希伯来书说：「落在永生神的手里，真是可怕。」 It is a fearful thing, said the letter to the Hebrews, to fall into the hands of the living God.
说实话，任何与天相遇的经历都有令人畏惧的成 分，即使在我们考察圣母的显现时也是如此。 Let's be honest, we can't deny that there's a fearful element in any encounter with heaven, and we find it even when we examine the appearances of Our Lady.
教会认可的圣母显现中，最具争议的无疑是1846年在法国拉萨勒特 的显现。那年九月十九日，马利亚向两个孩子梅拉尼和马西明显现。 Certainly, the most controversial of the church-approved Marian apparitions is the one that took place at La Salette in France in 1846. On September 19th of that year, Mary appeared to two children, Melanie and Maximin.
他们是贫穷的孩子，在田野里牧牛，忽然看见天上有一道光。 They were simple and poor, tending cattle in a field, when they saw a bright light in the sky.
他们走近一看，见那光围绕着一位妇人。 They approached it and saw that it surrounded a woman.
那就是圣母马利亚，她正在哭泣。 It was the Blessed Virgin Mary, and she was weeping.
她继续流泪，将她对世人状况的忧伤倾诉给孩子们。 She continued to shed tears as she confided to the children her heartache over the state of the world.
她哀叹法国人对信仰的冷淡，滥用主名，以及忽视主日的圣洁和安息。 She lamented the casual state of religious practice in France, the abuse of the Lord's name in common speech, and the neglect of the observance of Sunday as the Lord's day and a day of rest.
她预言将有可怕的灾难降临欧洲。 She predicted that terrible catastrophes would befall Europe in the years to come.
如同福音本身，拉萨勒特的信息是呼召人悔改。 Like the gospel itself, the message of La Salette is a call to repentance.
这并不是什么新鲜事。 It's nothing new, really.
但媒体大肆渲染，许多人利用它为自己的政治议程和阴谋论辩护。 But the press sensationalized it, and many people used it to justify their own political agendas and conspiracy theories.
还有许多人被其可怕的预言吓住了。 Many others were frightened by its dire forecasts.
朝圣者纷纷涌向拉萨勒特。 Pilgrims streamed to La Salette.
显现首先由当地主教调查并认可，随后教宗庇护九世也认定其可信。 The apparition was investigated first by the local bishop, who approved it, and then by Pope Pius IX, who also concluded that it was worthy of belief.
事情在1879年变得复杂，梅拉尼当时已在意大利修道院中成 为修女，她发表了一篇长文，声称圣母告诉她一个所谓的秘密。 The matter got complicated in 1879 when Melanie, by then a sister living in a convent in Italy, published a long account of a so-called secret told to her by the Blessed Virgin.
其中包含一些令人不安的细节，教会内外的人都用它来激起争议。 It contained some alarming details, and people inside and outside the church used it to fuel controversy.
事情变得如此动荡，以至于法国主教、梵蒂冈，甚至 教宗本人都采取措施，遏制那些过于惊慌的言论。 The matter became so volatile that at various times the bishops of France, the Vatican, and even the Pope himself took measures to rein in the more alarmist elements of the discussion.
1918年，教宗本笃十五世告诉一位著名的天主教哲学家 ，他认为显现无可置疑，但梅拉尼所述的具体言词不确定。 In 1918, Pope Benedict XV told a noted Catholic philosopher that he considered the apparition to be beyond doubt, but the particular words of Melanie's account to be uncertain.
圣父的话帮助我们作出一个重要的区分。 The Holy Father's words help us to make an important distinction.
先见者的话并非像圣经那样蒙神默示。 The words of visionaries are not divinely inspired like the words of the Bible.
它们是人软弱地试图记住一次非凡相遇的努力。 They are a frail human attempt to remember an extraordinary encounter.
先见者不像教宗。 The visionaries are not like the Pope.
他们的教导不受无误恩赐的保护。 Their teachings are not protected by the gift of infallibility.
言语可能会让他们失误，有时确实如此。 Words can fail them and sometimes perhaps they do.
因此，天主教徒不会像信赖圣经、圣传或教会主教的训导权那样信赖显现。 That's why Catholics do not put faith in apparitions the way we put faith in scripture or sacred tradition or the teaching authority of the church's bishops.
显现必须符合信仰的轮廓。 Apparitions must conform to the contours of the faith.
我们可以从拉萨勒特学到另一个重要的教训。 We can learn another important lesson from La Salette.
