在约翰福音第14章1至3节,当耶稣开始告诉门徒 他将要死的时候,他对他们说:你们心里不要忧愁。 In John chapter 14, verses 1 through 3, when Jesus begins to tell the disciples he's going to die, he says this to them: Let not your hearts be troubled.
你们当信 神,也当信我。 Believe in God; believe also in me.
在我父的家里有许多住处。 In my Father's house are many rooms.
若是没有,我就早已告诉你们了。我去原是为你们预备地方去。 If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
我若去为你们预备了地方,就必再来接你们到我那里去;我在哪里,叫你们也在哪里。 And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and I will take you to myself, that where I am, you may also be.
那么,他在说什么呢? Now, what's he talking about?
我要到我父的家里去为你们预备地方,等我回来的时候,我要接你们到我那里去。 I'm going to my Father's house to prepare a place, and when I come back, I'm going to take you to myself.
再者,在古代的犹太教里,新郎有一项职责,就是要去为新娘预备住处,这是一种习俗。 Well, again, in ancient Judaism, it was a custom that the bridegroom had, as one of his duties, to go and prepare a home for his bride.
在古以色列,当你嫁给一个男人的时候,你就成为他家庭的一部分;你 要到他家族的土地、他支派的土地上,成为他父亲家里的一员,对吧? When you would marry a man in ancient Israel, you would go and become part of his family; you would go to his family's land, his tribe's land, and become part of his Father's house, right?
所以在这里,耶稣用了新郎和新娘的意象,但他对门徒说, 我要为你们预备地方,然后我要回来,接你们到我那里去。 So here, Jesus is using the imagery of bridegroom and bride, but he's saying to the disciples, I'm going to prepare a place for you, and then I'm going to come back and I'm going to take you to myself.
那么请问,他什么时候会这样做呢? And when, pray tell, will he do that?
翻到第3页:主再来,世界的末了。 Turn to page 3: the Second Coming, the end of time.
现在,你可能会想,等等,别急,Petrie博士。 Now, you might be thinking, Well, wait up, hold on, Dr. Petrie.
他离开已经有一段时间了,不是吗? It's been a while since he left, no?
差不多有2000年了。 Like about 2000 years.
那么是什么耽搁了呢,对吧? So what's the hold-up, right?
我是说,他为什么还没有回来呢? I mean, why hasn't he come back yet?
你有没有想过这个问题? Have you ever wondered that?
这是个好问题，不是吗？ That's a good question, no?
为什么耶稣还没有回来？ Why hasn't Jesus come back?
我是说，如果他那么爱我们，如果我们是他的新娘，他为什么不回来呢？ I mean, if he loves us so much and if we're his bride, why doesn't he come back?
好吧，我们马上就会看到，如果圣餐…… Well, as we'll see in just a minute, if the Eucharist...
是在最后的晚餐上所发生之事的再现呢？ Is the re-presentation of what happens at the Last Supper?
那么基督就在每一台弥撒中与他的新娘同在，只不过他的荣耀隐藏在饼和酒的形态下。 Then Christ comes to every Mass to be with his bride, but his glory is hidden under the appearances of bread and wine.
他完全临在于弥撒中；他在最后的晚餐上所拥有的能力 和威严，并不会比他在圣体中所拥有的多一分一毫。 He's fully present at the Mass; he's not going to have one more drop of power and majesty at the Last Supper than he has when he comes in that host.
但区别在于我们看不见；它隐藏在饼和酒的形态下。 But the difference is we can't see it; it's under the appearance of bread and wine.
然而，将会有一个时候，他要荣耀地降临，但在新娘准备好之前，他是不会这样做的。 However, there will come a time when he will come in glory, but he's not going to do it until the bride's ready.
在启示录第19章，约翰就是这样描述世界末日羔羊的婚筵的。 In the Book of Revelation, chapter 19, that's how John describes the end of time as the wedding supper of the Lamb.
再说一遍，我没有时间深入探讨这个问题；我在书中有一整章是关于世界末日如同婚礼的。 Again, I don't have time to go into this in a lot of depth; I've got a whole chapter in the book on the end of time as the wedding.
但这真的很重要：大多数人在读到或思考启示录的时候 ，他们会想到大灾难、敌基督、最后的审判，对吧？ But this is really important: most people, when they read or think about the Book of Revelation, they think about the tribulation, the Antichrist, the final judgment, right?
这些都是其中的一部分，而且是很重要的一部分，明白吗？ And those are all part of it, and they're an important part of it, okay?
然而，事实的真相是，启示录最终并不以这些事情结束；它以一场婚礼结束。 However, the reality of the fact is that the Book of Revelation ultimately doesn't end with those things; it ends with a wedding.
启示录第19章到第21章是羔羊和他新娘的婚礼，是基督和教会的婚礼。 Revelation 19 through 21 is the wedding of the Lamb and his bride, the wedding of Christ and the Church.
这就是故事的结局，对吧？ That's the end of the story, right?
当我在路易斯安那州立大学主修英语的时候，我们学习了悲剧和喜剧在技术上的区别。 When I was an English major at LSU, we learned the technical differences between a tragedy and a comedy.
悲剧的结局是每个人都死在地板上，就像《哈姆雷特》里一样，对吧？ A tragedy ends up with everyone dead on the floor, like in Hamlet, right?
但是喜剧，比如《无事生非》或《终成眷属》，它们总是以什么结尾？ But a comedy, like in Much Ado About Nothing or All's Well That Ends Well, what do they always end with?
