贫穷的耶稣

使徒保罗说耶稣本来富足。当然，祂毕竟是神。但这并不是说神拥有巨额存款，或住在私人岛屿上。所以，保罗所说的“富足”，也许是指其他方面。而当他说耶稣成了贫穷时，这是否意味着也是另有所指的，某种非同寻常的“贫穷”呢？

路加描述了一次耶稣全家人一起去耶路撒冷的场景。当时耶稣刚刚降生大概六周。那时马利亚要到圣殿里献上产后的祭物。通常祭物是一只羊和一只斑鸠（或雏鸽）。但马利亚却献上了 “一对斑鸠或两只雏鸽”。其实献什么祭物也没关系，因为对于力量不够献一只羊的家庭，有特别的豁免条例。可见约瑟、马利亚和耶稣的家一定比较贫穷——就是一般意义上的经济贫困。

我想知道这对耶稣来说意味着什么。我想了解他在贫穷中成长的经历。

有一件事常常伴随着贫穷，那就是食物不足。很多人都是饿着肚子睡觉的。也许你也有这种经历。耶稣知道那种饥饿吗，那种没有足够食物的饥饿，那种源于贫穷的饥饿？这是不是祂教导门徒祈求“日用饮食”的原因呢？——因为在祂的经历里，饥饿从不遥远？我对此很好奇。

耶稣，你明白贫穷和饥饿意味着什么。你知道我们中的一些人缺乏的真实感受，但很多人只能靠想像。难怪我们如此需要你的怜恤。

22按摩西律法满了洁净的日子，他们带着孩子上耶路撒冷去，要把他献于主，23正如主的律法上所记：“凡头生的男子，必称圣归主。”24又要照主的律法上所说，“或用一对斑鸠，或用两只雏鸽”献祭。

Poor Jesus

"Though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor." - 2 Corinthians 8:9

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The apostle Paul says Jesus was rich. Of course. He was God, after all. But it's not that God has a fat bank account or lives on a private island. So perhaps Paul means "rich" in some other way. And when he says Jesus became poor, does that mean "poor" in some other way, some unusual way?

Luke describes a time when the whole family went to Jerusalem. Jesus was about six weeks old. It was time for Mary to offer a pair of post-childbirth sacrifices at the temple. The usual offerings were a lamb and a pigeon (or maybe a dove). But instead Mary offered either "a pair of doves or two young pigeons." And that was okay, because there was a special allowance for families that couldn't afford a lamb. So Joseph and Mary and Jesus must have been poor—in the usual way.

I wonder what that meant for Jesus. I wonder what he experienced growing up poor.

One thing that often goes with poverty is food insecurity. Plenty of people go to bed hungry. Maybe you do. Did Jesus know that kind of hunger, the hunger that comes from not having enough food, that comes from being poor? Is that why he taught his disciples to pray for "daily bread"—because in his experience, hunger was never far away? I wonder.

Prayer

Jesus, you know what it means to be poor and hungry. You know what some of us know very well, but that many of us can only imagine. No wonder we're hungry for you. Amen.