12月12日 耶稣，神人
12月12日，周五
耶稣，神人
那藉着水和血来的就是耶稣基督，不是单用水，而是用水又用血；作见证的是圣灵，因为圣灵就是真理。原来作见证的有三样，就是圣灵、水和血，这三样是一致的。（约翰壹书5:6-8）
使徒约翰在此极其关切的，是要确立“道成肉身”的真实性，并证实耶稣基督确实是神的儿子，且成了肉身，在肉体中显现。我相信，他之所以如此迫切，是为了纠正当时非常盛行的一种异端。这种异端的教导大致如下：拿撒勒人耶稣原本不过是一个凡人；然而，当他在约旦河受约翰的洗时，那位“永恒的基督”临到了他，进入他里面。因此，从受洗的那一刻起，这位永恒的基督就住在那位“属人的耶稣”里面，直到耶稣受难前夕；随之，那位“永恒的基督”回到了天上，最终被钉死在十字架上的，仅仅是那个“属人的耶稣”。
在教会初期的几个世纪里，这是一种极其普遍的异端；而在随后的漫长历史中，它也屡次死灰复燃。过去一百多年来，围绕“基督位格”所产生的种种争论，从某种意义上说，不过是那古老异端的重演——它在“人子耶稣”与“永恒基督”之间打入了一个楔子，将二者硬生生地割裂开来。而约翰在此所关切的，是要坚决宣告一个极其伟大的事实：马槽里的婴孩，就是那位神人。“耶稣基督”，不单单是耶稣。道成肉身是真实的；那位死在十字架上的，不仅仅是“人子耶稣”，而是那位既是完全的神、又是完全的人的那位“神人”，祂亲自为我们死了。
我相信，约翰之所以提及“水和血”的见证，就是要确立这位救主位格的合一与独一——祂不是两个分离的位格，而是一位二性（兼具神性与人性）的救主。
默想主题：
马槽里的婴孩，就是那位神人。
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：代下13章，启3章
个人灵修：该1章，约2章
December 12, Friday
JESUS THE GOD-MAN
This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ;not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. (1 JOHN 5:6-8)
John is concerned to establish the reality of the Incarnation, to prove that Jesus Christ is really the Son of God incarnate, in the flesh. I believe that he was anxious to do so in order to correct a heresy that was very prevalent at that time. It taught something like this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man, but when He was baptized by John in the Jordan, the eternal Christ came upon Him and entered into Him, so that from the moment of the baptism the eternal Christ was dwelling in the human Jesus, and He continued to do so until just before the crucifixion took place; then the eternal Christ went back to heaven, and it was only the man Jesus who was crucified.
Now that was a very common heresy in the first centuries, and it is a heresy that has also been prevalent during these past centuries. The whole trouble during the last hundred years or so about the person of Christ has been nothing, in a sense, but a recapitulation of that ancient heresy; it puts a wedge between the man Jesus and the eternal Christ. And here John is concerned to assert the mighty fact that the baby in the manger is the God-Man. “Jesus Christ,” and not Jesus only. The Incarnation is a reality, and the One who died upon the cross was not only the man Jesus—it was the God-Man who died. And I believe that John mentions this testimony and witness of water and the blood in order to establish the unity and the oneness of the person; not two persons, but one person with two natures.
A Thought to Ponder: The baby in the manger is the God-Man.