感謝讚美上帝護理的大能与豐盛的供應。 本網誌內的所有資源純屬學習交流之用。

2017-07-17

作者: Tim Keller   翻译: 骆鸿铭

我们曾经说过,每个礼拜的讲道,你都要宣讲福音——来建造基督徒,使他们成长,也使非基督徒得到归正。如果是这样,你就不能只是“按圣经原则来教导”。每个礼拜,你必须讲到耶稣基督。
We have said that you must preach the gospel every week–to edify and grow Christians and to convert non-Christians. But if that is the case, you cannot simply ‘instruct in Biblical principles.’ You have to ‘get to Jesus’ every week.

例如,看看大卫和歌利亚的故事。这个故事对我们来说,有什么意义呢?如果不提到基督,这个故事通常就会被牧师讲成:“如果你满怀对主的信心去争战,敌人越高大,他们跌得越惨。你也许长得不高,力量也不大,但是如果上帝站在你这边,你就能胜过巨人。”但是我们一旦问道:“大卫如何预表祂伟大的后裔基督的工作?”我们就会在同一个故事的细节中,看到不同的亮光。这个故事是告诉我们,以色列人无法对抗歌利亚。他们办不到。他们需要有人代替他们。当大卫代表他们去争战的时候,大卫还不是个成人,而是个软弱、易受伤的人物,只是个小孩。基本上,他就像是一只被献的羔羊。但是上帝使用他明显的软弱,作为摧毁巨人的方法,大卫就成了以色列胜利的救赎主,他的胜利也被算在以色列人的头上。他们得到了所有的胜战的好处,就好像这场战争是他们自己打的一样。
For example, look at the story of David and Goliath. What is the meaning of that narrative for us? Without reference to Christ, the story may be (usually is!) preached as: “The bigger they come, the harder they’ll fall, if you just go into your battles with faith in the Lord. You may not be real big and powerful in yourself, but with God on your side, you can overcome giants.” But as soon as we ask: “how is David foreshadowing the work of his greater Son”? We begin to see the same features of the story in a different light. The story is telling us that the Israelites can not go up against Goliath. They can’t do it. They need a substitute. When David goes in on their behalf, he is not a full-grown man, but a vulnerable and weak figure, a mere boy. He goes virtually as a sacrificial lamb. But God uses his apparent weakness as the means to destroy the giant, and David becomes Israel’s champion-redeemer, so that his victory will be imputed to them. They get all the fruit of having fought the battle themselves.

这和不是以基督为中心的解读所得出的意义,是完全不同的。最终,有两种解读圣经的方法:究竟圣经是主要关于我的,还是关于耶稣的?换句话说,它究竟是关于我该作什么的,还是关于基督所已经完成的?如果我把大卫和歌利亚的故事,当作基本上是要给我一个榜样,那么,这个故事就真的是关于我的。我必须凝聚我的信心和勇气,来和我生命中的巨人争战。但是如果我把大卫和歌利亚的故事当作基本上是要向我表明,我借着耶稣所得到的救恩,那么,这就实在是关于耶稣的故事。除非我明白耶稣已经为我打败了那真正的巨人(罪,律法,死亡),我永远无法有如此的勇气,足以战胜生命中一般的敌人(苦难,失望,批评,辛劳)。例如,除非我有很深的安全感,知道神不会撇弃我,我如何胜过失败这个“巨人”呢?如果我只是把大卫看作是我的榜样,这个故事永远无法帮助我胜过失败/巨人,例如,我如何能胜过迫害或批评的这个“巨人”呢?除非我明白基督已经在十字架上赦免了我,我将无法赦免他人。除非我明白祂已经赦免我竟然睡着的罪(太2643),我将无法为了祂保持儆醒。
This is a fundamentally different meaning than the one that arises from the non-Christocentric reading. There is, in the end, only two ways to read the Bible: is it basically about me or basically about Jesus? In other words, is it basically about what I must do, or basically about what he has done? If I read David and Goliath as basically giving me an example, then the story is really about me. I must summons up the faith and courage to fight the giants in my life. But if I read David and Goliath as basically showing me salvation through Jesus, then the story is really about him. Until I see that Jesus fought the real giants (sin, law, death) for me, I will never have the courage to be able to fight ordinary giants in life (suffering, disappointment, failure, criticism, hardship). For example how can I ever fight the “giant” of failure, unless I have a deep security that God will not abandon me? If I see David as my example, the story will never help me fight the failure/giant. But if I see David/Jesus as my substitute, whose victory is imputed to me, then I can stand before the failure/giant. As another example, how can I ever fight the “giant” of persecution or criticism? Unless I can see him forgiving me on the cross, I won’t be able to forgive others. Unless I see him as forgiving me for falling asleep on him (Matt.27:45) I won’t be able to stay awake for him.

旧约不断告诉我们,我们的善行是不够的。神已经作了预备。旧约的每一处都指向这个预备。在创世记中,我们看到上帝为亚当和夏娃预备的衣服,对亚伯拉罕和其他先祖所作的应许,在会幕和整个献祭系统,以及无数处指向弥赛亚、受苦仆人的经文,等等。因此,说圣经是关于基督的,无异于说圣经的主题是福音——救恩出于耶和华(约拿书29)。
In the Old Testament we are continually told that our good works are not enough, that God has made a provision. This provision is pointed to at every place in the Old Testament. We see it in the clothes God makes Adam and Eve in Genesis, to the promises made to Abraham and the patriarchs, to the Tabernacle and the whole sacrificial system, to the innumerable references to a Messiah, a suffering servant, and so on. Therefore, to say that the Bible is about Christ is to say that the main theme of the Bible is the gospel–Salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9).

所以,用以基督为中心的方式来阅读旧约,不只是“附加”的层面,不是你可以在研读和讲道的结尾另外加上去的。(对了,顺便提一下,这也让我们看到基督。)反而,以基督为中心的读经法,为经文提供了一个从根本上不同的应用和意义。如果不联系到基督,亚伯拉罕和以撒的故事,就意味着:“你甚至必须愿意为了神而杀掉你的儿子。”不联系到基督,雅各和天使摔角的故事,就意味着:“你必须与神摔角,即使神很莫名其妙——即使神把你弄瘸了。你永远不可放弃。”这些“故事的道德教训”是站不住脚的,因为它们基本上被解读为关于我们的故事,以及我们必须要做的事。
So reading the Old Testament Christocentrically is not just a “additional” dimension. It is not something you can just tack on - to the end of a study and sermon. (”Oh, and by the way, this also points us to Christ”.) Rather, the Christocentric reading provides a fundamentally different application and meaning to the text. Without relating it to Christ, the story of Abraham and Isaac means: “You must be willing to even kill your own son for him.” Without relating it to Christ, the story of Jacob wrestling with the angel means: “You have to wrestle with God, even when he is inexplicable-even when he is crippling you. You must never give up.” These ‘morals-of-the-story’ are crushing because they essentially are read as being about us and what we must do.