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October 28 Today’s Reading: Luke 24

十月28日今日經文:路加福音24章

“Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?” (Luke 24:26)

基督這樣受害，又進入祂的榮耀，豈不是應當的嗎？(路 24:26)

Our Lord Jesus here asserts again what He had so often told His disciples, that there was an imperative, an absolute necessity that He suffer all that He suffered in Gethsemane, Gabbatha, and Golgotha. And He tells them that one aspect of that necessity was the fact that He could never have entered into His glory had He not suffered all those things as our Surety, Substitute, and Savior.

我們的主耶穌基督這裡再次強調祂曾多次告訴門徒的話，就是祂在客西馬尼、厄巴大、各各他所承受的，是絕對必要，無可避免的苦難。祂也告訴門徒必須承受這些痛苦的原因之一，是讓自己成為我們得救的確據、代替我們的過犯、成為我們的救贖，祂就不能進入榮耀。

God’s Greatest Work

Without question, the most wondrous of all God’s works is the work of redemption. When we attempt to contemplate what that work involved, we are lost in astonishment. When we think of the unutterable depths of shame and sorrow into which the Lord of glory entered to save us, we are awed and staggered. That the eternal Son of God should lay aside the robes of His ineffable glory and take upon Himself the form of a servant, that the Ruler of heaven and earth should be “made under the law,” that the Creator of the universe should tabernacle in this world and “have not where to lay His head,” is something no finite mind can comprehend. But where carnal reason fails, God-given faith believes and worships.

神最偉大的工作

毫無疑問的，神所有的工作中，最奇妙的莫過於救贖大功。當我們嘗試思想這份工作所涉及的一切，只能嘆為觀止。當我們想到榮耀的救主為了拯救我們，踏入無法道盡的羞辱與憂傷，心中充滿敬畏和交錯。永生神的兒子竟然放棄無可言喻的榮耀之袍，成為奴僕的樣式，統管天上地下的主竟然「生在律法之下」，宇宙的創造主居然住在人間，甚至「沒有枕頭的地方」，有限的頭腦無法理解這樣的事，然而理性無法了解之處，正是神所賜的信心相信與敬拜之時。

As we trace the path of our Savior from the throne of life to the tomb of death and behold Him who was rich, for our sakes, becoming poor, that we through His poverty might be made rich, we cannot fathom the depths of the wonders before us. We know that every step in the path of our Redeemer’s humiliation was ordained in the eternal purpose of God. Yet, it was a path of immeasurable sorrow, unutterable anguish, ceaseless ignominy, bitter hatred, and relentless persecution that, at last, brought the Beloved Son of God, the Darling of heaven, to suffer the painful, shameful death of the cross. Who could ever have imagined such things as these?

當我們追溯救主從生命的寶座走向死亡的墳墓，並看見祂本是富足，卻為我們成了貧窮，使我們因著祂的貧窮成為富足。我們無法理解擺在我們面前，是何等深厚的奇妙。我們知道救贖主走向羞辱的每一步，都在神永恆的計劃與旨意中。然而，這條道路，充滿無法測度的憂傷，無法述盡的痛苦，持續不斷的羞辱，滿是苦毒的憤恨，永無止境的逼迫。最終，帶領神的獨生愛子，天上的珍寶，在十字架上承受痛苦與羞辱的死亡。誰能夠想像這些事情?

Standing at the foot of the cross, as I behold the Holy One nailed to the cursed tree, covered with His own blood and the spit of an enraged mob, made sin, forsaken, and cursed of God His Father, yet, realizing that this is the work of God’s own hand, I am lost in astonishment. I am filled with reverence and awe (2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13).

站立在十架面前，我瞻仰被釘的聖者，掛在受咒詛的樹上，身上佈滿自己的血，遭受憤怒暴民的唾棄，使自己成為有罪的，被天父上帝撇棄咒詛。然而，一想到這是神親手的工作，我只能嘆為觀止，內心充滿崇敬與敬畏之情!(哥林多後書5:21; 加拉太書3:13)

A Question

Awed as I am with reverence for my crucified Lord, still there is a question that I cannot suppress, a question that reason and sound judgment cannot fail to ask. The question is, Why? Why did the Son of God suffer such a death? Why did God so torment His beloved Son and kill Him in such a horribly ignominious way? Why, O my Savior, why were such sufferings heaped upon Your holy soul?

