真我的善惡二路 The Good and The Evil Paths Before the Authentic Self

真我系列之六：
真我的善惡二路（瑪14:1-12）

福音中的黑落德安提帕，惡名遠播，不下他的父親，那個在耶穌出生時，作為羅馬帝國傀儡，統治猶大的大黑落德！安提帕荒淫無道，即使違反梅瑟的法律，也娶了自己兄弟斐理伯的妻子黑落狄雅（瑪14:3），並且還對她的女兒起了淫念（谷6:23）。安提帕殘暴成性，為了遵守醉酒亂發的誓言，挽回面子，竟不惜犧牲了群眾公認為先知的洗者若翰（瑪14:9）。安提帕為人狡猾，有點小聰明，知道比拉多送上的禮物，耶穌，是因為他不想負上「千古罪人」的污名。安提帕當然不會這樣蠢，便把耶穌送回（路23:11）。安提帕的罪行，真是罄竹難書！我們不禁要問，安提帕的真我，掉到那裡去了？也難怪，安提帕生在大黑落德的家裡，他的真我難免受到各種荊棘的窒息，無法成長起來！

另一方面，洗者若翰是匝加利亞的兒子，原本可以繼承父業，在耶路撒冷當上一個司祭職（1:5）。但天主心目中的洗者若翰，要當一位擁有厄里亞精神的先知！所以當若翰在母胎時，天主便祝聖了他（1:14），讓他在充滿恩寵的環境中成長。長大後的若翰到曠野生活，在遠離貪婪、淫蕩和暴力的環境下，探索天父的旨意，過著成聖的生活；並向猶太人宣講悔改的洗禮，預備他們的心靈，迎接久待了的默西亞（瑪3:1-12）。他為耶穌基督作證，並為祂施洗後（3:15），知道是隱退的時候，並沒有逃避安提帕的拘捕（若3:30）；並以身殉，預示耶穌基督受難的命運（瑪17:12）！洗者若翰的真我，不單是天主肖像、天主聖者和天主義子，更是天主子的私人指標，幫助世人認清耶穌基督的真我。
天父啊！祢把生死之路擺在我們面前，給我們選擇。請加強我們的力量，在生命之路上行走。亞孟！

生命恩泉
圖片鳴謝：aleteia.org

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Authentic Self Series VI
The Good and The Evil Paths Before the Authentic Self (Matthew 14:1-12)

Herod Antipas was as infamous as his father Herod the Great who was the Roman puppet king of Judaea when Jesus was born! Not only was Antipas lustful, taking the wife of his brother Philip against the Mosaic Law (Matthew 14:3), but he was lustful towards her daughter as well (Mark 6:23). He was cold blooded. In order to save his face to honour a drunken vow, Antipas killed John the Baptist whom the Jews believed was a prophet (Matthew 14:9). He was cunning. He knew that Pilate sent him a gift, Jesus because Pilate did not want to become a "Sinner of a thousand ages". Antipas would not be so stupid as not to send Jesus back (Luke 23:11). It takes an ocean of ink to list his crimes and sins! We wonder where Antipas had dropped his authentic self. Antipas was born and raised in the house of Herod the Great. It was no wonder that his authentic self was smothered by all sorts of thorns, preventing it from growing!

On the other hand, John the Baptist was the son of a priest, Zechariah. He would have inherited his father's office and become a priest himself in Jerusalem (1:5). But in God's mind, John the Baptist was to be a prophet in the spirit of Elijah! Thus, when John was still in his mother's womb, God had consecrated him (1:14), allowing him to grow up in an environment full of grace. When he grew up, John left for the wilderness to stay away from a greedy, lustful and violent environment to seek the Father's will and led a sanctifying life. He preached a baptism of repentance to prepare the hearts of the Jews to receive the long anticipated Messiah (Matthew 3:1-12). He bore witness to Jesus Christ and after baptizing Christ (3:15), did not evade Antipas' arrest. He knew his position (John 3:30) and died a martyrdom to reveal Christ's passion in the future (Matthew 17:12). The authentic self of John the Baptist is not only an image of God, a holy one of God and an adopted child of God, but is also a personal pointer to the Son of God, helping others to know the authentic self of Jesus Christ.
Heavenly Father! You put before us a path of life and a path of death to choose. Give us strength to take the path of life. Amen.