Exhortation for 11/7/04 - Reading Matthew 12 - Bro Garnet Alchin 2004年7月11日讲道词 读经：马太福音第12章 加内特弟兄
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus our Lord. 主耶稣基督里亲爱的弟兄姐妹
What a privilege and a joy it is to come together to remember the great work of our God in the sacrifice and resurrection of His Son! In this exercise we are caused to reflect on the wondrous love of our God in giving His Son as a basis for the forgiveness of our sins that the way might be opened for us, in God's forbearance, to life everlasting. This all-surpassing hope carries with it personal responsibility. It is the responsibility to make ourselves available to the wisdom from above, to allow God to work in us to mould and to shape us after His own glorious character. This is a developmental process flowing from the imbibing of the Scriptures, which are the Spirit Word of life. Jesus said in John 6: 63: "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life". So it is a good thing to turn our minds to the Word of life to be encouraged in the way of righteousness. 大家聚到一起来纪念我们的神对他儿子的献祭和复活所作的伟大的工作是怎样一件荣幸和值得高兴的事啊！通过这样的事情，我们可以反思我们的神把他的儿子献出作为赦免我们的罪的基础这样的大爱，神接着他的忍耐，向我们预备了这样通向永生的道路。这种超越一切的盼望与个人的责任联系在一起。这是让我们自己可以配得从上天来的智慧的责任，是让神在我们里面做工，以他自己荣耀的品性来塑造我们的责任。这是对圣经-生命中灵性的话语逐渐吸收的发展过程。耶稣在约翰福音6：63里说道："我对你们所说的话，就是灵，就是生命"。所以，把我们的心思专注在生命的话语上，在公义的道路上彼此鼓励是一件很好的事情。
Our New Testament readings today bring us into the 12th chapter of Matthew's gospel. 今天读经计划的新约部分把我们带到了马太福音第12章。
Of the four gospel records, Matthew makes a particular feature of the fact that the ministry of Christ fulfilled Old Testament prophecies. There is an example of this in our reading today. Notice verse 17: "That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet", and he quotes Isaiah 42:1-3. "Behold my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased"... 在四本福音书里面，马太特别地就基督实现旧约预言的事工勾勒出详细的画面。今天我们的读经就有一个例子。请注意第17节："这是要应验先知以赛亚的话"，然后他引用了以赛亚书42：1-3："看哪！我的仆人，我所扶持，所拣选，心里所喜悦的..."
Matthew wants his readers to be thoroughly convinced that Jesus was exactly who he claimed to be, that is Messiah, the one fulfilling the Old Testament message in every remarkable little detail. It is generally considered that Matthew was specifically written for Jewish believers to reinforce their confidence in Jesus as their Messiah indeed. 马太想让他的读者被彻底说服耶稣确实是他所宣称的那一位，也就是每一个不寻常的细节都可以和旧约的信息吻合的那一位弥赛亚。大部分人认为这本福音书是马太特别写给犹太信徒以增强他们在他们真正的弥赛亚-基督里的信心的。
Matthew 12 can be subdivided into the following sections: 马太福音12章可以分为以下几个部分：
V1-8 The Pharisees are refuted for charging the disciples with a breech of the Sabbath law when they plucked ears of corn 1-8节：法利赛人用安息日的律法指责门徒掐麦穗的时候遭到了驳斥。
V9-14 The Pharisees are refuted for opposing Jesus' healing on the Sabbath 9-14节：法利赛人反对耶稣在安息日治病遭到驳斥
V15-21 Jesus moves on to avert trouble 15-21节：耶稣继续前进避免麻烦
V22-23 Jesus heals a demoniac, blind and dumb 22-23节：耶稣治愈被鬼附着的，又瞎又哑的人
V24-37 The Pharisees are refuted for their blasphemous charge that Jesus worked through Beelzebub 24-37节：法利赛人认为耶稣是靠着别西卜赶鬼的亵渎神明的想法遭到驳斥
V38-45 The Pharisees are refuted for seeking a sign of Jesus 38-45节：法利赛人因为求耶稣的神迹遭到驳斥
