关于耶稣只有非此即彼的选择：要么他真的是他自己所说的那位，要么他就是一个坏人。 Either/or in regard to Jesus: either He is who He says He is, or He's a bad man.
被排除在外的，是如今许多人所持的一种中间立场，也就是：「我 不认为他是神，可是他是一个很有趣、很能鼓舞人的宗教导师。」 What's ruled out is the middle ground that a lot of people take today, which is, “Well, I don't think He's God, but He's a very interesting, inspiring religious teacher.”
事实上，他并不是。 Actually, He's not.
他其实是个危险而又奇特的人物。 He’s sort of a dangerous, strange figure.
正如他自己所说：「不与我相合的，就是敌我的；不同我收聚的，就是分 散的。」他迫使人作出抉择，这是其他任何宗教创始人都无法相比的。 So, as He Himself says, “Either you're with Me, or you're against Me; either you gather with Me, or you scatter with Me.” He compels a choice the way no other religious founder does.
一切其实是从一个笑话开始的。 It all begins really with a joke.
幽默的本质就在于对立面的结合，也就是不相称的事物碰到了一起。 The essence of humor is the coming together of opposites, the meeting of incongruous things.
基督信仰最核心的宣告，就是神成为了人；神成为我们当中的一员，取了人的本性。 The central claim of Christianity is that God became human; God became one of us, taking to Himself a human nature.
而且，为使这个「笑点」更为突出，神并没有先在什么伟大的文化中心出现。 And to make the humor even more acute, God didn’t first appear in some great cultural center.
他没有出现在罗马，也没有出现在雅典或巴比伦。 He didn't appear in Rome; He didn't appear in Athens or Babylon.
他降临在伯利恒，这个地方即使在今天仍然十分简朴，在耶稣那个时代就更是如此。 He appeared here in Bethlehem, even today a simple, humble place, even more so in Jesus' time.
圣保罗论耶稣说：「他本有神的形像，不以自己与 神同等为强夺的；反倒虚己，取了奴仆的形像。」 St. Paul said of Jesus, “Though He was in the form of God, Jesus did not deem equality with God something to be grasped; rather, He emptied Himself and took the form of a slave.”
宇宙的主宰因着爱成了我们的奴仆，而这个玩笑奇妙地应验在我们身上。 The Master of the universe became, out of love, our slave, and the joke is marvelously on us.
耶稣在默默无闻中成长。 Jesus grew up in obscurity.
对他最初三十年的生涯，我们几乎一无所知，只知道他很可能受过木匠的训练。 We know almost nothing about the first 30 years of His life, except that most likely He was trained as a carpenter.
他既不隶属于任何拉比学派，也不是文士、法利赛人或圣殿的祭司。 He was not a member of a rabbinic school; He was not a scribe or a Pharisee or a temple priest.
要说的话，他算是一位平信徒。 He was, if you will, a layman.
然而，大约在公元三十年，他却以最非凡的方式出现在众人面前。 But He emerged on the scene around the year 30 AD in the most extraordinary way.
在加利利的群山中，这位木匠以前所未见、令人不安的大 胆方式开始传道，声称自己对律法本身拥有个人的权威。 In the hills of Galilee, this carpenter began to preach with an unprecedented and unnerving boldness, claiming personal authority over the Torah itself.
那就是神的律法，在所有忠实的拉比看来，它才是最终的裁决依据。 Which was the divine law that was considered the court of final appeal for any faithful rabbi?
他也行了许多治愈奇迹，并展现出对自然力量的掌控。 He also performed great miracles of healing and demonstrated a mastery over the very forces of nature.
福音书告诉我们，群众从四面八方涌向他，大多数人都在猜测这个人究竟是谁。 The Gospels tell us that the crowds came at Him from all sides, most of them wondering just who this man was.
我最担心的一件事，就是耶稣被驯化了，好像他 只是个仁慈温和的人物，我理解他的道德教导。 One of my great fears is that Jesus becomes domesticated, so He's just a nice, gentle figure; I understand His moral teaching.
他仿佛和许多其他人物没什么两样，然后你瞧，我也许就把他忘了。 He’s like many other figures, and then, see, I probably forget about Him.
这样一来，他就跟所有人差不多，只是许多灵性人物的一个回声罢了。 So He's like everybody else, an echo of a lot of other spiritual figures.
一旦出现这种情况，整个基础就坍塌了。 The minute that happens, then the whole thing falls apart.
在耶稣自己的一生当中，乃至于复活之后，他一直是 个让人深感不安的人物，也是一位颠覆性的人物。 Jesus was, in His own lifetime and then after the Resurrection, a deeply disconcerting figure; He was a subversive figure.
因此，我想要重新找回这一点。 And so, I want to recover that.
在他公开现身一段时间后，耶稣带着门徒前往应许之地的最北端 ，也就是该撒利亚·腓立比区域，那里接近今天的戈兰高地。 At a certain point after His emergence on the public scene, Jesus traveled with His disciples to the far northern reaches of the Promised Land, to the region of Caesarea Philippi, near the present-day Golan Heights.
今天，人们还能看到那里留存的潘神庙遗迹，那庙在耶稣时代就矗立于此。 Today, one can see the ruins of a temple to the god Pan that stood on this site in Jesus' day.
也正是在这里，他问了他们一个很特别的问题，那就是：「人说我是谁？」 It was here that He asked them a very peculiar question, and that question was, “Who do people say that I am?”
耶稣并没有问：「人是怎样看待我的教导？」 Jesus didn't ask, “What do people think of My teaching?”
或者「我给别人的印象如何？」——其实也很合理 or “What impression am I making?”—reasonable
问题足够了。 enough questions.
他问：「人说我是谁？」 He asked, “Who do people say that I am?”
要想象另一个伟大的宗教创始人会提出这样的问题，几乎很难。 It would be hard to imagine another great religious founder asking such a question.
佛陀不会把焦点放在自己身上，说来这是他的可贵之处 ；他会说：「我发现了一条道路，我想让你们知道。」 The Buddha wouldn’t focus on himself, and I say it to his credit; he would say, “There’s a way I’ve discovered, and I want you to know it.”
穆罕默德也不会把注意力放在自己身上；他会说 ：「我得到了一个启示，我想让你们知道。」 Muhammad wouldn’t focus on himself; he’d say, “There’s a revelation I’ve received, and I want you to know it.”
孔子不会说：「关键在我；」他会说：「关键在我所找到的这条道路。」 Confucius wouldn’t say, “It’s about me;” he’d say, “It’s about this path that I found.”
然后是耶稣。 Then there’s Jesus.
他的问题是：「你们说我是谁？」 His question is, Who do you say that I am?
