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耶稣在耶路撒冷_洁净圣殿

2020-03-17 in /by

约翰福音二章17节  他的门徒就想起经上记着说：「我为祢的殿心里焦急，如同火烧。」

主耶稣曾经两次洁净圣殿。第一次是祂刚出来传道的时候。记载在〈约翰福音〉第二章。其余三福音所记载的是第二次洁净圣殿，是祂受死前一周所作的事。这也是祂第一次以成人的身份到耶路撒冷去过逾越节。犹太人曾经是游牧民族，但是后来在迦南地定居后，神规定只能有一个献祭和敬拜的地方。在所罗门圣殿建立之后，大家就一年几次去耶路撒冷过节。过节往往要献祭，但是远道而来的人带着牛羊很不方便，律法也允许他们带钱到耶路撒冷，再买牛羊及献祭用品。

但是在耶稣的时代，由于耶路撒冷圣殿为要维持圣洁，规定奉献的钱币必须是由圣殿发行和加利利地区的钱币才可以，因为这两个地方所发行的钱币只有灯烛，没有人物像。当时罗马帝国发行的钱币就有罗马皇帝的像。为了方便这些朝圣客的需要，就在外人院设立兑换钱币的地方，换钱之后再去买牲畜。这些牲畜摊贩通常都由祭司在负责，或是由祭司检验合格的摊位，表示这些摊子所贩卖的牲畜作献祭用是合格的。而所有自己带牲畜来献祭的人都必须经过祭司检验合格后才可以献祭。如果被祭司检定不合格的话，只好到这些摊贩去进行补贴「兑换」合格的牛羊等牲畜。祭司原本要服务朝圣客，却为了钱与商人勾结，骗取人民的钱财。例如在检验牲畜是否健康时，故意刁难，要求献牲祭者更换另一只新的牲畜，这样贩售动物的摊位就可以多赚兑换手续费，甚至故意以高价售出。

陈终道牧师说，「为甚么两次的事这么相似﹖那正好证明犹太人并没有因耶稣第一次洁净圣殿而悔改。主耶稣拿绳子作鞭子，把卖牛羊鸽子的人都赶出去，推翻兑换银钱之人的桌子，那些人的情形必然十分狼狈。后来主又得再次洁净圣殿，因为那些受责备的人依然如故！」

How To Always Be Ready To Share Jesus With Others

2020-03-17 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Peter 3:13-22.  Let’s go!

1 Peter 3:13-15 (NIV) 
13  Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?
14  But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.”
15  But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.

On verses 13-15a:  Don’t misunderstand Peter in verse 13.  Peter is not naively saying that no one will want to harm you if you are eager to do good.  Peter himself witnessed the greatest doer of good in history, Jesus Christ, being repeatedly criticized and ultimately crucified by people intent on harming him. But what Peter is saying to his Christian readers is: remember that the Greatest One is on your side.  He will be there to protect you and to keep you from any ultimate harm.  So do not be afraid of those who want to harm you while you live out your faith and calling.  For even if you suffer because of it, you will be more blessed in the end.  When you remember that the Greatest One is on your side, or in Peter’s words, when you “set apart Christ as Lord”, you will not give in to fear.

耶稣在耶路撒冷_12岁的耶稣

2020-03-16 in /by

路加福音二章49节  耶稣说：「为什么找我呢？岂不知我应当以我父的事为念吗？」

在婴儿耶稣第一次上了耶路撒冷之后，路加医生记载：「孩子渐渐长大，强健起来，充满智慧，又有神的恩在他身上」(路2:40)。路加不是犹太人，但是他为了向一位提阿非罗大人传耶稣的福音，他很努力地去搜集资料，再把这些收集到的史实按著时间记录下来。有解经家认为这些资料很可能都是向耶稣的母亲采访所得。