V46-50 Jesus teaches lessons from the coming of his mother and brethren. 46-50节：耶稣利用他母亲和弟兄的到来教导人
From this chapter breakup it will be seen that the Lord was engaged in an ongoing conflict with the religious leaders of his day. Matthew, as is his style, here brings together a series of incidents which focus on the Pharisees. He is demonstrating that the message of Jesus was clearly at odds with the teaching and beliefs of the Pharisees. This provides us with the lesson that it is possible to have great religious zeal and yet to be totally astray from what God wants in His children. Jesus came proclaiming and demonstrating an altogether different perspective from that of the accepted teachers of his times. Jesus taught that men should humble themselves to show mercy, a characteristic of God's character, rather than arrogantly demand that men keep strictly to humanly defined regulations as to what they had determined the law of God meant. 从这一章的分段上可以看到主在他一天的行程中忙于与宗教领袖针锋相对。正如本书的风格一样，马太在这里把一系列关于法利赛人的事情集中在了一起。他证明了耶稣的信息和法利赛人的教导与信条是明显对立的。这告诉了我们在一个根深蒂固的宗教里，其教义也很有可能会完全违背神要他的儿女所作的事。耶稣来宣告和证明一种与当时所有的教导都截然不同的观点。耶稣教导人应当通过谦卑自己来展示怜悯-神的品性之一，而不是傲慢地像表明自己遵守神的律法的决心一样来宣称他们谨守人类的规章制度。
The Pharisees claimed in verses 1 and 2 that Jesus' disciples were effectively reaping and winnowing when they plucked the ears of corn on the Sabbath day. It was their view that they were working and therefore in breech of the Sabbath law. What the Pharisees were really attempting to do was to destroy Jesus' credibility among his followers. They were claiming that if he did not uphold the Sabbath then he was not a teacher of God and therefore not to be heeded or followed. 法利赛人在第1，2节里宣称耶稣的门徒在安息日掐麦穗的时候有效的实施了收割和碾麦穗的动作。他们的观点是门徒作了工，干犯了安息日。法利赛人真正要做的是破坏耶稣在门徒中的可信度。他们宣称如果耶稣不守安息日，他就不是教导神的话语的人，人们不应当关注并跟随他。
Jesus refuted the Pharisees' view by first drawing their attention to the example of David. In 1Samuel 21:1-6, he and his men, desperate to escape the pursuit of King Saul, ate of the shewbread which, under the law, was to be eaten only by the priests. Yet, the Lord's point was that the Scripture did not condemn David. Then in verse 5 he further drew their attention to the example of the priests who in the activity of offering sacrifices on the Sabbath were not condemned as working, and were not therefore in breech of the Sabbath. 耶稣首先把他们的注意力放到大卫的例子上来反驳法利赛人。在撒母耳记上21：1-6里，在大卫和他的随从绝望地逃离扫罗王的追击的时候，吃了在律法下只有祭司才能吃的陈设饼。然而，主的要点是圣经里并没有处罚大卫。然后，耶稣在第五节继续让法利赛人注意到进行献祭的祭司在安息日所作的工作并没有受到惩罚，也没有干犯安息日。
In verse 7 Jesus endeavoured to further enlighten the Pharisees by quoting Hosea 6:6: "I will have mercy and not sacrifice". He was indicating to the Pharisees that God desired His children to develop the divine character within themselves rather than the mere ritual service of offering sacrifices. God wants in us the transformation of the inner man rather than some external religious observance. So in the New Testament we find that Sabbath keeping, along with the keeping of other days in some religious or holy manner, is clearly no longer a requirement. The