末世系列（三）你真的信耶穌？（路21:29-33）
從路加福音21章5節起，耶穌基督列出世界末日前會發生的十件事物，包括有人冒認是救世主（路21:8）、戰亂（21:9）、天災人禍（21:11a）、天上有巨大的凶兆（21:11b）、基督徒遭受政治迫害（21:12）、耶路撒冷聖城遭受破壞（21:24）、日月星辰出現異兆（21:25a）、發生令萬國驚惶失措的海嘯（21:25b），諸天的萬象動搖（21:26b）。最後，耶穌基督帶著威能及莫大光榮乘雲降來（21:27）。這些事物中，部份是具體的，容易驗證；但有些卻因時代的不同，我們可能有不同的演繹。例如：古代的人和現代人，對「天」的認知不同，所以關於「天上有巨大的凶兆」，又或者「諸天的萬象動搖」，便會得出不同的結論了！例如，古代的東方賢士，就是憑「占星術」來推算天像的啟示，找到了新生的猶太人君王（瑪2:2）；現代的天文學家憑「天體物理學」所作的觀察和計算，很有信心地在【天文學期刋The Astronomical Journal】宣佈，憑當今的理論模型運算，在未來的一千年，地球不會被約十公里直徑大的小行星，毀滅性地擊中1 ，發生有如6500萬年前令恐龍絕種一樣的災難。
占星術士與科學家不同之處，前者用模稜兩可的詩歌作預言，後者先列舉假設，在假設成立的大前提下，結論纔成立；倘若觀察數據與運算結果不符，便修訂改良當前的理論模型。
耶穌基督的「末世言論」，不但對當時的猶太人說，也是對後世的我們說。耶穌基督不是占星術士，說話絕不模稜兩可。祂又不是天文物理學家，說話言之鑿鑿，絕無任何前設。原因十分簡單，因為祂是天主子！
天主保祐！
Eschatology III: Do You Really Believe in Jesus? (Luke 21:29-33)
Starting from Luke 21:5, Jesus Christ lists 10 things that would happen before the end of the world. They are namely, people claiming to be the Saviours (Luke 21:8); wars and conflicts (21:9); natural and man-made disasters (21:11a); awesome sights and mighty signs from the sky (21:11b); Christians being persecuted politically (21:12); desolation of Jerusalem (21:24); signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars (21:25a); nations perplexed by roaring tsunamis (21:25b); the powers of the heavens shaken (21:26b) and lastly, the Son of Man would come in a cloud with power and great glory (21:27). Among these ten things, some are concrete and we can easily verify them. However, some of them mean different things in different ages. For example, ancient peoples and modern people have different understanding of “sky/heavens”. They would interpret “awesome sights and mighty signs from the sky”, or “the powers of the heavens shaken” in different manners! For example, the magi from the east were able to locate the newly born Jewish king by applying astrology in reading heavenly signs (Matthew 2:2). By applying astrophysics, modern astronomers observe, calculate and confidently published in the Astronomical Journal1 that calculating according to the present day theoretic models, our planet would not be disastrously hit by an asteroid of 10 km diameter within the next 1,000 years, similar to the one causing the extinction of dinosaurs 65,000,000 years ago.Astrologists and scientists speak in different manners. The former prophecies in ambiguous poems. The latter states their assumptions before drawing their conclusions. If the observed data do not agree with calculations, scientists modify and improve their theoretical models. The eschatological discourses of Jesus Christ speak not only to His contemporary Jews but also to us today. Jesus Christ is not an astrologist that speaks in ambiguity nor an astrophysicist that speaks within the validity of assumptions. No, He speaks directly without any assumption, simply because He is the Son of God!
Beloved brethren! Do you really believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Do you believe in His eschatological discourses? Do you believe that He is present in the community of the faithful (18:20), including those we hate? Do you believe that He is present among the socially marginalized (25:40), including the sexual minority? Do you believe that He is truly present in the Holy Communion (26:26), and the Sacrament is not simply a memorial? Do you believe that even in our long-sufferings He is accompanying us (28:20)? Do you really believe in Jesus?
God bless!
1https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/05/15/1073084/earth-safe-killer-asteroid/
生命恩泉
Picture Credit:aleteia.org
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