话说回来，耶稣第二次上耶路撒冷是何时呢？路加记载是在耶稣12岁的时候，跟着父母和亲友从拿撒勒到耶路撒冷去过逾越节。按照摩西律法，神命定以色列的男人每年要上耶路撒冷守三次节期：一是逾越节，二是五旬节或称初熟节，三是柱朋节或称收藏节。后来比较严谨的希勒学派规定，敬虔的妇女至少也要一年过一次逾越节。

逾越节是犹太人记念：神借着摩西把他们从埃及为奴的苦况下拯救出来的大日子。在那个晚上，神差遣灭命的天使杀掉埃及所有头生的人和畜，独独越过门上有涂羊血的以色列家。在那个夜晚，法老答应让以色列人全部离开埃及。以色列人不再是奴隶，成为自由人的日子。从那夜起，神是以色列人的神，以色列人成为神的子民。

How to Treat the One You Marry

2020-03-16 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Peter 3:1-12.  There are so many powerful lessons we can learn from this passage.  Let’s go!

1 Peter 3:1-2 (NIV) 
1  Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives,
2  when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.

On verses 1-2:  Continuing his theme of being submissive to your leaders, a theme which Peter introduced in chapter 2, Peter addresses married women and tells them to be submissive to their husbands.  What is the reason Peter gives for why married women should submit to their husbands?  For Peter it’s about evangelism, or as we say at THRIVE, living out loud: it’s about leading the husband to Jesus – “so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behaviour of their wives when they see the purity and reverence of your lives”.    Here again we see Peter’s ongoing emphasis on how a Christian’s actions should speak well of Jesus.   

耶稣在耶路撒冷_婴儿耶稣

2020-03-15 in /by

路加福音二章22节    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。

现在我们要来看耶稣在耶路撒冷的事蹟了。你记得耶稣何时开始去耶路撒冷吗？今天的经文己经给您提示了。耶稣第一次去耶路撒冷是被抱着去的，因为他那时还只是个婴儿。

「按摩西律法满了洁净的日子」是指〈利未记〉12章1-8节里，神教导摩西的「母亲洁净礼」，其实有点像华人产后坐月子，只是在摩西律法里对生儿生女后的规定日数不同。生儿子要居家33 天，生女儿要家居66 天。这对女性是一个很好的福利，因为生孩子对母亲的身体是一个极大的消耗，母亲在哺乳的过程中又是另一种消耗，所以居家休息对母体健康的恢复十分重要。

这个「母亲洁净礼」结束后，母亲要把一岁的羊羔作为燔祭，一只雏鸽或是一只斑鸠为赎罪祭，带到会幕门口交给祭司，祭司要为她献祭，她的血源就洁净了。马利亚是献一对斑鸠或两只雏鸽，可见他们的家境并不富裕。

所以我们可以算出，耶稣在出生后第八天行割礼，马利亚居家33 天后，约瑟和马利亚就带着小小耶稣上耶路撒冷去，要把祂献于主，这里的「主」是指耶和华神。你算得出耶稣大约是出生后多久去耶路撒冷吗？(割礼的前七天，其实也算在33天里，你有没有上当呢？)

这里我们看到约瑟和马利亚的敬虔，也看到在神的律法里，母亲需要洁净自己，父亲必须带领家庭，一起把头生的儿子献给主。这就是《圣经》给父母的规范，父母要一起在主前，来担当养儿育女的工作。

When Unjust Suffering Leads to Great Redemption

2020-03-15 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Peter 2:18-25.  Let’s go!

1 Peter 2:18-25 (NIV) 
18  Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.
19  For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God.
20  But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God…….

On verses 18-25:  Amazingly, in the face of persecution, Peter tells his people not to complain or fight against those who persecute them, but to bear with the suffering and endure it.  He even says it is “commendable before God” (v19) for one to suffer for doing good and endure it while being “conscious of God” (i.e. with God in mind) (v20).   What is Peter’s reason for saying all this?  It’s because we are following in the footsteps of Jesus when we suffer unjustly for doing good (v21).  Peter goes on to talk about the way Jesus put up with unjust suffering – how “when they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats” (v23) and entrusted himself to God who judges justly (v23). 