一场婚礼，对吧？ A wedding, right?
它们以婚礼结束，对不对？ They end with a wedding, right?
而圣经是一部属天的喜剧，因为它以基督和教会的婚礼结束。 And the Bible is a divine comedy because it ends with the wedding of Christ and the Church.
这就是圣约翰告诉我们关于这场婚礼和启示录的事情，顺便说 一下，希腊语中「启示录」一词的字面意思是「揭开面纱」。 This is what St. John tells us about this wedding and the Apocalypse, which, by the way, literally, the word apocalypse in Greek means unveiling.
启示录：新娘揭开面纱。 Apocalypse: the unveiling of the bride.
故事就是这样结束的。 That's how the story ends.
约翰说，我听见好像群众的声音，众水的声音，大雷的声音，说，哈利路亚！ Then I heard John say, What seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters, like the sound of mighty thunder peals, crying, 'Hallelujah!
因为主我们的神，全能者，作王了。 For the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns.
我们要欢喜快乐，将荣耀归给他。因为羔羊婚娶的时候到了，新妇也自己预备好了。 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the wedding of the Lamb has come, and the bride has made herself ready.'
就蒙恩得穿光明洁白的细麻衣。这细麻衣就是圣徒所行的义。 It was granted to her to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure, for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
在这里停一分钟。 Pause there for a minute.
注意约翰在这里说的话：婚筵，在时间尽头的永恒 婚礼，终于来临了，因为新娘已经准备好了自己。 Notice what John's saying here: the wedding supper, the eternal wedding at the end of time, has finally come because the bride has made herself ready.
现在再想一想普通的婚姻。 Now think once again about an ordinary marriage.
一般来说，谁需要更长的时间准备？ As a general rule, who takes longer to get ready?
我只用了大概四秒钟——头发弄好了，我就准备好结婚了。 It took me like four seconds—hair's done, I'm ready for my wedding.
但我的妻子，我记得，我妻子和她妹妹——她有 五个妹妹——她们出去花了四个小时弄头发。 But my wife, I remember this; my wife and her sister—she has like five sisters—they went out and for four hours they did their hair.
我就想，不就是头发嘛！ I'm like, It's hair!
你到底能花那么长时间做什么呢？ What can you possibly do for that long?
但新娘必须准备好。 But the bride must be ready.
然后再说，当你真正参加婚礼的时候，我记得我站在教堂前面等她进来。 And then again, when you get to the actual wedding ceremony, I remember standing up at the front of the church waiting for her to come in.
那么婚礼上最重要的时刻是什么？ And then what's the big moment at the wedding?
我是说，哪一刻最有震撼力？ I mean, what's the moment that's the most powerful?
是新娘进来的时候，不是吗？ It's when the bride comes in, isn't it?
每个人——我是说，我们都知道她长什么样——但是什么？ And every—I mean, we all know what she looks like—but what?
每个人都转过头去，每个人都伸长了脖子，对吧？ Every head turns, every neck cranes, right?
门开了，音乐响起，因为现在是她的时刻，因为她正在她的荣耀、辉煌和美丽中走进来。 The doors open, the music comes, because it's her hour now, because she's coming in in her glory and in her splendor and in her beauty.
每个人都转过身来看她。 And everyone turns to see her.
为什么？ Why?
因为那一刻是世界末日的一个小预尝。 Because that moment is a little foretaste of the end of time.
那一刻是基督为他的新娘所渴望的一个小预尝，在让 她显露之前，他是不会彰显他的荣耀的，你明白吗？ That moment is a little foretaste of what Christ desires for his bride, and he's not going to reveal his glory until it's time for her to show her, you see?
她必须穿上她的婚纱，她美丽的白色细麻衣裳。 And she's got to be dressed in her wedding dress, her beautiful white linen garment.
但她的白色细麻衣是由什么做成的呢？ But what is her white linen garment made of?
约翰告诉我们：圣徒所行的义。 John tells us: the righteous deeds of the saints.
所以你看，直到最后一位圣徒走过这个泪谷，她的衣裳还没有准备好。 So see, until every last saint has passed through this valley of tears, her dress isn't ready yet.
只有当最后一位殉道者在最后一天流下最后一滴 血时，新娘才算准备好了，然后新郎就会来临。 And only when the last martyr drops that last drop of blood on the last day will the bride be made ready, and then the bridegroom will come.
天使对我说，你要写上：凡被请赴羔羊之婚筵的有福了。 So the angel said to me, Write this: Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
我又看见一个新天新地。因为先前的天地已经过去了，海也不再有了。 And then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
我又看见圣城新耶路撒冷由神那里从天而降，预备好了，就如新妇妆饰整齐，等候丈夫。 And I saw the new, the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven like a bride adorned for her husband.
故事就是这样。 And that's how the story is.
你有没有参加过一个非常美好的婚宴，就像一个真正圣洁的婚姻？ Have you ever been to a really beautiful wedding feast, like a really holy marriage?
你有没有品尝过新郎新娘结合之夜的那种喜悦？ Have you ever tasted that joy of that night of the union of the bridegroom and the bride?
把那个喜悦乘以无穷大，那也不过是天堂喜乐的一个影子——仅仅是一个影子。 Multiply that times infinity, and it's just a shadow of the joy of heaven—just a shadow.
谢谢。 Thank you.