整个福音其实都围绕这个问题展开。 The whole Gospel really hinges on this point.
耶稣的身分，归根结底就是如此，因为在整个福 音书当中，他一直以神自己的身份说话行事。 Jesus' identity, personally, is what it's about, because throughout the Gospels, He consistently speaks and acts in the very person of God.
在路加福音中，耶稣说：「人到我这里来，若不爱我胜过爱自己的父母 、妻子、儿女、弟兄、姊妹，和自己的性命，就不能作我的门徒。」你 也许会想到，若是一位宗教导师，他会说：「除非你爱神超过你自己的 生命」，可耶稣却说：「除非你爱我胜过世上所有最宝贵的事物」？ In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus says, Unless you love Me more than your very life, more than your mother and father, you’re not worthy of Me. You might imagine a religious teacher saying, Unless you love God more than your very life, but to say, Unless you love Me more than the highest goods in the world?
耶稣对那瘫痪的人说：「小子，你的罪赦了。」 Jesus says to the paralyzed man, My son, your sins are forgiven.
随即，旁观的人就说：「这个人以为自己是谁？」 Right away, the bystanders say, Who does this man think He is?
只有神才能赦罪。 Only God can forgive sin.
关键就在这里：耶稣迫使人们作出抉择，这一点是其他宗教创始人所没有的。 Now here's the point: Jesus compels a choice the way no other religious founder does.
他说：「不是与我相合，就是与我作对。你明白为什么吗？」 Either you're with Me, He said, or you're against Me. Do you see why?
如果他真是他自己所说的那位，那么我们就必须把整个人生奉献给他。 If He is who He says He is, then we have to give our whole life to Him.
如果他是神，他就必须成为我们生命的中心。 If He is God, then He must be the center of our lives.
如果他并非是他所宣称的那位，那他就不是好人，而是一个危险、被误导的狂热分子。 If He's not who He says He is, then He's not a good man; He's a dangerous, misguided fanatic.
比起任何其他人物、任何其他宗教创始人，耶稣更强烈地迫使我们作出抉择。 Jesus, more than any other figure, more than any other religious founder, compels us to make a choice.
马可福音第十章中有一段奇怪的记载，鲜少有人加以讨论。 There's a strange passage in the 10th chapter of Mark's Gospel that's rarely commented upon.
耶稣和他的门徒正从北方的加利利前往南方的耶路撒冷。 Jesus and His disciples are making their way from Galilee in the north to Jerusalem in the south.
马可这样记载：「他们行路上耶路撒冷去，耶稣 在前头走；他们就希奇，跟从的人也害怕。」 Mark says this: And they were going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus went before them, and they were amazed, and as they followed, they were afraid.
我认为，这段不太起眼的经文透露出很深的意义。 This obscure fragment is, I think, very telling.
有人可能对一位宗教导师感到好奇，也有人可能被一位灵性领袖所吸引。 One might be intrigued by a religious teacher; one might be captivated by a spiritual leader.
但是又惊奇又害怕？ But amazed and afraid?
这就让我们想起，在旧约中，对神所怀的敬畏与恐惧是最常见的两种反应。 Then we recall that in the Old Testament, awe and fear are two standard responses to God.
明白了耶稣的独特之处以后，我们就能更深入地理解他的宣讲与行动。 Having grasped this uniqueness of Jesus, we can begin to look at His preaching and action with greater understanding.
他是道成肉身的神，也就是耶和华在他子民中行走。 He was God in the flesh, Yahweh moving among His people.
耶稣很不寻常。 Jesus is strange.
你知道，我要抵抗那种把他驯化的倾向，不想把他变成「是 啊，他就像，你们知道的，一个古代的迪帕克·乔普拉。」 You know, I'm going to resist the tendency to domesticate Him and turn Him into, “Yeah, He's like, you know, an ancient Deepak Chopra.
你知道，他「有一些很有意思的灵性见解」，而 福音作者写下了这些很酷的故事来加以说明。 You know, He had interesting spiritual insights,” and the Gospel writers told these kind of cool stories to exemplify that.
我认为他很不寻常，所以人们才会说他们又惊奇又害怕。 I think He was strange, and so people say they were amazed and afraid.
我不觉得有人会真正地对迪帕克·乔普拉又惊奇又害怕。 I don't think anyone's really amazed and afraid of Deepak Chopra.
他们可能觉得他有见地、有帮助，但我怀疑他们会不会因此而又惊奇又害怕。 They might find him insightful and helpful, but I doubt they're amazed and afraid.
可是当有人用五个饼和两条鱼就喂饱五千人，那就有点吓人了。 But when someone takes five loaves and two fish and feeds 5,000, that's a little scary.
我觉得如果我们把耶稣过度地驯化，就会把他这方面的特质给抹去了。 I think if we domesticate Jesus too much, we take away that dimension from Him.
他们对耶稣赶鬼、行神迹、医治病患这事实极为关注。 They were intensely interested in the fact that Jesus drove out demons, that He performed miracles, that He healed people.
就连平息海上的风暴也是如此，风暴停止后，人们就说：「这是谁？ Even like the calming of the storm at sea, when that’s over, they say, “Who is this?
这个人竟能平息……？」 Who is this man who can calm the...?”
我是说，他们见过不少灵性导师；他们各自都敬重一些 拉比、教师和有见地的人，可是他远远超乎这一切。 I mean, they knew all about spiritual gurus; they all had rabbis and teachers and insightful people, but He was so far beyond that.
「这是谁？ “Who is this?
是谁让海洋平息？」 Who's calming the sea?”
古时的以色列人热切期望耶和华成就四件大事：他要聚集并牧养他的子民，他要洁 净耶路撒冷圣殿，他要战胜以色列的仇敌，并且要以万国之主的身份临朝为王。 The ancient Israelites ardently expected that Yahweh would accomplish four great things: He would gather and shepherd His people, He would purify the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, He would overcome the enemies of Israel, and He would reign as the Lord of the nations.
令最早跟随主的人惊讶的是，耶稣自己正巧成就了这些事，却以最意想不到的方式来完成。 What startled the first followers of the Lord was that Jesus Himself accomplished precisely these things, but in the most unexpected way.
我现在正站在加利利海边；我身处耶稣的家乡。 I’m standing by the shore of the Sea of Galilee; I'm in Jesus' home country.
他就是在这里的群山中首次宣讲，他的信息简单而直接：「神的国近了。」 It's in these hills here that He preached for the first time, and His theme was simple and direct: the Kingdom of God is at hand.
数百年来，不知有多少学者孜孜不倦地探究「神的国」究竟意味着什么。 Now, oceans of ink have been spilled over the centuries by scholars trying to explain what Kingdom of God meant.
