提要
你會相信一個自稱是上帝的人嗎﹖大概不會。你可能聽過一個故事,有位牧師造訪一家精神病院,在入口處碰見兩個病人在那裡曬太陽。
其中一個病人愉快的招呼他:「你好嗎,牧師﹖」
「很不錯,謝謝你,可以知道你的大名嗎﹖」牧師回答。
「我叫拿破崙。」
「拿破崙﹖十八世紀那位拿破崙﹖」
「沒錯!」那個病人驕傲的宣告。
「你怎麼知道自己是拿破崙﹖」牧師問道。
「上帝告訴我的。」
這時,另外那位病人脫口而出:「我可沒這麼說!」
一個以為自己是拿破崙,另一個以為自己是上帝,難怪他們要在醫院接受照顧。不管他們是多麼的真誠,多麼的有把握,客觀的證據到底與主觀的陳述不符。所以,為什麼我們應該相信自稱是上帝的耶穌呢﹖我認為最大的客觀證據就是空的墳墓。但耶穌自己說有三個有力的客觀證據證明祂神性的自我宣告。
第一,「父交給我要我成就的事」(36節)。第二,「差我來的父也為我作過見證」(37節)。第三,「給我作見證的就是這經」(39節)。工作、天父、聖經,三者都為耶穌作見證。
耶穌的工作包括教導、行神蹟、訓練門徒。天父在耶穌受洗和在變像山上都宣告說耶穌是祂的「愛子,要聽祂!」,而聖經從摩西的書到先知書都清楚,明白的講到以色列將要來的彌賽亞。耶穌說:「我就是彌賽亞」。
鑑於那空的墳墓、復活後的顯現、昇天、和祂所成就之工超越時間的深遠影響,誰還能反駁祂的聲明呢﹖單單說耶穌不是上帝很簡單,但要證明這句話可就不那麼容易了。
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Overview
Can you trust someone who says he is God? Not likely Maybe you heard the story of the pastor visiting a mental hospital. He walked by two of the patients sitting on a bench in the sunshine outside the main entrance.
“How ya doin’, Reverend?” one of them asked brightly.
“Oh, quite fine, thank you,” replied the pastor. “And what id your name, if I may ask?”
“Napoleon.”
“Napoleon? The Napoleon?”
“Yep!” declared the man proudly.
“How do you know?” the pastor asked.
“God told me”, he said.
“I did no such ting!” the other patient blurted.
One man thinks he’ Napoleon; the other, God. Little wonder these poor souls are being cared for in a hospital. It doesn’t matter how sincere you are, or how convinced, the objective evidence doesn’t line up with the subjective claim. So why should we believe Jesus when He says that He is God? The greatest objective evidence, I think, is the empty tomb. But Jesus himself said there were three other powerful objective evidences for His claim to deity. Here they are:
Firstly, “the very work that the Father has given Me to finish” (v.36). Secondly, “the Father who sent Me has Himself testified concerning Me.” (v.37). And thirdly, “The Scriptures - … testify about me” (v.39). The work, the Father, the Scriptures. These are the three witnesses to Jesus.
His work included teaching, miracle working, and disciplining. The Father (His Father) declared both at Jesus’ baptism and on the Mount of Transfiguration that He was His “beloved Son. Hear Him!” And the Scriptures, from Moses to the Prophets, speak clearly and unequivocally about Israel’s Messiah who was to come. “I am He”, says Jesus.
And who, in the light of the empty tomb, the post-resurrection appearances, the ascension, and the profound, timeless impact of His work, can build a case against Him claim? It’s one thing to say He wasn’t God. It’s another thing to prove it.
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