Apostle Paul in Galatians 4:10-11 shows that we are not required to keep holy days when he says: "Ye observe days and months and times and years. I am afraid of you lest I have bestowed on you labour in vain". And in Colossians 2:16-17: "Let no man judge you (that is condemn you because you don't uphold the teaching of the law of Moses) in meat and in drink and in respect of an holy day or of the new moon or of the Sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." 耶稣在第七节里更进一步地通过引用何西阿书6：6来启发法利赛人："我喜爱良善，不喜爱祭祀"。他向法利赛人简要说明神希望他的儿女可以在自己里面增进高尚的品性胜过仅仅追求献祭的宗教仪式。神想要我们有内心的变化胜过遵守一些宗教的仪式。所以，我们在新约里清楚地发现守安息日这样一种出于宗教或是神圣的礼仪的东西已经不再是一个必要条件了。使徒保罗在加拉太书4：10-11里说明神不要求我们守圣日："你们谨守日子，月份，节期，年份，我为你们害怕，唯恐我在你们身上是枉费了工夫"。在歌罗西书2：16-17里讲到："所以不拘在饮食上，或节期，或月朔，安息日，都不可让人论断你们（意思是你因为没有持手摩西律法的教训而受到处罚）。这些原是后事的影儿，那形体却是基督。"
Today the Christian world has introduced its own special days as part of the Christian calendar. These often incorporate pagan traditions. We do well to note that there is no scriptural basis for these celebrations. The New Testament does not teach that Christ's followers should involve themselves in upholding church traditions. 现在，基督教世界把特别的节期作为基督教日历的一部分介绍给人们。这些节期经常和异教的传统混合在一起。我们确实需要注意这些节日并没有圣经的依据。新约并没有教导基督的跟从者陷入这些教堂的传统中。
The next incident Matthew records involved the healing of the man with a withered hand in verses 9-13. Here again was an opportunity for the Pharisees to attempt to discredit the Lord for not upholding their understanding of the Sabbath law. It would seem that the man had been planted in the synagogue as a test case, for it was the Pharisees who opened the dialogue by asking if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath "that they might accuse him". Jesus sought to lead them to the conclusion that it was lawful to do well on the Sabbath by noting that they would all rescue their sheep if it had fallen into a pit even though it was the Sabbath day. Then the Lord proceeded to ask the man with the withered hand to stretch it out. Amazingly it was healed. But none could accuse Jesus of work. All he had done was speak. This, it seems, infuriated the Pharisees and they immediately held a council to kill Jesus. It seems, in their strange view of things, that it was fine to plot death on the Sabbath day! 马太福音记载的下一件事情是第9-13节里耶稣治好手枯的人。这里给了法利赛人又一次机会羞辱耶稣没有持守他们理解的安息日的律法。可以推测法利赛人为了试探耶稣而把这个手枯的人安置在会堂里，因为会堂就是法利赛人聚在一起讨论在安息日医治人是否符合律法的地方。"意思是要控告他"（马太福音12：10）。耶稣试图通过指出他们会在安息日里救出掉到坑里的羊这样的事情把他们引导到在安息日做好事符合律法这样的结论上。然后，主让那个手枯的人把手伸出来。奇妙的是手复了原。没有人可以指控耶稣所作的工作。他所作的一切只是说话。看起来，这件事激怒了法利赛人，他们立刻召开议会要处死耶稣。这样看来，在他们对事情奇怪的看法里，在安息日密谋杀人却又是对的！
In this incident we are shown that there was no spirit of love for one's fellow, no sympathy for another's suffering and certainly no joy that a man had been miraculously healed with these strict law keepers. Here is a lesson for us all. It is possible to lose the very spirit and love of Christ towards one another in one's zeal to uphold some imagined principle. Surely the Lord must be our great example. 这件事向我们表明，这些严守律法的人，没有爱心，没有对受难者的同情心，当然也没有病人被奇迹般地治好以后的喜悦之情。这里是给大家的一个功课。在用某种印记联系在一起的人彼此赞成一些想象的原则的时候，很可能会失去这真实的品性和基督的爱。所以，理所当然，主必须是我们最大的榜样。