神秘经历确实神秘，容易被误解和滥用。 Mystical experiences are indeed mysterious and they can be easily misinterpreted and misused.
早期基督徒读新约《启示录》时，有时会因其中 对神愤怒倾倒在地上的可怕描述而感到惊慌。 The early Christians sometimes grew pretty alarmed as they read the New Testament book of Revelation with its scary descriptions of divine wrath poured out upon the earth.
在三世纪，甚至直到今天，圣经的启示录也被用来迎合荒谬的理论。 In the third century, and still today, even the biblical apocalypse has been manipulated to fit crackpot theories.
然而，信息依然存在。 Yet, the message stands.
圣若望保禄二世教宗称拉萨勒特的信息为希望的信息。 Pope St. John Paul II called the message of La Salette a message of hope.
这是希望的信息，因为它是天上对耶稣基督福音的回应。 It is a message of hope because it is a heavenly echo of the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ.
马利亚总是引导我们遵行耶稣所吩咐的。 Mary always directs us to do whatever Jesus tells us.
她也引导我们尊重他代理者的职分，就是教宗。 She leads us, too, to respect the office of his vicar, the Pope.
在拉萨勒特，她还敦促我们颂赞他的圣名，记念他的日子，使之为圣。 At La Salette, she urged us also to bless his holy name and to remember his day and keep it holy.
大家好，欢迎回到《圣经与圣母马利亚》。 Hello everyone and welcome back to the Bible and the Virgin Mary.
上次我们看到圣约翰如何将基督的母亲马利亚描绘为新夏娃，所有在基督里之人的母亲。 Last time we saw how St. John depicted Mary, the mother of Christ, as the new Eve, the mother of everybody who lives in Christ.
这次我们要看马利亚的另一个旧约预表——约柜。 This time we're going to look at another Old Testament prefigurement of Mary, the Ark of the Covenant.
我们要来看约柜是什么，以及它与马利亚有什么关系。 We're going to see what the Ark was and what in the world it has to do with Mary.
这将为我们理解教会关于耶稣之母的一个重要教义作准备，就是她的终身童贞。 This is going to prepare us for one of the Church's most important teachings about the mother of Jesus, her perpetual virginity.
首先，让我们回到路加福音中我们在第一次课程中讨论的主题——天使报喜。 To begin, let's go back to the theme from Luke that we discussed in our first lesson together, the Annunciation.
在所有福音书作者中，路加给我们提供了最多关于马利亚的信息。 Of all the Gospel writers, Luke gives us by far the most information about Mary.
大部分信息是简单而直白的。 The majority of that information is simple and literal.
但路加关于马利亚的某些描述是通过平行、词语和图像以不太明显的方式传达的。 But some of what Luke has to say about Mary is conveyed in less obvious ways, by means of parallels and words and images.
我们首先在天使报喜中看到这一点，当天使加百列告诉马利亚她将怀孕生子时。 We see this first at the Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel tells Mary that she's going to bear a son.
马利亚听到这消息时感到惊讶。 And when she hears the news, Mary's surprised.
她问天使：「我没有出嫁，怎么有这事呢？」 And she asks the angel, how can this be, since I have no husband?
或如《新美国圣经》所译：「我不认识男人，怎么有这事呢？」 Or as the New American Bible translates it, how can this be, since I have no relations with man?
加百列回答说，这将因神的能力成就。 Gabriel's reply is that it will happen by the power of God.
他说：「圣灵要降临在你身上，至高者的能力要荫庇你。」 The Holy Spirit will come upon you, he says, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
这里关键的平行是「荫庇」这个词。 The key parallel here is the word translated as overshadow.
这是新约中非常罕见的词，总是表示神改变性的同在。 That's a very rare word in the New Testament, and it always indicates the transformative presence of God.
在第一章，路加引用了旧约《出埃及记》七十士译本中的一段经文。 In chapter 1, Luke is referencing a passage in Exodus from the Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint.
这就是他所熟知的译本。 And this is the translation he would have known.
在那里，我们看到摩西如何将约柜安放在大帐幕中，那是神在他子民中居住的地方。 There, we learn how Moses placed the Ark of the Covenant in the great tent that was to be God's dwelling place among his people.
那被称为会幕。 It was called the tabernacle.
这会幕是耶路撒冷大圣殿的前身。 Now this tabernacle was the precursor to the great Jerusalem temple.