也许我们该问问：在这些山间的人听到这个词时会如何理解？ It might be good to ask: what did people in these hills understand by that term?
他们会明白，这意味着众支派正在被聚集起来。 They would have understood the tribes are being gathered.
在整个旧约里，神被描绘成一个具有巨大聚合力量的主宰。 Throughout the Old Testament, God is portrayed as a great gathering force.
神照着自己的心意塑造了以色列这个子民，然后又努 力使用以色列人作为磁石，吸引其他万国归向他。 God forms a people, Israel, after His own heart, and then endeavors to use the Israelites as a magnet to gather the rest of the nations.
那耶稣，作为道成肉身的耶和华，又是如何来成就这一点的呢？ How did Jesus, Yahweh in the flesh, do this?
他实行开放的餐桌共融，邀约罪人、妓女、税吏、病患以及被遗忘的人来到他的筵席。 He practiced open table fellowship, inviting to His festive meals sinners, prostitutes, tax collectors, the sick, and the forgotten.
他不只是表现出包容的美德；他正是耶和华在聚集他的子民。 He was not simply exemplifying the virtue of inclusivity; He was Yahweh gathering in His people.
这也解释了他为何在当时的社会中医治了那么多人。 This also explains why He healed so many in the society of His time.
肢体疾病常被视为某种咒诅，很多时候，患病或有缺陷的人无法与社群其他成员一起敬拜。 Physical illness was construed as a kind of curse, and in many cases, sickness or deformity prevented one from worshiping with the rest of the community.
透过医治盲眼、耳聋、瘸腿和麻风病人，耶稣就是耶 和华亲自包扎他子民的创伤，使他们重新获得共融。 By curing the blind, the deaf, the lame, and the leprous, Jesus was Yahweh binding up the wounds of His people and restoring them to communion.
耶稣颠覆了那个时代与地方的许多社会习俗。 Jesus turned upside down many of the social conventions of His time and place.
在第一世纪的巴勒斯坦，男人不会在公众场合与女 人交谈，可耶稣却和井边的那位妇人公开对话。 In the Palestine of the first century, men didn't speak to women publicly, but Jesus spoke openly to the woman at the well.
在那时，如果一个虔诚的犹太人触摸到尸体，便会在礼仪上被视为不洁 ；但耶稣却凭着他的力量扶起管会堂的睚鲁之女的尸体，使她复活。 A pious Jew of that time would have been rendered ritually unclean by touching a dead body, but Jesus touches the dead body of the daughter of Jairus as He raises her back to life.
在耶稣的时代，就和我们现在一样，人们在宴席上都想坐 尊贵的位置；可耶稣却要他的门徒去坐最低微的座位。 In Jesus' time, as in ours, places of honor were sought at public banquets, but Jesus told His disciples to take the lowest places.
所有这些行动，都是为了建立神的国，召集各支派归拢起来。 All of this was in service of building up the Kingdom, gathering in the tribes.
我们正俯瞰着地上最神圣的地点之一——圣殿山 ，对犹太人、基督徒和穆斯林来说都至关神圣。 We’re looking down at one of the most sacred places on the planet: the Temple Mount, sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
之所以这样神圣，是因为在这一千年来，就在如今所见到的圆顶 清真寺所在地，曾经耸立着敬奉以色列人之神耶和华的大圣殿。 It is such a holy place because for a thousand years, right in that spot where now you see the beautiful Muslim sanctuary of the Dome of the Rock, there was the great Temple to Yahweh, the God of the Israelites.
它曾是以色列民族礼仪、宗教与文化生活的中心。 It was the center of Israelite liturgical, religious, and cultural life.
在他生命的高峰时期，耶稣来到这个地方。 Well, to that place, at the climax of His life, came Jesus.
福音书记载，他拿起绳索，把兑换银钱的人赶了出去，掀翻了他们的桌子。 He took a rope of cords, the Gospel said, and drove out the money changers, turning over the tables.
随后他说：「我要拆毁这殿，三日内要再建立起来。」 And then He says, “I will tear down this place, and in three days, rebuild it.”
要照我们的眼光去想象当时的情景着实不易，因为 在耶稣的时代，宗教、社会与文化是紧密相连的。 Well, it would be hard to imagine in our terms what this was like, because religion, society, and culture were so tightly bound in Jesus' time.
这举动几乎颠覆了一切秩序。 This was upsetting everything.
这是当时所能做的最激进的事情，或许也正是它直接导致了耶稣被钉十字架。 This was the most radical sort of thing you could do, and it’s probably what led most directly to Jesus' crucifixion.
那么，他究竟在做什么？ Well, what in the world was He doing?
这些话是什么意思？ What did these words mean?
若要更彻底地理解，就必须明白圣殿的意义。 To understand it more fully, we have to comprehend what the Temple meant.
再想想，古时的以色列人期望耶和华洁净圣殿，召集他的子民归来，归于颂赞。 Once again, we recall that ancient Israel expected Yahweh to cleanse the Temple, to gather His people in, to write praise.
有一个简单但意义深远的属灵教导，那就是：我们敬拜什么 ，就会变得像什么；我们会与自己视为至善的对象同化。 A simple but very significant spiritual teaching is this: we become what we worship; we conform ourselves to what we consider the highest good.
神要他的百姓敬拜他，好让他们越来越像他。 God wanted His people to praise Him so that they might become like Him.
因此，耶路撒冷圣殿——敬拜耶和华的地方——在古代以色列就显得极其重要。 This is why the Jerusalem Temple, the place where Yahweh was worshiped, was so central to ancient Israel.
他们所盼望的，是万国因以色列人对神的正确敬拜而被吸引归向神。 The hope was that all the nations of the world would be attracted to God precisely through the right worship of the Israelites.
先知以赛亚曾这样说：「万军之耶和华的山必高举过于众山，万民都要留归这山。」 The prophet Isaiah put it this way: The mountain of the Lord of hosts will be raised above the other mountains, and to it all people will stream.
然而，以色列人屡次陷入对假神的敬拜——有时是周围列 国之神，也有时是财富、权势、民族主义或享乐的偶像。 But the Israelites fell again and again into the worship of false gods—sometimes the gods of the surrounding nations, but also the gods of wealth, power, nationalism, and pleasure.
这也就是为什么那些伟大的先知不断呼唤国家回到对真神的敬拜。 This is why the great prophets continually summoned the nation back to the worship of the true God.
在先知眼中，以色列的错误敬拜在耶路撒冷圣殿的败坏中得到了象征性的体现。 The false worship of Israel came to be symbolized for the prophets in the corruption of the Jerusalem Temple.
