ–bāʾ, طَيِّبَة ṭayyiba · pleasant; pleasing; good. The root šamar and sāmiriyy means keep, watch, guard, corresponding to Greek phulasso and phulake, words for guarding and for prison. Paul's chains are known to the whole guard, so that his imprisonment becomes the place where the word of God is kept and spoken boldly. The note's point that affliction and confidence coexist mirrors this double sense of guarding as both confinement and faithful keeping. cf. The Consolation of Consonants
Sources: Tarazi, Philippians: A Commentary, p. 90; Tarazi, Philippians: A Commentary, p. 84; Tarazi, Philippians: A Commentary, p. 85; Tarazi, Philippians: A Commentary, p. 73; Tarazi, Philippians: A Commentary, p. 86; Tarazi, Philippians: A Commentary, p. 87; Tarazi, The New Testament: An Introduction, vol. 2, Luke and Acts, “Luke’s Sources Other then Mark”; Tarazi, The New Testament: An Introduction, vol. 2, Luke and Acts, “The Law of Christ”; Orthodox Audio Bible Commentary, Luke (vol. 42), part 1, at 2:32:28.
Opening music: Taksim Arbi, Bichi Slama, oud (Tunis, Archives de la Parole, 1930s), public domain. Source: gallica.bnf.fr / BnF.
A daily note from the team at OCABS.ORG, drawing on the published works of Fr. Paul Nadim Tarazi, with citations to his books and lectures.
Every day: the readings of the Orthodox lectionary read in full, a short note on them, and a root pair from the Consolation of Consonants, Hebrew and Arabic, chosen for the day’s readings. About five minutes a day, from OCABS on the Ephesus School Network. Read each note, with its citations, at ocabs.org.