In verses 15-21 we see that Jesus moved away from the area of these troubled and troublesome Pharisees. It was about midway through his ministry and he had much to do as yet. So in retreating from further confrontation the Lord, Matthew says, came to fulfil the words of Isaiah 42:1-3: 'He shall not strive nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgement unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust". We see here the gentleness of our Lord wonderfully depicted. He wanted men to reflect upon what he had said and what he had done. There was no point in entering into further debate. Doubtless there is an example here for us to follow should we become engaged in some scriptural disputation. It is possible to go on and on to the point of becoming so heatedly personal that we make it impossible for our opponent to ever come round to our view. The Lord's example was to put his case and move on. 在15-21节，我们看到耶稣离开的这个充满争端的地方和讨厌的法利赛人。这时，他的传道工作进行了差不多一半，还有很多工作要做。于是，这样暂时的撤退是为了将来的对峙。马太说道，为了应验以赛亚书42：1-3里的话："他不争竞，不喧嚷，街上也没有人听见他的声音。压伤的芦苇他不折断，将残的灯火他不吹灭，等他施行公理，他必将公理传给外邦。"这里是对主温和的一面的极佳的写照。他要人们反省他所说的话，所作的事。当时再继续更多的辩论也没有什么用。毫无疑问，这里对我们来说是一个例子，让我们自问是否应该紧紧地纠缠在一些经节的辩论上。这样的辩论可以不断持续升温到白热化的程度，而我们的对立者不可能转变观点同意我们的看法。主的榜样是把事情先放在一边，继续其他的事。
In the next incident in this chapter, the Lord healed a man who was blind and dumb. The record says that he was possessed of a devil (v22). This was the terminology of the first century. When someone had some physical abnormality, while not otherwise ill, it was said that he had a devil. Jesus healed this unfortunate man of his infirmity and the common people were amazed and rightly came to the conclusion that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah (v23). This raised the anger of the Pharisees who slandered Jesus' work by suggesting that it was the work of Beelzebub, the prince of devils. The Lord quickly showed the weakness of this claim. Beelzebub would not possibly be divided against himself. That would soon mean oblivion for him. It was a ridiculous suggestion. However the Lord went on to warn them that their scurrilous claim was indeed blasphemy. For them to say that what they had witnessed was the work of Beelzebub was nothing but a blatant fabricated lie which totally denied what they had witnessed and sought to discredit the power of God in Christ. Such a sin the Lord said "shall not be forgiven unto men" (see verse 31). 这一章里接下来的一件事情是主耶稣抑制了一个又瞎又哑的人。圣经里说这人是被鬼附着的（马太福音12：22）。这是公元一世纪的常用语。当有人脑子不正常，其他地方又没病的时候，就被说成是被鬼附着的。耶稣治好了这个不幸的人，普通人都惊讶了，而且得出结论-耶稣就是他们长久以来所盼望的弥赛亚（马太福音12：23）。这事激怒了把耶稣的工作诬陷成是借着鬼王别西卜赶鬼的法利赛人。主马上指出了这项指控的漏洞。别西卜不会自己反对自己。如果这样的话，他早就灭亡了。法利赛人的这种想法是很荒谬的。然而，主耶稣还是继续警告他们这样污秽的话是亵渎神的。他们所说见证了别西卜的工作的富丽堂皇的语言只是完全否认他们自己亲眼所见的在基督里的神的力量。正像主所说的，这就是一样罪："总不得赦免"。（参看马太福音12：31）。
The Pharisees had demonstrated in their conceited arrogance that they were in fact the seed of the serpent prophesied in Genesis 3:15 (v34). They would bruise the Lord's heel but they would in turn be bruised in the head. Jesus spelled out to them that ultimately they would answer for what they had said in the day of judgement (v36). 法利赛人已经向世人表明了他们的骄傲自大，实际上，他们是创世纪3：15预言的蛇的后裔（马太福音12：34）。他们会伤主基督的脚跟，但是倒过来，耶稣也要伤他们的头。耶稣清楚地说明最后当审判的日子，他们要为自己曾经说过的话做出回应（马太福音12：36）。
