沒有偏見真難！ How Hard To Be Without Bias

信德系列之六：沒有偏見真難！（若7:40-53）

讓我們羅列，若望福音第一至六章的記載，猶太人對耶穌基督本人或祂的言論的一些成見：

• 「從納匝肋還能出甚麼好事嗎？」（若1:46a）
• 「這座聖殿建築了四十六年，你在三天之內就會重建起它來嗎？」（2:20）
• 「人已年老，怎樣能重生呢？難道他還能再入母腹而重生嗎？」（3:4）
• 「你既是個猶太人，怎麼向我一個撒瑪黎雅婦人要水喝呢？」（4:9）
• 為此，猶太人越發想要殺害他，因為他不但犯了安息日，而且又稱天主是自己的父，使自己與天主平等。（5:18）
• 他們說：「這人不是若瑟的兒子耶穌麼？他的父親和母親，我們豈不是都認識麼？怎麼他竟說：我是從天上降下來的呢？」（6:42）
• 因此，猶太人彼此爭論說：「這人怎能把他的肉，賜給我們吃呢？」（6:52）

看過前六章的例子，今天我們聽到：「從加里肋亞不會出先知的。」（7:52）便是意料中事了。倘若問，是甚麼妨礙我們信靠耶穌基督呢？先入為主的成見肯定是其中一個因素。

時移世易，耶穌基督的身價不同了，人們對他的期望也不同了，但亦免不了一些先入為主的成見！例如：我們是中國人，「耶教」是洋教，在優秀的中華文化面前，還能出甚麼好事嗎？耶穌教人愛仇人，難道愛可以對付侵略者的飛機大砲嗎？耶穌的教訓很危險，經常質疑甚至顛覆政府的政策。所以一定要未雨綢繆，趁它未成氣候前便剷除它…

今天要找到一個對信德開放的斐理伯（1:46b）、尼苛德摩（7:51）或者全心信靠的伯多祿（6:68），真不容易！
天父啊！願祢的名受顯揚。亞孟。
生命恩泉
圖片鳴謝：community.artauthority.net

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On Faith (VI) --- How Hard To Be Without Bias

Let us make a list of prejudices the Jews harboured against Jesus Christ or against His discourses taken from John 1-6:

• "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" (John 1:46a)
• "This Temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?" (2:20)
• "How can a person once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot re-enter his mother's womb and be born again, can he?" (3:4)
• "How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" (4:9)
• "For this reason the Jews tried all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath but also called God his own father, making himself equal to God." (5:18)
• And they said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven'?" (6:42)
• The Jews quarrelled among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" (6:52)

After reading examples of the previous six chapters, hearing "Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee" (7:52) today would not surprise us. Then what prevents us from believing in Jesus Christ? Preconceived bias is definitely one of the causes. Time has changed. The status of Jesus Christ is no long the same. People's expectations have changed but prejudices are inevitable. For example, we are Chinese. Christianity is Western. In front of our magnificent culture, would there be anything to offer? Jesus teaches us to love enemies. Can love defend invaders' aeroplanes and cannons? The teachings of Jesus Christ are very dangerous. They always challenge and even subvert government policies. Therefore, it should be nipped in the bud … Today, it is a rarity to find someone who is open to faith like Philip (1:46b), like Nicodemus (7:51) or completely surrenders like Peter (6:68)! Heavenly Father! Hallowed be Thy name. Amen.