因耶穌基督而絆倒 Offended By Jesus Christ

因耶穌基督而絆倒

【路加福音】告訴讀者，天父是慈悲的。
我們憑甚麼知道那位看不見的天父是慈悲的呢？就是透過可見的耶穌基督。這位天主子是不可見的天父可見的標記，賜給人類救恩，所以祂是「原始的聖事」。單憑祂的所作所為：「瞎子看見，瘸子行走，癩病人潔淨，聾子聽見，死人復活，貧窮人聽到喜訊」（路7:22），足以證明天父是慈悲的，天主子是美善的。那麼，因耶穌基督而絆倒，可能嗎？

福音除了記載天主子如何重整患病及傷殘人士，恢復他們的健康，讓他們再可以過正常的生活外，還記載了宗教領袖與祂的衝突。耶穌基督驅魔（4:35, 41），經師和法利塞人沒有異議，因為驅魔的行為沒有「闖入」他們的管轄領域；耶穌基督潔淨了癩病人後，吩咐他找司祭檢驗（5:14），符合法律的要求，沒有問題。經師和法利塞人並非蠻不講理的人，在他們的認知中，祇有天主纔可以赦罪。眼前的耶穌是一個人，即使祂的教訓非常有權威（瑪7:29；谷1:22；路4:32），祂始終不是天主，所以祂沒有權赦免癱子的罪（5:21）！

這祇是表面的理由而已！試想想，以色列人憑甚麼知道天主赦免了他們的罪呢？憑司祭為他們舉行「贖罪祭」（肋5:5-6）。充軍後出現的經師和法利塞人，運用他們的教導，強化這種理念，當中便牽涉到經濟利益了！如今，耶穌基督祇說一句話，便得罪赦，他們一伙人的經濟利益去了哪？他們在人民心目中的地位去了哪？於是，他們便到處「發掘」更多天主子不守法律的罪證：與稅吏和罪人一起吃喝（路5:30），沒有禁食（5:33），不守安息日（6:2, 7），與羅馬人來往（7:2-10）等等。耶穌基督的善言善行，原來是可以令人絆倒的！

天主子已經為我們償還了所有的罪債，所以不需要再破費獻祭，而是藉著免費的修和聖事，獲得罪過的赦免。不得不要謙虛地承認，中世紀的天主教會沒有吸取教訓，重蹈覆轍，導致「宗教改革」與及後來的戰爭和流血…即使是基督的淨配，也會絆倒！
主啊！我們一再失足犯罪，請幫助我們真心悔改，獲得救贖。亞孟。
論盡神學
圖片鳴謝：johnhembree.com

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Offended By Jesus Christ

The gospel according to Luke tells the readers that the Heavenly Father is merciful.
With what do we know that the invisible Father is merciful? Through the visible Jesus Christ. The Son of God, who is the visible sign of the invisible Father, dispenses saving grace to humanity. Thus He is the “Primordial Sacrament”. His deeds alone, viz. “The blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the good news proclaimed to them” (Luke 7:22), are sufficient to prove that the Father is merciful and the Son is good. Then is it possible to take offense at Jesus Christ?

Besides narrations of how the Son of God restore the health of the sick and handicapped, allowing them to lead a normal life again, the gospels also tell us His conflicts with the religious authority. The scribes and Pharisees had no objection against Jesus Christ’s exorcisms (4:35, 41) which was not their turf. After cleansing the lepers, Jesus Christ always told them to be examined by the priests (5:14). He had not breached any law. The scribes and Pharisees were not irrational people. In the best of their knowledge, only God could forgive sins. Although this Jesus who was standing before them was very authoritative in teachings (Matthew 7:29, Mark 1:22, Luke 4:32), he was not God. Therefore, he did not have the authority to forgive the sins of the paralytic (5:21)!

This is a superficial reason only! Think about it. How did the Israelites know that God had forgiven them? From the visible “purification offerings” performed by priests (Leviticus 5:5-6). The scribes and Pharisees who emerged after the Babylonian Captivity further reinforced this concept with their teachings. Financial incentives were involved! Now, with the pronouncement of a simple statement, Jesus Christ forgave sins. Where did the economic benefits go? Where would their standing among the people be gone? Thus, they went about digging up evidences of sins committed by the Son of God: eating with tax-collectors and sinners (Luke 5:30); not fasting (5:30); not observing Sabbath (6:2, 7) and dealing with Gentiles (7:2-10) etc. The good deeds and words of Jesus Christ do offend some people!

The Son of God has already repaid all our debts. We don’t need to spend money offering purification sacrifices. Through the Sacrament of Reciliation, which is free of charge, our sins are forgiven. Regrettably, we need to confess humbly that the Catholic Church in the Middle-Age had not learnt the lesson and repeated the same mistake, leading to Reformation and subsequent bloody wars … Even the Spouse of Christ stumbles!
Lord! We fall repeatedly. Help us repent genuinely to receive redemption. Amen.