先知以西结认为神的荣耀已经离开了圣殿，有朝一日圣殿得以洁净 时，神的荣耀会重返，而且那时必有水从圣殿流出，更新全地。 Ezekiel imagined that God's glory had left His Temple and would one day return when the place was purified, and when it did, water would flow from its side for the renewal of the world.
现在，我们就能稍微理解耶稣提到圣殿时那些看似神秘的话语与行动。 Now we can begin to understand some of Jesus' enigmatic sayings and actions in regard to the Temple.
当他说：「在这里有一位比圣殿更大的」，他等于宣告自己 就是真正的新敬拜之地，是神性与人性在此交汇的圣殿。 When He said in reference to Himself, You have a greater than the Temple here, He was designating Himself as the new place of worship, as the Temple where divinity and humanity meet.
当他洁净圣殿时，他并不只是个六十年代那种抨击制度的激 进分子；他是在宣判旧圣殿的末日，并确立他自己的地位。 When He cleansed the Temple, He was not simply a 1960s-style radical railing against the establishment; He was pronouncing judgment on the old Temple and establishing Himself.
在约翰福音中，耶稣明确指出，他要拆毁那旧的圣殿，并在三日内把它重建起来。 In John's Gospel, Jesus specifies that after destroying the old Temple, He would, in three days, rebuild it.
他指的是他身体的圣殿。 He was referring to the Temple of His body.
耶稣被钉十字架后，罗马兵丁用枪扎他的肋旁，随即有血和水流了出来。 After Jesus' crucifixion, when the Roman soldier pierced Jesus' side, blood and water flowed out.
这正应验了以西结的伟大预言：当耶和华的荣耀回 到圣殿时，必有水从其中涌出，使世界得到复兴。 This represents the fulfillment of Ezekiel's great prophecy that when the glory of Yahweh would return to the Temple, water would flow from its side for the restoration of the world.
也许我们应当认识到的主要一点，就是耶稣自己才是那新的圣殿。 Probably the main point to realize is that Jesus Himself is the new Temple.
他所说「我要拆毁这旧的，三日内再建立起来」，说的正是他自己身体的圣殿。 He says, I’ll tear down this old one, and in three days, rebuild it, talking about the Temple of His own body.
因此，耶稣从死里复活，如今作为教会之主，仍旧是那正当敬拜的所在。 So, Jesus, risen from the dead and now the Lord of the Church, remains the place of right praise.
耶稣本身是纯洁的，如今教会也因此分享了这纯洁。 Jesus is Himself pure; now the Church participates in that.
教会分享耶稣的主权，因此在其圣事、圣者以及基本 架构之中，教会同样保持纯洁，成为正当敬拜之所。 The Church shares in the lordship of Jesus, and so in its sacraments, in its saints, in its essential structures, the Church also remains pure, the place of right praise.
然而，教会也是由有罪的人所组成，因此纵观历代 ，就会看见许多不当行为、腐败和种种消极之事。 But the Church is also made up of sinful human beings, so up and down the centuries, you're going to see lots of bad behavior, lots of corruption, lots of negativity.
保罗说：「我们有这宝贝在瓦器里。」 Paul says, We hold this treasure in earthen vessels.
因此，那宝贝就是基督，他自己就是那新的圣殿。 So the treasure is Christ, who Himself is the new Temple.
这宝贝包括了圣事、礼仪、圣者，但却装在这软弱易碎的器皿里。 The treasure includes the sacraments, the liturgy, the saints, but they're held in these weak, fragile vessels.
败坏正是从这里潜入的。 That's where the corruption comes in.
没错，教会始终需要被洁净，而真正有效洁净教会的是基督在教会内部的运行。 And yes, that Church always needs to be cleansed, and it’s Christ operating within the Church who effectively cleanses it.
在旧约中最能引人共鸣的主题之一，就是将神描绘为战士。 One of the most evocative themes in the Old Testament is the portrayal of God as a warrior.
耶和华为以色列对抗仇敌而作战。 Yahweh fights against the enemies of Israel.
尽管如此，以色列并不是世界上最强大的国家。 Nevertheless, Israel was not the supreme nation of the world.
相反地，在其历史进程中，他们曾被埃及奴役，被非利士人攻击 ，又遭亚述人和巴比伦人掳掠，后来又被希腊人和罗马人蹂躏。 On the contrary, it was, in the course of its history, enslaved by Egypt, attacked by the Philistines, exiled by the Assyrians and the Babylonians, and overrun by the Greeks and the Romans.
于是，以色列人开始梦想有一天神会最终打败他们的仇敌，使他们成为世界的主宰力量。 So, the Israelites began to dream that one day God would definitively battle the enemies of the nation and make it the dominant power in the world.
因此，当耶稣以神的身份降临并行动之时，他是来作战的，这一点也不奇怪。 Therefore, we shouldn't be the least bit surprised that when Jesus comes speaking and acting in the very person of God, He comes to fight.
然而，他却是一个多么奇特的战士！ But what a strange warrior He was!
我们首先目睹耶稣这位战士，是在伯利恒，也就是现今圣诞堂所覆盖的马槽之处。 Our first glimpse of Jesus the fighter is at Bethlehem, in the stable over which the Church of the Nativity stands today.
圣诞的故事并不只是一则讲给孩子们的美好传说； 其中充满了耶稣作为那个来征战的战士的主题。 The Christmas story is not just a charming tale we tell to children; it's full of this motif of Jesus the warrior, the One who’s come to fight.
英国作家C. S. 路易斯说，耶稣之所以这样安静 、不张扬地来到世上，是因为他要在暗中潜入敌营。 C.S. Lewis, the great English writer, said that Jesus came so quietly, in this unobtrusive way, because He was meant to slip clandestinely behind enemy lines.
谢谢你。 Thank you.
如果我们去看路加所写的耶稣诞生记载，就能清楚看见这些战士的意象。 If we look in Luke's account of the Nativity, we see these warrior motifs quite clearly.
这个故事是如何开场的呢？ How did that story open up?
首先提到当时最有权势的两个人：「当叙利亚巡抚居里扭，和 普天下的王该撒亚古士督在位时，他们下令实施人口普查。」 By invoking two of the most powerful people of the time: they said, While Quirinius was the governor of Syria, and when Caesar Augustus was the king of the world, a census was called.
居里扭与该撒亚古士督——古代世界里最显赫、最有权力的两个人物。 Quirinius and Caesar Augustus—two of the most prominent, powerful people in the ancient world.
在古代世界中，伟大的诗歌与故事往往就这样开始：先提及显贵与权威。 Well, that’s how you’d expect great poems and stories in the ancient world to begin: by invoking the high and mighty.
