圣经文本

 

Luke第19章:32

学习

       

32 And they that were sent went their way, and found even as he had said unto them.

评论

 

复活节时的哭泣

原作者: Peter M. Buss, Sr. (机器翻译成: 中文)

Before entering Jerusalem for the last time, Jesus wept over its future. This painting by Enrique Simonet, is called "Flevit super Illam", the Latin for "He Wept Over It". It is in the Museum of Malaga.

"当他们走近的时候,他看见城,就为之哭泣,说:'你们若是知道,就连你们自己,尤其是在你们这个时代,属于你们平安的事,也该知道! '但现在它们却从你们的眼睛里藏起来了。"(路加福音19:41,42 ).

"'耶路撒冷的女儿们,不要为我哭泣,要为你们自己和你们的儿女哭泣...........因为他们若在绿林中行这些事,在枯木中又要作什么呢?"( 路加福音23:28,31).

耶稣为耶路撒冷流泪。 妇人为他而哭,他叫她们为自己和孩子们哭泣。 在胜利的时刻悲痛,在荒凉的时刻悲痛。

棕枝主日的故事是有讽刺意味的,因为在它的欢呼声中,笼罩着背叛、审判和受难的阴影。 愤怒的众人要求他被钉死在十字架上,难道这群愤怒的人,就是五天前称颂他为王的众人吗? 为什么主明知必将发生的事情,却要凯旋而上? 祂这样做是为了宣布祂,从神的善中得来的神性真理,将统治万物;给我们一幅图画,让我们看到祂的威严,将永远存在。 然后,客西马尼和髑髅地的事件让我们知道了这威严的性质----他的国度确实不属于这个世界。

我们可以想象一下棕树节的场景吗? 众人在欢呼雀跃,欢呼雀跃,然后他们看到他们的王在哭泣。 这不是一个短暂的时刻,而是持续的哭泣,使福音书的作者听到了这一幕。 他们的呼喊声在看着祂的悲痛时,他们的呼喊声是否已经平息了,当祂向他们所住的城宣告灭亡的时候,他们是否感到惊奇呢? "你们的仇敌必在你们周围筑起堤坝,包围你们,把你们四面围住,把你们和你们的儿女们都压在地上;他们不会在你们身上留下一块又一块的石头,因为你们不知道你们的时间,所以不知道你们要来的时候。" 然后,也许是随着他的骑行,欢呼声又恢复了,那些奇怪的话语也就忘记了。

还有另一个讽刺;因为百姓高呼说,和平来了。 "奉耶和华的名来的王有福了! 天上有平安,至高无上的荣耀!" 然而,当耶稣哭泣的时候,他对全城的人说:"你们若是知道,就连你们自己,尤其是在你们这个时代,那些使你们得平安的事,也是你们所知道的。 但现在它们都被你们隐藏起来了。"

这宏伟的全景说的是每个人内心的世界。 正是在我们的心中,在道的属灵意义上,耶稣在我们的心目中,在我们的心目中,耶稣得胜了。 当我们看到他的真理的奇妙,感觉到他的大能胜过万物,我们就会赞美他。 棕枝主日的所有事件都告诉我们,当我们承认主,可见的神,通过我们里面的道来统治我们的心智。 这是个大喜乐的时刻。 就像棕枝主日的众人一样,我们感觉到这异象将扫除一切邪恶,主将很容易在我们里面作我们的王和神。

这样的幸福时光确实临到我们,我们可以在其中欢欣鼓舞,欢呼我们的主和王。 "在天上的平安,在最高的荣耀!" 平安是通过与我们所见的主联合而来。启示录解说369:9,11). 然而,主自己也知道,那些不知道平安的人必有争战。 这也是主在他的话语中警告我们的。 在主的时代的自然耶路撒冷,统治者们用虚假来破坏真理,他们给基督徒带来了许多的痛苦。 在我们心目中属灵的耶路撒冷,有一些虚假的价值观,会破坏平安。 在我们到了天堂之前,我们对主的异象和我们的自爱之间将有一场争战,而我们的自爱将滥用真理来使之发生。

