安息日帶來真正的安息和心靈復蘇The Sabbath Day Brings Real Rest andRefreshment
作者: Sean Michael Lucas 譯者: Maria Marta你曾經歷過睡了幾個小時，醒了，但精力仍然未恢復？也許你還記得華盛頓歐文（Washington Irving）所寫的《李伯大夢》（Rip van Winkle）这短篇故事。樂天派樵夫李伯是個怕老婆的丈夫，有一天為躲避妻子，遊蕩到山林，在那裡遇到一個陌生的船員，之後睡著了，他這短短的一覺竟然是世間的二十年。當李伯醒來時，世界已經改變了，妻子早已過世，他的鄰居羨慕他的睡過頭，比他嘮叨的妻子的自然生命還長。
歐文的故事最突出的一點是，李伯的睡眠不是安睡。這種睡眠並沒有恢復精神。這是一種沒有真正益處的休息。有時候，我們知道那是什麽样的感覺，因為我們的心和頭腦都塞得太滿，恨不得能好好地休息。有時我們醒來，或度假回來，盡管休息了，但精力仍未得到恢復。
第四條誡命的恩典是，上帝應許當我們在祂裡面找到安息，祂會賜給我們真正的安息與真正的心靈復蘇。當我們記念安息日，當我們把它守為聖日，我們就會發現，我們開始進入上帝提供的安息，並獲得將要到來的天上的安息，即新天新地的安息的預嘗。
上帝的有益命令
出埃及記廿章8–10節清楚記載了上帝賜下安息日要休息這道命令。然而，我們常常忽視：當我們「記念安息日，守為聖日」時，上帝計劃讓我們為祂使用這一天：「第七日是耶和華你的 神的安息日」。這是什麽意思？這是指一周的一日-------不是我們揀的，而是上帝親自揀的一日，不象其他日子--------為事奉上帝而分別出來。
這道命令以創造與救贖為根基。在出埃及記廿章，創造為背景之用：「因為耶和華在六日之內造天、地…….第七日就歇息了」（第11節）。創造周可作為我們所有創造性的星期的模式：就像上帝六日工作，一日休息，我們也應該如此。
在申命記第五章，我們看到這道命令的救贖根据：「你要記住：你在埃及地作過奴僕；耶和華你的 神用大能的手和伸出來的膀臂，把你從那裡領出來」（15節）。因為上帝用頭生羔羊的血，將祂在奴役中的百姓拯救出來，所以祂的百姓的生命與時間都屬於祂。祂在救贖中把生命與時間還給祂的百姓，並要求他们要将一周的「初熟的果子」------安息日作為證據，見證祂的救贖工作。
基督的恩典禮物
這種對安息日的期盼和命令，在基督裡可找到它們的應驗和持續的效力。這是因為耶穌本身指向這一天的解除，即解除這一天所代表的舊約律法條文。但耶穌絕非要廢除安息日，而是為祂的子民賦予它的意義。
在路加福音四章16–21節，耶穌在安息日「照著習慣」去了會堂。祂展開書卷，讀以賽亞書六十一章，宣告，「這段經文今天應驗在你們中間」。安息日和彌賽亞之間的聯系顯而易見：在創造與救贖裡所描繪的，對安息日的休息和成果欣賞（rejoicing）的應許，在耶穌身上實現了。耶穌帶來好消息：被擄的得釋放，瞎眼的得看見，受壓制的得自由。
耶稣喜欢在安息日医治，在路加福音十三章10–17节有清楚的记述。一个「被邪靈附著，病了十八年」女人被医好，她頌讚，归荣耀给上帝。法利赛人对耶稣大发雷霆。耶稣回答：「不應當在安息日解開她的捆綁嗎？」」这不合适和正当吗？创造与救赎在安息日汇集，指向耶稣基督的恩典的礼物：真正的恢复、安息、与心靈複蘇。
耶穌做這些事情是因為祂是安息日的主（可二23–28）。祂是安息日的賜予者，就如造物者那樣。祂是安息日要見證的那一位。而且，作為救贖主，藉著復活，祂開始新的時間；復活的星期日，時間重新開始；新創造的第一天開始了。安息日的休息確保復活的星期日的意義，定為基督徒的崇拜日（林前十六2；啟一10）。我們記住這一天要敬拜和憐憫服伺，以回應上帝的命令和耶穌基督的恩賜。
我們信靠耶穌，我們的靈魂不僅周而復周地得享安息，而且我們更擁有進入最後的安息這一應許（來四9–10）。每一周都我們見證了，我們從我們的工作------甚至從我們試圖與上帝和解，或者賺取祂的恩寵，甚至在我們如何「記念安息日」中，得享安息。我們「安息於和接受」耶穌。在祂裡面，我們得著心靈的安息（太十一28-30）。
這就是為什麽安息日帶來了真正的安息和心靈復蘇。我們不是極努力去賺取上帝的恩寵。相反，安息日的主在我們因過犯死了的時候，使我們與祂一同活過來，又使我們在祂裡面，與他一同復活，一同坐在天上（弗二4–6）。
本譯文所引用的經文均出自聖經新譯本。
本文原刊於Tabletalk雜誌。
The
Sabbath Day Brings Real Rest and Refreshment
FROM Sean Michael Lucas
Have you ever slept for several hours, woke up, but remained unrefreshed? Perhaps you remember Washington Irving’s story “Rip Van Winkle.” Rip is a henpecked husband who wanders to the mountains to escape, meets a strange crew, falls asleep, and snoozes for twenty years. He wakes up to find the world completely changed, his wife dead, and his neighbors envious that he had outslept his nagging wife’s natural life.