以色列人在旷野漂流时，就是在这里献祭敬拜神。 It was where the Israelites offered sacrifice and worshiped God as they wandered in the wilderness.
路加在天使报喜中引用的《出埃及记》四十章继续 说：「云彩遮盖会幕，耶和华的荣光充满了帐幕。 That passage in Exodus 40 that Luke is referencing in the Annunciation story goes on to say, "...then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
摩西不能进会幕，因为云彩停在其上，并且耶和华的荣光充满了帐幕。」 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting, because the cloud abode upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle."
在旧约希腊文版中，《出埃及记》四十章中译为「停 在」的词，与路加福音中译为「荫庇」的词相同。 In the Greek version of the Old Testament, the word translated as abode upon here in Exodus 40 is the same as the word translated in Luke's Gospel as overshadowed.
路加在此使用这个词，告诉我们神的能力要荫庇马利 亚，正如神的能力荫庇以色列人会幕中的约柜一样。 And by using that word there, Luke tells us that the power of God will overshadow Mary, just as the power of God overshadowed the Ark of the Covenant in the Israelites' tabernacle.
那么，《出埃及记》中描述的约柜是什么呢？ So, what was the Ark of the Covenant described in Exodus?
它是神的居所，由以色列人按神的命令建造。 Well, it was the dwelling place of God, built at God's command by the Israelites.
神与以色列立约后，摩西上了西奈山，在那里从主领受了一系列指示。 After God made his covenant with Israel, Moses went up Mount Sinai and there he received a list of instructions from the Lord.
其中包括如何建造约柜及其安放之处的指示。 Now on that list were instructions for how to build the Ark of the Covenant and where he was supposed to place it.
约柜建成后，安放在会幕中至圣所，内有三样东西：法版十诫。 Once complete, the ark occupied the holiest part of the tabernacle, called the Holy of Holies, and it contained three things: the tablets of the law, the Ten Commandments.
还有在旷野养活以色列人的吗哪，以及以色列第一位大祭司亚伦的杖。 It also contained some of the manna that fed the Israelites in the desert, and also the rod of Aaron, Israel's first high priest.
约柜上有雕刻的基路伯，是无形之神的可见宝座。 The ark, with its carved cherubim on top, was the visible throne of the invisible God.
以色列人在旷野时，约柜在他们行进中走在前面，象征神在他们中间的同在。 While the Israelites were still in the desert, it went before them wherever they wandered, signifying God's presence among them.
他们离开耶和华的山行了三天的路程，耶和华的约 柜在前行了三天的路程，为他们寻找安歇的地方。 So they set out from the mount of the Lord three days' journey, and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them three days' journey, to seek out a resting place for them.
当以色列人最终进军征服应许之地时，约柜走在他们前面。 Once the Israelites finally marched to conquer the Promised Land, the Ark of the Covenant marched before them.
他们吩咐百姓说：「你们看见耶和华你们神的约柜，又见祭司利未人抬着，就要离开所住 的地方，跟着约柜去。这样，你们就知道所当走的路，因为这条路你们向来没有走过。」 And they commanded the people, "When you see the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it, that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before."
但你们和约柜相离要量二千肘。 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, a distance of about 2,000 cubits.
不可与约柜相近。 Do not come near it.
《撒母耳记下》进一步阐明了约柜的重要性。 The second book of Samuel sheds further light on the significance of the Ark of the Covenant.
以色列人进入应许之地几个世纪后，大部分领土属于以色列，但耶路撒冷不在其内。 Centuries after the Israelites entered the Promised Land, most of the territory belonged to Israel, but not Jerusalem.
它仍是一个名叫耶布斯人的独立飞地。 It was still an independent enclave of a group called the Jebusites.
大卫王终于攻下这城后，就将这战略要地设为他的首都。 When King David finally conquered the city, he made this strategically placed fortress town his capital.
他决定在那里为约柜安置永久的居所。 And there, he decided, the Ark should have its permanent home.
然而，在将约柜迁往新居所时，大卫在两个方面未能给予应有的尊重。 In moving the Ark to its new home, however, David failed to show proper respect for it in two ways.
首先，神早已吩咐摩西，约柜要用插在两旁环内的金杠抬着。 First, long ago, God had instructed Moses that the Ark was always to be carried with long golden poles inserted through rings on its sides.
利未人要用肩抬着。 The Levites would carry it on their shoulders.