但接着圣路加让我们大跌眼镜，因为他说：「我的故事主要并不是关于他们 ；我的故事关于的是这样一对默默无闻的夫妇，从亚古士督帝国某个偏远的 据点赶往另一个据点——也就是马利亚和约瑟来到这里伯利恒的事迹。」 But then St. Luke pulls the rug out from under us because he says, My story is not primarily about them; my story is about this little couple making their way from one dusty outpost of Augustus's Empire to another—about Mary and Joseph coming here to Bethlehem.
从此，这个故事将以两位君王为线索展开：一位是罗马的 亚古士督，另一位是真正并且崭新的君王——基督耶稣。 The story will unfold now as a tale of two emperors: Augustus in Rome and the true and new Emperor, Christ Jesus.
我们听说马利亚来到伯利恒时，客店里没有可以容身的地 方，他就诞生在一个洞穴，也就是与牲畜同在的马槽里。 We hear that Mary came to Bethlehem; to this place, there was no room at the inn, so He was born in a cave, a stable with the animals around Him.
在古代世界里，谁的安全最有保障？ Who was the best-protected person in the ancient world?
毫无疑问是罗马的该撒亚古士督。 It had to be Caesar Augustus in Rome.
但真正的君王，这位新君王，却是在毫无防护的境况下来到世间。 But the true Emperor, the new Emperor, arrives unprotected.
试想，一个新生婴孩，甚至没有力气抬起自己的头，裹在襁褓里。 Imagine a newborn baby, too weak even to hold up His own head, and now wrapped up in swaddling clothes.
你能再想象一种更孱弱、更易受伤害的画面吗？ Can you imagine an image of greater weakness and vulnerability?
在古代世界里，谁最有权势？ Who would be the most powerful person in the ancient world?
罗马的该撒亚古士督。 Caesar Augustus in Rome.
这位新君王，真正的君王，并不是以世俗方式来彰显 权力，而是一位甘愿在爱中受包裹、显出软弱的。 The new Emperor, the true Emperor, is not powerful in that worldly way, but someone who is willing to be wrapped up and vulnerable in love.
在古代世界里，谁吃得最丰盛？ Who was the best-fed person in the ancient world?
必然是该撒亚古士督——他只需打个响指就能得到他想要的任何感官享受。 It had to have been Caesar Augustus—he could snap his fingers and get any sensual pleasure he wanted.
我们大多数人会认为这是美好生活不可或缺的要素。 Most of us would think that’s essential to the good life.
但这真正的君王，这新君王，并不是被人所供养，而 是成为世界的食物，被放在那牲畜进食的马槽中。 But the true Emperor, the new Emperor, is not one who is fed but who becomes food for the world, placed in that manger where the animals eat.
从那个故事里再看一个细节：我们读到有一位天使向在伯利恒四周山岭放羊的牧人显现。 One more detail from that story: we hear that an angel appeared to shepherds in these hills surrounding Bethlehem.
别把天使想得太浪漫；在圣经里，人们对天使的典型反应是害怕。 Don’t get romantic about the angels; the typical reaction to an angel in the Bible was fear.
试想，从另一个维度而来的真实——这更高的力量，突然闯进这个世界。 Imagine this reality from another dimension—this higher power suddenly breaking into this world.
恐惧才是恰当的反应。 Fear is the proper reaction.
那位天使宣布了佳音，随后经文说：「忽然有一大队天军同那天使出现。」 The angel announces the good news, and then it says, With that angel there appeared a stratios of angels.
我们常把这个词译作「天使的军队」，但它的意思就是「军旅」。 We often translate that word as host angels, but that word means army.
strategy和strategic这些字也都源于此。 Our words strategy and strategic come from that.
于是，与那天使一同出现的，是一支天使的军队。 With that angel, there appeared an army of angels.
在古代世界里，谁的军队最庞大？ Who had the biggest army in the ancient world?
该撒亚古士督，他因此得以君临天下。 Caesar Augustus, which is why he was able to dominate it.
你看路加在说什么：与这婴孩君王的军队相比，他的军队实在不足为道。这个「天 军」不是凭世上那些微不足道的武器来争战，而是以勇气、公义和非暴力来作战。 You see what Luke is saying: his army is nothing compared to the army of this baby king, this stratios, this army of angels who will fight not with the puny weapons of the world but will fight with courage, with justice, and with nonviolence.
然而，这位婴孩君王拥有更强大的军队。 But the baby king has got the bigger army.
先知以赛亚有一句话，说当弥赛亚来时，就如同耶和华露出他的圣臂。 There’s a line in the prophet Isaiah that says when the Messiah comes, it will be like Yahweh bearing His holy arm.
意思是他卷起衣袖，显露自己强而有力的膀臂，来征服。 That meant rolling up His sleeve and bearing His powerful arm for conquest.
这里有一个绝妙的细节：耶和华那神圣的膀臂，正是来自马槽中的婴孩耶稣那伸出的手臂。 Here’s a great detail: that holy arm of Yahweh is the arm of the baby Jesus coming out of the crib.
谁会料到神的能力竟会以这种方式降临？ Who would have expected the power of God to arrive in that way?
然而，自此开始的征战，也就是这两位君王的对垒，最终要在十字架上达成圆满。 But the battle that begins here, this lining up of the two emperors, comes to its fulfillment on the cross.
正是在那里，这位长大成人的婴孩君王要进行他的终极之战。 It’s there that this baby king, now come of age, will engage in His final battle.
圣经的诗意部分在于神的出人意料——他就是爱。 Part of the poetry of the Bible is that God is so unexpected—that God is love.
这是个奇异的信息；一点也不寻常。 That’s a strange message; that’s not a common message at all.
通常人们更易想到神是大能、威严并且审判的。 It seems much more natural to think of God as powerful, lordly, and judgmental.
然而神居然是爱，并且因此自我倒空——这正是神会以孩子形象降生的原因。 But that God is love and therefore self-emptying—this is why God would come as a child.
这便是基督信仰里所蕴含的恩典与诗意的一部分。 This is part of the grace and poetry of Christianity.
他们明白了；最初的基督徒看到了这一点，我想他们在这当中的诗意与悖论里得到了喜乐。 They got that; the first Christians saw that, and they kind of delighted, I think, in the poetry and the paradox of it.
谢谢你。 Thank you.
在棕枝主日，耶稣被人称为大卫之子而进入那座圣城。 On Palm Sunday, Jesus entered the holy city hailed as the Son of David.
他以大卫家战士的身份到来。 He came as a Davidic warrior.
