八福
最被人誤解的福
經文
路加福音六27-40
27 只是我告訴你們這聽道的人，你們的仇敵，要愛他！恨你們的，要待他好！
28 咒詛你們的，要為他祝福！凌辱你們的，要為他禱告！
29 有人打你這邊的臉，連那邊的臉也由他打。有人奪你的外衣，連裡衣也由他拿去。
30 凡求你的，就給他。有人奪你的東西去，不用再要回來。
31 你們願意人怎樣待你們，你們也要怎樣待人。
32 你們若單愛那愛你們的人，有什麼可酬謝的呢？就是罪人也愛那愛他們的人。
33 你們若善待那善待你們的人，有什麼可酬謝的呢？就是罪人也是這樣行。
34 你們若藉給人，指望從他收回，有什麼可酬謝的呢？就是罪人也藉給罪人，要如數收回。
35 你們倒要愛仇敵，也要善待他們，並要藉給人不指望償還，你們的賞賜就必大了，你們也必作至高者的兒子；因為他恩待那忘恩的和作惡的。
36 你們要慈悲，像你們的父慈悲一樣。
37 你們不要論斷人，就不被論斷；你們不要定人的罪，就不被定罪；你們要饒恕人，就必蒙饒恕（饒恕：原文作釋放）；
38 你們要給人，就必有給你們的，並且用十足的升斗，連搖帶按，上尖下流的倒在你們懷裡；因為你們用什麼量器量給人，也必用什麼量器量給你們。
39 耶穌又用比喻對他們說：瞎子豈能領瞎子，兩個人不是都要掉在坑裡嗎？
40 學生不能高過先生；凡學成了的不過和先生一樣。
信息分享
八福中的第五福──「憐恤人的人有福了！因為他們必蒙憐恤」，和前面的幾福頗為不同。在之前的四個福，需求和滿足之間有著對比。那些「虛心」的人接受天國；那些「哀慟」的人得到安慰；「溫柔」的人承受地土；「飢渴慕義」的人得到飽足。但在第五福，主題卻改變了：「憐恤人的必蒙憐恤」。彷佛我們不憐恤別人的話，就不能得到憐恤。
我們在這裡必須小心，因為沒有任何福比這個福更容易被人誤解。有些人認為這句話表示我們能夠饒恕別人有多少，神才會饒恕我們有多少。他們把某類經文與第五福連上關系，例如：「赦免我們的罪，因為我們也赦免凡虧欠我們的人」（路十一4），以及「你們各人若不從心裡饒恕你的弟兄，我天父也要這樣待你們了」（太十八35）。
他們將這些經文放在一起解釋，以為聖經很清楚表明，我們饒恕別人的程度，正是神饒恕我們的程度。如果是這樣的話，救恩便是靠行為而不是靠恩典了。在我們解釋聖經時，不能與其他經文相矛盾。主耶穌在第五福所表達的意思是，當我們憐恤別人時，神的憐恤才可以更深入地滲透我們的生命和個性。要記得，施予讓我們更能接受。
「施予讓我們更能接受」
進深研究
林後九1-6；箴十一25，二十二9；太十8
1.播種和收割的法則是什麼？
2.耶穌給門徒的指示是什麼？
祈禱
天父，求您幫助我不要在真理上跌倒。讓我看到雖然我對別人的饒恕不是救恩的條件，但卻是救恩所帶來的果子，奉耶穌的名祈求。阿們。
The Beatitudes
Most misunderstood Beatitude
Bible reading:
Luke 6:27-40
27 "But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them.
30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.
31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32 "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.
33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that.
34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full.
35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
37 "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
39 He also told them this parable: "Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit?
40 The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.
Message
The fifth Beatitude - "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy" - is quite different from the ones that precede it. In the first four, there is a contrast between the need and the fulfilment. The "poor in spirit" receive the kingdom, those "who mourn" are comforted; "the meek" inherit the earth; those who "hunger and thirst" are satisfied; but in the fifth Beatitude the theme changes: "the merciful will be shown mercy". It is as though we cannot receive mercy without first giving it.
We must move carefully here, for no Beatitude has been more misunderstood than this one. There are those who take these words to mean that we can only be forgiven by God to the extent that we forgive others. They bring alongside this Beatitude such passages as: "Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us" (Luke 11:4), and "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart" (Matt. 18:35).
Putting all these Scriptures together, they claim that it is the clear meaning of the Bible that we are forgiven by God only to the degree that we forgive others. If this is so, then salvation is by works and not by grace. We must never interpret Scripture in a way that contradicts other Scriptures. What our Lord means in this fifth Beatitude is that when we demonstrate mercy to others, we make it possible for God's mercy to penetrate deeper into our own lives and personalities. The act of giving makes us more able to receive.
"Giving makes us more able to receive"
Prayer
O Father, help me not to stumble over this truth. Show me that although my forgiveness of others is not a condition of salvation, it must be a consequence of it. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.
Further study
2 Corinthians 9:1-6
Proverbs 11:25; 22:9
Matthew 10:8
1. What is the law of sowing and reaping?
2. What was Jesus' instruction to the disciples?
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