但大卫没有遵循这些指示，而是将约柜放在车上。 But instead of obeying those instructions, David had the Ark placed on a cart.
其次，大卫没有提醒抬约柜的人《民数记》四章十五节的警告：凡触摸圣物的必被治死。 Second, David failed to remind the men transporting the Ark about the warning of Numbers 4:15. Anyone who touched the holy object would die.
但他们很快就亲身体验到了。 But they discovered this for themselves pretty quickly.
车倾斜时，一个名叫乌撒的随从伸手扶住约柜，立刻被击杀。 When the cart became unstable, one of the attendants named Uzzah reached out to steady the Ark, and he was struck dead immediately.
这事发生后，大卫终于明白约柜是何等圣洁。 And when that happened, David finally understood just how holy the Ark of the Covenant was.
他在《撒母耳记下》六章九节问道：「耶和华的约柜怎可到我这里来？」 "'How can the Ark of the Lord come to me?'
于是，他们没有继续前往耶路撒冷，而是转向，《撒母耳记下》六 章十一节告诉我们，约柜在迦特人俄别以东家中停留了三个月。 he asked in 2 Samuel 6:9." Now, at that point, rather than resume the journey into Jerusalem, the procession turned aside, and 2 Samuel 6:11 tells us that the Ark remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite three months.
想象一下，如果你是俄别以东。 Now, imagine if you're Obed-Edom.
大卫王出现，说：「嘿，你能帮我照看这东西一段时间吗？」 King David shows up and says, "Hey, can you look after this thing for me for a while?"
当然可以。 Well, sure.
为什么呢？ Why?
嗯，你知道的…… Well, you know...
我猜俄别以东家的客房不常有人光顾。 I'm guessing the guest room at Obed-Edom's house wasn't frequented very often.
不过不用担心。 Not to worry, though.
圣经还告诉我们，因为约柜的缘故，俄别以东蒙了祝福。 Scripture also tells us that because of the ark's presence, Obed-Edom was blessed.
当约柜继续前行时，大卫确保这次一切都按规矩进行。 When the ark resumed its journey, David made sure that this time everything was done right.
大卫亲自在约柜前面，随着约柜进入城中，欢喜跳舞。 David himself even went before the ark as it made its way into the city, leaping and dancing for joy.
正如我们在第一次课程中讨论的，大卫的国最终分裂，被亚述人和巴比伦人所毁。 As we discussed in our first lesson, the kingdom of David eventually broke apart and was destroyed by the Assyrians and the Babylonians.
请记得，先知耶利米曾警告百姓这将发生。 And recall that the prophet Jeremiah had warned the people that this was going to happen.
但他也应许他们，神将以新约和新国度重新聚集他们。 But he also promised them that God would gather them back together in a new covenant and a new kingdom.
怀着对那日的盼望，耶利米在公元前586年国度被巴比伦人攻 陷后不久，将约柜藏在尼波山上。经上记着说，先知受了神谕， 吩咐帐幕和约柜跟随他，他就上了摩西曾登上并见神产业的山。 And with that day in mind, Jeremiah hid the Ark of the Covenant on Mount Nebo shortly after the kingdom fell to the Babylonians in 586 BC. It was also in the writing that the prophet, having received an oracle, ordered that the tent and the ark should follow with him, and that he went out to the mountain where Moses had gone up and had seen the inheritance of God.
耶利米来到一处，找到一个洞。 And Jeremiah came and found a cave.
他将帐幕、约柜和香坛带到那里。 And he brought there the tent and the ark and the altar of incense.
他封住了入口。 And he sealed up the entrance.
从那天起，约柜再未在地上被人看见。 And since that day, the ark has never been seen again on earth.
直到1981年，印第安纳·琼斯在与纳粹的考古挖掘中发现了它。 Until 1981, when Indiana Jones discovered it in the midst of that archaeological dig with the Nazis.
他可能并未真正找到，但耶利米确实预言了它何时会重现。 He might not have actually found it, but Jeremiah did prophesy about when it would reappear.
有些跟随他的人上去要标记路径，却找不到。 Some of those who followed him came up to mark the way, but could not find it.
耶利米知道后，责备他们说：「这地方必不为人 知，直到神再聚集他的百姓，施怜悯的时候。」 When Jeremiah learned of it, he rebuked them and declared, "The place shall be unknown until God gathers his people together again and shows his mercy."