所以,主在橄榄山上,在橄榄山上,当他俯视这城的时候,他就在那里哭泣。 祂的哭泣是怜悯的标志,因为祂为我们里面那些会伤害我们的、与我们的平安相对立的状态而悲伤。 (天国的秘密5480; 启示录解释365 [9];参看: 365:11, 340). 然而,祂的悲痛是一种积极的力量,它是一种怜悯的力量,正在努力消除这些状态。 耶稣应许耶路撒冷将被彻底摧毁----连一块石头都不留。 诚然,自然的耶路撒冷被夷为平地,但这不是祂的意思。 祂应许我们----甚至在祂警告我们即将到来的争战时----祂必得胜,我们的耶路撒冷----我们作恶的借口---将不能成立。 它们将被祂的话语所毁灭。 (参看 阿卡纳-科尔斯蒂亚6588 [5]; 启示录解释365 [9]).

祂因怜悯而哭泣,祂应许了哭泣的结局,因为 "祂温柔的怜悯胜过了祂的一切作为"。

在耶稣受难日的时候,肯定会有哭泣的理由。 想象一下这个场景。妇人在十字架后面哀叹。 耶稣一定是被鞭打得血流满面,被荆棘王冠所伤。 他被那些喜欢看人死的人包围着。 那些称他为仇人的人,都认为自己赢了。

他的追随者们都很绝望。 他们从来没有想到祂所培养的梦想会以这样的方式结束,也没有想到他们所爱的领袖会受到如此可怕的对待。 他们为他的苦难而感同身受。 他们为他哭泣。

然后,也许侮辱他的人群在他转向哀悼者的时候,被压制住了。 他用他无限的爱说话, "耶路撒冷的女儿们,不要为我哭泣,要为你们自己和你们的孩子们哭泣。" 他没有想到他即将到来的痛苦, 他为他所爱的人悲伤。 祂必得胜。 正是在他们身上,苦难才会降临。我们还有什么比这句话更清楚地描述我们的上帝来到世上的目标呢? 祂来了,因为邪恶的人和邪恶的感情给祂的儿女带来了苦难。 祂来是为了在他们哭泣之后给他们喜乐,给他们安慰和希望,最后给他们一个肯定,那就是不应该再有死亡,也不应该有悲伤和哭泣。

当时的妇女确实面临着身体上的悲哀。当我们知道基督徒受迫害,想到有人因为敬拜他们的神而被杀,孩子被夺走,善良的人受到那些不懂怜悯的人的怜悯,真是令人心痛。 的确,主说的似乎是对的,如果他们不生孩子,不为自己的信仰受苦,那就更好了。 "因为确实有一天,他们会说:'贫瘠的人有福了,不曾生育的子宫,不曾哺育的乳房,有福了!'"

但是,主来到人间的真正原因是,在肉体的残忍中,有一个更大的伤害。 有很多人在这个世界上行走,他们不会想到要谋杀别人,但却经常喜欢夺走一些更珍贵的东西--他跟随主的能力。

这就是为什么主说这些话的原因:"不要为我哭泣,要为你们自己和你们的儿女哭泣。 耶路撒冷的女儿们代表着全世界真诚的人对真理的温柔的爱。 他们的儿女是来自于对真理的爱的慈爱和信心。 这些都是邪恶的牺牲品,尤其是当它侵袭教会的时候。 这些都是引起内心哭泣的东西,是一种因沉默而更具有破坏性的心灵的悲哀。

"耶路撒冷的女儿们,"他叫他们。 我们对真理的纯洁的爱是与我们自私的理由一起成长起来的。 事实上,它是被自私的理由所统治,就像耶路撒冷的女儿们被腐败的教会所统治一样。 当那些妇女们试图脱离犹太教会的时候,她们被迫害。 当我们对真理的纯洁的爱试图引导我们跟随主的时候,我们的灵里就会遭受试探。 地狱升起,用我们曾经有过的所有自私和邪恶的快乐来诱惑我们,我们确实为自己哭泣。

