神在創造天地時，希伯來文是bara（巴拉），指從無生有；在這裡用的「造」字，希伯來文是「asah（阿撒）」，是指用已經有的材料，塵土，做成的。神造的大魚有好幾種譯法，有的說是the great sea-monsters/ great sea creatures/ great whales/ magnificent marine creature，不管是大海怪、鯨魚、大魚，都給我們一個清楚的認知，就是水裡的生物不論大小都是神所造的。在前四天的創造裡，都是神的器皿，植物或礦物只有體而沒有生命，從水裡的生物和空中的飛鳥才開始具有生命。
Luke 6:1-2 (NIV)
1 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels.
2 Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”
On verses 1-2: People living in Israel were allowed to walk through a fellow Israelite’s grain field and pick kernels with their hand to eat, just as Jesus’ disciples were doing here. This was specifically allowed in Deuteronomy 23:24-25 as a way for Jewish landowners to show grace and mercy to the poor. However, because Jesus’ disciples were doing this on a Sabbath day, the Pharisees were offended, for the Pharisees taught that picking heads of grain and eating it on a Sabbath day was “work” which violated God’s command that His people rest and not work on a Sabbath day. The Pharisees had misapplied God’s command to rest on the Sabbath day to an absurd, ridiculous and unhelpful extreme. As a result, laws that were meant to encourage grace, mercy and rest for people were replaced with a strict kind of legalism that just placed more burdens on everyone.
https://ocbf.ca/2019/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/200901.jpg300600meilinghttps://ocbf.ca/2019/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/greenlogo-1.pngmeiling2020-08-31 20:00:322020-08-30 16:20:21Don’t Be So Caught Up In Man-Made Rules That You Miss God’s Heart
Today’s passage is Luke 5:27-39. There are so many lessons we can learn from today’s passage. Let’s go!
Luke 5:27-28 (NIV)
27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him,
28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
On verses 27-28: Back in Jesus’ time, tax collectors were despised in Israel. That is because tax collectors had a reputation for being crooked and money hungry, known for charging Jews more taxes than they actually owed to the Roman government and pocketing the difference. Jewish tax collectors were seen as traitors, since they were working for the Roman emperor while profiting at the expense of their fellow Jews. Levi was one such Jewish tax collector. Notice, however, that Levi’s occupation, background and reputation did not keep Jesus from inviting Levi to follow him. It also did not keep Levi from leaving everything to follow Jesus. Levi (also called Matthew) would become one of Jesus’ first disciples and apostles, and would go on to author the gospel of Matthew, the first book in the New Testament.
https://ocbf.ca/2019/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/200831.jpg300600meilinghttps://ocbf.ca/2019/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/greenlogo-1.pngmeiling2020-08-30 20:00:302020-08-30 16:15:11“I Don’t Believe in Christianity Because Some Christians I Know Are Hypocrites.”
Luke 5:12-14 (NIV)
12 While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
13 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.
14 Then Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”
On verses 12-14: This to me is one of the most beautiful scenes in the Bible. Here you have a man covered with a skin disease which not only affected him physically but socially as well. According to the Jewish laws, a person with leprosy was not allowed to live among the people but had to live alone outside the city. They had to cover their face, leave their hair undone, and walk around with torn clothes yelling “Unclean! Unclean!”
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Luke 5:1-2 (NIV)
1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God,
2 he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.
On verses 1-2: I like this observation by Pastor Jon Courson: he notes that back in Jesus’ day fishermen would regularly wash their nets and stretch them at the end of each work day. That way the net would not stink or rot and would remain useful for the long-term. Likewise, if we want to be effective nets that God can use to bring people to Him, we need to be regularly washed with the water of God’s Word and stretched by His Holy Spirit often.
Luke 5:3-11 (NIV)
3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”
5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
但是，我依然想借用曾經兩次獲金球獎提名的美國電影演員柯克·卡梅隆（Kirk T. Camerron, 其代表作品有《消防員》《末世迷蹤》等）說過的一段話，來回答這個困惑了無數世人的“天問”。那是卡梅隆2013年拍完由他編劇和主演的一部名為《永不止步》(Unstoppable) 的福音紀錄片後，在記者採訪時針對苦難發生原因問題的回答：
