Exhortation 11/1/04 - Reading Matthew 12 - Bro Peter E 2004年1月11日讲道词 读经 马太福音十二章 彼得.伊弟兄

Good Morning, dear brethren and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ. 主耶稣基督里亲爱的弟兄姐妹，早上好：

As we have begun our daily readings for another year we have started again to read of the life of our Lord. It is so important for us to continually be refreshed as we consider his life because he so clearly and practically shows us how to live in a way that pleases God. We must never become disinterested in reading of his life because it will mean we are disinterested in pleasing God! 在我们开始新一年的读经计划时，我们又一次开始读到主的生活。在重新回顾他的一生时，持续的更新我们的思想是很重要的，因为他是那么清楚明白地向我们展示怎样活出蒙神喜悦的生命来。我们永远都不能失去学习他的生命的兴趣，因为如果这样的话就意味着我们失去了蒙神喜悦的兴趣。

As we begin the record in Matthew 12 we find that Jesus was walking with his disciples on the Sabbath day. This morning we want to examine the work of our Lord on the Sabbath more closely to try to understand for ourselves the true significance of the Sabbath. We will notice as we continue our readings that the Lord often performed miracles on the Sabbath day and it nearly always created a sharp reaction from the Jewish rulers. It actually becomes quite a theme in the gospel records. 我们看到马太福音12章的记载，发现耶稣和他的门徒在安息日行走。今天早上我们进一步的来研究我们的主在安息日里的工作，来理解安息日真正的意义。在接下来的读经中我们还会发现主经常在安息日行神迹，导致犹太的领导人强烈的反应。实际上，这也成为福音书的记载里的一个主旋律。

This incident of Matthew 12v1-8 is also recorded by Mark (Mk 2v23-28) and Luke (Lk 6v1-5), which shows how important the event was. In both these records it follows the words the Lord spoke about not putting the new with the old because they are different. What Jesus was talking about was that the teachings of God, which he was preaching, could not be kept along with the "old" teachings of the Jews' traditions. The incidents on the Sabbath which follow are a proof of this statement. We will see that the Jews' teaching regarding the Sabbath cannot be kept when we understand its true meaning. 马太福音12：1-8的事件也被马可（马可福音2：23-28）和路加（路加福音6：1-5）记载下来，这说明这件事非常重要。这些记载里面都讲了耶稣讲到新酒不能装在旧瓶里，因为两者是不同的这样的话语。耶稣所讲的是他所传的神的教导，这样新的东西不可能符合犹太人传统的“旧的”教导。安息日里所发生的事情正是这项陈述的证明。当我们明白安息日真正的意义时，将会看到犹太人关于安息日的教导是不应该持守的。

In Luke 6v1 it tells us that it was the second Sabbath after the first. This is a peculiar expression that relates to a very special Sabbath. After the feast of Passover the Jews began counting the weeks, numbering the Sabbaths, until the feast of Pentecost (Lev 23:15-16). The date they started counting from was the first Sabbath after the Passover had been kept. Therefore the Sabbath mentioned here is about a week after the feast of Passover. It was the time of year when the corn and wheat were nearly ready to be harvested. 路加福音6：1告诉我们那是第一个安息日后的第二个安息日。这是一个特殊的表达方式，联系到一个非常特别的安息日。在逾越节过后，犹太人开始计算星期，安息日，直到五旬节的时候（利未记23：15-16）。他们从逾越节过后的第一个安息日开始计算。于是，这里提到的安息日是在逾越节之后大概一星期的时候。那时是一年当中谷子，小麦快丰收的季节。 We read that the disciples were very hungry and began to eat the grain in the field they were passing through. It is very interesting to note that the record does not mention that the Lord was hungry. Like the disciples he also had not eaten, but we know that when he was doing his Father's will he was so preoccupied with this work that he did not think about food! On one occasion, while waiting for his disciples to bring him food, he converted the woman from Samaria and told them when they returned that his food was "to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work" (John 4v34). To the Lord the work of God was so important that he did not feel hungry when his disciples did. We must also make sure that the work of God is the most important thing in our lives. This does not mean that we cannot eat, but it does mean that God's work must come first. We cannot make the providing of things for our own comfort more important than doing our daily readings, preaching to others and encouraging our brethren and sisters. 我们看到门徒都很饥饿，在经过麦地时掐起麦穗来吃。很有趣的是我们注意到记载中并没有提到主饿了。他也像门徒一样饿着，但是我们知道他所行的是他父亲的旨意。他聚精会神地做这样的工作，甚至没有想到食物的问题！在一种情况下，耶稣在等待他的门徒拿食物给他时，让撒玛利亚的妇人信主，并且在门徒带着食物回来时，告诉他们“我的食物就是遵行差我来者的旨意，作成他的工”（约翰福音4：34）。对主来说，神的工是那么的重要以至与他并没有像门徒一样感到饥饿。我们也必须确定神的工在我们的生活中是最重要的。这并不是说我们不能吃饭，而是说神的工要做首要的考虑。我们不能把自己个人享受看得比每日的读经，传福音，鼓励弟兄姐妹更重要。

