2 Corinthians 13:12, 13 Greet one another with an holy kiss.… Among the various features which distinguish these apostolic documents from ordinary treatises must be noticed the prominence they attach to social greetings. The personal element mingles very beautifully with the doctrinal and the practical. The apostle's theme may have been absorbing, but he usually, in bringing an Epistle to its close, refers to the individuals by whom he is himself surrounded - his companions and colleagues, and to such as were known to him among the community he is addressing. I. UPON WHAT CHRISTIAN GREETINGS ARE BASED. They differ from common everyday salutations in this, that they are not mere forms, and are not exchanged as a matter of course. They presume a common relation to, a common interest in, the Divine Saviour. The vital union of Christ's people to himself involves an intercommunion of sympathy amongst themselves. II. IN WHAT CHRISTIAN SALUTATION FINDS EXPRESSION, 1. In words and in messages of spiritual friendship, in the case of those who are absent from one another. It is thus proved that distance does not sunder hearts, that the spiritual family, dispersed through many places, is nevertheless but one. 2. In the primitive Churches the Christian greeting took the form of the "holy kiss." In this a common social usage was sanctified by a new and higher meaning. The custom was one which in some Churches was retained for centuries. The kiss of peace, brotherhood, and love was felt to be the appropriate symbol of the new and all-pervading sentiment of Christian kindness. III. WHAT PURPOSES CHRISTIAN GREETINGS SUBSERVE. We may trace several very useful practical ends secured by them. 1. They are evident tokens of the wide diffusion of the Saviour's spiritual presence. It is because Christ is with and in his Church that the living members of this Church, pervaded by one Spirit, show true unity and love. 2. They remove the distressing feeling of isolation from which Christ's people may in many circumstances grievously suffer. 3. They are an anticipation of the confidential and affectionate fellowship which is (next to the presence of the Redeemer) to be expected as the highest joy of the heavenly state. - T. Parallel Verses KJV: Greet one another with an holy kiss. |
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