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Seasoning Life – Pastor Jade Yi

with greater righteousness

Texts:

Psalm 19:7-14 The commandment of the Lord gives light to the eyes. (Ps. 19:8)

James 5:13-20 Prayer and anointing in the community.

Mark 9:38-50 Warnings to those who obstruct faith.

Biblical Context

Mark 9:38-50 contains a series of Jesus’ teachings against anyone who causes a disciple to sin. It includes a sharp denunciation of those who stumble the little ones who believed in Jesus in verse 42, who stumble the little children who are welcomed in Jesus’ name in verse 37 and who stumble those who give water to believers in verse 41. 

馬可福音 9:38-50 紀載了耶穌針對任何導致門徒犯罪的人的一系列教導。尖銳的譴責包括了對第42 節中那些絆倒相信耶穌的小孩子的人，第37 節中那些絆倒奉耶穌之名歡迎小孩子的人，以及第41 節中那些絆倒給信徒一杯水喝的人。

Jesus’ warning marks clear danger for the faithful ones. Causing someone to lose faith is a serious matter. He sternly teaches that they would be better off losing a body part than committing a sin that would exclude them from the kingdom of God. This teaching certainly affirmed the righteousness that is greater than the scribes and Pharisees Jesus mentioned in Matthew 5:20, which was our daily devotion passage yesterday.

耶穌很明顯地是對信實的信徒們所面臨的危機提出了警告。使人失去信心是一件很嚴重的事。祂嚴厲地教導他們，失去身體的一部分比犯下將他們排除在神國之外的罪要好得多。這項教導無疑肯定了耶穌在馬太福音 5:20 中提到的勝於文士和法利賽人的義，這是我們昨天的每日靈修經文。

I posted that disciples are not challenged to try harder to be salt and light. Being salt and light was part of Jesus’ call to discipleship in Matthew 4:18-22. They were called to accept and live out the new reality (being salt and light) in humility as saved sinners, unlike the scribes and Pharisees at the time. 

我發文說，門徒並沒有被要求，要更努力地成為鹽和光。作鹽作光是耶穌在馬太福音 4 章 18-22 節中連帶呼召門徒時所賜與的一部分。他們謙卑地以得救的罪人，來接受主的呼召並活出有鹽和有光的新生命，這就是與當時的文士和法利賽人的不同之處。

Then Jesus teaches them the righteousness that is greater than the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 5:21-48. Perfect righteousness is impossible. Those who rely on their own merits should know this. God revealed the perfect love of enemies in that He loved those who were hostile to Him in their sinful rebellion. All who have God as their Heavenly Father are held to the same standard of perfect love.

然後耶穌在馬太福音5:21-48教導他們那更大的義，既是勝於文士和法利賽人的義。「完美的義」是不可能的。想靠自己努力的人應該要清楚這一點。神顯明了對仇敵完美的愛，因為祂愛那些在罪孽叛逆中與祂為敵的人。所有以上帝為天父的人都遵守「完美的愛」的相同標準。

Application

After knowing the texts in Mark 9:38-50, what are your initial impressions of Jesus’ disciples, the person casting out demons, and most importantly, Jesus’ views on how God operates? If we take the texts out of the context from Mark 9, Jesus’ disciples’ concerns seem legitimate, the unknow exorcist seems suspicious, and Jesus’ teaching seems too exaggerated. 

在了解了馬可福音9:38-50的經文後，你們對耶穌的門徒、驅鬼的人，以及最重要的是耶穌對神如何運作，起初的印象和看法是如何？如果我們從馬可福音第9章的上下文中取出而只單單看這段經文，耶穌門徒們的擔憂似乎是合理的，不為他們所知的這位驅鬼者似乎很可疑，而耶穌的教導似乎過於誇張。

Before we dive into Jesus’ teaching on how God operates, there are two things that we want to keep in mind. First, what just happened right before today’s story in verses 33-37, which was the reading last Sunday? The disciples are concerned about being the greatest one. Such arrogant behavior leads to abuse and neglect of the lowly. Because of this unknown exorcist, their desire for control is revealed and their sense of security is threatened. The story has an ironic tone in the context of the larger narrative. Are the disciples attempting to prevent another from doing what they had just failed to do? In 9:18, they failed to cast out a bad spirit.

在我們深入探討耶穌教導有關神是如何運作之前，我們要牢記兩件事。首先，在今天的故事之前，也就是上主日的經文第 33 至 37 節，發生了什麼事？門徒關心的是，在他們當中誰將成為最偉大的那一位。這種傲慢的行為將引發出虐待和忽視下級階層人的行為和態度。因為這位不知名的驅鬼者，他們的控制欲顯露了出來，安全感受到了威脅。這個故事在更大的敘事背景下帶著諷刺的意味。門徒是否試圖阻止別人做他們之前沒能做成的事情呢？因為在9:18，他們未能趕出邪靈。

Second, all this happened right after Jesus’ teaching that the Son of Man would be betrayed, killed, and would rise again in verses 30-37. The glory-seeking disciples neither understood the message of being humbled to the cross nor accepted their pride of being Jesus’ disciples coming to an end if their master’s prediction came true. 