随后，正如我们所见，他上了圣殿的院子，并在那里挑起了冲突。 Then, as we saw, He went up to the temple precincts, and there He picked a fight.
当圣周展开时，仿佛自他诞生以来就与他为敌的各样势力全都全力出动，与他正面对峙。 As Holy Week unfolded, it's as though all the powers that had opposed Him from the time of His birth came out in full force to meet Him.
耶路撒冷的圣墓教堂正是建在耶稣被钉十字架并埋葬的确切位置之上。 The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is built over the very site of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus.
因此，它所纪念并保留的，正是那位战士耶稣进行最终搏战的战场。 It commemorates and preserves, therefore, the battlefield where Jesus the warrior engaged in His ultimate struggle.
当你阅读福音书里那些细致而深刻的受难记载时 ，你会看到各式各样的人性堕落在其中展示。 When you read those densely textured passion narratives in the Gospels, you see all forms of human dysfunction on display.
耶稣遇见仇恨、否认、背叛、暴力、愚昧、制度性的冤屈以及无以复加的残酷。 Jesus is met by hatred, by denial, by betrayal, by violence, by stupidity, by institutional injustice, and by incomparable cruelty.
仿佛所有人性的黑暗都涌现出来与他对峙，而他就在各各他山上展开这场最终之战。 It’s as though all of human darkness comes out to meet Him, and here on Mount Calvary, He does this final battle.
可他并不以更多的暴力回击，反倒任由这些黑暗全然倾倒在他身上。 But He responds not with more violence; rather, He allows all of this darkness to wash over Him.
他承担了世人的罪孽，并且说：「父啊，赦免他们，因为他们所作的，他们不晓得。」 He takes upon Himself the sins of the world, and He says, Father, forgive them; they know not what they do.
好像在十字架上，耶稣终止了从起初以来就困扰人 类的暴力与反暴力、复仇与反复仇的可怕循环。 It’s as though on the cross, Jesus interrupts that terrible play of violence and counter-violence, of vengeance and counter-vengeance, which has bedeviled the human race from the beginning.
好像圣父把那十字架投入运作当中，打断了这恐怖的进程。 It’s as though God the Father takes that cross, and He puts it in the works to interrupt this terrible process.
耶稣除去了世人的罪，这就是他作战的方式。 Jesus takes away the sins of the world, and that’s how He fights.
谢谢你。 Thank you.
那是什么使我们无法说耶稣只不过是个失败的革命者，一个鼓舞人心 的理想主义者，却如阿尔伯特·史怀哲所言，被历史的车轮碾过？ What prevents us from saying that Jesus wasn't simply a failed revolutionary, an inspiring idealist but, as Albert Schweitzer said, ground under by the wheel of history?
阻止我们这样说的，是那顽强又令人震动的复活事实。 What prevents us from saying that is the stubborn and unnerving fact of the resurrection.
新约圣经学者N. T. 赖特指出：仅从历史角度而言，若撇开 耶稣复活，几乎无法解释基督信仰如何能以弥赛亚运动之姿兴起。 The New Testament scholar N.T. Wright says, simply from an historical standpoint, it’s practically impossible to explain the emergence of Christianity as a messianic movement apart from the resurrection.
如果你想要判断某人绝非以色列的弥赛亚，最显 而易见的标志，就是他死于以色列仇敌之手。 If you wanted the clearest indication that someone was not the Messiah of Israel, it would be his death at the hands of Israel's enemy.
我们已经看到，弥赛亚将要聚集众支派；他要带领国家并打败以色列的仇敌。 We've seen the Messiah was supposed to gather the tribes; he was supposed to lead the nation and defeat the enemies of Israel.
因此，一个人绝非弥赛亚的最明显证据，就是他被罗马人钉死在十字架上。 Therefore, the clearest indication possible that someone was not the Messiah was that he was crucified by the Romans.
公元132年，巴·科赫巴领导了一场起义。 In the year 132, Bar Kokhba led a revolution.
许多人宣称他就是弥赛亚，他们甚至铸造了印有「巴·科赫巴元年」字样的硬币。 Many said he was the Messiah; they minted coins saying Year One of Bar Kokhba.
他的起义被镇压，他被罗马人处死，没人再认为他是弥赛亚。 His revolution was put down, he was put to death by the Romans, and nobody thinks he is the Messiah.
然而，最初的基督徒却正宣称了这件事。 Yet these first Christians proclaim precisely that.
保罗说：「耶稣•基督（Christos）。」 Paul says, Jesus Christos.
「耶稣•基督」不过是Yeshua Mash iach（耶书亚·弥赛亚）的希腊文形式。 Jesus Christos is simply the Greek version of Yeshua Mashiach, Jesus the Messiah.
最早的门徒宁愿赴死，也远走天涯传扬他就是犹太人的弥赛亚。 The first disciples went to their deaths; they went to the ends of the world proclaiming that He is the Messiah of the Jews.
离开耶稣从死里复活的事实，你又能怎样解释这一切呢？ How can you explain that apart from this fact of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead?
太多当代学者试图巧妙躲避复活的现实，说什么：「哦，那只是个神话、一则传说 、一个象征，或着只是在表明耶稣的事业还在继续，他是一位与神同在的伟人。」 Far too many contemporary scholars try to explain away the resurrection: Oh, it's a myth, it's a legend, it's a symbol; it’s a sign that Jesus' cause goes on, that He's a great man who now lives with God.
拜托！ Come on!
在第一世纪时，没有任何人会觉得这些说法有半点说服力。 Nobody in the first century would have found any of that the least bit convincing.
你能想象保罗冲进哥林多，对那里的人说：「我要宣讲一位死去却很鼓舞人心的人」吗？ Can you imagine Paul tearing into Corinth and saying, I want to proclaim a dead man who’s very inspiring?
没人会把他当回事。 No one would have taken him seriously.
相反，保罗在哥林多反复宣讲的是：「Anastasis！」 Instead, what Paul said in Corinth over and over again was Anastasis!
「Anastasis！」——也就是「复活」， Anastasis!—resurrection,
「复活」。 resurrection.
这是基督信仰最初、最重要的信息。 That was the first great Christian message.
福音书告诉我们，复活的耶稣曾在那楼房里向门徒显现。 The Gospels tell us that the risen Jesus appeared to the disciples in the upper room.
他做了两件事：第一，他让他们看见自己的伤痕。 He did two things: first, He showed His wounds.
不要忘记这世界的罪所带来的后果。 Don’t forget what the sin of the world did.
但随后他说：「Shalom。」 But then He says, Shalom.
平安。 Peace.
这是世人无法赐予的平安。 This is the peace that the world can't give.