The Pharisees were looking for any mistake the Lord might make and as soon as they saw his disciples eating the grain they made an accusation against him: "Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day" (Matthew 12v2). The Pharisees thought the Lord should have been responsible for what his disciples did. It is important to understand that eating the corn was not breaking the Law of Moses. In Deut 23v25 we are told that any Israelite was allowed to eat grain from another man's field as long as he did not harvest it for himself: "When thou comest into the standing corn of thy neighbour, then thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand; but thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbour's standing corn." 法利赛人随时都在找耶稣的错处。他们一看见耶稣的门徒在吃麦穗，就马上责备他：“看啊，你的门徒作安息日不可作的事了”（马太福音12：2）。法利赛人觉得主对他的门徒所作的事情负有责任。理解吃麦穗并不是犯了摩西的律法是很重要的。在申命记23：25里，我们知道只要不是用镰刀割取禾稼，任何的以色列人都可以从别人的田里摘穗子吃：“你进了邻舍站着的禾稼，可以用手摘穗子，只是不可用镰刀割取禾稼。”

The problem the Pharisees had was that the disciples were doing this on the Sabbath day. They believed that to do any work at all was to break the Sabbath law. To them the action of picking the grain was the sin of reaping on the Sabbath and rubbing the grain was the sin of threshing on the Sabbath! Therefore the disciples had broken the Sabbath twice in this simple action. And for the Pharisees this was one of the most serious laws which could be broken-it demanded immediate judgement. 法利赛人的难题是门徒们在安息日里做了这样的事。他们相信安息日里做任何事情都是干犯了安息日。对他们来说，摘取禾穗和把穗子的皮捻开就是犯了在安息日收割和打谷的罪。从而门徒在这样简单的行为里干犯了安息日两次。对犹太人来说，干犯安息日是最严重的罪之以-马上会受到审判。

Jesus in answering these men gave two examples where the true meaning of the Sabbath was demonstrated by people whom the Pharisees admired. The first of these was David. Jesus said: "Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?" (v3-4). This incident is recorded in 1 Samuel 21, when David was running away from the king of Israel, Saul, and had fled to the Tabernacle. David asked Ahimelech the priest for some food for his men and he gave him the shewbread. However it was not lawful for anyone apart from the family of the priests to eat the shewbread. In verse 5 we read that the shewbread had just been changed and David was given the "old" shewbread. The only day the shewbread was changed was on the Sabbath as we read in Lev 24v8. This means that David's men must have eaten this shewbread on the Sabbath. 耶稣在回答中用法利赛人尊敬的人举了两个例子来说明安息日的真正意义。第一个人是大卫。耶稣说：“经上记着大卫和跟从他的人饥饿之时所作的事，你们没有念过吗？他怎么进了神的殿，吃了陈设饼，这饼不是他和跟从他的人可以吃得，唯独祭司才可以吃”（马太福音12：3-4）。这件事被记录在撒母耳记上21章，大卫从以色列王扫罗处逃走时躲到帐幕里。大卫求祭司亚希米勒给他食物，尽管就算是祭司的家人都不能吃陈设饼，亚希米勒还是给他和跟从他的人吃了。在第五节我们看到陈设饼已经被换过了，大卫得到的是“旧的”陈设饼。我们在利未记24：8里知道陈设饼只有在安息日时才被更换。这就意味着大卫和跟从他的人肯定是在安息日里吃的陈设饼。