其次，這一切都發生在耶穌在第 30 至 37 節教導人子將被出賣、殺害並復活的預言之後。尋求榮耀的門徒，既不理解來到十字架前的謙卑的信息，也不接受他們主耶穌的預言若是成真，他們作為耶穌身邊門徒的驕傲就將結束這件事。

Instead of comforting them, Jesus teaches them how God works through whoever God chooses and gives rewards to whoever does good to believers. The message of the cross has to do with humility, not exclusivity. Stopping anyone who serves God in Jesus’ name is a sign of being a clique. They were assuming that if Jesus’ name is used, the unknown exorcist has to submit to Jesus’s authority by staying with them and following Jesus in person. However, that’s not how God operates. Let’s think of ourselves, living in the 21st century, not following Jesus in person, and not belonging to the clique of the 1st twelve disciples. God’s work doesn’t need our permission or criticism on how it should work. 

耶穌沒有安慰他們，而是教導他們神是如何透過神所揀選的人來作工，並獎賞那些對信徒行善的人。十字架的信息與謙卑息息相關，而不是用來排擠他人。阻止任何以耶穌的名事奉上帝的人是「拉幫結派」的標誌。門徒認為，如果使用耶穌的名字，這位未知的驅鬼者必須與他們在一起並親自跟隨耶穌，以表服從耶穌的權威。然而，神並不是這樣運作的。讓我們想想我們自己，生活在21世紀，沒有親自跟隨著耶穌，也不屬於第一批那十二門徒的派系。神的工作要如何運作不需要我們的許可或是批評。

Conundrum

It doesn’t matter if we like Jesus’ teaching on the way God works or not, that’s totally up to God. Then Jesus concluded his teaching in Mark 9:49-50: “For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

我們是否喜歡耶穌的教導以及上帝的運作的方式並不重要，這完全取決於上帝。然後耶穌在馬可福音 9 章 49-50 節中總結了祂的教導：「因為必用火當鹽醃各人。鹽本是好的，但如果鹽失去了鹹味，又如何調味呢？你們裡頭應當有鹽，彼此才能和睦相處。」

Salt is a common but very precious seasoning that we can’t live without, not only for our health but also for the food we consume. In food, it’s always easier to add more salt to fix the unsalted food that is already cooked, and it’s much harder to reduce its saltiness. If it’s fluid, we can add more water to dilute it. How about solid food? Every time this happens, I remember a funny theory that my dad came up with: Eat more rice to dilute what you have in your stomach. It’s all good. LOL.

鹽是一種常見但非常珍貴的調味品，不僅對我們的健康，而且對我們所吃的食物，我們離不開它。在食物中，添加更多的鹽來拯救已經煮熟不夠鹹的食物總是更容易，而降低其鹹味則困難得多。如果它是液體，我們可以添加更多的水來稀釋它。若是固體的食物怎麼辦呢？每次發生這種情況，我都會想起我爸爸提出的一個有趣的理論。他說：「多吃米飯來稀釋胃裡的食物，就行了。」 哈哈。

In fact, Jesus is offering us a description of hell just as he mentioned in Matthew 25:46. Jesus says that these people will go away into eternal punishment but the righteous into eternal life.  Based on his comment, everyone in hell is salted or preserved in the fire. In our earthly life, fire consumes but in hell, fire preserves life to be burned eternally. Salt is supposed to be used to season our earthly life to have peace with one another as St. Paul said in Ephesians 4:2-3, “With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

其實，就有如耶穌在馬太福音 25:46 中提到的，耶穌是在向我們描述地獄。耶穌說: 「這些人將進入永恆的懲罰，但義人將進入永生。」 根據祂的解釋，地獄中的每個人都已被鹽醃製保存著在火中被燃燒。在我們塵世的生活中，火會吞噬我們，但在地獄裡，火會持續永遠燃燒著生命。鹽應該用來調和我們塵世的生活，使我們彼此和睦，正如聖保羅在《以弗所書》4章2-3節中所說：「凡事謙虛、溫柔、忍耐，用愛心互相寬容，用和平彼此聯絡，竭力保守聖靈所賜合而為一的心。」

Good News 

What’s the Good News for today? Thank you to Jesus for granting us the reality of what we are as salt and light. May we trust God enough to let God do God’s way and may we simply do our parts. As Jesus said, let us have salt in ourselves not to preserve ourselves for hell but to season our relationship and be at peace with one another. 今日的好消息是什麼呢？感謝耶穌賜給我們作為鹽和光的事實。願我們凡事信靠神，神會按照神的方式運行作工，願我們只做我們該做的事。正如耶穌所說，在我們生命裡放鹽，不是為了讓自己免於地獄的考驗，而是為了調味我們的關係，使彼此和睦相處。

May we season our life with greater righteousness and know that it can’t be done without salt. Amen.

讓我們以更大的義來調味我們的生活。沒有鹽就無法做到。阿們。

Notes: The average adult should consume roughly 1,500 mg but no more than 2,300 mg of sodium daily. This is approximately equal to 1/3 of a teaspoon of salt to 1 teaspoon of salt. Children should consume less than 1,800 mg per day. It’s 3/4 of a teaspoon of salt.

成人平均每天應攝取約 1,500 毫克但不超過 2,300 毫克的鈉。這大約等於 1/3 茶匙鹽至 1 茶匙鹽的量。兒童每天的攝取量應少於 1,800 毫克。這是 3/4 茶匙的鹽。

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