From this incident we learn that we need to show great care about our speech. What we say, even in jest, may need to be accounted for in the day of judgement. While today we cannot blaspheme against the Holy Spirit because we do not have overt miracles as here, nonetheless, there are important lessons here warning us about the misuse of our tongue. 从这一事件里我们所需要学到的是我们对我们的讲话要十分的注意。我们所说的话，甚至是我们所说的一些玩笑话，在被审判那天也会被记录在册。我们现在不能说一些亵渎神灵的话，因我们没有明显的神迹，虽然如此，这是一些我们所学的重要的课程，来警示我们的舌头的不要乱说乱讲。
We live in a world of very loose morality where flippant comments are the order of the day. Let this incident teach us that there is a day of reckoning coming. What we allow ourselves to say, Jesus taught, actually reflects the inner realities of the heart. Jesus said in verse 33: "the tree is known by his fruit", and in verse 34: "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh". May our tongue reflect only our wholehearted love for our God! 我们生活在这个放松了道德要求的世界，在这个世界上草率的尖刻的评论成了这个世界的规则，让这个事例来教导我们审判的一天快要来临。耶稣的教导我们所要说的实在是反映出我们内心的真实想法。在第33节耶稣说到"因为看果子就可以知道树"，和在第34节，"心里所充满的，口里就说出来"。但愿我们的舌头只说出我们全心的爱着神的话！
In verse 38 the Pharisees asked for a sign. They had witnessed more than a year of the Lord's miracles by this time. They had often heard and felt his astonishing conclusions from Scripture. But, as in Jesus' temptation, they put demands upon him to prove himself. This he would not do. He responded however, by telling them that they would receive a sign but not one he would perform. It would involve him and provide a divine endorsement of his work. God would raise him from the dead as in the model of Jonah, after three days. Sadly, noted the Lord, the Jews would not be as responsive as the people of Nineveh: "They repented at the teaching of Jonah" (v41). 在第38节，法利赛人要求看一个神迹，那段时间我们已经看到了许多耶稣行使的神迹。他们经常从经文中听见和感受到让人惊讶的结论。但是，他们要求他行神迹来证明自已。这是他不愿意做的。但他还是给了一个回应，他告诉他们，除了一个神迹，没有其他神迹可看。这个神迹把他包括在内，并且提出了对他神圣的工作的认可。神将从死里将他拯救，如同在三天以后神拯救了约拿一样。不幸的是，那些犹太人并没有象当时的尼尼微人一样反省，"因为尼尼微人听了约拿所传的，就悔改了"（马太福音12：41）。
Let us not be like the Lord's generation who made an initial response to the preaching of John the Baptist but who failed to continue to grow to follow Christ. Ultimately they not only reverted, but they became worse than their prior state by their opposition, resulting in Jesus' death. He warned in the parable of verses 43-45, that this would be the state of things with Israel: "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man he walketh through dry places seeking rest and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return unto my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept and garnished. Then goeth he and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this generation." 让我们不要像对施洗约翰做了最初的回应但是却跌倒没有继续在跟随耶稣的道上成长的人那样。最后他们不但没有回应，而且比他们最初的情况还要恶劣，结果导致了耶稣的死。耶稣在第43-45节的比喻中，给了我们一个警示：那就是这些情况在以色列人身上也一样发生："污鬼离了人身，就在无水之地过来过去，寻求安歇之处，却寻不着。于是说'我要回到我所出来的屋里去'。到了，就看见里面空闲，打扫干净，修饰好了，便去另带了七个比自己更恶的鬼来，都进去住在那里。那人末后的景况比先前更不好了。这邪恶的世代也要如此。"