教堂关闭了

2020-03-13 in /by

马太福音18:20因为无论在哪里，有两三个人奉我的名聚会，那里就有我在他们中间。

星期五晚上从查经班回来收到一封教会牧师的信件，教会这周日开始停止敬拜聚会了。刚才在查经班里，我们也讨论到这个问题，许多教会都顺服加拿大政府的要求，超过两百五十人以上的聚集必须取消。

事实上，网路上己经不断有这样的消息出现，也有人开始反应网路上的敬拜和实体敬拜的不同感觉。人终归是人，看着电脑或电视敬拜，总觉得缺少了一份敬虔。

以前总觉得不能去教会敬拜是一件离我们好远的事，只会发生在那些没有宗教自由的地方，我们根本不用担心，一个星期想去教会几次都没问题。几曾何时，因为新冠状病毒的肆虐，这样的事也临到了我们身上，不能去教会敬拜了。

幸好有一些牧者提出了一些方案，虽然有网路敬拜，最好不要自己一人或一家子宅在家里敬拜；最好邀请两三个家庭一起敬拜，一起颂赞，一起祷告，一起听道。有的教会只提供讲道，但是敬拜的内容若只是听道就感觉贫乏。

Let Your Actions Speak Well of Jesus

2020-03-13 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Peter 2:11-17.  Let’s go!

1 Peter 2:11a (NIV) 
11  Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world…
 
On verse 11a:  Here is the “alien and stranger” theme again from Peter, the idea that as Christians our home is not on earth but in heaven.  So don’t live as if your life on earth is all there is, but every day live with heaven in mind.
 
1 Peter 2:11b (NIV) 
…to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.
 
On verse 11b:  How does sin “war against your soul”?  By trying to get you to buy into the lie that you’ll be happier and better off if you sin.  That is the deceitfulness of sin.  Are you tempted to sin in a certain way today? 

耶稣在耶利哥

2020-03-12 in /by

路加福音19:10人子来，为要寻找、拯救失丧的人。

谈起耶利哥，相信没有人不知道吧! 你第一个想到跟耶利哥有关的故事是什么？

是不是以色列人绕耶利哥七天，耶利哥就倒了的故事呢？真的很神奇吧! 神晓喻约书亚，一周六天内每天绕城一次，在第七天绕城七次；约书亚照做，城就倒了。神不允许以色列人拿取耶利哥的东西，全部要消灭掉，因为是当灭之物；唯有金子、银子和铜铁的器皿，都要归耶和华为圣，必入耶和华的库中。有一个人名叫亚干，他私底下拿了一件美好的示拿衣服，二百舍客勒银子，一条金子重五十舍客勒，结果以色列人在第二阶段的艾城之役大败。亚干的罪也被彰显出来。

约书亚咒诅重建耶利哥城门的人，因为耶利哥是以色列人进迦南攻取的第一个城巿，也就是初熟之物，是属于神的。以色列王亚哈在位的时候，有伯特利人希伊勒重修耶利哥城。立根基的时候，丧了长子亚比兰，安门的时候，丧了幼子西割，正如耶和华藉嫩的儿子约书亚所说的话(王上16:34)。

Crave the Word of God

2020-03-12 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Peter 2:1-10.  Let’s go!

1 Peter 2:1 (NIV) 
1  Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.
 
On verse 1:  Here’s a Bible reading tip: whenever you see the word “therefore”, look at the verses just before “therefore”.  Then you can better know what the “therefore” is there for.  In this case, just before verse 1, Peter has been telling his readers to “love each other deeply from the heart, since you have been born again by the imperishable word of God” (1 Peter 1:22-25).  So it is with the goal of loving each other deeply that Peter tells his readers to rid themselves of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.