耶穌不顯示給世界 Jesus Will Not Reveal Himself to the World

耶穌不顯示給世界（若14:21-26）

為了不會與出賣主的「猶達斯」混淆，我們稱這位宗徒為「猶達」，即【馬爾谷福音】所記載的宗徒名單裡的「達陡」（谷3:18）。要明白為甚麼達陡問「究竟為了甚麼你要將你自己顯示給我們，而不顯示給世界呢」（若14:22），就必須知道上文下理，就是耶穌在最後晚餐時所說的「臨別贈言」。

上文提及耶穌不再說自己將會受難，因為已經說過三次了。耶穌反而說自己將要離去，為門徒預備地方，他日重臨，會「接你們到我那裡去」（14:2-3）。這些並不是安慰的說話，而是耶穌在預言自己復活後將會升天，回到天父身邊。祂離去之後，聖神將會降臨。這聖神是「世界不能領受的真理之神，因為世界看不見祂，也不認識祂。」（14:17）

這個不認識聖神的「世界」，是指甚麼呢？有學者認為若望宗徒筆下的「世界」，是指猶太權貴，甚至是猶太人。這觀點使「認識」一詞落實，因為在我們的經驗中，「世界認識某某」聽來有點莫名其妙。但我們不會採納這個觀點，因為有歧視猶太人的嫌疑。達陡提出了疑問，幫助我們分辨這「世界」是指甚麼人。
雖然耶穌回答達陡時，並沒有用「世界」一詞，但按上文下理，祂是回答達陡有關「不顯示給世界」的問題，亦解答了「世界」是指世上那些人。答案很簡單，就是「那不愛我的，就不遵守我的話」（14:24a）的人。

各位兄弟姊妹，其實愛耶穌並不難。在瑪竇福音第二十五章，耶穌已經事先張揚了，要求我們怎樣愛祂（瑪25:35-36）。有些人不愛耶穌，因為愛耶穌有難度。難處在於愛耶穌的人要採取「哀慟、溫良和締造和平」的生活態度（5:4-5, 9）。可是，我們寧可強顏歡笑，也不願在人前掉下一滴痛悔的眼淚；我們寧可得罪世人，強推自己的主意，亦不願放下身段，虛心聆聽；寧可搬弄是非，製造糾紛而從中取利，亦不願看見人民安居樂業…因為我們都是「世界仔」！
主啊，祢知道我愛你。請賜我聖神，認識真理，好能除去心中愛祢的障礙。亞孟！
生命恩泉
圖片鳴謝：hket.com

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Jesus Will Not Reveal Himself to the World (John 14:21-26)

In order not to mix up with Judas the traitor, we call this apostle Jude who is also known as Thaddeus in the Marcan List of the Apostles (Mark 3:18). To understand why Thaddeus asked this question, “What happened that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world” (John 14:22), we need to know the context which was the Farewell Speech Jesus made in the Last Supper.

In the Farewell Speech, Jesus no longer said he would suffer and die because He had mentioned it three times already. He said instead that He was going to prepare a place for the disciples and would come back again to take them to Himself (14:2-3). Those were not words of consolation but a prophecy of His resurrection and ascension, returning to His Father. After He left, the Holy Spirit would come down. This Holy Spirit was “the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it.” (14:17)

What does this “world”, which cannot accept the Holy Spirit, refer to? Some scholars opine that “the world” refers to the Jewish authority or even the Jews in general. This opinion makes the word “knows” concrete because in our daily experience, “the world knows so-and-so” sounds a bit odd. But we’ll not buy this opinion because it discriminates against the Jewish people. Thaddeus asks this question to help us discern which people “the world” refers to.
Although when Jesus replied Thaddeus He did not use the word “world”, from the context we understand that He was answering the question of not revealing Himself to the world. The answer is simple. They are those who “does not love me does not keep my words.” (14:24a)

Brethren! In fact, it isn’t difficult to love Jesus at all. In Matthew Chapter 25, Jesus has already shown us the way He expected us to love Him (Matthew 25:35-36). Some people don’t love Jesus because loving Jesus is challenging. The difficulty lies in the attitudes He demands in our daily life: being mournful, meek and peace-making (5:4-5, 9). We prefer putting up a brave face to shedding a drop of repentant tear in front of the others. We prefer offending the whole world, imposing our ideas on others to listening humbly to others’ suggestions. We prefer spreading rumours and creating conflicts to attain personal gains to seeing harmony and prosperity among people … because we are “sons of the world”!
Lord, You know that I love You. Grant me the Holy Spirit to know the truth so as to remove any obstacle in my heart to love You. Amen.