那时，主必显明这些事，耶和华的荣耀和云彩要出现，正如在 摩西的时候显现一样，正如所罗门求神特别分别为圣的那样。 And then the Lord will disclose these things, and the glory of the Lord and the cloud will appear, as they were shown in the case of Moses, and as Solomon asked that the place should be specially consecrated.
所以，约柜不会再出现，直到神施怜悯，再聚集他的百姓。 So the ark would not be seen again until the time when God showed his mercy and gathered his people together again.
但那时是什么时候呢？ But when would that time be?
路加在他关于探访的记载中回答了这个问题。 Luke answers that question in his account of the visitation.
你会记得，当加百列告诉马利亚她将怀的孩子时， 他也告诉她：「你的亲戚以利沙伯也怀了男胎。」 You'll recall that when Gabriel told Mary about the child she would bear, he also told her, "Hey, your cousin Elizabeth is expecting a child too."
虽然以利沙伯的怀孕不如马利亚的神奇，但仍然非同寻常，因为以利沙伯已过了生育年龄。 Although Elizabeth's pregnancy wasn't quite as miraculous as Mary's, it was still remarkable because Elizabeth, she was well past childbearing age.
马利亚听到这奇妙怀孕的消息后，立刻动身去探望她的亲戚。 After Mary heard the news of this miraculous pregnancy, she immediately headed off to go visit her cousin.
在记载这次探访时，路加反复使用旧约中的词句，强调马利亚是新约的约柜。 In his account of that visit, Luke repeatedly uses words and phrases from the Old Testament to drive home the point that Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant.
让我们仔细看看这些平行。 So let's take a closer look at those parallels.
《撒母耳记下》六章二节这样记载大卫决定将约柜迁至耶路撒冷：「大卫 起身，率领跟随他的众人前往巴拉犹大，要从那里将神的约柜运来。」 2 Samuel 6:2 recounts David's decision to move the Ark to Jerusalem in the following way: "And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baal Judah, a city of Judah, to bring up from there the Ark of God."
路加如何描述马利亚决定探望以利沙伯呢？ And how does Luke describe Mary's decision to visit Elizabeth?
「那时候，马利亚起身，急忙往山地里去，来到犹大 的一座城，进了撒迦利亚的家，问以利沙伯安。」 "In those days, Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth."
还记得大卫在约柜前跳舞吗？ Remember how David leaped and danced before the Ark of the Covenant?
路加告诉我们，以利沙伯一听见马利亚问安，胎就在她腹里跳动。 Well, Luke tells us that when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the child leaped in her womb.
大卫意识到约柜的圣洁时，喊道：「耶和华的约柜怎可到我这里来？」 When David realized how sacred the Ark truly was, he cried out, "How can the Ark of the Lord come to me?"
同样，当以利沙伯感到胎儿在腹里跳动时，路加告诉我们，她被圣灵 充满，对马利亚说：「我主的母到我这里来，这是从哪里得的呢？」 Similarly, when Elizabeth felt the child leap in her womb, Luke tells us that she was filled with the Holy Spirit and asked Mary, "And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"
《撒母耳记下》告诉我们，约柜在迦特人俄别以东家中停留了三个月，才到达耶路撒冷。 In 2 Samuel, we're told that the Ark of the Covenant remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite three months before it arrived at its home in Jerusalem.
路加在记载的末尾写道：「马利亚和以利沙伯同住约有三个月，就回家去了。」 And at the end of his account, Luke writes, "Mary remained with her, Elizabeth, about three months and then returned to her home."
路加将这些平行一一列出，使我们不禁注意到约柜前 往耶路撒冷与马利亚前往撒迦利亚家的相似之处。 So Luke piles these parallels one on top of the other so that we can't help but notice the similarity between the Ark of the Covenant's trip to Jerusalem and Mary's trip to Zechariah's house.
为了进一步强调这一点，路加在一章四十二节中作了一个非常有趣的词 语选择。他告诉我们，以利沙伯大声喊着说出她对马利亚到来的喜悦。 And then, to just drive the point home, Luke makes a very interesting word choice in chapter 1, verse 42. There, he tells us that Elizabeth exclaimed with a loud cry when she expressed her joy at Mary's arrival.
这里用的希腊词「大声喊着」，在新约中别无他处出现。 The Greek word used here, when she cries aloud, appears nowhere else in the New Testament.
但在旧约希腊文译本中出现了五次。 But it does appear five times in the Greek translation of the Old Testament.