你看,受苦的不是真理本身! "不要为我哭泣,"耶稣说。 真理是全能的。 是我们对真理的爱被试探了。 受苦的是我们的仁爱和我们的信仰--那爱的孩子--。

"因为他们会说,'贫瘠的人有福了,不孕不育的子宫和不育的乳房有福了'。"在我们看来,那些没有真理、没有理想的人不就是幸福的人吗? 其实这是一个预言,在教会之外,重新找到教会的人,比起那些把生活中的虚伪带入争战的人,他们的日子会更容易。

在棕枝主日,当耶稣哭泣时,他说耶路撒冷要被毁灭。 正如我说过的,祂实际上是在应许我们里面的邪恶被毁灭。 在耶稣受难日,他也给出了同样的保证。 "然后他们要开始对山说:"落在我们身上!"又要对山丘说:"盖住我们!"这些看似严厉的话语是一种安慰,因为它们保证,当主的真理在我们里面得胜时,天国就会越来越近。 当那时候,那些诱惑我们的地狱将无法忍受天堂的存在,会把自己遮盖起来,躲起来。

"因为他们若在绿林中行这些事,在干的时候又要怎样呢?" 听众们知道这句话的意思:如果当祂在他们中间的时候,他们拒绝了祂的真理,那么当对祂的存在和祂的神迹的记忆干涸了,他们又会怎样呢? 从内在的意义上说,绿木是真理,从对真理的热爱中仍有生命力。 即使我们看到道的理想,也会在试探中挣扎。 但当那木头干枯了,当我们无法感受到真理的生命和力量时,斗争就会变得非常艰难。

在这两个画面中----祂在棕枝主日的哭泣,祂悲哀地警告妇女们为自己和孩子们哭泣,主是在预备我们为我们所信的事而战。祂是如何预备我们的呢? 不仅仅是向我们保证即将到来的试炼,也是向我们保证,既然祂已经显明了祂的大能,就一定会得胜。 在真正的基督教的宗教中,有这样的奇迹,有这样的盼望,有这样的永恒的幸福。 然而,任何有价值的爱,在面对挑战之前,都不会有值得我们保留的。 必须有哭泣的时候:我们仁慈的主为我们的挣扎而哭泣,并从怜悯中给予我们力量;我们的梦想和希望在害怕失去时哭泣。 通过试炼,我们表达了我们对梦想的承诺,祂将我们交付给我们。

在他被捕前不到二十四小时,主又讲到了哭泣。 在最后的晚餐上,他说:"我实在告诉你们,你们要哭泣,要哀叹,但世人要欢喜。" 但祂并没有止步于此"你们必忧伤,但你们的忧伤必转为喜乐。 妇人在生产的时候,有忧愁,因为她的时辰到了;但只要她生下孩子,就不再记念那苦恼,因为有一个人降生到世界上,就有喜乐。 所以你们现在有忧愁;但我必再见到你们,你们的心必欢喜,你们的喜乐没有人夺去。"

当他被钉在十字架上,又复活的时候,他们一定以为他的话已经应验了。 现在他们找到了没有人能够从他们身上夺走的喜乐。 也许当他们在逼迫者的手中受苦,在基督徒同胞中找到了喜乐,他们也是这样想的。 最后,当他们打了自己的私下争战,从他的大能中战胜了里面的仇敌,他们知道了他真正的意思。

"耶稣为城市哭泣" "为你们自己和你们的孩子哭泣" 我们对真理的爱将受到威胁,我们对真正的信仰和真正的慈善的希望也将受到威胁。 正是为了这个目的,祂来到世界上,骑着凯旋而来,喝下了被拒绝和明显的死亡之杯--能够将我们的忧伤转为喜乐。 因此,祂也可以说:"在世上你们必有苦难;但你们要喜乐,我已经胜过了世界。"阿门。

(参考: 路加福音19:29-44, 23:24-38)

来自斯威登堡的著作

 

