神的異象
沒有藉口
經文
馬太福音十三1-17
1當那一天，耶穌從房子裡出來，坐在海邊。
2有許多人到他那裡聚集，他只得上船坐下，眾人都站在岸上。
3他用比喻對他們講許多道理，說：有一個撒種的出去撒種；
4撒的時候，有落在路旁的，飛鳥來吃盡了；5有落在土淺石頭地上的，土既不深，發苗最快，
6日頭出來一曬，因為沒有根，就枯乾了；7有落在荊棘裡的，荊棘長起來，把他擠住了；
8又有落在好土裡的，就結實，有一百倍的，有六十倍的，有三十倍的。
9有耳可聽的，就應當聽！
10門徒進前來，問耶穌說：對眾人講話，為甚麼用比喻呢？
11耶穌回答說：因為天國的奧祕只叫你們知道，不叫他們知道。
12凡有的，還要加給他，叫他有餘；凡沒有的，連他所有的，也要奪去。
13所以我用比喻對他們講，是因他們看也看不見，聽也聽不見，也不明白。
14在他們身上，正應了以賽亞的預言，說：你們聽是要聽見，卻不明白；看是要看見，卻不曉得；
15因為這百姓油蒙了心，耳朵發沉，眼睛閉著，恐怕眼睛看見，耳朵聽見，心裡明白，回轉過來，我就醫治他們。
16但你們的眼睛是有福的，因為看見了；你們的耳朵也是有福的，因為聽見了。
17我實在告訴你們，從前有許多先知和義人要看你們所看的，卻沒有看見，要聽你們所聽的，卻沒有聽見。
信息分享
我們如何能明白昨天讀到神對以賽亞所說的奇怪的話：「要使這百姓心蒙脂油，耳朵發沉，眼睛昏迷」？
這裡用了希伯來語言的所有特色，來描述那些對主的話內心堅硬的人的情況。我們需要明白，福音不單是好消息，也是壞消息。對接受的人是好消息；對拒絕的人則是壞消息。讓人聽到並接受的福音是生命；讓人聽到但被拒絕的福音是死亡。正如鍾馬田（Martyn Lloyd-Jones）博士說：「同一個太陽它使冰溶化，也令濕土變硬。」有趣的是，耶穌在今天的經文引述以賽亞的話，應用在祂當時的人身上。事實上，以賽亞這些話（的一部分），在四福音都可以找到。使徒保羅在使徒行傳最後一章解釋神將焦點由猶太人轉向外邦人，並講述外邦人和固執的猶太人不同，說外邦人「必聽受」時，也引述這些話（徒二十八28）。
重要的是，要知道以賽亞書六章9節的神、或者今天這段經文裡的耶穌，都沒有說有些聽到的人不會明白，而是說那些不願意聆聽主的話的人，會發覺真理是向他們隱藏的。但為甚麼要向那些不願意接受的人傳福音？那是因為要揭露及強調他們硬心的拒絕，以致沒有人可以說他們聽不見。在審判來臨時，他們便完全沒有藉口了。
「聽到但拒絕的福音是死亡」
進深研究
羅一18-23；約十五22
1. 羅馬書為甚麼說人們沒有藉口？
2. 耶穌為甚麼說人們沒有藉口？
祈禱
天父，我更清楚地看到，您的話不單是拯救的話，也是冷酷的話；它醫治人，也使人心剛硬。求您拯救我，不要讓我容許自己的感受妨礙您的話成就。奉耶穌的名祈求，阿們。
The Vision of God
No excuse
Bible reading:
Matthew 13:1-17
1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake.
2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore.
3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed.
4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.
6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.
8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
9 Whoever has ears, let them hear."
10 The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"
11 He replied, "Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.
13 This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: "'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.'[a]
16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.
17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
Message
How are we to understand the strange words God spoke to Isaiah that we looked at yesterday: "Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull...close their eyes"?
The full flavour of the Hebrew language is drawn upon to describe the condition of those who harden their hearts against the Word of the Lord. We have to understand that the gospel is not only good news but also bad news. Good news to those who receive it; bad news to those who reject it. The gospel heard and accepted is life; the gospel heard and refused is death. As Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones put it: "The same sun that melts ice, hardens clay." It is interesting that these words of Isaiah are quoted by Jesus in our reading today, and they are applied by Him to the people of His time. In fact, these words of Isaiah (in part) are found in every one of the four Gospels. The apostle Paul also quotes these words in the last chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, when explaining that God was turning the focus away from Israel to the Gentiles, and outlining the fact that, unlike the stubborn Israelites, the Gentiles "will listen" (Acts 28:28).
Now, it is important to realise that neither God in Isaiah 6.9 nor Jesus in the passage before us is saying that some hearers will not understand but, rather, that those who are not willing to hear the Word of the Lord will find the truth hidden from them. But why preach the gospel to those who will not receive it? It is to expose and highlight their hard-hearted resistance in such a way that no one will be able to say they did not hear, and so that they will be absolutely without excuse when judgment comes.
"The gospel heard and refused is death"
Prayer
O Father, I see even more clearly that Your Word is not only a saving Word but a searing Word; it heals but also hardens. Save me from allowing my own feelings to hinder its accomplishment - positively or negatively. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Further study
Romans 1:18-23
John 15:22
1. Why does Romans say that people are without excuse?
2. Why did Jesus say that people are without excuse?
本文英文版權屬 CWR 所有，承蒙允准刊載。
背景音樂版權屬 讚美之泉音樂事工 所有，承蒙允准使用。