The lesson here for us is to continue to develop in our understanding of the Word of God. It is the work of a lifetime. There is always something more to understand, some further section of Scripture to fathom. Coming to the Truth is not just about clearing our minds and our lives of our old ways; it is about replacing these with the divine mind and character through the imbibing of the spirit word of our God. 我们所要学到的功课就是继续加深我们对神的话语的理解。这是一生都要学习的功课。我们总是要不断地加强理解，对一些经节作进一步地探知。接近真理不仅仅要改变我们的头脑，和我们旧的生活方式，而且还要通过吸取神的灵性的话语来取代旧的思想和品性。
In the final section of Matthew 12 we have the incident where the Lord's mother and his brethren came to him but were unable to speak with him because of the crowd. When the message of their presence was conveyed to Jesus he said: "For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and mother." (v50). 在马太福音12章的最后一个部分述说一个事件中，我们看到当时主的母亲和他的弟兄来找他，但是由于太拥挤，不能前去和他说话，但他们在场的消息耶稣知道了，他说到："凡遵行我天父旨意的人，就是我的弟兄，姐妹和母亲了。"（马太福音12：50）。
In so saying he totally disregarded the blood relationship he had with them. Psalm 69:8 had long prophesied that Jesus would be "an alien unto his mother's children". Those who today desire to be worshippers of Mary would do well to note this incident. Never does Jesus suggest that Mary should in any way be exalted. Neither for that matter did he deny that he had other siblings as some today deny. He knew also full well that his mother and his brethren gained no eternal benefit through their blood relationship with him. They stood before God as all mankind, with the need to serve Him faithfully if they would be saved. We note here too, that Jesus did not allow even family ties to limit his work for Almighty God. 在这些言语中，他一点也没有对和他有血缘关系的人表示出尊重。在诗篇69：8中有一个很长的关于耶稣的预言，耶稣将成为"同胞的外邦人"。那些今天渴望去敬拜玛丽亚的人更好地注意到这一点。耶稣从来没有提出玛丽亚要在任何一种形式上得到敬拜。就像今天一些人一样，他也没有否认他与这些弟兄关系，他知道他的母亲和弟兄没有因为和他的血缘关系得到任何永生的好处。他们和所有普通人一样，为了得到神的拯救，必须站立在神的面前，忠心地服事神。我们在这里也可以注意到，耶稣丝毫没有因为其家庭的联系而使自己为全能的神的事工受到约束。
So as we come today to remember him in the partaking of bread and wine, let us be reminded that we are seeking to be followers of him. The gospel accounts combine to reveal him to us. They reveal a man whose life was lovingly dedicated in the service of his Father, a man who sought the enlightenment and welfare of others, who opposed religious tradition, who would not permit anything to turn him from his work. As disciples in these last days let us learn the lessons of his example and let us follow him. 所以我们今天来到这里掰饼喝酒来纪念我们的主，让我们警醒自己成为他的追随者。福音向我们展示了主，和主的品质，向我们展示了一个将自己的一生奉献给神的、一个探索为别人带来启示和幸福、一个反对宗教的传统、一个不会因任何事改变他对神的工作的人。让我们像那时候的门徒一样学习主为我们提供的榜样，并跟随他。
Discussion Questions 问题讨论：
1. Jesus was the master teacher. What lessons can we learn from his teaching methods in this chapter? 耶稣是教师。我们可以从这个章节里他教导的方法中学到什么?
2. Discuss why blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven unto men (v31-32). 讨论一下为什么对于亵渎神灵是不得赦免的。（马太福音12：31-32）
3. Discuss the lessons for us in Jesus' parable in verses 43-45. 讨论一下耶稣在12：43-45里的比喻中教给我们的功课。