神的爱比我们最可怕的敌人——罪与死——更强大。 God's love is more powerful than our greatest enemies, which are sin and death.
正因如此，保罗在见到复活的基督后，才能说：「我深信，无论是死，是生，是天使， 是掌权的，是高处的，是深处的，或别的受造之物，都不能使我们与神的爱隔绝。」 This is precisely why Paul, once he had seen the risen Christ, could say, I am certain that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither height nor depth, nor any other power can ever separate us from the love of God.
保罗是怎么知道的？ How does Paul know that?
因为我们曾经杀了神，而神却以宽恕的爱归来。 Because we killed God, and God returned in forgiving love.
你们正在目睹拉丁礼宗主教的就任仪式，他是这座教堂的主教，而 这教堂在某种意义上被视为整个基督信仰的母会——耶路撒冷。 You're seeing the installation of the Latin patriarch, the one who is the bishop of this church, which in some ways is the mother church of all of Christianity—Jerusalem.
他们以这种军礼队伍的方式走入这座主张非暴力的教堂。 And they’re marching in in this military way into this church of nonviolence.
所以，那位战士耶稣的得胜，是在与罪与死的战场上取胜的。 So, Jesus the warrior won in battle, but by fighting sin and death.
以军乐相随，倒也颇具美感或说相称。 It’s kind of beautiful or appropriate that we accompany that with a military march.
但这并不是一般意义上的方式，而是一种新的战 斗方式，就是在这里的这片土地上所赢得的。 But it’s not the customary manner; it’s this new way of fighting that was won right here on this spot.
我非常喜欢耶稣这位战士的意象，因为他是个奇特的战士，完全不像我们所想象的那种。 I just love that image of Jesus the warrior because He’s a weird warrior—a very unusual warrior, not in the expected way.
可他确实是来作战的。 But He’s come to fight.
他来到此地，为要对抗邪恶、暴力、仇恨的势力； 至关重要的启示是，他以十字架作为武器来征战。 He’s come to fight the power of evil, the power of violence, the power of hatred; and the great revelation is that He fights with the weapon of the cross.
他和本丢彼拉多眼对眼、手对手地较量。 He’s mano a mano with Pontius Pilate.
我们从起初就看见这样：耶稣与罗马帝王之间好似在进行一场对决。 We saw that from the very beginning: it’s Jesus and the Roman emperor kind of going mano a mano.
到最后，彼拉多以为自己胜利了，但事实上，正是他被十字架的力 量彻底压倒，而每当高举十字架时，这一点便在全世界被宣扬。 At the end, Pilate thinks he’s won, but in fact, it’s Pilate who’s been overwhelmed by the power of the cross, and that’s proclaimed all over the world whenever the cross is held up.
因为一个十字架？ Because a cross?
为什么我们要高举一个十字架？ Why would you hold up a cross?
如果你身处第一世纪，举着一个十字架，人们会觉得你疯了，他们会以为你是疯子。 If you’re in the first century and you’re holding up a cross, they think you’re out of your mind; they think you’re a lunatic.
你手中高举的可是这野蛮的刑具。 You’re holding up this brutal instrument of torture.
而这恰恰蕴含着深刻的反讽——这是一种当面揭晓的宣告。 But that’s just an irony—it’s an in-your-face statement.
这就是一种嘲讽。 And it’s a taunt.
它像是在说：「你以为死亡能吓到我们吗？」 It’s a taunt like, You think death scares us?
「你以为我们会害怕吗？」 You think we’re afraid of that?
整个世界都惧怕死亡——那是人所能想象最可怕的事。 The whole world is afraid of that—that’s the most frightening thing you can imagine.
而我们却说：「我不害怕，因为神已经胜过了它。」 And we’re saying, I’m not afraid of it because God conquered it.
在复活的光照之下，最早的基督徒明白到，有一位新君王掌管列国。 In the light of the resurrection, the first Christians understood that there was a new king of the nations.
因此，他们的使命就是向世界宣告这一事实。 They, therefore, saw their task as announcing this fact to all the world.
若今天有人想把信息传播到最广泛的地方，他会前往纽约、洛杉矶或伦敦。 If someone today had a message that he wanted to get out as widely as possible, he would head for New York, or Los Angeles, or London.
最初信耶稣的人也抱着类似的盼望前往罗马。 The first believers in Jesus went with a similar hope to Rome.
在罗马广场中耸立着提图斯凯旋门，那是为纪念公元七十年罗马人毁灭耶 路撒冷而建。拱门内侧可以看到罗马士兵抬着圣殿里的七枝灯台的浮雕。 In the Roman Forum stands the Arch of Titus, which was built to commemorate the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD. You can see on the inside of the arch a depiction of Roman soldiers carrying the menorah from the Temple.
那些士兵和建造这拱门的人大概都以为：「这就 是犹太信仰的终结，亦是以色列之神的终结。」 Those soldiers and those who made the arch probably thought, That’s the end of the Jewish religion; that’s the end of the God of Israel.
最讽刺的是，正当彼得、保罗等人和他们的基督徒同伴来到罗马时 ，借着耶稣这位以色列的神正进入罗马，并且透过罗马传向万邦。 The supreme irony was that at that very moment, as people like Peter and Paul and their Christian companions came to Rome, the God of Israel was coming in the person of Jesus to Rome and, through Rome, to all the world.
圣保罗在见到复活的基督后，立刻明白了这点，因此我们在他所有 的书信中都看到这句话：「耶稣 Kyrios」——耶稣是主。 St. Paul, once he had seen the risen Christ, understood this immediately, and that’s why in all his letters we find this phrase: Jesus Kyrios—Jesus is the Lord.
在我们看来，这似乎是普普通通的属灵陈述，但在耶稣的时代，这却是 激烈的对峙之语，因为当时的口号是「Kaiser Kyrios」 ——「该撒是主」；该撒才是那些人认为应当效忠到最后的对象。 Now, to us, that sounds like a rather bland spiritual statement, but in Jesus' time, those were fighting words because a watchword of the era was Kaiser Kyrios—Caesar is the Lord; Caesar is the one to whom final allegiance is due.
保罗向世界传递的信息是：「不，不是该撒！」 The message Paul had to the world was, No, not Caesar!
「耶稣 Kyrios！」 Jesus Kyrios!
耶稣才是主。 Jesus is the Lord.
在卡比托林山的山坡上，圣马可大约在公元70年左右居住并写下了第一部福音。 On the slopes of the Capitol Hill, St. Mark lived and wrote around the year 70— the first Gospel.
那部福音写成时，距离马可的朋友彼得和保罗被残酷杀害仅隔了几年。 It was written a few years after Mark's friends, Peter and Paul, had been brutally put to death.