每次出现时，都是与约柜有关的经文。 And every time it shows up, it shows up in passages having to do with the Ark of the Covenant.
那些经文描述了百姓庆祝主在他们中间时发出的欢呼声。 Those passages describe the joyful noise the people made when celebrating the Lord's presence among them.
还要注意，以利沙伯是利未人，亚伦的后裔，亚伦是以色列的第一位大祭司。 It's also important to note here that Elizabeth was a Levite, the tribe descended from Aaron, who was Israel's first high priest.
直到耶稣的时代，这支派仍然担任以色列的祭司。 Until Jesus' day, that tribe continued to serve as Israel's priests.
当以利沙伯在马利亚面前高声赞美时，她正呼应了她祭司祖先在约柜面前所做的。 When Elizabeth lifted up her voice in praise in the presence of Mary, she was echoing what her priestly ancestors did in the presence of the Ark of the Covenant.
她在赞美神在马利亚腹中的同在，就是未出生的基督。 She was praising the presence of God within Mary, the unborn Christ child.
所有这些平行都是为了传达一个惊人的观点：马利亚是新约的约柜。 Again, all of these parallels are intended to make one very startling point: Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant.
然而，路加并不是唯一认出马利亚为约柜的新约作者。 Luke, however, isn't the only New Testament author who recognized Mary as the Ark.
在《启示录》中，使徒约翰讲述了他在天上所见的异象，充满了奇异而神秘的图像。 In the book of Revelation, the Apostle John recounts a vision he had in heaven, a vision filled with strange and mysterious images.
让我们读一部分那异象：「当时，神天上的殿开了，在他殿中现出他的约柜来。」 Let's read one part of that vision: "Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple."
「随后有闪电、声音、雷轰、地震、大雹。」 And there were flashes of lightning, loud noises, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.
记得，犹太人一直渴望约柜重现，因为它的重现将标志着耶利米所预言的时刻。 Remember, the Jewish people had been longing for the ark to reappear because its reappearance would signify the time Jeremiah had prophesied about.
那将是神再次聚集他的百姓，施怜悯的时候。 It would be the time when God would gather his people together again and show his mercy.
所以，当第一批基督徒，大多数是犹太人，听到约翰的异象时，他们一定会振奋起来。 So, when the first Christians, most of whom were Jewish, heard John's vision, they would have sat up.
他们会特别留意。 They would have paid attention.
如果约柜被看见，那就意味着他们等待的时刻已经到来。 If the ark had been seen, that meant that the time they were waiting for had arrived.
对这书的第一批读者来说，这真是件大事。 To the book's first audience, this was a really big deal.
这是巨大的，震撼的，甚至是划时代的。 It was huge, earth-shattering, even monumental.
因此，如果你是那群听众的一员，你会期待更多关于约柜的细节，不是吗？ Accordingly, if you were part of that audience, you'd be expecting some more details about the Ark, wouldn't you?
一些描述，一些故事，给我一些关于这重新发现的宝物的信息。 Some descriptions, some stories, give me something, anything about this rediscovered treasure.
但相反，约翰开始谈论一个女人。 But instead, John starts talking about a woman.
天上现出大异象来。 And a great sign appeared in heaven.
有一个妇人，身披日头，脚踏月亮，头戴十二星的冠冕。 A woman, clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
她怀了孕，在生产的艰难中疼痛呼叫。 She was with child, and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery.
在我们现代的圣经中，《启示录》十一章十九节的约柜出现和十二章 一节的妇人之间有章的分隔。但在约翰的时代并没有这样的分章。 In our modern Bibles, there's a chapter division between the appearance of the Ark of the Covenant in Revelation 11:19 and the description of the woman clothed with the sun in Revelation 12:1. But there weren't any chapter divisions in John's day.
这些分章是在中世纪添加的，为了方便查阅圣经。 Those were added in the Middle Ages to make the books of the Bible easier to refer to.
所以，约翰并没有作任何分隔。 So, John didn't make any divisions.
他直接从提到约柜转到描述妇人，没有间断。 He went straight from a reference to the Ark to the description of the woman without a break.
因此，在约翰异象那如梦似幻却意义深远的逻辑中，约柜就是那身披日头的妇人。 So, in the dreamlike but deeply significant logic of John's vision, the Ark of the Covenant is the woman clothed with the sun.
这是他对约柜的描述。 That's the description of the Ark he gives.