This would have seemed to be a blatant disregard for the Law-and yet the Pharisees still saw David as a Godly man. Jesus was showing that just as David and the men with him had eaten, so the Lord had provided for his disciples. He was not breaking God's laws, just as David was not. It was the wicked rulers of David's day (Saul and his servant Doeg, v7) who were looking for David to do something wrong, just like the Pharisees. In the next chapter of Samuel we read that Doeg betrayed David to Saul (22v9) and then went and killed all the priests of God (v18-19). The Lord was saying that the Pharisees were really like Doeg and Saul who hunted David and even killed all the priests! 这看起来好像是对律法的公然漠视-但是法利赛人仍然把大卫看作敬虔的人。耶稣向他们表明就像大卫吃了陈设饼一样，主也给他的门徒预备吃的。他没有违背神的律法，就像大卫没有违背律法一样。在大卫的时代，是那些抓大卫的邪恶的长官（扫罗和他的仆人多益，撒母耳记上21：7）象法利赛人一样在做错事。我们在撒母耳记上接下来的一章里可以看到多益在扫罗面前出卖了大卫（22：9）。然后去杀死了所有的祭司（22：18-19）。耶稣指出法利赛人就象追捕大卫，后来还杀死所有的祭司的多益和扫罗一样。

In the next example Jesus gave he asked the Pharisees to consider Temple worship: "Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?" (v5). On the Sabbath day the priests had to offer more offerings than on any other day of the week. This was doing work, and more work than on any other day of the week! Yet the Pharisees would never dare to say that the priests were breaking the law, because God had commanded these extra sacrifices to be made. 在下一个例子里，耶稣让法利赛人想想对圣殿的敬拜：“再者，律法上所记的，当安息日祭司在殿里犯了安息日，还是没有罪，你们没有念过吗？”（马太福音12：5）安息日里祭司必须献上比平日更多的祭物。献祭是祭司的工作，也就是说祭司在这一天应当作比平日还要多的工！然而法利赛人永远都不会说这些祭司犯了律法，因为神命令我们要在安息日献更多的祭。

Jesus then told them that he was greater than the Temple, and the work he did on the Sabbath day was much greater than the work the priests did. The priests offered burnt offerings which spoke of dedication and sin offerings on the Sabbath (Num 28v9-10), but Jesus was wholly dedicated to the work of God which was to save people from their sins for ever. 然后，耶稣告诉他们他比殿更大，他在安息日所作的工比祭司所做得更大。祭司在安息日献上代表奉献的燔祭和赎罪祭（民数记28：9-10），但是耶稣一次性地把自己完全献上做神的工，永远地拯救了人们。

In verse 7 the Lord quotes from Hosea 6v6 to show this principle: "For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings". It was not the keeping of the actual rituals of the Law that pleased God. It was understanding what they meant and keeping them with pleasure! 在第七节，耶稣引用了何西阿书6：6来表明这个原则：“我喜爱怜悯，不喜爱祭祀；喜爱认识神，胜于燔祭”。蒙神喜悦的并不是遵守律法的仪式，而是理解这些仪式的含义，并且欢喜地遵守的行为。

Micah uses similar words in chapter 6 verses 6-8: "Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?". Here the prophet shows what will really please God-not just sacrifices, but doing justice and showing mercy, and so walking as God does. This is exactly what Jesus did. He always did what was right and showed mercy to the people around him. By doing this Jesus walked with God and left us the perfect example to follow. The Pharisees had shown that they had no mercy-they wanted to condemn Jesus and his disciples for doing what they felt was wrong. 弥迦也在弥迦书6：6-8利用了类似的话语：“我朝见耶和华，在至高神面前跪拜，当献上什么呢？岂可献一岁的牛犊为燔祭吗？耶和华岂喜悦千千的公羊，或是万万的油河吗？我岂可为自己的罪过，献我的长子吗？为心中的罪恶，献我身所生的吗？世人啊！耶和华已指示你何为善，他想你所要的是什么呢？只要你行公义，好怜悯，存谦卑的心，与你的神同行。”先知在这指明什么才真正蒙神喜悦-不是单单献祭，而是行公义，好怜悯，存谦卑的心，与你的神同行。这正是耶稣所作的。他一直都行对的事情，怜悯身边的人。通过这些，耶稣与神同行，给我们留下了完美的榜样让我们跟随。法利赛人显示了他们没有怜悯-他们只因为自己认为不对的事而想声讨耶稣和他的门徒。

