因為福音所記載的事蹟，後世的人更把「法利塞人」用作「偽善」的代名詞。
達味是以色列國的第二任君王，到他手上，以色列的十二支派纔算統一成為一個王國。傳位到第三代國君，撒羅滿，是以色列國的全盛時期。可惜撒羅滿死後，以色列國分裂為兩個國家。在北部的十個支派所組成的王國，沿用以色列的名稱。南部由餘下的兩個支派──猶大和本雅明──所組成，順理成章，以強大的猶大支派命名。公元前721年，北方的以色列國，被亞述帝國所滅，人民流徙充軍到亞述，與當地人通婚。從此，純種的以色列十個支派，便在人類歷史中消失了。公元前586年，南方的猶大國被巴比倫帝國所滅，聖殿被焚，人民流徙充軍到巴比倫。前車可鑒，他們不但拒絕與外族通婚，部份有識之士，更搜集民間及宮廷文獻，編纂出自己的民族歷史、法律和習俗，希望保持自己是「天主選民」的身份和命運。因為沒有了聖殿，沒有了祭獻，他們便建築了「會堂」，作為聚會之用。在那裡，他們讀經、祈禱、守安息日和教導下一代遵守梅瑟的法律。就在那時，他們組織起來，成立了「法利塞黨」，意思是「與外族隔絕」。所以，法利塞人的起源，是為了保存民族身份，保存「天主選民」的希望，是一個非常高尚遠大的目標。
五十年後，波斯帝國滅了巴比倫帝國，波斯王居魯士解放猶大國民回國，重建聖殿。從那時起，有系統的猶太教正式成立。猶大國不再存在，祇成為各個帝國，包括波斯帝國、希臘帝國和羅馬帝國的一個省。因為信奉猶太教，從此被稱為猶太人。
當耶穌基督在會堂施教時，以赦罪、驅魔和治病，解放受罪惡所奴役的人民時，大受群眾的歡迎。而且，耶穌基督以天主子的權威來教訓，指出梅瑟法律的精神。因此，法利塞人的偽善被揭露了。他們老羞成怒，反對耶穌。最後與其他宗教權貴聯手，謀害耶穌，借羅馬總督比拉多的手，殺死耶穌基督。
各位兄弟姊妹，法利塞人的偽善，提醒我們不可祇注重外表，不應該以自己的虔誠作為尺度，輕視其他人；更重要的是內在的檢視，捨棄世俗的手段，例如搬弄明非，恃強凌弱；捨棄追求世俗上的成功，例如財富、健康、青春美麗和權勢等。作為天主的子民，我們應該追求改善與天主的關係。有關法利塞人的毛病，明天繼續說。
讓我們回顧法利塞人的來歷，看他們如何變得「偽善」，作為前車之鑒，不要重蹈覆轍。
那些法利塞人，在長期的殖民統治之下，他們更覺得自己的任務重大，更加注重遵守法律的細節和條文，正如第一篇讀經所說：「他們靠法律尋求成義。」（迦5:4）以為遵守梅瑟的法律，在天主面前便無可指摘。漸漸地，他們忘記了梅瑟法律的精神所在。並且，以「道德警察」自居，以自己的行為，作為道德的標準，在人前眩耀自己的虔誠，來指責其他人不及他們道德上的高尚！
天主保祐！
The Genesis of the Pharisees (Luke 11:37-41)
Because of the stories in the gospels, "Pharisees" has become a synonym of "hypocrites". Let us take a look at the evolution of Pharisees and understand how they had become hypocritical so that we won't make the same mistakes again.
David, the second king of the Israel kingdom, was able to unite the twelve tribes to form a kingdom. During King Solomon's reign, the kingdom ascended to her zenith. Regrettably, after the death of Solomon, the kingdom was divided into two. The northern kingdom, comprising ten tribes, retained the name Israel while the southern one took the name of the stronger tribe and was called Judah. In 721 B.C., Israel was conquered by the Assyrian Empire. The Israelites were exiled and intermarriages wiped them out of human history. In 586 B.C., Judah was conquered by the Babylonian Empire. The Temple was burnt down and the people were exiled. Learning from the fate of the north, the people said no to intermarriages. Some learned people began to collect documents from the court and the commoners to compile their own history, laws and customs. They wanted to preserve their identity and fate as the "Chosen People of God". Since the Temple was no more, there were no holocausts. So, they built synagogues instead. There they studied the Scriptures, prayed, kept the Sabbath and taught the younger generation the Mosaic laws. At that time, they came together as a religious party and called themselves "Pharisees", meaning "Separated". Thus, the origin of the Pharisees was a noble cause to preserve the national identity and the hope of God's Chosen People.
Five decades later, the Persians conquered the Babylonians. King Cyrus sent the people of Judah home to rebuild their Temple. From then, a systematic Judaism was officially established. The Judah kingdom was no more but a province of different empires, including the Persian, Greek and Roman. Since they believed in Judaism, they were called Jews.
Under alien sovereignty for a long period of time, the Pharisees felt that their mission was even more crucial. They focussed more on the details and letters of the law. Just as what the first reading says, "They are trying to be justified by law." (Galatians 5:4) They thought that by observing the Mosaic laws, they would become blameless before God. Gradually, they forgot the spirit of the law. Moreover, they became "morality police". They measured the morality of other people by their own behaviours. They showed off their piety and despised others not as pious as they were!
When Jesus began teaching in the synagogues, he liberated people from the bondage of sin with forgiveness, exorcism and healings. Jesus was popular. Moreover, he taught with the authority of the Son of God and showed people the spirit of Mosaic law. Thus, Jesus Christ revealed the hypocricy of the Pharisees who became furious and opposed Jesus. Consequently, they joined hand with other religious authority to plot against Jesus. They manipulated Pilate to kill Jesus.
Brethren, the hypocricy of the Pharisees reminds us not to focus only on the outward signs. We should not measure and despise other by our own piety. More significantly, we should examine our interiority and abandon worldly tricks, such as gossipping and bullying. We shoud abandon worldly successes, such as weath, health, youthfulness, beauty and authority etc. As the People of God, we should focus on improving our relationship with God. More on the problems of Pharisees tomorrow.
God bless!
No comments:
Post a Comment