作者：Nicholas Davis 譯者： 駱鴻銘
為了能讀懂聖經，把握住聖經的整幅圖案（big picture）會很有幫助。當我那兩、三歲、剛剛學步的幼兒，想要用《林肯原木》（Lincoln Logs）的模型玩具蓋一棟小木屋時，看著盒子裏所提供的藍圖，會有很大的幫助。缺少圖解，要蓋這些小木屋是很折騰人的，對那些不嫻熟的人（譬如我兒子）來說，甚至是不可能的。要想使用所有的積木蓋一棟漂亮的木屋，最好是跟從這張藍圖的指示。同樣，當我們閱讀聖經時，也應該把聖經的整個故事牢記在心，好幫助我們穿行過所有的細節。這會幫助我們走在正確的方向上，並且幫助我們避免犯一些解經上的嚴重錯誤。因此，聖經的主要內容是什麼呢？對這麼一本跨越了千百年才寫成的書來說，這比你所想像的要簡單得多。
Seeing
the Big Picture
In
order to read the Bible, it helps to see the big picture. When my toddler is
building a cabin out of Lincoln Logs, it helps to look at the blueprints
provided inside the box. Without a diagram, building these cabins can be
frustrating, and to the unskilled (like my son), even impossible. To make use
of all of the pieces and to build a beautiful cabin, it’s best to follow
directions.
In a
similar way, when we are reading the Bible, we should keep in mind the
overarching story to help us navigate through all of the details. This will
help us go in the right direction and avoid making some serious blunders in
interpretation. So, what is the Bible all about? For such a large book written
across so many years, it’s a lot simpler than you may think.
從創世記到啟示錄，聖經是上帝救恩的故事。這個故事和耶穌基督的身份和工作有關。祂是神所應許的「女人的後裔」（創三15），被差來要用自己的血打破蛇的頭，為自己拯救一群墮落的子民。這看起來確實很矛盾，但這就是耶穌基督在十字架上說「成了」的真正意思。聖經用一個接一個的故事，概述了上帝拯救罪人的使命——用比喻、詩歌、先知的話，等等。
Seeing
the Plan of Salvation
From
Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is God’s story of salvation. It is about the
person and work of Jesus Christ. He was the promised offspring of the woman
(Gen. 3:15), the champion who was sent to save a fallen people for himself by
crushing the serpent’s head with his own blood. It seems paradoxical to be
sure, but that’s how “it is finished.” The Bible outlines God’s rescue mission
of sinners in story after story—in parables, poems, and prophecies.
舊約到新約聖經的每一頁裏，都遍布著上帝拯救我們的故事。有時候不是那麼容易就看出來，但是每一段經文最終都是在耶穌基督的話和工作上，找到其最終的應驗和高潮。天父上帝差遣祂唯一的獨生子，完成了歷史上沒有一個人能完成的事，包括亞當、以色列，和我們所有的人。
每個人失敗的方式都不同，但是我們都沒有能完美地愛上帝、愛鄰舍。但是耶穌卻從來不曾失敗，祂愛上帝，也愛鄰舍。祂的所作所為，正是上帝差祂來的目的，而祂——為死亡而生的嬰孩——成就了這一切，好叫我們現在、並且永遠地與祂同住。簡言之，聖經都是關於耶穌的。
This
story of God saving us is scattered across every page of the Old and New
Testaments. Sometimes it’s not so easy to see, but every passage ultimately
finds its fulfillment and climax in the words and work of Jesus Christ. God the
Father sent his only begotten Son to do what everyone else in history has
failed to do, including Adam, Israel, and all of us. We have each failed in our
own way to love God and our neighbor perfectly. But Jesus never failed to love
God and neighbor. He did exactly what God sent him to do, and he—the baby who
was born to die—did all of that so that we would live with him now and
forevermore. In short, the Bible is all about Jesus.
雖然發現耶穌基督是整本聖經的主角和高峰不是很困難，但是我們很容易就會分心，忘記什麼——應該說是「誰」——才是這個故事的主要內容。司空見慣地，甚至連受過訓練的牧師和好的聖經教師也會忘記聖經是關於耶穌的。許多教會偏離這個主題，去教導各種有趣的題目，來幫助我們過一個更好的人生，但是卻無法增進我們對耶穌的愛。任何教會如果沒有規律地從聖經宣講耶穌，那麼就不算是真的在讀聖經。這個聲明聽起來也許過於武斷強烈，但是聖經的每一頁都如此充滿著耶穌，以至於要忽略祂或避開祂，必須要十分努力才能辦到。
Getting
Sidetracked By Other Stories
As
easy as it is to discover that Jesus Christ is the main character and climax of
the whole Bible, it’s also easy to get sidetracked and to forget what—or rather
who—the story is really about. Often, even trained preachers and good teachers
can forget that the Bible is all about Jesus. Churches can drift into teaching
all sorts of interesting topics that help us live a better life but don’t
increase our love for Jesus. If any church is not regularly proclaiming Jesus
from the Bible, then it is not really reading the Bible anymore. That may sound
like a strong statement, but the Bible’s pages are so full of Jesus that it
takes serious effort to ignore him or avoid him.
這通常不是出於故意，但是因著我們的罪，把我們自己讀進祂的故事裏，而不是把基督讀進祂的故事裏，是相當容易的事。因著我們的罪，我們都想要讓聖經變成我們的故事。這不是難事。往往有人會叫我們用自己的名字來替換一句聖經經文裏的「以色列」或「保羅」。但是事實上，聖經最首要的是關於那位前來拯救我們的耶穌。聖經最要緊的，是關於耶穌的故事，然後才是我們的故事。如果我們首先讓這個故事變成我們的故事，我們就會同時失去耶穌，也失去我們自己。這有點像魯益士（C. S. Lewis）所說的，「把最重要的事情放在第一位，次要的事情就會按部就班；但是如果我們把次要的事情放在第一位，我們就會失去最重要和次要的事。」（摘自給Dom Bede Griffiths的一封信[April 23, 1951]）因此，當你下一次拿起聖經來讀的時候，務必要記得注目仰望耶穌，祂是我們信心的創始成終者（來十二2）。
This
is usually not intentional; but because of our sin, it’s easy to read
ourselves, instead of Christ, into his story. Because of our sin, we want to
make the Bible all about us. It’s easy to do. Often we are told to replace the
word “Israel” or “Paul” in a Bible verse for our own name. But in truth, the
Bible is all about Jesus who came to save us.The Bible is first about the story
of Jesus before it can ever become our story. If we make the story about us
first, then we will lose both Jesus and ourselves. It’s sort of like what C. S.
Lewis said, “Put first things first and we get second things thrown in: put
second things first and we lose both first and second things” (excerpt from a
letter to Dom Bede Griffiths [April 23, 1951]). So, the next time you pick up
your Bible, be sure to fix your eyes on Jesus—“the author and finisher of our
faith” (Heb. 12:2 KJV).