以希望還希望，以愛還愛 Repay Hope with Hope, Love with Love

二月四日
《希望的傳承者系列 III》
主題：以希望還希望，以愛還愛（谷6:1-6）。

有甚麼事物能令「全能、全知」的天主感到詫異呢？在邏輯上應該沒有。
耶穌不是天主嗎？倘若祂是天主，祂便是全能的。為甚麼祂在家鄉「不能行甚麼奇能」（谷6:5），只能做一些雞毛蒜皮的治病呢？倘若祂是天主，一切事物都在祂的認知之中。為甚麼祂會因為自己的鄉親父老們的「無信心而感到詫異」（6:6a）呢？難道祂對鄉人失望了，「遂周遊四周各村施教去了」嗎？ 《馬爾谷》這樣描述，難怪有人會懷疑耶穌基督是否真天主！

有疑問是一件好事，表示我們對真理的渴求。但我們必須抱著謙遜的心尋求真理，因為我們的理性能力有限，我們的判斷受到我們的文化背景和政治立場所影響。首先，我們必須謙遜地承認「耶穌基督真是天主又真是人」，是一項超越人類語言所能表述的命題。中世紀前出現分裂教會的「異端」，大部份都是圍繞著耶穌基督的天主性如何與祂的人性完美地結合的表述，真是有理說不清！

出於愛，「聖言成了血肉」（若1:14）。祂的天主性可以加強祂的人性，例如：耶穌以血肉之軀，「憑自己的神力，即刻認透了他們〔經師們〕私自這樣〔耶穌赦癱子的罪，說了褻瀆的話〕忖度」（谷2:8a）；又可以施行神跡，顯示天主的臨在。另一方面，祂的天主性不可以做一些矛盾人性的事，例如：在耶穌復活前，祂能同時佔據著不連續的空間而仍然活著，即使身首異處也能生存！此外，祂尊重人類的自主，不會強迫他們相信祂、愛祂。

基於上述原則，耶穌基督不是對鄉人失望而周遊四周各村施教，而是因為祂在世的時間有限，祂又不能同時分身在四周各村施教，所以時間到了，便起程前往其他地方傳福音！正因為耶穌基督對自己的鄉親父老滿懷希望，才會因他們的無信心而感到詫異。出於愛，耶穌寧願對世人滿懷希望、寧願被朋友出賣，也不願以自己的「全能、全知」，操控我們的命運。祂甚至拒絕知道末日的時刻（13:32）！

親愛的弟兄姊妹，感謝聖史馬爾谷，他讓我們知道主耶穌基督對我們滿懷希望。是祂先對世人懷有希望，所以我們也應該以希望還希望，以愛還愛，做一個「希望的傳承者」。亞孟。
天主保祐！

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生命恩泉
圖片鳴謝：grok.com, copilot.microsoft.com

[Messengers of Hope Series III]
Theme: Repay Hope with Hope, Love with Love (Mark 6:1-6)

What could surprise an omnipotent and omniscient God? Logically there shouldn’t be any.
Is Jesus not God? If He is God, He is omnipotent. Why was He “not able to perform any mighty deed there apart from curing a few sick people” (Mark 6:5)? If He is God, He knows everything. Why was He “amazed at their [His own kin’s] lack of faith” (6:6a)? Was He disappointed so that “He went around to the villages in the vicinity teaching”? Mark’s narrative would make readers question the divinity of Jesus Christ!

It is a good thing to ask questions. It shows our desire to seek the truth. But we must seek the truth with humility because our rationality is finite and our judgment is coloured by our cultural background and our political stance. Firstly, we must humbly confess that “the divinity and humanity of the Son of God is united in one person Jesus Christ” is a premise beyond the expressiveness of human languages. In fact, many heresies before the Middle Age were inadequate articulations of the union of the two complete and distinct natures in one person!

Out of love, “the Word became flesh” (John 1:14). His divinity enhances his humanity. E.g. In flesh, “Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they [the scribes] were thinking [Jesus was blaspheming] to themselves” (Mark 2:8a); and performed miracles to indicate the presence of God. On the other hand, His divinity does not contradict His humanity. E.g. before His resurrection, He did not simultaneously occupy non-continuous spaces and lived! Moreover, He respected human autonomy and did not force them to believe in Him, to love Him.

Based on the principles mentioned above, Jesus Christ did not go preaching to the villages in the vicinity because He was disappointed with His kin. Rather, His earthly time is limited. He could not simultaneously preach to different locations. Thus when time came, He had to go preaching elsewhere! Just because Jesus Christ was hopeful for His kin, He was surprised by His lack of faith. Out of love, Jesus preferred hope in human beings, preferred betrayal by friends to control our fate with His omnipotence and omniscience. He even refused to know the day or the hour of the end of the world (13:32)!

Beloved brethren! Thanks be to Mark the Evangelist who made known to us that Jesus Christ fully hope in us. It is He who hope in us first. Let us repay hope with hope, love with love and become “Messengers of Hope”. Amen.
God bless!