从我还不太记事的时候开始,父母就每天花时间用圣经故事教导我们。我四年级的老师也是这样,他教导学生把圣经的故事应用在生活当中,使学生明白其中的道理与自己有很密切的关系。
曾经有一首圣诗帮助我很大,就是“受难歌”(O Sacred Head, Now Wounded),这首圣诗是用拉丁文写成的,后来被翻译成德文,并配有庄严肃穆的音乐。后来,它又被翻译成英文,很多基督教的诗集都有收藏这首圣诗。我清楚地记得,在五十多年前一个主日晚上的崇拜中,这首圣诗令人扎心的旋律和歌词,深深地触动了我。“我主你受尽苦楚,罪人得蒙恩典,你受创痛至死亡,是因我的罪愆。”
这个月,我们把耶稣受苦的原因,归咎于很多在福音书中记载的人物身上:耶路撒冷的宗教领袖、出卖耶稣的犹大、彼得和其他逃走的门徒、罗马巡抚彼拉多和他残暴的士兵。然而,藉着这些人物我也暗示了一个事实:基督教信仰往往是一面很好的镜子,它让我们看到,即便是今天的我,也像当日的他们:我的罪,也有份把耶稣钉在十字架上。
“谁悖逆亏心,谁这样对待主?竟然,就是我,卖主辜负宏恩!主啊,就是我,是我将主否认,是我将主钉!” 主耶稣,求祢开恩怜悯我这个罪人。奉耶稣的名祷告,阿们。
以赛亚书 53:3-7
3他被藐视,被人厌弃;多受痛苦,常经忧患。他被藐视,好像被人掩面不看的一样;我们也不尊重他。"He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed." — Isaiah 53:5
From before I can remember, my parents spent part of each day teaching the stories of the Bible to their children. My fourth-grade school teacher often did the same, applying those stories so that his students could see how they fit into them.
A hymn helped make that happen for me. That hymn, "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded," was originally written in Latin, then translated into German and set to majestic somber music, then retranslated into English and included in many Christian hymnbooks. I vividly recall a Sunday-evening worship time more than 50 years ago when the haunting music and lyrics of that hymn hit home for me. "My Lord, what you did suffer was all for sinners' gain; mine, mine was the transgression, but yours the deadly pain."
So far this month, we have projected the guilt for Jesus' suffering onto many people in the gospel stories: the Jerusalem religious leaders, the betrayer Judas, Peter and the other fleeing disciples, the Roman governor Pilate and his brutal soldiers. But we've been hinting at something else too: the Christian faith also teaches us to look in the mirror, and to see in our reflection one whose sins also nailed Jesus to the cross.
"Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon you? It is my treason, Lord, that has undone you. 'Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied you; I crucified you." Lord Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner. Amen.
诵读: 楚云
片头: 张妙阳