马可在他的福音开篇就写道：「耶稣基督，神的儿子，福音的起头。」 Mark wrote this in the opening line of his Gospel: The good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
同样，在我们听来是灵性的宣告，但对于当时的人来说却是战斗的话语。 Again, it sounds spiritual enough to us, but those two were fighting words.
「Euangelion」——这是他用来表示「佳 音」的希腊字，古时常用来指帝王赢得胜利的捷报。 Euangelion—that’s the Greek he used for glad tidings—was a word used to describe an imperial victory.
当该撒在大战中得胜时，他会派出使者带着「euan gelion」的宣告先行：这是场胜利的好消息。 When Caesar won a great battle, he sent messengers ahead with the word euangelion: there’s good news about this victory.
你看马可想表达的意思，多么具有颠覆性：真正的好消息与该撒的胜利毫无关系。 See what Mark is saying and how subversive it was: the real good news has nothing to do with Caesar’s victories.
它关乎的是那位被该撒处死、却被神从死里复活的人。 It has to do with someone that Caesar put to death and that God raised from the dead.
这指向耶稣基督，而且马可故意强化这一点，称他为「神的儿子」。 It has to do with Jesus Christ, and then just to rub it in, he calls Him the Son of God.
那是个帝王头衔，原本是归属于该撒的称号——「神的儿子」。 That was an imperial title; Caesar was the Son of God.
马可在说：「并非该撒，而是基督。」 Mark is saying, Not Caesar, but rather Christ.
你想想，他身处猛兽之腹——那个杀害他朋友的 帝国中心，却发表这些颠覆、革命性的言论。 Imagine now, he’s in the belly of the beast; he’s in the heart of the empire that killed his friends, and he says these subversive, revolutionary things.
2005年4月，本笃十六世教宗被选立。 In April of 2005, Pope Benedict XVI was elected.
他走到圣彼得大殿的前廊，随即那些选出他的枢机们也簇拥在他周围。 He came out here on the front loggia of St. Peter's, and then gathering around him came all the cardinals who had just elected him.
摄影机捕捉到芝加哥的方济·乔治枢机一脸深思的神情。 The cameras caught the remarkably pensive expression of Francis Cardinal George of Chicago.
当乔治枢机回到家后，记者问他：「当你站在圣彼得大殿前廊眺望时，你在想什么 ？」他就说：「我望向大竞技场一带，望向帕拉蒂诺山，那是古罗马帝王曾经统治 的地方，他们在那里俯视对基督徒的迫害。我就在想：『那些人的继任者在哪里？ When Cardinal George got home, the reporters asked him, What were you thinking of as you were looking out from the loggia of St. Peter's? Here’s what he said: he said, I was gazing over toward the Circus Maximus, toward the Palatine Hills, where the Roman emperors once reigned, where they looked down upon the persecution of Christians, and I thought, 'Where are their successors?
尤利乌斯·凯撒的继任者身在何处？ Where is the successor of Julius Caesar?
马可·奥理略的继任者又在哪里？ Where is the successor of Marcus Aurelius?
最后，这还有谁在意呢？ And finally, who cares?
可是，如果你想看彼得的继任者……』 But if you want to see the successor of Peter...'
他就站在我旁边，对着人群微笑并挥手。 He's standing right next to me, smiling and waving at the crowd.
耶稣基督是主！ Jesus Christ is Lord!
意思就是该撒并非主；该撒的所有后嗣都不是主。 That means Caesar isn't Lord; that means none of Caesar's descendants are Lord.
从死里复活的耶稣基督才是我们当尽最终忠诚的那一位。 Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, is the one to whom we owe final allegiance.
因此，耶稣完成了弥赛亚的四项使命：他聚集了众支派，他洁净了圣 殿，他对付了以色列的仇敌，如今他正统治万国，成为万国之主。 And so, Jesus fulfilled the four tasks of the Messiah: He gathered the tribes, He cleansed the Temple, He dealt with the enemies of Israel, and now He is reigning as Lord of the nations.
是的，每次我来到这座圆形竞技场时，内心都会被触动。 Yeah, I always move when I come in here to the Coliseum.
我常常想：「我们赢了。」 I always think, We won.
这座地方曾是基督徒——并非最早的基督徒，因为这场所要 到二世纪才建成——在后来受迫害时被折磨致死的地方。 This was a place where Christians— not the earliest Christians; this didn't exist until the second century— but in later persecutions, Christians were tortured to death here.
就在这里。 In this place.
我的意思是，属灵的力量总是比尘世间的权势更加强大。 I mean, the spiritual is always more powerful than what’s in the world.
或许表面上不是这样，往往看起来好像人们会说：「哦，我们能应付。」 It doesn't seem that way; it always looks like, Oh, we can handle that.
就好比庇护十二世曾对斯大林有过批评，斯大林就说：「庇护十二世？他有多少个师团？」 Like Pius XII, you know, said something critical of Stalin, and Stalin said, Pius XII? How many divisions does he have?
而巨大讽刺是，庇护十二世的继任者在没有任何军队的 情况下，却凭着圣灵的力量，击败了斯大林的继任者。 Well, of course, the great irony is the successor of Pius XII defeated the successor of Stalin, and without a single division, but with the power of the Spirit.
在我看来，这座场所正传递着这样的信息。 And that’s what this place, to me, sort of speaks.
每逢圣周五，教宗都会带着十字架来到这里，因为十字架曾经是罗马权势的象征。 Every Good Friday, the Pope comes in here carrying the cross, because the cross was the symbol of Roman power.
它的含义是：「你若和我们作对（这里有双关），我们就让你死在这里。」 It meant, If you cross us, pun intended, that’s where we’ll put you.
这正是世俗政权维持统治的方式——用暴力威胁。 That’s how secular power tends to maintain itself—through threats of violence.
可是我们却用十字架的标记来嘲讽罗马与罗马一切后代势力，因为正是从那 十字架上诞生了神的胜利——一个以非暴力、怜悯、爱与宽恕得胜的胜利。 But then we use the symbol of the cross to taunt Rome and all of Rome's successors, because from that cross came forth the victory of God, which is a victory of nonviolence, compassion, love, and forgiveness.
而且，这种力量比世上任何东西都更强大，因为正以这力量创造了世界。 And that’s more powerful than anything in the world, because that’s the power by which the world was created.
神造世界时用的不是暴力，而是爱的力量。 God made the world not in violence but in love.
因此，爱总能比仇恨更持久更强大，尽管表面上可能并非如此。 And so love is always more enduring and powerful than hatred, even though it seems otherwise.
这便是教会要教导的重要真理。 That’s the great lesson of the Church.