疑問

當我因著十架救主內心充滿崇敬與敬畏之情，心中仍有一個疑問，一個擁有理性與正常判斷力的人會提出的問題。這個問題是: 為什麼? 為什麼神的兒子要經歷這樣痛苦的死亡? 為什麼上帝要如此凌虐祂的愛子，以如此殘酷羞辱的方式來殺死祂? 為什麼? 我的救主啊! 為什麼讓如此痛苦堆壓在你聖潔的靈魂上?

Was it to save my soul? I know that He did so that I might live. He suffered, the Just for the unjust, that he might bring me to God. But was there no other way for the omnipotent God to save me? Was all this done to demonstrate the greatness of God’s love to me? Indeed it was (Romans 5:8; 1 John 3:16; 4:9-10). But, surely, God could have revealed His love to me in some other way. Why did He slay His Son? What necessity was there for the Son of God to suffer and die upon the cursed tree?

是為了拯救我的靈魂嗎? 我知道祂為我死使我得以存活。祂受痛苦，讓公義的來代替不義的，使我可以回到神的面前。但是否沒有其他方式讓全能神來拯救我? 這樣做是為了向我彰顯上帝愛的大能? 確實如此 (羅馬書5:8; 約翰一書3:16; 4:9-10)。神當然可以用其他方式向我啟示祂的愛。為何要殺祂的愛子? 為何神的兒子必要在被咒詛的十架上受苦而死亡?

Only one answer can be found to that question. — The justice of God had to be satisfied. There was no necessity for God to save anyone. Salvation is altogether the free gift of His grace. But, having determined to save His elect from the ruins of fallen humanity, the only way God could save His people and forgive their sins was by the death of His darling Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. — “Without shedding of blood is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22). The justice of God had to be satisfied in order for God to save His people; and the only thing that could ever satisfy the justice of God is the blood of Christ. Justice demanded it (Proverbs 16:6; 17:15; Romans 3:24-26; 1 Peter 3:18).

這個問題唯一的答案是，神的公義必須被滿足。神無須拯救任何人，救贖全然是祂白白恩典的禮物。然而，一旦決定要從墮落的人性中拯救祂的選民，神救贖百姓、赦免其過犯的唯一方式就是藉著祂愛子耶穌基督的死。「若不流血，罪就不得赦免了」(希伯來書9:22)。為了拯救祂的百姓，神的公義必須被滿足，而唯一能滿足神公義就是基督的血。這是公義的要求(箴言16:6; 17:15; 羅馬書3:24-26; 彼得前書3:18)。

Christ’s Glory

There is something else suggested in Luke 24:26. Christ could not have entered into His glory except by His suffering and death as our Substitute, by which justice was satisfied, righteousness was brought in, His work was finished, and the people He came to save were saved. Let us ever admire and adore the perfections of our God (Psalm 85:10-11). Admire His love. Adore His mercy. Rejoice in His grace. Stand in awe of His wisdom, holiness, justice, and truth. All shine forth gloriously in the satisfaction of Christ. — “For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” Divine wisdom found a ransom for our souls in Christ. Holiness approved of it. Justice is satisfied with it. Truth proclaims it. — “Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?”

基督的榮耀

路加福音24:26節還提到除非基督代替我們的罪受苦而死亡，藉此公義得到滿足、將神的義帶入世上、完成救贖大功、拯救祂要拯救的選民，否則祂無法進入榮耀。讓我們讚美尊崇神的完美無瑕(詩篇85:10-11)，讚美祂的愛，讚美祂的憐憫，在祂的恩典中喜樂，在祂的智慧、聖潔、公義、真理面前敬畏站立。原來那為萬物所屬、為萬物所本的，要領許多的兒子進榮耀裏去，使救他們的元帥，因受苦難得以完全，本是合宜的(希伯來書2:10)。屬天的智慧在基督裡找到拯救靈魂的贖價。神的聖潔認可祂，神的公義因祂得著滿足，神的真理傳揚祂。「基督這樣受害，又進入祂的榮耀，豈不是應當的嗎?」

Don Fortner

Pastor Fortner’s