馬利亞的頌歌如何連接新舊約聖經
How Mary’s Song Bridges The Old and New Testament
作者：Katy Morgan  誠之譯自：
https://unlockingthebible.org/2021/12/how-marys-song-bridges-the-old-and-new-testament/
https://yimawusi.net/2021/12/08/how-marys-song-bridges-the-old-and-new-testament/
 
你的世界觀從何而來？聖誕故事說不定是個會讓你大吃一驚的地方，你可以到這裏來探索這個問題。而我相信，這些眾人熟悉的經文實際上包含了對我們對待生命和信仰方式的巨大挑戰。
Where does your worldview come from? The Christmas story might seem like a surprising place to go to explore that question. But it’s my conviction that these familiar passages actually contain great challenges for the way we approach life and faith.
 
以路加福音一章46-55節裏的馬利亞頌歌（尊主頌）為例。馬利亞有很多需要思考的問題。靠著聖靈，她懷孕了，天使告訴她，她即將誕下的兒子是神的兒子（第35節）。她的親戚以利莎白向她問安，說到：「妳在婦女中是有福的！」（第42節）。馬利亞的回答提供了她自己對正在發生的事的解釋：
Take Mary’s song in Luke 1:46-55. Mary has a lot to think about. She is pregnant, by means of the Holy Spirit, with a son she’s been told is the Son of God (v 35). Now her relative Elizabeth has greeted her with the exclamation, “Blessed are you among women!” (v 42). Mary’s response offers her own interpretation of what is going on.
 
祂憐憫敬畏祂的人，
直到世世代代；
祂用膀臂施展大能；
那狂傲的人正心裡妄想就被祂趕散了。
祂叫有權柄的失位，
叫卑賤的升高；
叫飢餓的得飽美食，
叫富足的空手回去。
（50-53節）
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty. (v 50-53)
 
這是何等非凡的話啊！這不只是因為馬利亞在情感和靈命上的成熟，能夠以謙卑和敬拜的心作出回應（這本身當然令人驚奇，如果是我，我一定會緊張得半死。）不，這是因為馬利亞理解耶穌這份禮物的方式，而這看起來真的不怎麼像聖誕節！「祂趕散那些狂傲的人」？「祂叫有權柄的失位」？這究竟與耶穌的降生有何關聯呢？
What extraordinary things to say! It’s not just that Mary has the emotional and spiritual maturity to respond humbly and worshipfully. (That is of course amazing in itself. I’d be stressed out of my mind.) No, it’s the way Mary understands the gift of Jesus. It really doesn’t seem very Christmassy! “He has scattered those who are proud”? “He has brought down rulers from their thrones”? What’s any of this got to do with Jesus’ birth?
 
一個古老的故事
An Ancient Story
 
這首歌的結尾解釋了這一點：
The end of the song explains it:
 
祂扶助了祂的僕人以色列，
為要記念亞伯拉罕和他的後裔，
施憐憫直到永遠，
正如從前對我們列祖所說的話。
 （54-55節）
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors. (v 54-55)
 
馬利亞是在談論以色列歷史。對她來說，耶穌的降生是上帝世世代代所做的事情的延續——祂對祂子民的信實和憐憫行動的最新進展。她明白上帝所做的一切都是基於《舊約》的敍事。
Mary is talking about the history of Israel. For her, Jesus’ birth is a continuation of what God has been doing for generations—the latest installment in his faithful and merciful behavior towards his people. The whole way she understands what God is doing is based on the narratives of the Old Testament.
 
記得小時候有一年聖誕節，我站在教會舞臺上，讀著這樣的臺詞：「祂的政權與平安必加增無窮。祂必在大衛的寶座上治理祂的國，以公平公義使國堅定穩固，從今直到永遠。萬軍之耶和華的熱心必成就這事。」（賽九7）。這些話對我來說幾乎毫無意義。為什麼呢？因為我不知道大衛或其他任何政權與耶穌有什麼關係。在一個個人主義的時代長大的我，對信仰的理解就是這樣：耶穌是我的朋友；祂為我而死；我與祂有一種特殊關係。這都是事實，現在也是如此。但這是與馬利亞的表達方式截然不同的，而且是一種更為狹隘的表達方式。
I remember as a child standing up on stage at church one Christmas and reading the lines, “Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever” (Isaiah 9:7). The words were almost meaningless to me. Why? Because I didn’t see what David—or governments—had to do with Jesus. Raised in an individualistic age, this was my understanding of faith: Jesus was my friend; he had died for me; I had a relationship with him. That was all true—and remains so. But it was a very different way of expressing it to Mary’s, and a much more limited one.
 
