当回顾耶稣的一生时，早期跟随衪的人可以看到，衪时常都是朝着天家的方向走的。
在世上传道时，耶稣行了神迹奇事——医治病人、赐盼望给穷困和有需要的人—— 但衪工作的重点，一直都是朝着天上的方向走的。为了我们和为了衪的国度，衪渴望不断走近衪的父神，这个渴望引领耶稣定意走向耶路撒冷、走向受苦和死亡。藉此祂替我们偿还罪债，使得我们在衪的国里得到新的生命。
可惜的是，耶稣的跟随者并不是时常都具有衪这种方向感的；许多个人和群体，往往都目光短浅。遇到阻力时，我们只渴望除掉它。我们拒绝与持有不同政见的人交谈，我们痛骂令我们生气的亲友；对那些与我们不一样的人，我们只是害伯，而不会以爱心待他们。
今天这段经文，并没有记载耶稣用什么话来责备衪的门徒。然而，从衪一生的事迹我们可以看到，神的计划也包括使用挣扎和挫折的经历，来引领我们朝着天上的方向走。十字架、坟墓、和升天，都是基督的故事中不可缺少的要素。
在今天，你生命中有没有需要悔改的地方？有什么态度需要受到督责？现在就让我们思想一下神整全的作为吧，透过受苦和死亡，衪的作为也能带来荣耀的盼望。
主啊，求你引领我们，专心思想你更新我们的整全计划，而不是单单看到我们自己的益处。我们祈求你的国降临，阿们。
路加福音 9:51-56
51耶稣被接上升的日子将到，他就定意向耶路撒冷去，
52便打发使者在他前头走。他们到了撒马利亚的一个村庄，要为他预备。
53那里的人不接待他，因他面向耶路撒冷去。
54他的门徒雅各、约翰看见了，就说：“主啊，你要我们吩咐火从天上降下来烧灭他们，像以利亚所做的吗？”
55耶稣转身责备两个门徒，说：“你们的心如何，你们并不知道。
56人子来不是要灭人的性命，是要救人的性命。”说着就往别的村庄去了。
“The time approached for him to be taken up to heaven...” - Luke 9:51
Looking back on Jesus’ life, his first followers could see that he was always headed toward heaven.
Though Jesus did great things in his ministry here on earth—healing the sick, giving hope to the poor and needy—he remained focused on the heavenward direction of his work. This desire to keep on moving toward his Father—for our sake and for his kingdom—led Jesus resolutely toward Jerusalem, toward the suffering and death that would pay for our sins and give us new life in his kingdom.
Unfortunately, Jesus’ followers do not always have his sense of direction. As individuals and as communities, we can be shortsighted. We respond to opposition with a desire to destroy. We refuse to dialogue with people whose politics differ from ours. We lash out at relatives and friends who upset us. We respond with fear, instead of love, to people who are different from us.
In our Bible reading for today, we are not told Jesus’ words of rebuke to his disciples. But from his life we see that God’s plan can use even seasons of struggle and opposition to point us heavenward. The cross, the tomb, and the ascension are all essential parts of Christ’s story.
Are there areas of your life that need repentance today? What attitudes need to be rebuked? Reflect today on God’s big-picture work that can lead us even through suffering and death to the hope of glory.
Lord, guide us to focus on your whole purpose of renewal instead of our own interests. Your kingdom come, we pray. Amen.
诵读: 骆云秀
片头: 张妙阳
