盟約與國度Covenant and Kingdom
譯者/校對者:Maria Marta/誠之
耶稣回答他們：『你們回去，把聽見和看見的都告訴約翰，就是瞎的可以看見，瘸的可以走路，患痲風的得到潔淨，聾的可以聽見，死人復活，窮人有福音聽。那不被我絆倒的，就有福了。』 (4-6節新譯本).
----太 11:1-6
阿摩司書第九章11至15節預期大衛家系的恢復，和上帝子民在應許地的重建。儘管這些應許是榮耀的，然而，舊約彌賽亞的預言遠遠超出恢復大衛作爲統治以色列君王的範圍。其他重要的彌賽亞經文，如但以理書七章13至17節，啓示了大衛王將統治以色列-----和以色列的上帝一起（見提後2:12a）-----統治全世界。
這些應許給在被擄中的古代以色列人帶來盼望，他們也傾向于期待一個軍事性和政治性國度的到來。這種期待不是完全不適當的，統治整個世界的應許加強了他們這樣解釋。然而，在基督誕生前的這一時期， 許多猶太人對彌賽亞預言的解釋是片面的，只強調上帝國度的政治性質，卻忽略了其屬靈性質。這就是當耶稣到來，宣講上帝的國時，很多猶太人對耶稣完全沒有作好准備的原因（可1:14-15）。
新約所教導的事情，沒有幾件會比耶稣帶來上帝的國度這事實更加清楚得了。然而，祂帶來上帝國度的方式，是祂許多同時代的人所始料不及的。上帝的國不是以展示軍事力量的方式突然從天而降，相反，它是以少數幾個門徒的小規模開始的，但是即使是現在也還在繼續增長，直至將來充滿全地（太13:1-32）。這個國度是恩典之約的果子，在耶稣基督的位格和工作中找到它的應驗。
今天的經文教導我們，主耶稣應驗了恩典之約中關于恢復的預言的一部分。在馬太福音第十一章1至6節中, 我們的主對祂的事工之描述，是引自以賽亞書第三十五章----恢復以色列的榮耀應許。值得注意的是，耶稣並沒有引用以賽亞書第三十五章4節經文，這節經文預言上帝在恢復中施行報應。祂的觀點是，上帝的國度將會有一段較長的時間，處在新約的治理之下。首先，上帝顯示祂的憐憫，为人們帶來醫治，以致他们被吸引到祂的國度，然後施行報應------最後, 這個國度完滿終結，祂的敵人被摧毀------將在這段增長期之後到來（實現）。
基督耶稣帶來上帝的國度，現在我們等候最後的審判日。就在那時，我們的身體會復活，從死裏復活，我們的敵人和上帝的仇敵將永遠被毀滅（林前15:20-28）。
活在上帝的面光中（Coram Deo）
如果我們唯獨相信基督，我們已經享受新的屬靈生命，有一天這屬靈生命結出更新的物質生命果子。在新約中，上帝恢復宇宙，有一天我們在新天新地，享受一個具體化的存在（embodied existence）（啓二十一）。基督爲了這個目的遵守行爲之約，好叫我們可以享受作爲恩典之約禮物的永恒生命。讓我們永遠喜樂于這祝福，爲這祝福讚美我們的上帝。
延伸閱讀:
經文: 利11:44； 西28:25-26； 路
Covenant
and Kingdom
Jesus
answered … ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their
sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead
are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the
one who is not offended by me’ ” (vv. 4-6).
-
Matthew 11:1-6
Amos
9:11-15 anticipates the restoration of David’s line and the reestablishment of
God’s people in the Promised Land. Despite the glory of this promise, however,
the messianic prophecies of the old covenant go far beyond the restoration of
David as king over Israel. Other important messianic passages such as Daniel
7:13-14 reveal that the Davidic king would reign—along with the Israel of God
(see 2 Tim. 2:12a)—over the whole world.
These
promises gave the ancient Israelites hope as they suffered in exile, and they
also tended to foster an expectation for a militaristic and political kingdom.
This expectation was not entirely out of place, for promises of a worldwide
reign lend themselves to such an interpretation. However, much Jewish
interpretation in the period leading up to the birth of Christ was one-sided,
emphasizing the political nature of the kingdom of God at the expense of the
spiritual. That is why so many Jews were unprepared for Jesus when He came
preaching the kingdom of God (Mark 1:14-15).
Few
things are taught more clearly in the New Testament than the fact that Jesus
brings the kingdom of God. However, He brought it in a manner that many of His
contemporaries were not expecting. It did not come all at once with a crushing
display of military might; rather, it began small, with only a handful of
disciples, and even now continues to grow to fill the whole earth (Matt.
13:1-32). This kingdom is the fruit of the covenant of grace, which finds its
fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Today’s
passage teaches that Jesus fulfills the restoration prophecies that are part of
the covenant of grace. Our Lord’s description of His ministry in Matthew 11:1-6
draws from Isaiah 35 and its promise of the glory of restored Israel. Notably,
Jesus does not quote Isaiah 35:4, which predicts the vengeance of God in the
restoration. His point is that there will be an extended period of time during
which the kingdom becomes present in the new covenant administration. First,
the Lord will show mercy and bring healing so that people will be drawn into
His kingdom, and then vengeance—the final consummation of this kingdom and
destruction of His enemies—will come after this period of growth.
Christ
Jesus has brought the kingdom, and we now await that final day of judgment. At
that point, our bodies will be made alive in the resurrection of the dead, and
our foes and the enemies of God will be cast down forever (1 Cor. 15:20-28).
Coram
Deo
If we
are in Christ by faith alone, we already enjoy new spiritual life, and this
spiritual life will one day bear fruit in renewed physical life. In the new
covenant, God restores the cosmos, and we will one day enjoy an embodied
existence in the new heavens and earth (Rev. 21). Christ kept the covenant of
works to this end—that we might enjoy eternal life as a gift of the covenant of
grace. Let us never cease to rejoice and to praise our Lord for this blessing.
Passages
for Further Study
Leviticus
11:44a
Ezekiel
28:25-26
Luke
17:20-21
Romans
6:5