那么，这妇人是谁呢？ And who is this woman?
《启示录》十二章二节告诉我们，她怀了孕，在生产的艰难中疼痛呼叫。 Revelation 12:2 tells us that she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth.
十二章五节接着说，她生了一个男孩子，是将来要 用铁杖辖管万国的。她的孩子被提到神宝座那里。 Revelation 12:5 goes on to tell us that she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne.
当然，只有一位注定要用铁杖辖管万国，被提到神宝座的，就是耶稣基督。 There is, of course, only one person destined to rule all nations with an iron rod and who is caught up to God and to his throne: Jesus Christ.
同样，从人的角度看，只有一位妇人生了他，作为他的母 亲，忍受了极大的情感痛苦，心被刀刺透，就是马利亚。 Likewise, in a human sense, there's only one woman who gave birth to him and who, as his mother, endured great emotional pain, whose heart was pierced by a sword: Mary.
约翰仰望约柜时所见那身披日头的妇人，就是基督的母亲马利亚。 The woman clothed with the sun John sees when he looks up at the Ark of the Covenant is Mary, the mother of Christ.
然而，是什么使马利亚成为新约的约柜呢？ What, however, makes Mary the Ark of the New Covenant?
为何约翰和路加将这样一个角色赋予一个女人，一个人呢？ Why do John and Luke ascribe to a woman, a human person, such a role?
首先，记住约柜是神在他子民中真实同在的标志。 To start with, remember that the Ark of the Covenant was the sign of God's real presence among his people.
在马利亚所生的耶稣基督里，神再次真实地在他子民中同在。 In Jesus Christ, born of Mary, God was really present among his people once more.
然而这次，他以更亲密、更直接的方式同在。 This time, however, he was present in a much more intimate and direct way.
此外，约柜内有神写在石版上的话语，就是十诫的法版。 Also, the Ark of the Covenant contained within it the Word of God written on stone, the tablets of the Ten Commandments.
当马利亚怀着耶稣时，她体内也有神的话语，但是肉身而非石版。 When Mary carried the child Jesus in her womb, she too contained within her the Word of God, but in flesh rather than stone.
同样，约柜内有从天而降的吗哪，在旷野养活以色列人，预表圣餐。 Similarly, the Ark contained the bread from heaven, the manna that fed the Israelites in the wilderness, which foreshadowed the Eucharist.
而马利亚怀着那真正从天降下的生命的粮，耶稣。 And Mary held within her the true bread that came down from heaven, Jesus, the bread of life.
最后，约柜内有亚伦的杖，象征大祭司的职分。 Finally, the Ark carried the rod of Aaron, the symbol of the high priesthood.
而马利亚怀着真正的大祭司耶稣，正如希伯来书四章十四节所说，那经过了诸天的大祭 司。如果约柜是圣洁的，神圣到无人能触摸，那么按同样的标准，马利亚更为圣洁。 And Mary carried the true high priest, Jesus, the great high priest who has passed through the heavens, says Hebrews 4:14. If the Ark of the Covenant was holy, something so sacred that no man could even touch it, and by the same standards, Mary is even holier.
作为神的母亲，她是新约的约柜，怀着耶稣基督，神的道，生命的粮，我们伟大的大祭司。 As the mother of God, she is the ark of the new covenant, bearing Jesus Christ, the Word of God, the Bread of Life, our great high priest.
这不是对福音的重新解释。 That's not a reinterpretation of the gospel.
这就是福音。 That is the gospel.
这是新约作者要与我们分享的好消息的一部分。 That's part of the good news the writers of the New Testament have to share with us.
在下一课中，我们将开始讨论马利亚的教义，重点是 教会最古老的定义教义之一，马利亚的终身童贞。 In our next lesson, we'll begin our discussion of the Marian dogmas, zeroing in on one of the oldest defined dogmas of the Church, Mary's perpetual virginity.
她的终身童贞也是教会关于圣母最受争议的教义之一。 Her perpetual virginity also happens to be one of the Church's most contested teachings about Our Lady.
因此，我们将部分地回答对这一教义最常见的反对意见，即耶稣有兄弟姐妹的误解。 So part of what we're going to do is answer one of the most common objections to this dogma, namely the misconception that Jesus had brothers and sisters.
所有这些和更多内容将在我们的下一课中讨论。 All of that and more in our next lesson.
在此之前，愿神祝福你们。 And until then, God bless you.