That the Jews had missed the meaning of the law of God is clearly seen in Isaiah 58. In verse 1-2 we read that there was a group of people who thought they were seeking God but were really sinners. They were keeping God's laws but not as He desired (v3-5). We are then clearly told the way God wants us to keep the Sabbath: "If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD". The point of the Sabbath was not to stop working-it was to stop doing their own works and follow only after God's works. 以赛亚书58章里可以清楚地看到犹太人误解了神的律法的意义。在1，2节里我们看到有一群自以为寻求神但却是真正的罪人的人。他们没有以神所喜悦的方式持守神的律法（以赛亚书58：3-5）。然后我们清楚地看到神要我们守安息日的方式：“你若在安息日掉转你的脚步，在我圣日不以操作为喜乐，称安息日为可喜乐的，称耶和华的圣日为可尊重的；而且尊敬这日，不办自己的私事，不随自己的私意，不说自己的私话，你既以耶和华为乐”（以赛亚书58：13-14）。安息日的关键不在停止工作-而是意在停止自己的工作，只做神的工。

We need to think carefully about the works we are doing in our own life and see if they are works for God. Isaiah tells us in v6-7 how we can do God's work: "Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?". We serve others in a practical way by feeding and clothing them and also in a spiritual way by removing the burden of sin from them by telling them of the great hope and joy we have in the gospel. 我们需要仔细思考自己生命里所作的工，看看这些工作是否都是神的工。以赛亚在以赛亚书58：6-7里告诉我们怎样做神的工：“我所拣选的禁食，不是要松开凶恶的绳，解下轭上的索，使被欺压的得自由，折断一切的轭吗？不是要把你的饼，分给饥饿的人；将漂流的穷人，接到你家中；见赤身的，给他衣服遮体，顾恤自己的骨肉而不掩藏吗？”我们通过给他人吃喝穿用来提供他们生活上的所需，通过告诉他人极大的盼望和福音的喜悦使他们脱离罪的轭来满足他们精神上的需求。

We see then that by quoting these two examples Jesus was trying to show the Pharisees how inconsistent their teaching was and their understanding of the Sabbath. We need to be very careful that we don't allow our own wrong interpretation of God's laws to lead us to be persecutors of our brethren and sisters. If we are very strong in pushing our personal opinions and not God's laws we will be working against the will of God, just like the Pharisees did. It is clear that the important issue of the Sabbath was not whether David and the priests were doing work, but what kind of work they were doing. They (like Jesus) were doing God's work on the Sabbath. This is the true meaning of the Sabbath. Jesus concluded this discussion by saying: "For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day" (v8). 我们看到耶稣通过引用这两个例子向法利赛人证明他们的教导和对安息日的理解是多么的矛盾。我们需要非常小心以免自己对神的律法的错误理解成为压迫自己弟兄姐妹的人。如果我们强调个人意愿更甚于神的律法的话，就象法利赛人一样在做违背神旨意的事。这里非常明确安息日重要的主题不是大卫和祭司有没有在安息日做工，关键是他们做的是什么样的工。他们（像耶稣一样）在安息日做神的工。这是耶稣在讨论结束时总结的安息日的真正意义：“因为人子是安息日的主”（马太福音12：8）。

But is it only on one day of the week that we should seek the ways of God and serve those around us? Of course we know that we must do this daily. 但是，难道我们仅仅用一周中的一天来寻求神的道，服侍我们周围的人就行了吗？当然，我们都知道我们应当每天都这样做。

The apostle Paul, when writing to the Hebrews, provides a fuller meaning to the Sabbath. In Hebrews 4 Paul is proving that Jesus Christ is greater than Joshua, the leader of the Israelites. Whereas Joshua led the children of Israel out of the wilderness and into the promised land so they could dwell there, he shows that only Jesus is able to bring us into the great rest of the future. In verse 4 Paul says that the Sabbath was the time when God rested from His creative work and quotes Gen 2. He then quotes Psa 95 to show that God has prepared a rest for all the faithful believers: "There remaineth therefore a rest (or sabbath-Paul uses the Greek word for sabbath here) to the people of God" (v9). So from this we see that the Sabbath was a symbol of the Kingdom when God's work will be done everywhere. Then all men will be instructed to turn from doing their own pleasure and delight in serving God. 使徒保罗在写信给希伯来人的时候，提到有关安息日更完全的意思。在希伯来书第4章中，保罗证明耶稣基督是比约书亚更伟大的以色列人的领袖。约书亚领导以色列人走出旷野，进入应许之地，这样以色列人就能永远的居住在那里，他指出只有耶稣在未来才能够将我们领入那更大