What’s striking about Irving’s
story is that Van Winkle’s sleep wasn’t restful. It was sleep without
refreshment. This was a kind of resting that did no real good. And sometimes,
we know what that’s like because our hearts and minds are too full and anxious
to rest well. We sometimes wake up or come back from vacations unrefreshed
despite having rested.
The grace of the fourth commandment
is that God promises to give us real rest and real refreshment when we find our
rest in Him. As we remember the Sabbath day, as we keep it holy to the Lord, we
find that we begin to enter into the rest that God offers and gain a foretaste
of the heavenly rest to come, the rest of the new heavens and new earth.
God’s Good Command
In Exodus 20:8–10, it is clear that
God gives Sabbath rest as a command. However, we often miss that as we
“remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,” God intends for us to use that day
for Him: “The seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God.” What does this
mean? It means that one day in seven—not a day of our choosing, but a day of
God’s own choosing and a day unlike other days—is to be set apart for the Lord’s
service.
And this command is rooted in both
creation and redemption. In Exodus 20, creation serves as the ground: “For in
six days the Lord made heaven and earth … and rested on the seventh day” (v.
11). The creation week serves as a pattern for our creative weeks: just as God
worked six and rested one, so should we.
But in Deuteronomy 5, this command
finds its basis in redemption: “You shall remember that you were a slave in the
land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty
hand and an outstretched arm” (v. 15). Because God redeemed His people out of
captivity with the blood of firstborn lambs, their lives and their time
belonged to Him. He gave it back to them in redemption and required the Sabbath
day as a witness, a “firstfruits” of the week, a testimony to His redemptive
work.
Christ’s Gracious Gift
This Sabbath expectation and
command find their fulfillment and continuing validity in Christ. That is
because Jesus Himself pointed to the release that the day represented. Far from
doing away with the Sabbath, Jesus filled it with meaning for His people.
In Luke 4:16–21, Jesus went to the
synagogue on the Sabbath day “as was his custom.” He took the scroll and read
from Isaiah 61, declaring, “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your
hearing.” The link between Sabbath and Messiah was plain: the promised Sabbath
of rest and rejoicing, pictured in creation and redemption, has come in Jesus.
He brings good news, the Lord’s favor, liberty, sight, and freedom.
Jesus loved to heal on the Sabbath.
That seems clear in Luke 13:10–17. A woman bound by a “disabling spirit for
eighteen years” is healed and she glorifies God. The Pharisees are furious with
Jesus. His response: “Ought not this woman be loosed from this bond on the
Sabbath day?” Isn’t it fitting and right? Creation and redemption come together
on the Sabbath day to point to Christ’s gracious gift of real renewal, rest,
and refreshment.
Jesus does these things because He
is the Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:23–28). He is the giver of the Sabbath as
the Creator. He is the One about whom the Sabbath testifies. And, as Redeemer,
He has started time anew through the resurrection. Indeed, on the Sunday of His
resurrection, time began again; the first day of the new creation started. The
Sabbath rest secures its meaning on Resurrection Sunday, setting the day for
Christian worship (1 Cor. 16:2; Rev. 1:10). We remember this day to the Lord’s
service in worship and mercy, in response to God’s good command and Christ’s gracious
gift.
We who trust in Jesus not only find
rest for our souls Sunday by Sunday, but we also have the promise of entering
into the final Sabbath rest (Heb. 4:9–10). We testify each week that we have
rested from our works—from our attempts to placate God or earn His favor, even
in how we “remember the Sabbath.” Instead, we “rest in and receive” Jesus. In
Him, we find rest for our souls (Matt. 11:28–30).
That’s why the Sabbath day brings
real rest and refreshment. We aren’t in a frenzy trying to earn God’s favor.
Rather, the Lord of the Sabbath Himself has raised us and will raise us from
the dead (Eph. 2:4–6).
This post was originally published
in Tabletalk magazine.