在我之外
Beyond Myself
 
當然，造成這種差異的一個原因是《新約》。馬利亞不知道耶穌會死。她沒有這樣的福利，可以讀到我們今天在《新約》書信中對它的解釋。我們能夠明白上帝救贖計劃的細節及其影響，而馬利亞卻不能。
Of course, one reason for the difference is the New Testament. Mary didn’t know that Jesus would die. She didn’t have the benefit of reading the explanations of it we have today in the New Testament epistles. We can understand the details of God’s salvation plan and its implications in a way Mary couldn’t.
 
但我多麼希望我在小時候就能學會像她那樣的世界觀——明白上帝選民的偉大故事以及上帝對他們的信實。耶穌的降臨改變了歷史的進程，但它也是一個更古老故事的延續。如果我當時明白，如果我與上帝有關係，那只是作為祂子民的一部分，作為嫁接在這棵老樹上的嫩芽。惟願我當時已經明白，耶穌是一位像大衛那樣的君王，祂將要以完美的公義和和平施行統治，究竟意味著什麼。
But how I wish that I had learned as a child to have a worldview like hers—an understanding of the great sweep of the story of God’s chosen people and his faithfulness to them. The coming of Jesus changed the course of history, but it was also the continuation of a far older story. If only I had understood that if I had a relationship with God, it was only as part of his people, as a new shoot grafted onto the old tree. If only I had seen what it meant that Jesus was a king like David—and one who would reign with perfect justice and peace.
 
惟願我的眼光在那時就超越自己。
If only I had seen beyond myself.
 
那麼，我就會像馬利亞一樣，真正地榮耀主，因為我最終會意識到自己卑微的地位（路1:47-48）。我會看到上帝是多麼偉大，祂竟然會降到地上，更不用說受死或選擇任何人成為祂子民的一部分，這是何等非凡的一件事。這樣，我就不會把耶穌，我的至友，視為理所當然。
Then, like Mary, I would have truly glorified the Lord, mindful as I would have been at last of my own humble state (Luke 1:47-48). I would have seen how big God is, and how utterly extraordinary it is that he should step down to earth at all, never mind dying or choosing anyone to be part of his people. I would have stopped taking Jesus, my friend, for granted.
 
由《舊約》的應許所塑造的世界觀
A Worldview Shaped By Old Testament Promises
 
一旦你開始看見它，你就無法留在原地：《新約》作者，特別是在四福音書中，有一個由《舊約》塑造的世界觀。他們不斷提到上帝子民的歷史；他們對上帝的全部理解皆來自於此。耶穌周圍的人都是藉著回顧上帝一直以來的樣子和祂一直以來的應許來認識耶穌。
Once you start seeing it, you can’t stop: the writers of the New Testament, especially in the Gospels, have a worldview shaped by the Old Testament. They constantly refer to the history of God’s people; their whole understanding of God comes from there. People around Jesus made sense of him by referring back to what God had always been like and what he had always promised.
 
因此，讓我們以耶穌時代的人的方式來教授這些《舊約》故事。讓我們指出他們是如何描繪基督的，說明祂是什麼樣子（大衛是君王，波阿斯是救贖者，摩西是拯救者）。讓我們設法理解他們的概念和類別——潔淨的和不潔的，工作和休息，聖潔，救贖。讓我們注意他們是如何引向基督的——《舊約》的總體敍事在到達耶穌之前無法得出其結論。
So let’s teach these Old Testament stories the way that people in Jesus’ time would have taught them. Let’s point out how they figure Christ, illustrating what he is like (David the king, Boaz the redeemer, Moses the rescuer). Let’s seek to understand their concepts and categories—clean and unclean, work and rest, holiness, redemption. Let’s notice how they lead up to Christ—how the overarching narrative of the Old Testament can’t find its conclusion until it reaches Jesus.
 
最重要的是，讓我們去閱讀《舊約》，即使它很怪異，也很複雜。這是我能想到的正確看待我們自己、我們的世界和我們的上帝的最好方法。
Above all, let’s read the Old Testament, even where it’s strange or complicated. It’s the best way I can think of to get a right view of ourselves, our world, and our God.
 
Katy Morgan is the author of The Promise and the Light, a captivating and biblically faithful retelling of the Christmas story for 8-12 year old’s.