【双语灵修】以马内利IMMANUEL

希伯来书 2:10-18

原来那为万物所属、为万物所本的，要领许多的儿子进荣耀里去，使救他们的元帅因受苦难得以完全，本是合宜的。因那使人成圣的和那些得以成圣的，都是出于一，所以他称他们为弟兄也不以为耻，说：“我要将你的名传于我的弟兄，在会中我要颂扬你。”又说：“我要依赖他。”又说：“看哪，我与神所给我的儿女。”儿女既同有血肉之体，他也照样亲自成了血肉之体，特要藉着死败坏那掌死权的，就是魔鬼，并要释放那些一生因怕死而为奴仆的人。他并不救拔天使，乃是救拔亚伯拉罕的后裔。所以，他凡事该与他的弟兄相同，为要在神的事上成为慈悲忠信的大祭司，为百姓的罪献上挽回祭。他自己既然被试探而受苦，就能搭救被试探的人。

10月12日

以马内利

“人要称他的名为以马内利。（以马内利翻出来就是‘神与我们同在’）”- 马太福音 1:23

第一次世界大战后，英国士兵从前线归来，身心俱疲。许多人患了弹震症，容貌被毁，伤痕累累。在服事这些受伤退伍军人的牧师中，有一位叫爱德华·希利托（Edward Shillito）。他在 1919 年写下一首诗，以士兵的视角寻求神，字里行间尽是沮丧与怀疑：“诸天令我们惊惶，它们太过平静。……我们的伤口在发炎作痛；那医治的香膏在哪里？”

然而，诗中也表明，在看到耶稣—这位以马内利—的伤痕时，他的盼望和信心开始得以恢复：“唯有神自己的伤痕能对我们的伤痕说话，除了你，没有一位别神带有伤痕。”

对于凡是正在受苦的人来说，我们需要仰望耶稣，这位真神，祂来到世间与我们“同在”，并为我们的缘故献出生命作为至高的祭物。“因他受的鞭伤，我们得医治”（《以赛亚书53:5）。《圣经》宣告了这一神圣的奥秘：神并非远离我们、与世隔绝、远在光年之外。祂乃是“与我们同在”，祂受伤、受辱、肉身被撕裂，“像被人掩面不看的一样”（《以赛亚书》53:3）——这就是以马内利。

复活的耶稣在祂永恒的肉身中，带着永恒的伤痕，这是何等神圣的奥秘（《约翰福音》20:19-29）。“他凡事该与他的弟兄相同……为百姓的罪献上挽回祭。”

祷告

看那伤痕、痛苦的伤痕、得胜的伤痕、以马内利的伤痕。“噢，这爱何其深广，何其高远”！感谢耶稣，成为“与我们同在的神”。阿们。

Hebrews 2:10-18

MONDAY, OCTOBER 12

IMMANUEL

“They will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). —Matthew 1:23

After the First World War, British soldiers returned from the front lines devastated. Many were shell-shocked, disfigured, wounded, and scarred.

Among the pastors who ministered to those hurting veterans was Edward Shillito. He wrote a poem, in 1919, in which he speaks as a soldier, seeking God. The poem expresses dismay and doubt: “The heavens frighten us; they are too calm. . . . Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm?”

Yet it shows that in seeing the scars of Jesus, Immanuel, hope and faith can be restored: “To our wounds only God’s wounds can speak, And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone.”

For any of us who is suffering, we need to see Jesus, the one true God who came to be “with us” and who offered his life as the ultimate sacrifice for our sake. “By his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). Scripture proclaims this holy mystery: God is not distant from us, sealed off, light years away. He is “with us.” Wounded, abused, with his flesh ripped open, “like one from whom people hide their faces” (53:3)—that’s Immanuel.

What a holy mystery it is that the risen Jesus bears eternal scars on his eternal flesh (John 20:19-29). “He had to be made . . . fully human in every way . . . [to] make atonement for the sins of” us all.

See the scars. Scars of pain. Scars of victory. Scars of Immanuel. “Oh, love, how deep, how broad, how high”! Thank you, Jesus, for becoming “God with us.” Amen.