Arcana Coelestia#6148

学习本章节

  
/10837  
  

6148. 'Only the ground of the priests he did not buy' means that the internal obtained for itself from the natural every capacity to receive good, because every such capacity came from itself. This is clear from the representation of 'Joseph', about whom these things are said, as the internal, dealt with already; from the meaning of 'the ground' as the receptacle of truth, dealt with above in 6135-6137, at this point the capacity to receive good, for the capacity of something is its inherent ability to receive, which causes a receptacle to be a receptacle (that capacity comes from good, that is, from the Lord through good, for if the good of love did not flow in from the Lord no one would ever have the capacity to receive truth or good. That inflow of the good of love from the Lord causes everything present inwardly in a person to be of a receptive nature. The truth that the capacity to receive good comes from the natural is meant by the fact that the ground lay in Egypt, since 'Egypt' means the natural in respect of factual knowledge, 6142); from the meaning of 'the priests' as good, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'not buying' as not taking those capacities to itself - not in the way that it made truths and forms of the good of truth, together with their receptacles, its own, which came about through periods of desolation and sustainment - for the reason that those capacities came from itself, from the internal. All these meanings serve to show that 'only the ground of the priests he did not buy' means that the internal obtained for itself from the natural every capacity to receive good, because every such capacity came from itself.

[2] The implications of all this are that a person's capacities to receive truth and good come directly from the Lord; he obtains them without any help at all from himself. A person's capacity to receive goodness and truth is maintained in him unceasingly; and from that capacity he possesses understanding and will. But a person does not receive them if he turns to evil. The capacity to receive does, it is true, remain, but its access to thought and sensitivity is blocked, on account of which his capacity to see what is true and have a sensitive awareness of what is good perishes. And it perishes to the extent that he turns to evil and in faith and life becomes firmly settled in it. The fact that a person contributes nothing whatever to his capacity to receive truth and good is well known from the Church's teaching that nothing at all of the truth of faith and nothing at all of the good of charity comes from man but from the Lord. Yet a person can destroy that capacity residing with him. From all this one may now see how one should understand the idea that the internal obtained for itself from the natural every capacity to receive good, because every such capacity came from itself. The expression 'from the natural' is used because the inflow of good from the Lord is effected by the Lord through the internal into the natural; and once the capacity to receive has been obtained from there, the inflow takes place, for now there is reception, see 5828.

[3] So far as the meaning of 'the priests' as forms of good is concerned, it should be recognized that there are two realities which go forth from the Lord - goodness and truth. Divine Good was represented by priests, and Divine Truth by kings; and this is why 'the priests' means forms of good and 'the kings' truths. Regarding the attribution of Priesthood and Kingship to the Lord, see 1728, 2015 (end), 3670. In the representative Ancient Church those two offices of priest and king existed jointly in one personage, the reason for this being that goodness and truth which go forth from the Lord are united; and they are also joined together in heaven among the angels.

[4] A personage in the Ancient Church in whom the two offices existed joined together was called Melchizedek, a name meaning king of righteousness. This may be seen from the following statement about Melchizedek who came to Abraham, 1

Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; and he was a priest to God Most High. And he blessed Abraham. Genesis 14:18-19.

His representation of the Lord in both offices is evident from the fact that he was a king and at the same time a priest, and from the fact that he was allowed to bless Abraham and offer him bread and wine, which even at that time were the symbols of the good of love and the truth of faith. His representation of the Lord in both offices is further evident in David,

Jehovah has sworn and will not repent, You are a priest for ever after the manner of Melchizedek. Psalms 110:4.

These words were spoken in reference to the Lord. 'After the manner of Melchizedek' means that He is both King and Priest, that is, in the highest sense that Divine Good and Divine Truth go forth together from Him.

[5] Because a representative Church was going to be established also among the descendants of Jacob, they too were to have a single personage to represent jointly Divine Good and Divine Truth, which go forth from the Lord united. But on account of the wars and the idolatry of that people the two were in fact divided right from the start; those who ruled over the attended to sacred duties were referred to as the priests, who belonged to the seed of Aaron and were the Levites. At a later time the two functions were joined together in a single person, as they were in Eli and Samuel. Yet because the nature of the people was such that the representative Church could not be established among them, only a representative of the Church, on account of the practice of idolatry prevalent among them, the two functions were allowed to be separated. The Lord was then represented in respect of Divine Truth by kings and in respect of Divine Good by priests. The separation took place because the people desired it, not because the Lord took any pleasure in it, as is clear from the Word of Jehovah to Samuel,

Obey the voice of the people in all that they have said to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them; and show them the right of the king. 1 Samuel 8:7-end; 12:19-20.

[6] The reason why the two functions were not meant to be separated was that Divine Truth separated from Divine Good condemns all people, whereas Divine Truth united to Divine Good saves them. Judged by Divine Truth a person is condemned to hell, but Divine Good brings him out of there and raises him into heaven. Salvation comes of mercy and so sprigs from Divine Good; but damnation exists when a person rejects mercy and so casts Divine Good away from himself, as a consequence of which he is left to be judged by Truth. As regards 'kings' representing Divine Truth, see 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068.

[7] 'The priests' represented the Lord in respect of Divine Good, and for that reason good is meant by them. This becomes clear from the internal sense of all that was prescribed regarding the priesthood when Aaron was chosen, and after him the Levites, such as these prescriptions:

The High Priest alone should enter the Holy of holies and minister there. [Leviticus 16.]

Things holy to Jehovah were to be for the priest. Leviticus 23:20; 27:21.

They were not to have any portion or inheritance in the land, but Jehovah would be their portion and inheritance. Numbers 18:20; Deuteronomy 10:9; 18:1.

The Levites were given to Jehovah instead of the firstborn, and they were given by Jehovah to Aaron. Numbers 3:9, 12-13, Numbers 3:40-end; 8:16-19.

The high priest and the Levites were to be in the middle of the camp when they pitched it and when they were journeying. Numbers 1:50-54; 2:17; 3:23-38; 4:1-end.

No one from the seed of Aaron who had a blemish in himself was to approach to offer burnt offerings or sacrifices. Leviticus 21:17-20.

And there are many other prescriptions besides these, such as those in Leviticus 21:9-13, and elsewhere.

[8] In the highest sense all these prescriptions relating to the priests represented the Lord's Divine Good and therefore in the relative sense the good of love and charity. Aaron's vestments however, called 'vestments of holiness', represented Divine Truth from Divine Good. These matters will in the Lord's Divine mercy be dealt with in the explanations of what appears in Exodus.

[9] Since truth is meant by 'kings' and good by 'priests', 'kings and priests' are mentioned together many times in the Word, as in John, Jesus Christ has made us kings and priests to His God and Father. Revelation 1:6; 5:10.

By virtue of the truth of faith we are said to have been made 'kings', and by virtue of the good of charity to have been made 'priests', so that the truth and good residing with those who abide in the Lord have been joined together, in the way they are in heaven, as stated above. This is what is meant by 'being made kings and priests'.

[10] In Jeremiah,

It will happen on that day, that the heart of the king and of the princes will perish, and the priests will be dumbfounded and the prophets left wondering. Jeremiah 4:9.

In the same prophet,

The house of Israel is ashamed, they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets. Jeremiah 2:26.

In the same prophet,

The kings of Judah, the princes, the priests, and the prophets, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Jeremiah 8:1.

In these places 'kings stands for truths, 'princes' for first and foremost truths, 1482, 1089, 5044, 'priests' for forms of good, and 'prophets' for those who teach, 2534.

[11] Quite apart from this it should be recognized that Joseph did not buy the ground of the priests. The fact that this was representative of the consideration that the whole of a person's capacity to receive truth and good comes from the Lord is evident from a similar law in Moses regarding the fields belonging to the Levites,

The field of the country surrounding the cities of the Levites shall not be sold, for it is their eternal possession. Leviticus 25:34.

The meaning here in the internal sense is that no one ought to lay any claim to the good of the Church, which is the good of love and charity, because that good is from the Lord alone.

脚注:

1. At this time the patriarch's name was still Abram.

  
/10837  
  

Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.